Location: Philadelphia, Pa. | Ballpark: Citizens Bank Park (43,500) | Spring Training: Clearwater, Fla.
Owner: Bill Giles, David Montgomery | GM: Ruben Amaro Jr. | Manager: Charlie Manuel | World Championships: 2
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POWER RANKINGS
Power Rankings
Date
Ranking
Previous
10/06/2009
4
6
Season in seven words: "Did you hear? They won in '08!" ... Hero: Chase Utley faded hard in the season's last month, but he remains criminally underrated. How has this guy not popped up in an unfunny Subway commercial by now? ... Loserhead: Brad Lidge narrowly edges out Charlie Manuel, the manager who continues to enable him. At some point, it's going to dawn on Cholly that what happened in 2008 is not relevant to 2009 ... Key need: To reverse the aging process so that they can wring another title run out of the Howard/Utley/Rollins/Werth/Victorino core ... Prognosis: Players age fast now that the game has outlawed supervitamins and wonderpills. Be wary.
09/29/2009
6
6
The rational among us can ignore the chatter about how bullpen issues (in addition to physical and psychosomatic ones) torpedoed the Phillies in 1964. In 1964, the Phillies didn't have a four-game division lead with six to go. That is unchokably large. Realistically, all the '09 version needs is to win a single game the rest of the way, if that ... So vast and deep is my admiration for Chase Utley that I tend to blame every one of his slumps on something beyond his control -- say, one of those family annoyances that could be settled if everybody just took a deep breath and sat down together and discussed it, but you know how prideful Uncle Ed is when he thinks he's been wronged. Anyway, I've decided to attribute Utley's September plodding (.218/.316/.366) to his 17th undisclosed injury since the start of the 2006 campaign. Get well soon, champ.
09/22/2009
6
7
Conventional wisdom says the Phillies should push hard the next few weeks to ensure that they don't get the Dodgers in round one, that they should do whatever they can to avoid the lefty pitchers (Kershaw/Wolf/Sherrill) who threaten to paralyze Ryan Howard. The overall numbers don't agree, though: through Monday, the team OPS against lefties (.790) and righties (.784) is roughly equal. ... Until Brett Myers (shoulder) and Pedro Martinez (small muscle thingie undoubtedly triggered by the insane decision to let him throw 130 pitches in a game last week) started aching anew, one could've made a persuasive argument that Brad Lidge doesn't deserve a slot on the postseason roster, much less the closer gig. From the seventh inning onward, the Phillies are essentially tap dancing among the land mines.
09/15/2009
7
6
Feel free to waste your time debating whether Brad Lidge is authoring the worst season in the history of relief pitching (he is). Me, I'm more concerned about the hitters -- notably, that they're not getting on base at an acceptable clip. ... At this point, you can take two approaches with Jimmy Rollins. You can protect his ego and watch him continue to fail as a table-setter atop the batting order (he's all shrimp forks and soup tureens nowadays, when the team needs only some basic flatware). Or you can bounce him down the order and bump everybody else up a slot, thereby insuring that your abler hitters get to the plate more often. It's too late in the season to be ignoring the evidence that's right in front of your face.
09/08/2009
6
3
Mild-tempered Philly fans who rarely overreact to anything probably haven't noticed, because they've got their eye trained squarely on the six-game division lead. But this team has been Royalesque (Piratesy? Padreaen?) at the plate of late. In recent weeks, they scored a mere 10 runs in three games against the Pirates, eight in three against the Braves, three in three against the Giants and 10 while being swept in a four-game series against the Astros. Finally, inevitably, it's time to sound an alarm for something that doesn't involve Brad Lidge.
09/01/2009
3
3
I've heard the "Brad Lidge was GREAT for us in 2008!" argument to justify the closer's continued presence in that role from about 198 Phillies fans over the past month, and now Cholly Manuel himself is using it. Here's the problem with that line of thinking: the calendar reads 2009, not 2008. In 2008, Brad Lidge was good. In 2009, he has been bad. Not to shatter any illusions here, but the only way Lidge recaptures his 2008 self is if he somehow locates a wormhole in the time/space continuum and returns to last October to retrieve his missing control and velocity. ... Of course, the Phillies have a month to get the guy straightened out and an acceptable plan B -– perennial pub-fight patsy Brett Myers –- if they can't. ... Every so often, even Cliff Lee surrenders a run. Let that be a lesson for all you budding perfectionists. ... Reason number 275 Jimmy Rollins remains an asset, even while hitting .244/.290/.415: the moment on Sunday when, with the Phillies facing a first-and-second-with-no-outs situation, he had the presence of mind to interrupt an easy 4-6-3 double play by wheeling and catching the dawdling lead runner between second and third. That's smart defensive baseball.
08/25/2009
3
4
They're just doing their thing, winning with pitching on the days Cliff Lee or J.A. Happ is on the hill and with blunt-force offense the rest of the time. ... Congrats to Brett Myers for going a full week without accidentally bumping his face against somebody else's fist. ... You know how the key to an effective changeup is the difference in velocity with the pitcher's fastball? Well, Pedro Martinez's change might actually outpace his fastball at this point, so it's accomplishing the same effect.
08/18/2009
4
6
Just because Pedro showed flashes of his forbidden lambada duende in his first start doesn't mean we should be expecting much going forward. He only threw five innings, plus each of the seven hits he allowed was scorched. ... I know that bitter interdivisional politics renders such a trade impossible, but no team in baseball could use the freshly rehabbed Billy Wagner as much as the Phillies could. And just think of how he'd impact the team's ability to haze mouthy rookies or pack fistfuls of chaw into its collective cheek. ... If Brad Lidge was named anything except Brad Lidge, he'd long since have been stashed away in middle-relief purgatory or, more likely, been cut. ... Here is Ryan Howard's line against righty pitchers: .314/.395/.690. Here is Ryan Howard's line against lefty pitchers: .196/.280/.315. Now, if you were an opposing manager, what type of pitcher would you use against Ryan Howard? This is quite the brain teaser, so take all the time you need.
08/11/2009
6
5
No matter how deep and relentless the team's offense may be, no matter how much resilienceitudinousness they accrued during two straight September comebacks, no matter how much their fan base believes everything will be fine, just fine when Hamels starts pitching better and Lidge starts pitching better and Rollins starts running again and Ibañez returns to his 18-RBI-per-week pace of late May, the bottom line is this: That starting rotation is nobody's idea of a stable entity ... At least they resolved the too-many-arms dilemma in a sane manner on Monday, when they bumped Jamie Moyer to mop-up duty and gave his rotation slot to Pedro Martinez. I just assumed they'd invent an injury for Moyer to buy themselves some time. We've had guys go on the DL this season with general achiness and feelings of low self-worth. It wouldn't have been too outlandish to see the Phillies disable Moyer owing to grey temple syndrome or a mid-life crisis.
08/04/2009
5
4
Is Cliff Lee going to pitch better in the National League? Of course he is: the NL doesn't use designated hitters and he can't be too worried about facing Carlos Zambrano and Micah Owings in their stead. Besides, Lee doesn't ever have to face the league's single-most dominating offense (that'd be the Phillies) ... O happy mango-infused day: It looks like we'll be seeing Pedro in the bigs before the week is out ... I still think they could use another arm or two for the bullpen, especially with Brad Lidge enduring another of his bipolar stretches on the mound.
Preseason Power Rankings
Date
Ranking
Previous
02/16/2009
1
-
They get the top slot in the initial rankings because they're the defending champs. But honestly: Does anybody outside the 215 area code believe they have the rotation or lineup depth to finish higher than fourth in the AL East? Good thing they play in the NL East, where "no, WE'RE the team to beat" pronouncements are accepted competitive currency. ... This will be the last time I mention that the batting order tilts too far to the left. Phillies fans might not miss Pat Burrell's strikeouts-and-wingman escapades now, but wait until the parade of lefty relievers to face the Utley/Howard/Ibanez trio commences.
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