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Phillies roundtable: What's your favorite Ryan Howard moment?

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With less than 10 games left in Ryan Howard's career with the Philadelphia Phillies, Philliedelphia.com staffers were polled on their favorite moments of Ryan Howard's career. Here are the results: 

Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly Editor

Though moments like him winning the 2006 Home Run Derby and MVP were tough to pass up because they represented the start of the Phillies most recent golden era, I selected Howard and Chase Utley going back-to-back in Game three of the 2008 World Series. 

After stealing the first game of the series in Tampa Bay, the Phillies returned home to play the first home World Series game of my life. In the sixth inning, the duo went back-to-back, which proved to be crucial in a one-run Phillies win. 

Though his poor performance in the 2009 World Series watered it down a bit, it's also hard not to remember how dominant Howard was during the 2009 NLCS, when he hit .333, slugged two home runs and drove in eight runs in a series that was just five games long. 

Brian Startare, Sports Talk Philly Owner

To me, it's not sad that the career of Ryan Howard in Phillies pinstripes is coming to close as much as it is just simply the time for change and new beginnings. I'll always remember Howard for his MVP season in 2006, a World title in 2008 and his "just get me to the plate boys" in the 2009 Divisional Series vs. Colorado just prior to his game-tying double with two outs in the top of the ninth off of closer Houston Street.

When I think of Ryan Howard, I think of an all-time great Phillie. It's not about the contract, the strikeouts, the Achilles injury, but rather a man who represented his team and his city well and will always be a World Champion, a title only a handful of Phillies can claim.

Thank you Big Piece, thanks for the memories.

Jimmy Rollins had a powerful response to passing of Jose Fernandez

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By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor

The MLB community was struck with grief Sunday morning after learning that Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez, who was just 24 years old, passed away, along with two others, in a boating accident.

Former Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who debuted as an MLB analyst for TBS Sunday, had one of the better reactions to the tragic news, as transcribed by Ryan Lawrence of Philly Voice:

Here's Jimmy Rollins on the passing of Jose Fernandez: pic.twitter.com/m3Lun1Cl65

— Ryan Lawrence (@ryanlawrence21) September 25, 2016

"When I first met the kid, I had seen him on TV and seen his stuff and his dynamic arm, but it was his smile. You knew his struggle, you knew where he came from and what he went through to get here and he never lost who he was and that joy for the game and joy for life. I wanted to meet him because he was the next big thing... As a competitor, he was in your face and smiling and joking with you and letting you know he was a presence. From the field, you knew he was the same way off the field -- he accepted everyone and wanted to bring joy and happiness to everyone's life. Not just the attention on him, but it was his journey and he wanted to be part of it and share it with those that he loved... For a life to end so young, you feel it and recognize how precious life is... Baseball is a family, you don't want to lose anyone, especially in a tragic way."

There have been many powerful responses to the tragic passing of the 24-year-old, but Rollins' may have been the best. Rollins always has had a gifted politician-like ability in terms of being genuine, which certainly will help him to become a good analyst, but in this case allowed him to lend his thoughts on one of the most tragic events that baseball has seen in years. 

Fernandez, who was a Cuban defector, won the National League Rookie of the Year in 2013. In 2016, he had helped the Marlins remain within striking distance of one of the two Wild Card spots in the National League, as he had gone 16-8 with a 2.86 ERA and 253 strikeouts in 182.1 innings. 

Mets, Phillies remember Jose Fernandez in Citi Field blowout

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By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor

Final: Mets 17, Phillies 0  ❖  Attendance: 35,093

FLUSHING, N.Y. — On the heels of the tragic death of fellow National League East divisional opponent RHP Jose Fernandez, the Philadelphia Phillies (70-86) and New York Mets (83-73) met on Sunday for their final Citi Field matchup of the season featuring right-handed starters Jake Thompson and Robert Gsellman.

Behind Gsellman's seven shutout innings, the Mets ultimately came out on top to capture the win series victory of the four-game set in which they outscored the Phillies 44-23. The Phillies allowed 25 unanswered runs to conclude the series.

The Phillies mustered just three hits on offense off the bats of shortstop Freddy Galvis, left fielder Cody Asche and catcher Jorge Alfaro. Center fielder Odubel Herrera and third baseman Maikel Franco each walked in the contest. Thompson allowed three runs on five and three walks through four innings, suffering his sixth career losing decision.

Prior to the game, a moment of silence honoring the life and career of Fernandez, who was killed in  a boating accident off of Miami Beach early Sunday morning, was held. Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes also hung a Mets jersey with Fernandez' name on it in their dugout.

WP: Robert Gsellman (3-2, 2.56 ERA) ❖ LP: Jake Thompson (3-6, 5.70 ERA)

Phillies go for series split with Mets behind Thompson

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By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor  

New York, NY - The Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets conclude their four-game series this afternoon at Citi Field as Jake Thompson opposes Robert Gsellman. 

The first three games of the series have been all about the offense, with the Mets taking the first two games by scores of 9-8 and 10-5 while the Phillies won on Saturday night, 10-8. Philadelphia powered ahead to a 10-0 lead early and nearly collapsed in the later innings, but were able to hold off the Mets bats and win by two. 

The Mets remained tied with the Giants atop the National League Wild Card race, with the Cardinals still trailing by a half game heading into Sunday's action.

Breaking News: Jose Fernandez dies in boating accident

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By: Matthew Shinkle, Sports Talk Philly staff 

 

The sports and baseball world was stricken with grief in the early hours of Sunday morning when it was reported that Miami Marlins P Jose Fernandez has died. He was 24. 

Police responded to a reported boating accident at around 3 a.m. and are still looking for survivors at the time of this article. After reporting the news, the Marlins also announced their scheduled game against the Atlanta Braves in Miami today for 1:10 p.m. has been cancelled. 

The Marlins organization released a statement saying that the Marlins are "devastated by the tragic loss of Jose Fernandez. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this very difficult time." 

Fernandez defected to the United States from Cuba in 2007, and was drafted by the Marlins 14th overall in 2011 MLB draft. He made his debut on April 7, 2013. He was 16-8 this season with a 2.86 ERA. 

All of SportsTalkPhilly.com mourns the loss of this great young ballplayer and man. Fernandez was one of the greatest young pitchers of his time. 

Ten-run lead saves Phillies in win over Mets

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By Theo DeRosa, Sports Talk Philly staff 

Final: Phillies 10, Mets 8

NEW YORK—For once, the lead was big enough.

With the September struggles of Jeanmar Gómez and other Phillies pitchers, blown leads had become almost expected when the Phillies were fortunate enough to have a lead in the first place.

Saturday night, only a 10-run cushion saved the Phillies from another crushing lost — and only just.

The Mets put up eight unanswered runs in the fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth innings, putting the tying run at the plate in the eighth and the winning run at the plate in the ninth, but the Phillies, by the skin of their teeth, hung on to win the third game in this four-game set in New York.

WP: Alec Asher (2-0, 1.66)  ❖  LP: Sean Gilmartin (0-1, 7.13)  ❖  S: Michael Mariot (40)

Phillies rumors: Team wants to re-sign Jeremy Hellickson

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By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor

Earlier this week, we examined what a possible Jeremy Hellickson with the Philadelphia Phillies extension would look like. At that time, it appeared that an extension would have to come after Hellickson accepted a qualifying offer. It appears the Phillies may have another plan to retain their Opening Day starter. 

According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, the Phillies would like to lock Hellickson up before Hellickson can become a free-agent:

The Phillies would like to get Hellickson signed before he hits free agency. That’s one of the reasons they didn’t trade him at the non-waiver deadline. Hellickson (12-9, 3.57 ERA, 1.142 WHIP in 181⅓ innings) is also showing signs he’d like to stay in Philadelphia, but with a dearth of starting pitching in free agency, Hellickson may want to see what’s out there before committing quickly.

Even if the Phillies hope to lock Hellickson up before free-agency, they likely will have to extend a qualifying offer to him, which could be worth $16.7 million, knowing that they can't allow him to walk away in free-agency without getting any compensation. That decision has to come within five days of the World Series concluding. 

From Hellickson's perspective, it may be wise to accepted the qualifying offer. At most on the open market he would get $13 or $14 million a year (which he probably won't), but by accepting the qualifying offer he would get the aforementioned rate of $16.7 million. That would lock him into that rate for the first year, and he could still negotiate an extension on top of that making the $11-$13 million per year rate that he would have otherwise gotten on the open market. Even if he doesn't get an extension done on top of the qualifying offer, he's only going to be 30 at this time next year, so it's not as though his value on the open market would drastically drop. 

His agent is Scott Boras, so without the qualifying offer being part of plans for an extension, Hellickson seems like a near lock to test free-agency. The Phillies do have a nearly unlimited amount of money to work with in the short term, but without the qualifying offer, they would seemingly have to offer Hellickson $15 million per season to have him pass on testing on free-agency (due to the weak starting pitching market), and just because they can overpay now doesn't make it the right move. 

The Phillies interest in retaining Hellickson makes sense. Aaron Nola is likely to be on an innings limit in 2017. Vince Velasquez has a questionable at best health history. And the rest of the rotation is young. I've suggested that the team attempt to also retain Charlie Morton, but with how young the rotation is, they will need at least two veteran innings eaters like Hellickson and Morton. 

Asher, Gilmartin square off as Phillies look to rebound against Mets

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By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor

FLUSHING, N.Y. — Making his fourth start of the season will be Philadelphia Phillies (69-85) rookie RHP Alec Asher as he opposes southpaw Sean Gilmartin and the New York Mets (82-72) in the third of a four-game set Saturday evening at Citi Field.

Gilmartin will be making his first start after 13 relief appearances this season as he fills in for the ailing RHP Noah Syndergaard (strep throat).

The Phillies, who have been outscored 19-13 through two defeats so far this series, hope to avoid their fourth straight series defeat to the Mets. They are 28-40 against National League East opponents, 11-13 in overall Saturday matchups and 9-12 in the month of September so far this season.

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Starting Pitching Matchup:

Philadelphia Phillies (69-85)			New York Mets (82-72)
RHP	Alec Asher		LHP	Sean Gilmartin
	(1-0, 2.16 ERA)			(0-0, 4.76 ERA)

Mets slug past Jeremy Hellickson, Phillies, remain atop National League Wild Card

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By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor

Final: Mets 10, Phillies 5  ❖  Attendance: 37,873

FLUSHING, N.Y. — A matchup that took three hours and 40 minutes to play between the Philadelphia Phillies (69-85) and the National League Wild Card-hopeful New York Mets (82-72) ended in favor of the home team Friday evening at Citi Field.

Despite the two teams being even in the hit column at 10, New York slugged past Phillies pitching with five extra base hits, four doubles and a home run. The Phillies were denied their 70th victory of the season and with the loss fell to 28-40 against National League East opponents this season.

In suffering the losing decision, Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson lasted 4 1/3 innings and allowed six runs on seven hits and three walks. Mets rookie RHP Gabriel Ynoa earned his second career starting nod and the eighth appearance overall of his career. Rookie southpaw Steven Matz was the scheduled starter prior to Ynoa, however he was scratched Thursday with a potential season-ending left shoulder soreness.

Five games remain on the Phillies' seven-game road trip before they return home for their final series starting next Friday against the Mets. The Phillies have lost four of their last five games and have surrendered 29 home runs in their last 14 against their division rivals.

WP: Josh Smoker (3-0, 5.40 ERA) ❖ LP: Jeremy Hellickson (12-10, 3.78 ERA) ❖ SV: Hansel Robles (1)

Former Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins joins MLB on TBS

Philadelphia Phillies legend Jimmy Rollins will appear as an analyst this postseaso. (Frank Klose/Sports Talk Philly)

By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor

Former Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins will join the MLB on TBS for the remainder of their regular season coverage and into the postseason, Turner Sports announced Friday:  

2007 NL MVP & 2008 WS Champ @JimmyRollins11 joins #MLBonTBS studio team; will debut this Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET - https://t.co/CuZhsAucfP

— TurnerSportsPR (@TurnerSportsPR) September 23, 2016

In July, the recently released Rollins appeared on a FS1's "MLB Whip Around" on a few occasions, perhaps indicating that he planned to transition into being an analyst. During the 2013 playoffs, which the Phillies were eliminated from, Rollins also appeared on FOX's playoff coverage. 

Rollins, 37, made the Chicago White Sox out of Spring Training after signing a minor league contract prior to the spring season. He was released in mid-June after slashing .221/.295/.329 with two home runs and eight RBIs in 166 at-bats. Though Rollins didn't formally announce his retirement after his release, he doesn't seem to have pursued another job playing, because he probably could have gotten one as a bench piece for a contender if he did. 

If this is indicative of Rollins' career drawing to a close, he accomplished just about everything one could hope to in a career. Rollins won four gold gloves, appeared in the All-Star game three times, won the 2007 National League MVP, became the Phillies all-time hits leader and led the club to a 2008 World Series title. Though he's not a lock for the baseball Hall of Fame, he's about as sure a bet for the Phillies Wall of Fame as you can find.