This will be the first installment of a new column here on the blog. Throughout the baseball season, we’ll post updates on the Phils and hand out grades for position players, starting pitchers, and the bullpen. The intent is to post the update on a weekly basis but it might be longer than that sometimes. For each post, the grades will be based on what has happened since the last column went up. There will also be grades handed out at the one-quarter mark, half-season, three-quarter mark and, of course, a cumulative grade handed out at the end of the season.
So, let’s take a look at the first week of the season, which wrapped up today with a Roy Halladay complete game victory in Houston. The Phils swept the series and will take a 5-1 record, and plenty of momentum, into their home opener against the Nationals tomorrow afternoon. Now, it’s hard to get too overly excited about the hot start because the Nats and Astros are two pretty bad teams. On the other hand, considering the Phils recent history of mediocre to bad Aprils, it’s nice to see them get off to the strong start, no matter who they’re beating. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to build some confidence and a nice spot in the standings in advance of starting the meat of the schedule.
Position Players: Granted, they haven’t exactly faced a murderer’s row of pitchers, but the Phils’ bats have picked up right where they left off and they’ve hit the way we’ve come to expect. They’re leading the majors in runs scored, averaging just over 7 runs a game. They scored at least 5 runs in each of the first 5 games. Of course, it’s no coincidence that they scored just 2 today, with Roy Oswalt on the mound for Houston.
The lone newcomer, Placido Polanco, came back with a bang, as he hit a grand slam and drove in 6 runs on Opening Day. He didn’t stop there, as he has 13 hits already. He’s shown some signs that he’s still adjusting to playing third base (like when he didn’t get to the bag in time on a bunt today), but I think he’ll be fine there.
Jimmy Rollins has started to erase memories of his abysmal first-half in ’09, with a hot start at the plate that included a leadoff homer today. He’s scored at least one run in all six games. Raul Ibanez hasn’t been terrible, but after his disappearance down the stretch last year and a poor spring, he’s worth keeping an eye on to see if he’ll find his power stroke. Ryan Howard has 3 bombs already, including a mammoth shot into the upper-deck in right-center field in Washington the other day. For a guy who generally starts slow, that’s been great to see.
Position Players Grade: A
Starting Pitchers: Well, Blue Jays fans are probably pretty used to this storyline: there’s Halladay, and there’s the other four guys in the rotation. To the surprise of no one, Halladay has been dominant, winning both of his starts and surrendering just one earned run in his 16 innings of work. He also has a K:BB ratio 17:2 so far. He’s, uh, good.
As for the rest of the rotation, there wasn’t a quality start to be found. In fact, only Jamie Moyer went more than 5 innings, and he gave up 5 runs in his 6 innings. J.A. Happ did look good in his start on Friday night, but 103 pitches for 5 innings is nothing to write home about, even if he gave up no runs. Cole Hamels and Kyle Kendrick were both unimpressive. In the end, though, it’s the first week of the season and it’s just one start. Let’s not start drawing conclusions. Cole gets a chance to redeem himself at the Bank tomorrow. You better believe the boo birds will be out if he doesn’t. I’m sure the hunt is on for a new whipping boy with Donny Mac out of town.
Starting Pitchers Grade: B-
Bullpen: For this group, no news (or little news, at least) is good news. Considering the struggles of last year, and also that Brad Lidge and J.C. Romero are on the DL, two of last year’s most reliable relievers (Eyre and Park) are gone, and that no major additions were made in the offseason, this first week has to be considered a big success for the pen. Ryan Madson converted a save in his only opportunity. Danys Baez surprised me by hitting 97 on the radar gun in Houston on Saturday night, and Chad Durbin, David Herndon, and Jose Contreras combined to pitch 8.1 scoreless innings.
Bullpen Grade: A-
1. Michigan State: Experience counts for a lot, and the Spartans will have a team full of guys that have been to two Final Fours already. Coaching and talent also count for a lot, and Tom Izzo will be pushing these guys all season to get back to the Final Four, and cut down the nets this time. Kalin Lucas will be back for his senior year, and he’ll be joined by the likes of Durrell Summers, Draymond Green, Chris Allen, Korie Lucious, Delvon Roe, and Derrick Nix. As if that’s not enough talent, they’ll also be joined by a solid recruiting class headed by PF Adreian Payne and SG Keith Appling.
Chris Wright (assuming Monroe stays). They could be the team to beat in the Big East.
Before we say/do anything, let us take a moment to reflect on just how great the Donovan McNabb Era was in Philadelphia. Love him or hate him, it is pretty clear that Donovan McNabb is the greatest Eagle quarterback, at least of the Super Bowl Era, if not of all time. He burst onto the scene with an athleticism and charisma that reminded us of Randall. But, he wasn’t Randall. He also brought to the table a rare combination of football intelligence and competitive intensity that made us think of Jaws. But, he wasn’t Jaws, either. Though he may now be shrouded in fan dismissal and underappreciation because of the frustrating losses and seemingly unending “worm balls,” we will be telling stories to our children of Donovan McNabb’s greatness. It’s unfortunate that it ends with a fan base rejoicing, but the final legacy of D-Mac is yet to be determined. 
Youth is good. I like the youth movement, particularly in a sport like football where bodies break down very quickly. But, the problem with the youth movement is that who is going to be the leader now? Does DeSean Jackson have what it takes to step up and lead this team? What about Kolb, he of only 130 NFL passes? Can Trent Cole become more vocal? Can Asante Samuel become more professional? These are unanswered questions now that Dawkins and McNabb have been jettisoned in consecutive seasons.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m actually excited to see what Kolb can do, but all of this would not have happened if it was just the Kevin Kolb Era that was about to begin. Andy Reid, though has been stripped of a lot of his power, still has a lot of say, and there is no way that he could have been convinced that it was time to let McNabb go if it were just to give the ball to Kevin Kolb. No, while part of Andy Reid is really heartbroken by the loss of McNabb, another part of him has a schoolgirl-like giddiness to him because he’s going to get to employ the weapon he’s been drooling over for 14 over a year now–Michael Vick. I think, though no one knew it at the time, McNabb wrote his ticket out of here when he was uncomfortable sharing QB duties with Vick. Reid had this grandiose plan over revolutionizing the quarterback position, much like the RB position has been revolutionized in the past decade. But, he couldn’t do it with a stubborn, set-in-his-ways, successful quarterback. Now, he has Kolb, and what is he going to say? Expect to see a new-school, dueling quarterbacks offense. Kolb will still take the majority of the snaps, but Michael Vick will be one of the more important aspects of this offense. And, THAT is how Reid was convinced to move on at the QB position–because of his infatuation with the athletic abilities of Michael Vick. And, honestly, I’m pretty infatuated with the thought of it, too.
There is something that’s been building within me since the Cliff Lee trade, but I haven’t felt abused, cynical, or outright depressed enough yet to write a whole post about it. I’m still not there yet, but I’ll let it out briefly. I have come to the outright belief that the problem with professional sports–for us, the fans–is that the bottom line for us and those making the important decisions are COMPLETELY different. I want to expound upon this in a later post, but let’s just say that this move is not about winning games. The owners of these teams are not playing WhatIfSports with fake players and computer simulations, where the end goal is to win championships. Championships may be a means to an end for owners, but the only real goal is sustained financial growth of the largest investment made by the wealthiest men in the world. And, the key to that sentence is the word “sustained.” Championships may come and go (just ask the Marlins), but being in “the running” every year (regardless of whether the season ends in a win or a loss) is the way to build a profitable organization. And, that is the bottom line for those making the final decisions about guys like Cliff Lee and Donovan McNabb. So, we fans, just have to sit back take the Blue Pill from the Matrix and, even though we know that an NFC East title is just a computer program making us feel happy, who cares because it feels so good.