Phillies Third Quarter Report Card

Record Since All-Star Break:  23-13

Overall Record: 70-53 (2.5 behind Atlanta, 2 game lead in Wild Card)

The Third Quarter of the Phillie season was one of constant roster turnover.  Besides the injuries (Utley, Howard, Victorino), there was also the addition of Roy Oswalt to the rotation, and one of the top prospects in baseball, Dominic Brown, joining the team.  Through it all, the team found a way to get back to playing winning baseball and again have themselves in position for a playoff berth.

Though they’ve come a long since their abysmal play in June, there is still plenty of work left to get back to the Fall Classic for a third straight year.  There are 39 games left in the regular season, and with the way the Braves are playing, the Phils will need to keep building on this quarter if they’re going to take the division title.  With all of their key players healthy (at long last), including the very recent returns of the big bats in the middle of the order, it doesn’t seem out of the question.

Catcher:  Well, it was probably the best quarter-season of Carlos Ruiz’s career.  He hit .309 and slugged .491.  In his 19 starts since July 27th, he’s hit .367 (29-79) with 21 RBI.  But those numbers don’t even tell the whole story, because many of those RBI came at the most crucial times.  He hit a 10th-inning homer to beat the Marlins on August 5th.  The next night he knocked in the go-ahead run in the 8th inning to beat the Mets.  Then, he finished off the Phils’ amazing comeback against the Dodgers on August 12th, with a two-run double in the bottom of the 9th, to win the game 10-9.

Grade: A

First Base:  Ryan Howard missed half of the 3rd Quarter with a sprained ankle, which is a shame, because he was en route to his typical monster 2nd-half before the injury.  He had 6 homers in 67 AB’s, good for a .612 SLG, and was knocking in a run a game.  Ross Gload and Mike Sweeney platooned in Howard’s absence.  Gload made a huge contribution, hitting .341, with a .449 OBP and .610 SLG.  Of course, he’s now on the DL with a groin strain.  Sweeney hasn’t done much since being acquired.

Grade:  B+

Second Base:  This spot was manned by Wilson Valdez for the vast majority of the quarter.  He didn’t really hit at all, but hey, it’s Wilson Valdez.  What can you really expect?  He played excellently in the field, and he did deliver a game-winning hit to beat the Diamondbacks on July 29th.  Not that it’s saying much, but Valdez looks like the most valuable backup middle infielder that the Phils have had in a while.  Let’s just hope he stays a backup.

Grade: C

Third Base:  It’s a pleasure watching Placido Polanco hit.  He has amazing bat control, and always goes up with a plan.  He was briefly leading the league in hitting this week, at .325, but actually had his first 3-game hitless stretch of the season and has dropped back to 5th in the league.  Not that Placido is expected to hit the long ball, but it is a little disappointing that he has only one homer since May 9th.  His .984 fielding percentage leads all ML thirdbasemen.

Grade: B+

Shortstop:  You can’t help but wonder what Jimmy Rollins’s season would have been like had he not strained his calf muscle in a pre-game warmup before the home opener in April.  It’s a small sample size, but over the first six games of the year, he hit .391, with 7 walks and 5 extra-base hits.  After missing the better part of two months, he’s just never been able to find his stroke.  In the 3rd Quarter, he hit .239 with 1 home run.  If there’s a silver lining, it looks like his legs are fully healthy, as he was 12 for 12 in stolen base attempts in the quarter.

Grade:  D+

Left Field:  In July, we saw the renaissance of Raul Ibanez.  After a calendar year’s worth of struggles, Ibanez came through when the team really needed him, with Utley and other key players out with injuries.  For the quarter, Raul hit .311 BA/.403 OBP/.479 SLG.  He had an 18-game hitting streak that stretched from July 22nd-August 11th.  In the ten days since that streak ended, he’s struggled, though he did pick up a 2-run homer on Sunday.  With everyone finally healthy, the 38-year-old could maybe use a couple days off to re-charge for the stretch run.

Grade:  A-

Center Field: Shane Victorino missed a sizable chunk of the quarter with an injury, and when he’s been playing he hasn’t been very productive.  His OBP for the quarter was just .294, and the surprising power he showed in the first half of the season has disappeared, with his last homer coming on July 16th.  He’s showed some signs of heating up since coming back from the DL ten days ago, but he needs to get back to getting on-base and using his speed.

Grade: C-

Right Field:  Jayson Werth saw a lot of time in center during the quarter, but we’ll just consider him here for grading purposes.  It’s impossible to say if Werth was affected by the trade rumors earlier in the season (and he made that very clear in a Sports Illustrated article), but he definitely broke out of his lengthy slump right around the time that the rumors died down.  After a monster 1st quarter and sluggish 2nd, Werth has been raking again since the All-Star break.  The big-time power hasn’t been there (3 homers), but he hit .350 with a .456 OBP in the 3rd Quarter.  His 14 doubles in that stretch have him leading the majors, with 41 on the season.

Grade: A-

Bench:  The big story on the Phils bench has been Dom Brown, who has stayed in the bigs even after the return of the injured starters.  He’s definitely showed flashes of his talent (a LONG home run, gunning a runner down at the plate, every time he runs) but, all in all, he hasn’t really produced much.  Maybe the biggest indication of the seasoning he still needs: just one walk in 45 plate appearances.  We already mentioned the positive contribution of Gload, and Ben Francisco also had a solid quarter, with a .356 OBP and .538 SLG in 52 AB’s.  Brian Schneider really struggled (4-24), and Greg Dobbs and Cody Ransom, with their averages below the Mendoza Line on the season, are now in AAA.  Assuming the Phils make the playoffs, there’s still a bench spot or two up for grabs, as Sweeney and Brown haven’t locked up their spots.  

Grade:  C

Starting Pitchers:  With all the issues the team has had with run-scoring droughts and bullpen blowups, the starters have really been the foundation of this team.  They’ve definitely had their fair share of poor outings but, all in all, the team has gotten consistently excellent starting pitching all season.  Thanks to the addition of Oswalt, this is now (arguably) the best starting rotation in Phillie history, and they continued to show why in the season’s 3rd Quarter.

Oswalt has settled in nicely since his rough debut, and he’s now 3-1 with a 2.43 ERA in 5 starts for the club.  Anyone out there that thought he was over-the-hill when the Phils traded for him has been proven wrong.  The other Roy, Mr. Halladay, continues to carve up the National League.  Doc was 6-1 with a 2.08 ERA in the quarter.  He allowed 5 earned runs twice, but in his other five starts he gave up 1 run or less.

Cole Hamels threw really well throughout the quarter.  He gave up 1 run or less in four of his seven starts, for an ERA of 2.87.  Amazingly though, he didn’t get a single win, going 0-3.  Cole’s strike-out rate on the season is the best he’s had since his rookie year in ’06, which is a reflection of the increased velocity he’s had since last year, and also the cutter he’s developed.

The back of the rotation, Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick, couldn’t stack up to the other three guys, but not many pitchers in the game could.  Kendrick had a bunch of really good starts, but also a few where he couldn’t get anybody out.  He ended up 3-3 with a 4.83 ERA.  Blanton, on the other hand, was really consistent, but consistently mediocre.  To his credit, he gave the team a chance to win every time out, which is why he still has a leg up on Kendrick if the Phils use a 4th starter in the post-season.  He was 2-1 with a 4.00 ERA in the quarter. 

Grade: B+

Bullpen:  If there’s one aspect of this team that will keep them from winning a championship, we all know it is the bullpen.  So how are things shaping up, and how will Charlie use these guys the rest of the way?  First off, David Herndon and Danys Baez are basically just there to eat meaningless innings when possible.  Herndon is staying because he was a Rule 5 pick, and Baez is staying because he’s still owed $2-3 million next year.  It’s very possible that both would be left off the post-season roster.

The 6th and 7th inning guys are Jose Contreras and Chad Durbin.  Contreras imploded in his first game after the All-Star break, giving up 5 runs in less than an inning.  But since then he’s been excellent, with a 1.46 ERA in 14 games.  He’s ready to step into an even more important role, if needed.  Durbin is hitting his first rough patch of the season.  He is what he is.  A useful and stellar relief pitcher, but not overpowering in any way and he will give up hits.

And, of course, the 8th and 9th innings belong to Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge.  Madson had a brilliant Third Quarter, posting a 1.37 ERA in 20 games.  He struck out 26, walked just 3, and currently has a streak of 12 straight scoreless appearances.  Lidge will most likely continue to be an adventure.  He was 11 for 12 in save opportunities in the quarter, but 7 walks in 12.2 innings doesn’t exactly put managers and fans at ease in the late innings of tight games.  Unfortunately, we know what would happen if Madson were put in the closer role, so we’ll live and die with Lidge.

Finally, an area of concern is the left-handed options.  J.C. Romero had a brutal stretch recently, though he looked pretty good in two outings this past weekend.  Antonio Bastardo will be back at some point, but it’s hard to imagine he’ll gain Charlie’s trust enough to be used in key spots in October.  I haven’t heard any rumors, but Ruben Amaro still has a week or so to trade for a lefty reliever.  Other names to keep in mind are Mike Zagurski and Scott Mathieson (not a lefty, but potentially useful), who are in AAA at the moment. 

Grade: C

Overall Team Grade:  A TON of credit has to go to Charlie Manuel for this successful quarter.  They won over 60% of their games with no contribution from Utley, and Howard missing half the games.  Charlie was really patching his line-up together with some slim pickings a lot of nights.  Of course, when your starting pitchers are getting the job done, that makes the job of the manager a whole lot easier. 

The Phils 4th Quarter schedule is strange.  They have 14 games coming against teams in the Central and West division, then their final 25 GAMES are all against the NL East.  Six of the last twelve games are against the Braves, including the final three games of the year in Atlanta.  It’s hard to imagine the division race won’t come down to the final week.

Third Quarter Grade:  A-