Phillies Report Card #5

Valdez capped off an eventful game, and week, for the Phils

Record since last Report Card: 6-5

Overall Record: 31-19 (1st in division)

Throughout the season (roughly every 10 games) we’ll review how the Phils have been performing over the past week or two and hand out some grades.  These grades reflect the team’s performance since the previous Report Card.

It was definitely an eventful 11-games, with the 19-inning thriller on Wednesday that saw Wilson Valdez end up as the winning pitcher, and also the season debuts of Chase Utley and Domonic Brown, giving fans hope that the offense can finally get going.  On to the grades…

Position Players:
More of the same from the offense, though they definitely gave some reason for hope with a solid showing in the Reds series this week.  Their 10 runs on Monday ended a streak of 9 straight games without scoring more than 3 in a game.

Even though Dom Brown has struggled out of the gate (3 for 18), considering the other two right field candidates (Francisco and Mayberry) were a combined 9 for 55, it’s nice to have him back in there getting another big league shot.  Worth noting that two of Francisco’s three hits were homers, and Mayberry’s value increased (in my mind) by playing a solid center field in place of the injured Victorino.  It will be interesting to see who leaves the roster when Victorino returns.  It could be time to say goodbye to Rule 5’er Michael Martinez.

Ryan Howard ended a 20+ AB hitless streak with a homer on Saturday vs. Texas.  That seems to have gotten him on track because he’s 9-25 with two homers, three doubles, and five walks since Saturday’s game.  That second homer was a big one: it tied Wednesday’s game in the bottom of the 10th.

The offensive star of this stretch was Ibanez, who led the team in average (.317), home runs (3), and RBI (9).  Chooch is on his first nice run of the season, hitting .310 (9-29).  Utley is just 2-14 to start, but he did hit a solo homer in garbage time of today’s 10-4 win.  The offense has had some nice, brief stints like this Cincy series already, but they haven’t been able to keep it going.  Maybe with Utley on board, that will change.

Grade:  D

Starting Pitchers:
There’s absolutely no cause for concern, but worth mentioning that the Phils’ starters have been merely solid (instead of spectacular) for about three weeks now.  Over these last 11 games, there were definitely a few gems, but even more than a few ho-hum, nothing special starts.

Cliff Lee walked a career-high six in a loss to the Cards and gave up 4 runs in a win over the Reds today.  Though, in between those two starts he turned in the Start of the Week, shutting out his old team, Texas, over 8 innings, giving up 5 hits and striking out 10. 

Halladay and Hamels each allowed three runs (and Doc gave up 11 hits) in somewhat shaky starts vs. Cincy, but they were both pretty dominant in wins over the Rangers and Rockies, respectively, in their prior outings.

Oswalt came back from his injury with two solid starts, but despite allowing just two earned runs in his 12 innings of work, he came away with a loss and a no-decision.  Finally, Kendrick and Worley each made a mediocre start in place of Blanton, who is back on the DL.

Grade:  B

Bullpen:
Maybe the undercovered and underrated aspect of this team right now is the performance of the relief corps.  Despite surrendering a three-run homer and taking the loss vs. Cincy on Tuesday, Ryan Madson has been so good that Charlie Manuel has basically said that he plans on leaving him in the closer role, even when Lidge and Contreras are back.  Madson was flawless in his four other outings, picking up three saves.

I said in the last Report Card that Worley could evolve into the Chad Durbin role.  Well, now it looks more like Michael Stutes fits that bill.  He’s been looking dominant, with a lively, mid-90’s fastball.  In these 11 games he pitched 4.1 shutout innings with 8 strike outs.  Bastardo continued to pitch well, also.  Contreras came back today, with a 1-2-3 9th inning.  When Lidge returns, the back of this bullpen is potentially really strong, with Madson, Contreras, Lidge, Bastardo, and Stutes.

Even the lesser relievers were good this week.  David Herndon came back from AAA and threw 5 scoreless innings over three games.  And Danys Baez was the true hero of Wednesday night’s epic win, coming on in the 14th inning and throwing 5 shutout innings, throwing 73 pitches, and giving up just one hit.  And Wilson Valdez gets a mention here, thanks to his scoreless 19th inning.  All told, the ‘pen threw 35.2 innings in these 11 games, allowing just 7 earned runs, good for a 1.77 ERA.

Grade:  A