{"id":568,"date":"2010-07-30T10:45:08","date_gmt":"2010-07-30T15:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=568"},"modified":"2010-07-30T11:21:21","modified_gmt":"2010-07-30T16:21:21","slug":"phillies-semi-weekly-report-card-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=568","title":{"rendered":"Phillies Semi-Weekly Report Card #10"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Record since last Report Card: <\/strong>8-0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Overall Record: <\/strong>56-46 (2.5 behind Braves, 1.5 behind Giants in Wild Card)<\/p>\n<p>So, in this past week, the Phillies added one of the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=573\" title=\"oswalt\">best pitchers in baseball over the past decade<\/a>,\u00a0arguably the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=572\" title=\"dom brown\">top prospect in all of baseball<\/a>,\u00a0AND they didn&#8217;t lose a game.\u00a0 Not bad, I guess.\u00a0 When you consider that this came on the heels of a week that saw them win just one game and left them 7 games out in the division, it makes it\u00a0all the more important, surprising, and exciting.\u00a0 General baseball wisdom states that it takes a week to make up a game in a pennant race, and the Phils just made up 4.5 games in a week.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t have much to add to the Oswalt deal.\u00a0 I do really like it.\u00a0 The Phils gave up J.A. Happ, a guy that gave them an incredible season last year but it was clear that the Phils front office never had a\u00a0ton of faith in him.\u00a0 The other prospects are both\u00a0great\u00a0athletes with speed, but they&#8217;re both 19 and have spent the season in A-ball, and not tearing things up there, either.\u00a0 Plus, the Astros and good old Ed Wade agreed to kick in $11 million of Oswalt&#8217;s money, which could be the difference-making financial flexibility that has them adding a nice bullpen piece going into 2011.\u00a0 Yes, the Cliff Lee deal was a disaster.\u00a0 But hats off to Ruben Amaro, as Bry said yesterday, for staying aggressive.<\/p>\n<p>Some key links for more reading on the deal:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jayson Stark, as usual, has a good piece that details <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/sports.espn.go.com\/mlb\/columns\/story?columnist=stark_jayson&amp;id=5421538\" title=\"stark\">what kind of pitcher Oswalt is right now<\/a> and delves deep into his numbers on the season.\u00a0 Those numbers are very good, by the way.<\/li>\n<li>Jerry Crasnick details <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/sports.espn.go.com\/mlb\/columns\/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&amp;id=5421648\" title=\"crasnick\">how Oswalt will adjust<\/a> to life in the &#8220;big city&#8221;.\u00a0 I&#8217;m not thrilled with his reticence to come pitch here, but whatever.<\/li>\n<li>Bob Brookover argues <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.philly.com\/philly\/sports\/phillies\/20100730_Inside_the_Phillies__Oswalt_a_trade_for_Phillies_future.html\" title=\"brookover\">having Oswalt is better than having Lee<\/a>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0On to this week&#8217;s grades:<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" hspace=\"5\" vspace=\"5\" border=\"1\" src=\"http:\/\/www3.allaroundphilly.com\/blogs\/delcotimes\/ryanl\/uploaded_images\/RaulIbanez-709827.jpg\" alt=\"ibanez\" align=\"left\" height=\"411\" width=\"298\" \/>Position Players:\u00a0 <\/strong>You didn&#8217;t think we&#8217;d actually get through one of these reports without a couple injuries, did you?\u00a0 Nope.\u00a0 Shane Victorino strained an oblique muscle and hit the DL.\u00a0 The Phils have now seen 5 of their 8 everyday players put on the DL this season (not to mention 3 starting pitchers, 5 relievers, the backup C, maybe some I&#8217;m forgetting?).\u00a0 Jimmy Rollins also has missed the last three games after fouling a ball off his foot.<\/p>\n<p>Moving past the injuries, it was a bounce back week for the offense that they badly needed.\u00a0 Probably a coincidence, but it really got started after hitting coach Milt Thompson was fired after last Thursday&#8217;s game, and replaced with former hitting coach Greg Gross.\u00a0 Maybe the real turning point was when they pounded Ubaldo Jimenez, who has been the best pitcher in baseball this year, in a 10-2 win on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>The big individual story of the week was Raul Ibanez.\u00a0 Give credit to Charlie for sitting him against lefties, because it seems like that might have helped him find his stroke again.\u00a0 Raul hit .429 (12-28) with 2 HR over the past week, including a big homer off the lefty Joe Saunders on Thursday.\u00a0 We haven&#8217;t seen him hit like this since before last year&#8217;s All-Star break.\u00a0 Another guy that had been struggling, Jayson Werth, also had a great week.\u00a0 He hit .407 (11-27) with a homer and five doubles.\u00a0 Placido Polanco, who has\u00a0started the past six games at second base,\u00a0and Carlos Ruiz also chipped in with nice weeks.\u00a0 And the bench continued its emergence, as Ross Gload and Ben Francisco combined to hit .421 (8-19) with 2 homers, and Brian Schneider had a big 2-run triple on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>It was a nice week defensively, as well.\u00a0 They were a little sloppy on Tuesday, when Ryan Howard had a throwing error (shocking) and Polanco missed a tag.\u00a0 But they made just two errors (both Howard)\u00a0on the week, and they had some big plays to save the 3-2 win on Thursday.\u00a0\u00a0Ibanez made a great throw to nail a runner at second and Wilson Valdez made two incredible turns for double plays.<\/p>\n<p><em>Grade: <\/em><strong>A-<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Starting Pitchers:\u00a0 <\/strong>Just a great week from the rotation.\u00a0\u00a0Considering the injuries and uncertainty, the starting pitching has been pretty amazing this season.\u00a0 There are some good candidates for Start of the Week, but we&#8217;ll go with the effort from Cole Hamels last\u00a0Thursday: 8 innings, no runs and one hit, even though he took a no-decision.\u00a0 Mr. Halladay had two vintage performances, giving up one run in 17 innings,\u00a0and striking out 18.\u00a0 If not for a minor mistake by Dom Brown in right on Wednesday, Halladay would have had another shut-out.<\/p>\n<p>Kyle Kendrick was sent to AAA last week, but he never pitched there\u00a0because of the injury to Jamie Moyer.\u00a0 His up-and-<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" hspace=\"5\" vspace=\"5\" border=\"1\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_YntY1kyKo4o\/RtlN3mz2QEI\/AAAAAAAABoA\/gAZaqX79LyY\/s320\/kendrick.bmp\" alt=\"kendrick\" align=\"right\" height=\"260\" width=\"218\" \/>down season continued, as he looked great pitching 13.1 innings and allowing just two runs in his two starts.\u00a0 Joe Blanton was solid,\u00a0giving 6 innings, 2 runs in Monday&#8217;s win.\u00a0 Finally, J.A. Happ closed out his Phillie career with a decent outing on Sunday.\u00a0 We wish him well in Houston.\u00a0 With Happ gone and Moyer probably\u00a0done, the 5th rotation spot is once again Kendrick&#8217;s to lose.\u00a0 The starters combined for a 1.82 ERA on the week.<\/p>\n<p><em>Grade: <\/em><strong>A<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bullpen:\u00a0 <\/strong>The week was an adventure for Brad Lidge, and\u00a0&#8216;adventure&#8217; is never a good word for a closer.\u00a0 The trusty save statistic will show that he was 3-for-3 in save opportunities, but it wasn&#8217;t\u00a0that simple.\u00a0 Last Thursday, he came on with a 2-run lead and walked the lead-off batter (always encouraging), then ran a deep count to the next batter before getting three straight outs.\u00a0 That was tame compared to what was coming.\u00a0 With a 1-run\u00a0lead on Sunday, he loaded the bases with two walks and a single,\u00a0and squeezed his way out with a strike-out to end it.\u00a0 He took it up another notch on Monday.\u00a0\u00a0With a 3-run cushion, he surrendered a two-out, two-run homer to make it 5-4.\u00a0 Then, just in case any fans watching were still\u00a0breathing, he loaded up the bases by going walk, single, wild pitch, intentional walk, before\u00a0finally recording the final out on a ground ball.<\/p>\n<p>So, it&#8217;s no wonder that Charlie didn&#8217;t hand him the ball with a one-run lead in the 9th on Thursday.\u00a0 Ryan Madson\u00a0stayed on to face the first batter, allowing a double.\u00a0 Then J.C. Romero came on and allowed the tying run to score.\u00a0 Lidge looked great in the 10th inning, but who knows what that means.\u00a0\u00a0If you look at the numbers, it wasn&#8217;t a bad week for the pen.\u00a0\u00a0But there was definitely no confidence instilled, either.\u00a0 Lidge just may be the key to this entire season.\u00a0 Here&#8217;s hoping he can\u00a0get the job done.<\/p>\n<p><em>Grade: <\/em><strong>B<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Up Next:\u00a0 <\/strong>Friday night&#8217;s series opener in Washington will be must-see for\u00a0Phils&#8217; fans, as Oswalt makes his debut, and\u00a0Dom Brown will be back in there in right field.\u00a0 The Phils have three straight series\u00a0within the division, with a trip to Florida next week before coming back home for the Mets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Record since last Report Card: 8-0 Overall Record: 56-46 (2.5 behind Braves, 1.5 behind Giants in Wild Card) So, in this past week, the Phillies added one of the best pitchers in baseball over the past decade,\u00a0arguably the top prospect &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=568\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1028],"tags":[23,222,210,367,16,408,309,322,218,369,1043],"class_list":["post-568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mlb","category-phils-weekly-report","tag-brad-lidge","tag-cole-hamels","tag-jayson-werth","tag-kyle-kendrick","tag-phillies","tag-raul-ibanez","tag-roy-halladay","tag-roy-oswalt","tag-ryan-howard","tag-shane-victorino","tag-wilson-valdez"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}