Thursday, August 21, 2008

No Country for a Crappy Team Like Washington

Wow, how about that Brett Myers? With the exception of his first game back from his banishment to the minors, he has been outstanding. He now has a better ERA than Kyle Kendrick, which means everyone should be turning on Kyle very shortly. In other pitching pariah news, Adam Eaton gave up 6 runs in 6 IP last night in Reading because he sucks.

Speaking of turning on people, this whole Jimmy Rollins thing is ridiculous. A year ago, he was the most popular athlete in the city after his boasting about the Phils being the team to beat and his MVP-like performance. This year, he may as well be a DHS employee running a dog fighting ring out of a crack house. Part of that is his performance, which has been subpar. And his comment about Philly fans being front runners is still pissing people off even though it is TRUE. Just the fact that there was and still is such an uproar over his comments only serves to help prove what a bunch of over-emotional whiners and doomsayers Philly fans can be. And yes, I include myself in that.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

You want it, you got it

Charlie Manuel on the Phillies offensive problems-

"I'm puzzled by it," he said. "I'm open for suggestions. I'll listen to what anybody's got to say. Fans. Cab drivers. President Bush. Anybody."

Well, Charles, here are a few suggestions for an offense that has gone .202/.303/.351 for the month of August-

1. Stop batting Jimmy Rollins leadoff.

In his last 8 games, Jimmy "Boo Berry" Rollins has an overall OBP of .167. His OBP for the season leading off the game or an inning is .243. It's hard to set the table well when the silverware is tarnished and the dinner plates are moldy and disgusting. The solution here is simple- try Shane Victorino. He has a career .347 OBP when leading off a game or inning, which is not great but is a huge improvement over Jimmy, who has never been great as a leadoff hitter; sadly, other than last season, he hasn't been great batting in any other slot either.

2. Ryan Howard should not be batting cleanup vs. lefties.

Even batting him 7th would be questionable this season. He has a career OPS vs. LHP of .744. This year, it's a robust .587. Lefties have learned that if they have any kind of decent breaking ball, Howard is an easy out.

3. The Geoff Jenkins experiment has failed.

He was supposed to be a RHP hitting specialist, but the only thing he has specialized in this year is making outs. He has a .724 OPS vs. RHP this year, and has been atrocious since August 6th, although he's hardly alone in that. Jayson Werth hits both lefties and righties better than Jenkins at this point.

4. Try batting Burrell 2nd, or 3rd or 4th (especially vs. LHP,) more often.

Ryan Howard isn't protecting him anymore, and there's no one below him in the order to drive him in when he walks, which is often. Look, Burrell is not going to be a 140 RBI a year guy. But he is a guy with a great knack for getting on base. Use that to your advantage rather than watching the Jenkins/Feliz/Bruntlett/Coste/Ruiz/Dobbs casserole continually struggle to get him home.

5. Get on their asses.

Look, there is something seriously wrong here. No sane, enlightened person would have believed that this team would rank 5th in ERA and 4th in runs per game at August 19th, but here they are. You're the manager Charlie. Act like it.

Here are starting lineups Charlie should consider. They may seem a little wild, but hopefully they are better than President Bush's suggestions-

vs. RHP
1. Victorino
2. Burrell
3. Utley
4. Howard
5. Rollins
6. Werth/Jenkins
7. Feliz
8. Ruiz

vs. LHP
1. Victorino
2. Utley
3. Werth
4. Burrell
5. Rollins
6. Feliz
7. Howard
8. Ruiz/Coste

Theo Ratliff is back

Ah, a return to the glory days of early summer 2001. When men were men, no one thought Muslim terrorists would do something as crazy as crash hijacked planes into buildings, and the Sixers were playing for the NBA championship with a lineup of Allen Iverson plus 11 other guys, one of whom was Theo Ratliff.

Ratliff signed a 1-year deal with the Sixers yesterday in a move to add big man depth. With Jason Smith on the DL for an extended stay and Marreese Speights being a rookie, they needed someone to strengthen the middle. And as a bonus perhaps he can act as a mentor to young Marreese, teaching him the fine but possibly unteachable art of blocking a ton of shots.

The problem with the signing (and of course there is one) is that Ratliff is as fragile as a Russia/Georgia peace agreement. He's only played 28 games over the past 2 years. Amazingly, he's only played 705 games in his 13 year career, and never played more than 57 in any of his 3 seasons with the Sixers. If he goes down early in the year, or is just so rusty that he's ineffective, then the whole signing will be for naught. But the hope is that he can recapture some of the magic that helped make the 2000-2001 Sixers one of the most improbable championship contenders of my lifetime.