Phillies Recap: September 29, 2009

Philadelphia Phillies 7, Houston Astros 4

W - Happ (12-4), L - Lopez (0-1), S - Madson (10)

The Phillies had everyone at Citizens Bank Park holding their breath for most of the game. However, powered by the long ball, they jolted their way to their 91st victory of the season. It was a big win for the team, as they put together a solid start from Jay Happ and the offense got to Wilton Lopez. Pedro Feliz delivered the big hit with a grand slam in the fourth, leading the Phillies to a 7-4 victory.

Jay Happ pitched better than his numbers would indicate, and hung in for 5.2 innings. Despite having a very high pitch count early, Happ was getting the job done when he needed to, working out of several jams. Happ allowed three earned runs on nine hits and a walk. He struck out six and was lifted to his 12th victory by an uncharacteristically solid bullpen. One big concern was a groin strain that Jamie Moyer suffered on his final pitch in the seventh inning.

The Phillies offense looked like it was going to once again get shut down by a rookie. Wilton Lopez was strong out of the gate, but the Phillies rallied in the fourth. They loaded the bases with no one out and Pedro Feliz wasted no time depositing his second grand slam of the season deep into left field. The Phillies did well to tack on runs late, though they were not as patient as they could have been. Still, when the team scores seven runs, they should win the game.

With the win tonight, the Phillies have turned around their whole outlook on the home stretch of the season. Coupled with a Braves loss that came just a few minutes after the conclusion of the game, the Phillies' magic number is now down to one. That means the Phils will have five tries to seal the deal on their third straight NL East crown. The Phillies also surged a full game ahead of the Cardinals in the race for the best record in the National League; they still trail the Dodgers by two games entering play late tonight. More importantly, tonight gave everyone a boost of confidence in their offense and pitching.

Phillies Recap: September 12, 2009

New York Mets 10, Philadelphia Phillies 9
W - Feliciano (6-4), L - Madson (5-5), S - Rodriguez (31)

Jamie Moyer came out flat against the Mets and put the Phillies in a quick hole. However, he battled back to hold down the scoring and enabled the Phillies' offense to spring alive and get back in the game off of Mike Pelfrey. However, after taking a commanding lead late into the game, the Mets clawed back against the Phils' bullpen and stunned the Phillies by a final score of 10-9.

For the Phillies, Jamie Moyer gave up four runs before he even retired a batter. It was a horrendous start for Moyer, but he gutted out a decent performance and shut the Mets' offense down after their initial outburst. Moyer went seven innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits and he did not walk or strike out a batter. However, trouble found the Phillies as their closer situation got more hairy. Ryan Madson came on with a one run lead and gave up the go-ahead homer to David Wright after getting two quick outs in the inning. It was Madson's sixth blown save of the season and ultimately earned him his fifth loss.

Mike Pelfrey started strong against the Phillies, but after a few innings, their big hitters got to him. Pedro Feliz hit a ringing two-run homer, before Chase Utley swatted a solo shot and Raul Ibanez hit a two-run homer. Pelfrey went six innings on the day, surrendering eight earned runs and 10 hits. He walked one and struck out three, and looked shaky for most of the afternoon. However, the Mets' bullpen came in and did a very good job keeping the Phillies from expanding their lead further.

This was a tough loss for the Phillies, who looked like they were going to run away with the game, after getting off to a slow start. However, the bigger concern here is their bullpen, which has been erratic and inconsistent, especially in the second half of the season. With yet another blown save, the team must decide how to handle close, late-inning situations. The Phillies can still bounce back and sweep tomorrow's double-header to win the series from the Mets.

Phillies Recap: September 9, 2009

Philadelphia Phillies 6, Washington Nationals 5

W - Lee (6-2), L - Clippard (2-2), S - Madson (6)

For the third straight start, Cliff Lee was not sharp. However, he showed some grit and kept the Phillies in the ball game. The Nationals, behind a decent start from Garrett Mock, proved to be a formidable opponent again. The two NL East foes played a good game that went back and forth, down to the wire. The Phillies once again prevailed in a close game by a 6-5 margin.

Cliff Lee did not have his best command. But the eager bats of the Nationals helped keep his pitch count down. Nonetheless, they tagged him for five runs, stringing together some hard hit balls on several occasions. On the night, Lee went seven plus innings, allowing five earned runs. He gave up seven hits, but no walks, and fanned four. Lee has not been nearly as dominant as he was in his first five starts, and needs to regain the lights-out stuff he had early on as a Phillie.

The Nationals pitched well, as the Phillies offense was against somewhat stagnant. Even though Garrett Mock gave up a three-run second inning, he settled in and kept the Phils relatively quiet. They had several opportunities to bust the game open, but a lack of clutch hitting yet again befell the Phillies. However, in the eighth inning the Phillies pounded back-to-back solo shots by Jayson Werth and Pedro Feliz, which provided the winning margin.

This was another grind-it-out win for the Phillies. While the close games against a poor team are not awe-inspiring, they are adding a dimension of mental toughness. For the past few weeks, the Phillies have not shown a lot of spark, so hopefully these difficult wins will lead to better things in the future. Even with the ugly win, the Phillies do drop their magic number to 19 and improve to 79-58 on the year.

Phillies Recap: August 13, 2009

Philadelphia Phillies 6, Chicago Cubs 1

When the Phillies (64-48) are homering, they are going well. The Phils ripped two homeruns in support of Cliff Lee, who turned in his third gem as a Phillie. By the time the dust settled, the Phillies had a 6-1 win and swept the three game series over the Cubs. Coming off of a disappointing homestand, this was exactly what the team needed as they have woken up from their mid-summer slumber. The Phillies have built up a five game lead in the NL East, pending tonight's action and are back to 16 games over .500.

If there was any doubt left of Cliff Lee's importance to the Phillies, it has been wiped away. Lee (10-9) improves to 3-0 and has a miniscule 1.12 ERA with the Phillies. He dazzled again, shutting down the Cubs offense over eight strong innings, alloing just one earned run and striking out eight Cubs. Despite three walks, Lee's only major jam came in the second inning when he loaded the bases before retiring the side unscathed. He threw 122 pitches over the eight innings, giving the bullpen some much needed rest and staking his position as the workhorse of the rotation.

Ryan Dempster (6-6) pitched well for the Cubs early, despite being saddled with the loss. He cruised through the first three innings before surrendering homers to Ryan Howard and Pedro Feliz. For Howard, it was his first homerun in August and recent memory, as he went the other way with a three-run bomb. Feliz continues to swing a hot bat as he picked up a pair of two-out RBI in the game. Dempster ended up going seven innings, giving up six earned runs and striking out eight Phillies. The Cubs have now lost five straight games.

This was a huge series for the Phillies, who not only swept three from a playoff hopeful team but also got their offense going again. Last season after 112 games, the Phillies were 61-51 so they are back ahead of schedule and ready to defend their division crown. And they are clicking again just in time to visit the division rival Atlanta Braves this weekend. But for tonight at least, the flight to Atlanta will be a lot nicer following the three-game waltz in the Windy City.

A Perspective on NL East Third Basemen

Before the season started, if I asked you which third baseman you'd want from the NL East, you probably would have replied David Wright of the New York Mets. Heck, you might have even known who Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals was and picked him. It's clear enough that Zimmerman is the class of the division at third base. But, I doubt that Pedro Feliz, the Phillies' sure-handed third baseman, would have been included in that conversation at all.

But I can make a case that this season, Feliz should be considered better than Wright. David Wright's power struggles at the dish this season have been well-chronicled. Before this season, he was widely regarded as one of the best third basemen in the National League. He is a perennial All-Star, a Silver Slugger award winner and has even added some Gold Glove awards, for some strange reason. But now, playing for a punch-less Mets team, Wright's numbers have come down to Earth. Here's how all three of the aforementioned third basemen stack up in 2009 (through 8/10/09):

Zimmerman: .306 BA, 24 HR, 75 RBI, 0 SB, .372 OBP, .537 SLG

Wright: .323 BA, 8 HR, 55 RBI, 24 SB, .414 OBP, .467 SLG

Feliz: .286 BA, 8 HR, 56 RBI, 0 SB, .332 OBP, .405 SLG

Zimmerman has the clear edge in just about all of the offensive categories. Wright has taken on a lead off hitter's approach this season, with an elevated on-base percentage and stolen bases total. But for a hitter meant to be a run producer (who typically bats third, fourth, or fifth), the numbers are comparable to Feliz's (who typically bats seventh). And of course, offensive production doesn't tell the whole story. Defense at the hot corner is especially important for a third baseman. Here are the defensive statistics for the same three:

Zimmerman: 936.2 IN, 334 CH, 13 E, 20 DP, .961 FP

Wright: 971.2 IN, 291 CH, 13 E, 15 DP, .955 FP

Feliz: 904.2 IN, 311 CH, 10 E, 28 DP, .968 FP

The number that will really jump out at you are the double-plays that Feliz has been involved in. Both he and Zimmerman have much better fielding percentages than Wright. I have always considered Wright to be overrated on defense, and the numbers back it up. In substantially more innings than the other two, Wright had far fewer chances. This suggests either limited range or extremely poor positioning. So while you might see Wright diving around a lot on SportsCenter, his defensive liabilities can lead to more diving stops and potential errors than the others.

The final aspect of these third basemen that we will analyze are clutch statistics. Baseball tracks a number of stats that show a player's performance in clutch situations of a ballgame. The first one we will look at are the stats in the classic situation: two outs and runners in scoring position:

Zimmerman: 47 PA, .179 BA, 3 HR, 14 RBI, .319 OBP, .410 SLG
Wright: 62 PA, .226 BA, 1 HR, 13 RBI, .339 OBP, .358 SLG
Feliz: 52 PA, .255 BA, 2 HR, 19 RBI, .327 OBP, .447 SLG

The second set of stats will be what's called 'late and close' which indicates a plate appearance in the seventh inning or later, with the batting team tied, ahead by one, or the tying run at least on deck:

Zimmerman: 85 PA, .233 BA, 2 HR, 14 RBI, .329 OBP, .384 SLG

Wright: 74 PA, .241 BA, 0 HR, 7 RBI, .405 OBP, .345 SLG

Feliz: 57 PA, .302 BA, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .321 OBP, .415 SLG

Ultimately, any team would be well ahead of the average roster to have one of these three players. But in comparing the three, offensively, defensively, and their clutchness, I'd take Feliz over the more-recognized Wright. Zimmerman is certainly having a great season, but who knows what type of production Feliz would have if he batted third in a lineup in front of Adam Dunn. Feliz plays the best defense of the group and his offensive production is almost comparable to Wright's. As he often goes over-looked, Pedro Feliz deserves a lot more credit than he gets among third basemen and Phillies.

Phillies Recap: August 5, 2009

Philadelphia Phillies 7, Colorado Rockies 0

J.A. Happ turned in a masterful performance, shutting down the Colorado offense and giving the Phillies one of their best starts of the season. The Phillies came out strong against the Rockies, scoring early and often. But the real story tonight was Happ's second shutout of the season, in front of an electric crowd at Citizens Bank Park. The Phils picked up a 7-0 win over Colorado.

Happ (8-2) was very sharp, mowing through the Rockies' order with relative ease. If Happ was pitching for his job in the starting rotation, he certainly made a compelling case. Happ scattered four hits and two walks over a complete game shutout while striking out a career-high 10 batters. Happ did not allow an earned run and never really came close. The dominant game by Happ makes the deicision to move him into the bullpen that much harder, as his season ERA was lowered to 2.74, which is good for eighth in the majors.

Jorge De La Rosa (9-8) fell victim to the Phillies and Citizens Bank Park once again, as he surrendered homeruns to Pedro Feliz and Jimmy Rollins in the second inning. Then in the fifth inning, Jayson Werth tagged him for a three-run homer, which broke open a 7-0 lead for the Phillies. De La Rosa finished five innings, giving up seven earned runs, while only striking out three. The Rockies bullpen came in to finish the last three innings without giving up any runs, but the game had been decided by that point.

Overall, this was an important game for the Phillies. Their offense came alive with timely hitting and Happ provided the shut-down performance the team so sorely needed. Happ must also now be considered a legitimate contender for the Rookie of the Year Award. The losing streak is over, the lead in the NL East is safe, and Cliff Lee takes the mound tomorrow afternoon. It seems as though all is well in Philadelphia again.