Philliedelphia

Brad Lidge To Retire As A Philadelphia Phillie

We will never forget this image.  Brad Lidge falling down to his knees and throwing up his arms in the air.  Carlos Ruiz running up to him for an embrace.  Ryan Howard knocking them over.  The Phillies were World Champions of Baseball.

The perfect closer from that season, Brad Lidge, whose 48 for 48 dominance was a big reason why the Phillies won, plans to retire as a Philadelphia Phillie, reports Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.  Lidge will be honored on Thursday, August 1 when the Phillies face the San Francisco Giants at 7:05 p.m. 

I saved my authentic 2008 alternate Phillies jersey in a safe spot.  That may be the first time I wear it since Lidge departed.

In Lidge's career, he pitched for the Astros, Phillies, and Washington Nationals.  He last pitched last season for the Nationals but was released in June.

Watch the final out here:
  

Chase Utley To Have MRI In Philadelphia Tomorrow

During batting practice before yesterday's ball game, Phillies second baseman Chase Utley felt discomfort in his right ribcage. He was scratched from the lineup and will most likely sit out tonight's game as well. Ruben Amaro Jr. announced today that the injury will require an MRI, which will take place tomorrow in back in Philadelphia. 

 

“When he took a swing, he felt a little burn, a pain in his rib cage,” manager Charlie Manuel said of Utley after Tuesday's game. “Sometimes if you keep playing that can get more serious and you lose time. I’ve had those things. It’s hard to breathe, really hard to swing. We’ll see. Hopefully we don’t lose him for very long.”

From here it looks like Chase may have strained or pulled his oblique, an injury that is dibiliating for a second baseman. Don't be surprised to see Utley on the DL because of this. If Utley does land on the DL, Freddy Galvis would become the starting second baseman for the Phillies until he returns.

This injury could also potentially hurt Chase's trade value in the event that he is traded before the deadline. Utely's contract is up at the end of 2013. As of now, Utley is hitting .272 with 7 HR, two triples and 25 RBI in 44 games.

Erik Seybold is a writer for Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter.

Phillies Hook Marlins, Win 7-3.

It was a good night for Phillies and ex-Phillies alike. The bats were quiet until the seventh inning when there were a few Miami defensive mistakes. Phils ended up with 15 hits.

Rollins started the game with a single, moved over to second on a wild pitch, and was able to tag up on a Revere fly ball, but was stranded on third. Revere’s fly ball would have been a homerun in Citizens Bank Park (he has never hit a major league homer). Second inning was much the same. Two Phils were left on base.

Delmon Young hit a one-run home run to make the game 1-0. Phillies strand another in the fifth.

Polanco scores on a flyball, 1-1.

Delmon Young scorches another ball in the 6^th. Howard on third and Young on second, one out. Dom Brown grounds out, brings home Howard. 2-1, Phillies.

Top of the 7^th, Michael Young hits what should have been a double play, but the Marlins missed both outs to load the bases. Ryan Howard gets a two run hit, 4-1 Phillies. Delmon Young gets an RBI, 5-1. Domonic Brown gets a double, bringing in Howard, 6-1. Juan Pierre hits a single, scoring Polanco. 6-2, Phillies.

Top of the 8^th, Howard gets his third straight hit, bringing home Revere to make the game 7-2.

BJ Rosenburg came in to pitch the 9^th inning. He gave up one run. Mayberry makes a fantastic diving catch for the third out to end the ballgame. Final score, 7-3.

Cloyd pitched a great 7 innings, 8 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 5 strike outs.

Bastardo pitched the 8^th, earning two strikeouts. 

Christine Schramm is a writer for Philliedelphia. You can follow her on Twitter @schrammalot

Tyler Cloyd Gets Start, Ryan Howard Returns As Phillies Look To Figure Out Jose Fernandez

The Phillies really, really - for a lack of words - pissed off Cole Hamels last night. After striking out 10 batters and allowing two earned runs to the Marlins through six innings, the Phillies were only able to mount one run - a Domonic Brown home run - to support Cole's effort. It was another example of the pathetic offense that shows up to the ballpark when Hamels is pitching. I feel for Hamels, I really do. He's in the same spot that Cliff Lee was in last season and it flat out sucks. Sure he's had some bad starts, but majority of his outings have been winnable starts that have been smacked down by the opposing pitcher's ability to shut down the Phillies' bats. I really hope that they can figure out how to score some damn runs when Hamels is on the mound because it's freaking ridiculous. 

Anyway, the Phillies will continue their three-game set with the Marlins tonight as they look to strike back in game two. Tyler Cloyd (0-0, 2.84 ERA), who was called up this morning in place of Carlos Ruiz, will take on Jose Fernandez (2-2, 3.48 ERA) - a guy that has shut the Phillies down in both starts he's made against them. 

Tyler Cloyd has been called upon by the Phillies to make his second spot start of the season tonight. Cloyd, who pitched 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball against the Diamondbacks on May 10th. He took the no-decision and was quickly sent back to Triple-A Lehigh, where he was completely shelled in his only start back. Cloyd allowed 7 earned runs on 11 hits through 3 1/3 innings agaisnt the Norfolk Tides on Thursday. Hopefully Cloyd has a better experience against the Marlins tonight. He has never faced the Marlins lineup in his career.

Jose Fernandez has been a thorn in the Phillies' side all year long. In two starts against the club, Fernandez has held the Phillies to just three hits over 13 innings. His most recent start against the Phils came on May 4th where Fernandez threw seven scoreless innings of one-hit ball. Fernandez has also been on the short end when it comes to run support. The righty has allowed just 17 earned runs through 44 innings of work. In his last outing against Cincinnati on Thursday, Fernandez held the Reds to two earned runs on five hits through seven. Throwing a career-high 99 pitches, Fernandez took the no-decision. He will look to improve his 2-2 record tonight against the Phillies, who as you know, have not had good experiences with the righty.

Game Notes:

• Carlos Ruiz is officially on the DL.
• Ryan Howard is officially NOT on the DL and will start at first base.
• For the love of God, score runs!
• Get to Fernandez early. He throws good stuff, but he is hittable.
• Don't let this be a minor-league game. 

Phillies lineup:

1. Jimmy Rollins SS
2. Chase Utley 2B
3. Michael Young 3B 
4. Ryan Howard 1B
5. Delmon Young RF 
6. Domonic Brown LF
7. Ben Revere CF
8. Erik Kratz C
9. Tyler Cloyd P

Marlins lineup: 

1. Juan Pierre LF
2. Adeiny Hechavarria SS
3. Derek Dietrich 2B
4. Marcell Ozuna RF,
5. Chris Coghlan CF
6. Greg Dobbs 1B
7. Placido Polanco 3B
8. Rob Brantly C
9. Jose Fernandez P

First Pitch Forecast: Scattered T-Storms - 79° - 50% PoP.

TV: CSN
Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT

Let's Go FIGHTINS! 

Erik Seybold is a writer for Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter @ErikSeyboldPHI.

Ruben Don't Care Who You Want Up

Don't even think you'll see Asche....

Tonight at the IronPigs game, we saw Joe Savery, Mike Stutes, and Jake Diekman all throw scoreless innings in a 14-5 win. This prompted my buddy Drew to ask why these guys are down, and B.J. Rosenberg is up. I suppose the company line is that Rosenberg is stretched out to be a long man. That's fine, but it's not like he was an overly effective starter in AAA, his ERA was 4.30. I'm not even sure he's an upgrade on Valdes, or that we need a long-man all that bad to begin with. For that matter, I think it matters less who wins out amongst fringe major league arms for the seventh job than the fact that the Phillies have a bullpen half full of them.

This wasn't the only incident of this kind of debate tonight. Why not bring up Darin Ruf? Well, I happen to be in the pro-Ruf crowd, but do you think bringing him up is going to totally turn the fortunes of this team around? He's hit decently well in AAA ball, but decently well doesn't translate into Albert Pujols the way some people imagine. Do I think he's provide needed pop, sure, but where would he play? How well would he play there? These aren't easy questions.

Fans always want to see the best talent, even if only by marginal standards, up with the real club, playing real games. I understand that. What fans have to understand is that this won't change the season that much, and Ruben Amaro has other concerns. Sometimes that higher-ceiling prospect has a flaw in his game that could be exposed in the majors, and needs more work first. Sometimes bringing up that prospect could cause a playing-time issue that diminishes the value of a veteran the GM would like to trade away for something. Sometimes they know a prospect isn't as good as the stats say. Having Ruf up for 200-300 plate appearances is probably not going to either increase his trade value, or save the season. Sure, he may have more power than say John Mayberry Jr., but Mayberry is out of options, and plays better defense, both of which are concerns to a GM. You can say Ruf is better than Mayberry, and I may agree with that evaluation, but show me the difference that makes it worth it to have Ruf sitting instead of playing, to DFA Mayberry, and to give up the defense. If you can't clearly quantify, or the difference isn't crazy obvious, there's no reason to make the move, right now. Would I do the move? Yeah, I would. Is it possible that there are concerns that I don't know enough to share with the front office that cause them to have a different view? Yeah.

This is going to be a concern all year. There are talents in the upper minors, guys like Cesar Hernandez, Cody Asche, Darin Ruf, Jesse Biddle, and others, who fans will want to bring up to the big league club as that club continues to struggle in different areas. The odds are that we won't see many, or any, of them before September. It's just as possible that next season, with these guys possibly on the roster, that fans will lament the guys we let leave before them. This is the "Johnny-come-lately" nature that we all have naturally as fans, and need to fight. Just as bad as you want to see these guys come through the door instead of the "AAAA" guys like Rosenberg and Cloyd, you have to try to not get mad when they're going through their growing pains later. We've went through this with Dom Brown, and tonight he hit his club leading 8th homer. Is he perfect, or complete yet? No, but he's about the only player so far this season who has shown any kind of upside or future potential that we can be excited by. There's a good chance that next season we watch he and Freddy Galvis start and continue to blossom, while some of these young guys people want to see come up. Just realize that patience is a virtue, both now and later.

Josh Fields Tweets: Prayers For Home State Of Oklahoma; Was He Simply Moving His Locker?

I suppose he could have said he was simply moving his locker but smiling and being coy may have been more fun.  After packing up his belongings caused some beat writers to speculate that Iron Pigs 3b/1b/LF was heading to join the Phillies, he may have simply been moving a locker.

Great win for the @ironpigs tonight! Who knew moving lockers would start such a conundrum! U know what assuming does......

— Josh Fields (@OkieFields) May 21, 2013

 

Perhaps Fields was having a little fun with reporters after he had a big night, falling a home run short of the cycle.

Michael LoRe who reported Fields packing his things was "fooled":

Fooled us. MT @okiefields: Great win for @ironpigs tonight! Who knew moving lockers would start such a conundrum! U know what assuming does

— Michael LoRé (@michaellore) May 21, 2013

Other speculation included the thought that Fields had to rush off to help family in Oklahoma affected by the destructive Tornado this evening.   He now lives in Florida but had his native state in his prayers:

Cannot believe the devastation in Oklahoma! Praying for everyone affected by the tornadoes!

— Josh Fields (@OkieFields) May 21, 2013

Fields is a native of Ada, Oklahoma.

Josh Fields Is Packing His Bags At AAA; Is He Ryan Howard's Replacement?

Courtesy mcall.com

From Iron Pigs beat writer Michael LoRe:

Josh Fields is packing his bags. Could be joining #Phillies.

— Michael LoRé (@michaellore) May 21, 2013

Ryan Howard is injured and a strong D.L. candidate.  

A move for Josh Fields probably means that the Phillies plan to start internal options and are looking for more of a temporary backup option than a long-term starter.   In other words, no Darin Ruf, though I suppose the Phillies could make additional moves (release Delmon Young?)  to shake up the pudrid Phillies offense.

Fields played both third base and first base for the Iron Pigs, batting .292 with three home runs and 14 RBI.  

Asked whether he was headed to join the Phillies, Fields declined to answer the question directly.

Update: It appears that Josh Fields was joking around with reporters, letting them think he was packing for reasons other than what it was, which he revealed later.

Phillies Fall to Marlins; Hamels Earns 7th Loss

The Miami Marlins organization is an absolute disaster. Not a single aspect of the team is running smoothly. Fans refuse to go to games. Players publicly complain about the team. And the owner could honestly care less about it. However, with already 32 losses on the season, the Marlins are still finding ways to defeat the Phillies. Cole Hamels has had a very tough season thus far, but he could undoubtedly turn it around against such a weak lineup. Alex Sanabia has been struggling of late, just the thing this Phillies squad could feed off of. And yet...

With such a disappointing game, I'll just skip ahead to the scoring in this hit parade of a contest. It started early, with three singles off Hamels resulting in a run for the Marlins. It did not take the Phils to answer though, as Domonic Brown crushed a homerun to right field to tie it up. Perhaps the Phillies could win the games they are supposed to after all.

A quiet four innings passed, and Cole Hamels still had a chance to earn a second win. The "feisty" Marlins had another gameplan. Former Phillie Placido Polanco singled to leadoff the inning, and would later be doubled in by Justin Ruggiano. The scoring (at least, in the Marlins' case) continued in the eighth, when a combination of Justin DeFratus, Jeremy Horst, and Phillippe Aumont could not stop their bats. Four singles from the likes of Polanco, Marcell Ozuna, Ruggiano, and Nick Green plated three more runs. A 1-2-3 ninth inning secured a 5-1 Marlins win.

In order for the Phillies to compete, they must defeat the bottom-feeders. So far this year, they've been able to take two out of three from teams like the Giants and Reds, but have been easily defeated by far less competitive ballclubs. Now, taking two out of three would be a positive, and is still quite positive. But with the way things have gone this season, it doesn't seem so easy. Matchups with the Nationals and Red Sox loom in the coming week, so the Phillies must compete in the next two games. Tyler Cloyd and Jose Fernandez are set to face off tomorrow night in Miami. For the sake of the season, let's hope it's a good one.

@AndrewJGillen

Phillies Weekly Preview 5/20-5/26

Another winning week against decent competition. After a 4-3 trip out West, now the Phillies put up a 3-2 trip out East, and things are not necessarily looking up, but at least looking okay at 21-23, 4.5 out in the NL East.

Philadelphia Phillies (21-23, NL East-3) @ Miami Marlines (12-32, NL East-5)
Where: Marlins Park
When: Monday-Wednesday 7:10
TV: CSN Monday- Tuesday, PHL 17 on Wednesday.
Pitching Match-Ups:

Monday- Cole Hamels (1-6, 4.61) vs. Alex Sanabia (2-6, 5.00)
Tuesday- Tyler Cloyd (0-0, 2.84) vs. Jose Fernandez (2-2, 3.48)
Wednesday- Cliff Lee (4-2, 2.83) vs. Kevin Slowey (1-4, 3.44)

On the Phillies- Well, they just won a series against the mighty Reds, and did so dramatically beating Aroldis Chapman. They will be looking to build momentum here.

On the Marlins- They're not going anywhere, but their rotation is tougher than one might have thought.

PREDICTION- It won't be pretty or easy, but the Phillies will win 2 of 3.

Phillies @ Washington Nationals  (23-21, NL East-2)
Where: Nationals Park
When: Friday 7:05, Saturday 7:15, Sunday 1:35
TV: Friday CSN, Saturday FOX, Sunday PHL 17
Pitching Match-Ups:

Friday- Kyle Kendrick (4-2, 2.82) vs. Jordan Zimmerman (7-2, 1.62)
Saturday- Jon Pettibone (2-0, 3.00) vs. TBD
Sunday- Hamels vs. TBD

On the Nats- They have some injury issues in the rotation, making it probable that we'll see Haren and Duke over the weekend, in some order. They're a pretty similar team to the Phillies so far- good pitching, bad hitting. They're similar in record too. I won't call this series "big," but it's been on my calendar.

PREDICTION- Friday night features two hot pitchers, then both teams pitching "issues" come into play after that. I can't stand the Nats, so this is hard to pick. I'll make myself sick a moment. Nats 2 of 3.

Struggling Hamels Looks For A Sign, Run Support In Miami Without Ryan Howard, Carlos Ruiz

The Phillies surely know how to pick a good day to win in dramatic fashion. How about yesterday? It was crazy. Honestly, I thought we'd done against Chapman - especially after Cliff Lee was picked off. That wasn't the case, however, as Erik Kratz homered to tie it and right after that Freddy Galvis shot a line drive to the left field foul pole and won the game for the Phils. With a series win against the Reds, the Phillies are now two games under .500 and sit 4 1/2 games out of first place behind Atlanta. Tonight the Phils will open a three-game series with the Marlins tonight behind Cole Hamels (1-6, 4.61 ERA) and Alex Sanabia (2-6, 5.00 ERA).

Cole Hamels needs a miracle. The Phils' lefty has received little-to-no run support in almost all of his nine starts and has pitched well enough to win most of them. The Phillies are 1-8 in games that Hamels has started, including two against Miami already this season. In Hamels' last start, against the Indians on Wednesday, Hamels allowed five earned runs in five innings while walking two - which gave him the NL lead in walks. Control and command has been an issue all season for Hamels as he has walked 24 batters in 56 2/3 IP. In his last two starts Hamels has tallied seven walks (5 against Arizona). Looking for anything Hamels will take on the Marlins tonight with hopes of turning his horrid start of a season around. 

Alex Sanabia hasn't had much good news of late, dropping his last five straight decisions. He has allowed 17 ER in that span and has also had struggle with command - walking 23 batters in eight starts this season. On Wednesday the Reds got a hold of Sanabia, scoring four runs on nine hits through six innings. Back on May 2nd Sanabia started against the Phillies and allowed two earned runs on six hits through five innings and took the loss. In two career starts against the Phillies, Sanabia is 0-1 with a 2.45 ERA (2 ER in 11 IP). 

Game Notes: 

• This not scoring for Hamels crap is getting ridiculous. Seriously.
• Carlos Ruiz strained his right hamstring in yesterday's game. Expect a DL move, though nothing is announced.
• Ryan Howard is missing his second straight game. He remained in Philadelphia for an MRI but no announcement has been made as of the posting of this piece.
• Cole Hamels has an 8-11 career record with a 3.24 ERA against the Marlins.

Phillies lineup:

1. Jimmy Rollins SS
2. Ben Revere CF
3. Michael Young 1B
4. Chase Utley 2B
5. Delmon Young RF
6. Domonic Brown LF
7. Freddy Galvis 3B
8. Erik Kratz C
9. Cole Hamels P

Marlins lineup:

1. Adeiny Hechavarria SS
2. Placido Polanco 3B
3.  Derek Dietrich 2B
4. Marcell Ozuna RF
5. Justin Ruggiano CF
6. Chris Coghlan LF
7. Nick Green 1B
8. Jeff Mathis C
9. Alex Sanabia P

First Pitch Forecast: Scattered T-Storms - 79° - 40% PoP (retractable roof, though)

TV: CSN
Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT

Go Phillies!