Phillies want what they already had

The most telling story I’ve heard about the Phillies lately comes from Braves’ manager Bobby Cox when he heard that his NL East rivals were able to make a deal with the Blue Jays for Roy Halladay. When told that Halladay was joining up with the two-time defending National League champs, Cox didn’t quite break into hysterics like Nancy Kerrigan when she was kneecapped (literally) by a lead pipe, but it was close.

Cox says he cursed at a rate he saves for the likes of C.B. Bucknor or Dan Iassogna. It was more than angry over the fact that the Phillies had added the best pitcher in the game to a roster that went to the World Series twice in a row. Cox was upset because he’d been on the other side and knows what pitchers like Halladay can do for a team.

Remember back when the Braves, fresh off two straight trips to the World Series, added Greg Maddux to the staff with John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Steve Avery? The troubling part wasn’t that the Braves suddenly had three future Hall of Famers and a fourth guy—Avery—who had already piled up two 18-win seasons and an MVP in the NLCS before he had turned 23. Nope, that wasn’t the part that drove everyone upside down.

The part that was the most heart wrenching was that with Maddux the Braves suddenly had three future Hall of Famers who were not even in their primes yet. All three guys were 26 or 27 when they joined up together and each had four seasons where they won at least 14 games in a season. In the case of Maddux and Glavine, 20 wins per season was the base line, while Smoltz, the least accomplished of the trio at the time, is the only pitcher to ever win at least 200 games and save at least 150.

Nope, the Braves weren’t messing around back then and when he heard that the Phillies had traded for Halladay, he saw history repeating itself. The Phillies, like the Braves, were poised to dominate the NL East for at least half of the next decade considering the ages of their stars of the rotation and the ability of their hitters. The Braves and Mets were going to have a tough time.

But then Cox heard that the Phillies had traded Cliff Lee and suddenly he wasn’t so worried any more. Oh sure, Halladay and Cole Hamels is a pretty nice combo, especially considering the fact that Hamels is just 26 the way Smoltz, Glavine and Maddux were two decades ago. Halladay, 33, was a bit older, but he had moved past the injury-prone years and was looking at another five seasons of top-level pitching.

Add Halladay to a rotation with Hamels and Lee and it’s the modern version of the ’93 Braves with J.A. Happ starring as Avery and Joe Blanton playing the role of Pete Smith. With that rotation the only thing the Phillies would have to worry about is injuries (duh) and whether the National League could win the All-Star Game to give the Phillies home-field advantage in the World Series.

But then Cox found out that the Phillies had traded Lee, too, and suddenly he wasn’t so upset any more. He didn’t have to worry about the best pitching trio in the game because Phils’ general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. believed it was more important for his team to be competitive for many years instead of great this year.

Those weren’t his words, of course, but they could have been. At least that’s the way it seems considering the Phillies added three prospects in J.C. Ramirez, Phillippe Aumont and Tyson Gillies from Seattle for a pitcher who might win his second Cy Young Award if he spends the entire season in the American League. Sure, there was a money aspect to it, too. Amaro says the Phillies could have afforded Lee this season, yes. However, it appears as if he was scared off by demands of a potential long-term deal from Lee’s camp.

This comes despite the fact that if Lee were to pitch 2010 for the Phillies at $9 million and then walked away in the winter because of some over-the-top contract demands, it’s the pitcher who suffers and not the club. At least that’s how it plays out in the always important PR aspect of it.

What makes all of that funny (not ha-ha funny) is the fact that four months after Lee was traded for those minor leaguers, Amaro and the Phillies gave Ryan Howard a five-year, $125 million deal that doesn’t kick in until 2012 and lasts until 2016. This is no to debate the merits of Howard’s contract extension. Good for him, I say. Instead, the curious thing about the contract extension for Howard was that his current deal won’t end until after 2011. And considering that Howard just got a $50,000 bonus for being named to the All-Star team, it’s been a pretty good year for the big fella.

Lee only got $10,000 for making the All-Star team and gets $250,000 more for winning the Cy Young. All he got for putting together the greatest postseason in team history since Grover Cleveland Alexander in 1915 was a trade to Seattle.

But even that’s not the funniest part (again, not ha-ha). The funniest part has been listening to the GM go on and on about how the Phillies need to add pitching possibly before the July 31 trading deadline with this fantastic quote:

“My job is to continue to make this team better.”

He said this long after Lee was traded and now wants to go out and get a pitcher.

“I’m always more concerned about pitching,” Amaro said. “At the end of the day our team should be able to handle some losses in the lineup. With the offensive talent we have, we should be able to absorb some losses. But you can never have enough pitching if you want to contend.

“For me, pitching (remains a priority) because we know our infielders will be back.”

Nope, you can never have enough pitching if you want to contend. That’s what the Phillies’ general manager said on Tuesday afternoon before his team’s extra-inning loss to the Cox’s Braves, where Hamels again pitched well a day after Halladay beat the Braves with a complete-game gem.

However, instead of going for the triple threat with Lee, the Phillies closed out the series against the first-place Braves with 47-year-old lefty Jamie Moyer.

“If we had Cliff Lee, we wouldn’t have Roy Halladay,” Amaro said. “It’s pretty simple. Time and circumstance dictate what you can and can’t do. We felt like we were in a position to hold on to one and not the other, and long-term we couldn’t leave the cupboard bare.”

Oh, but the GM said the team could have kept them both in 2010. Instead, he’s talking about years down the road because in the Phillies’ world it seems it is better to be competitive than great.

Double trouble for the Phils?

Tim Hudson and John Smoltz. Could the Phillies have asked for a worse pairing in their most important series in recent memory? In order to avoid another winter spent lamenting the chances that got away during the past six months, the Phillies have to beat Hudson tonight and then Smoltz tomorrow.

Impossible?

Maybe.

Then again, maybe not.

The Phillies do have the top offense in the league, afterall. Can a good offense beat good pitching? The Phillies better hope so. After all, Hudson might get a Cy Young vote or two. At 16-9 with 3.34 ERA, Hudson has been the team’s co-ace with Smoltz and ranks in the top 10 in the league in wins (5th), innings pitched (3rd), ERA (8th), WHIP (8th) and winning percentage (10th).

Regardless, the Phillies have had some success against Hudson this season, including tuning him up for five runs and 11 hits in five innings in the game in which the Phillies took a six-run lead into the eighth inning.

Yeah, that game.

Smoltz, meanwhile, is one of the greatest big-game pitchers in recent baseball history. In 1991 he was one of the starting pitchers in the greatest game I had ever watched and, truth be told, is putting the finishing touches on a Hall-of-Fame career.

Better yet, Smoltz is the last of a dying breed of pitcher. When he goes to the mound he’s going to bring the heat and a nasty slider every time. Fascinatingly, Smoltz has been doing the same way since 1989. Since then it has been a pile of 200-plus innings per season, tons of strikeouts a short detour as the best closer in the game all mixed in with 24 playoff series.

Yep, that’s the guy the Phillies have to get past if they want to make it to the playoffs. To counter that, the Phillies will send Kyle Lohse to the mound tonight fresh off a start and a relief appearance in Washington last weekend. Forebodingly, Lohse’s one-inning relieve stint was half as long as his start.

Kyle Kendrick will face Smoltz on Thursday night, which should be interesting for a lot of reasons. The biggest facet is that Smoltz broke into the big leagues when he was 21 after a quick ascent through the minors, kind of like Kendrick. The other point of interest is that when Smoltz broke in to the majors in 1988, Kendrick was a month away from turning four-years old.

Even more interesting than those nuggets is the dichotomy of the pitching styles. Smoltz is a power pitcher who racks up the strikeouts. Kendrick is a sinkerballer, who thrives on grounders and by throwing strikes.

Needless to say, it should be an interesting two days.

Thanks for pointing out the obvious, huh?

Oh wait, there’s more where that came from:

Charlie Manuel: “Our team knows what they have to do. We've been coming back all year, scratching and clawing. We'll keep playing.”

Bobby Cox: “We know what we have to do. We have to win. We'll give it our best shot.”

Chase Utley: “Every game we approach the same way. We try to win. There's no extra pressure added.”

Jimmy Rollins: “We’ve been in this situation for a long time. We have five games left (and) we have to win five games.”

No, I don’t think they got together to rehearse the answers beforehand.

*** For those wondering (and I know you are), I am not off the Floyd beat. For now I’m a little preoccupied with the baseball pennant race and a little bit of music writing. As soon as the work load dissipates a bit, I hope to dive into the post-ruling fray with a new story or two.

In the interim, check out Trust But Verify for everything Floyd.

Back from a break

Hola amigos! I was busy procrastinating and managing my time poorly so I didn’t get a chance to post anything substantive here over the past few days. Because of that, I won’t try to overwhelm everyone all at once. Instead, here’s a few recent stories, trends, etc. that I thought were interesting.

Let’s go:

Ryan Howard finding a seat on the bench with Greg Dobbs, Rod Barajas, Jayson Werth and Michael Bourn for last night’s game against the Diamondbacks’ Randy Johnson was something that raised eyebrows and caused a few to say to no one in particular, “Hmmph.”

Cosmetically, I suppose, it makes sense in that it was left-hander Randy Johnson pitching and Howard is a left-handed hitter. Add the fact that Howard got a cramp in his hamstring during the ninth inning of Tuesday night’s loss and perhaps manager Charlie Manuel was just being safe than sorry.

“(Howard's) played five days and Randy is pitching,” the skipper said before the game. “I figured from a conditioning standpoint, everything kind of points to me giving him a day off. He'll rest tomorrow although he is available to pinch-hit. He had a cramp and once he got over it he was fine.”

But from another point of view – namely Howard’s – that explanation was just silly. Though Howard is hitting .133 in just 45 at-bats against lefties this season, he hit .279 with 16 homers against southpaws in his 2006 MVP season. Interestingly, Howard has never faced Johnson during his career, though Johnson has faced such notable Phillies as Ruben Amaro, Mike Schmidt, Bob Dernier and Floyd Youmans.

How does Randy Johnson get to face Floyd Youmans but not Ryan Howard?

Regardless, the notion of sitting Howard against Johnson doesn’t work anymore. Sure, Johnson can still pitch and he showed that by holding the Phillies to just one hit and no walks on just 61 pitches through six innings. But that famous fastball, apparently, isn’t what it once was and in sticking it to the Phillies last night Johnson relied on a slider that got in on the right-handers as well as the overzealousness of the hitters.

How overzealous were they? Well, the Phillies were so anxious that even with Johnson out of the game the Phillies went down in order in the seventh inning against reliever Doug Slaten on 10 pitches.

Anyway, in regard to sitting against Johnson, Howard said:

"It is what it is. It's fine. It's done. It's good.

“I told them I was alright. It was my hamstring. I told them it was alright. I'm sure when I grabbed my left leg, which is the one where I had the quad injury, everyone thought it was that. My quad is fine.”

The Phillies, however, are not in the best shape. After all, it’s quite reasonable that “The Team to Beat” could be up to a dozen games behind the New York Mets in the NL East before the first full week of June.

What did Jimmy Rollins, the author of the “team to beat” quote have to say about getting swept by the Diamondbacks and falling below .500.

“Unfortunately everything that went right for us in Atlanta went wrong for us here,” he said. “We get tomorrow off. Regroup, come back and get some wins against San Francisco.

“The losing record is only one game below .500 fortunately but we do have to play better ball. Things we did in Atlanta we have to do the rest of the season.”

With 109 games to go in the season, the Phillies’ best chance rests with the wild card. But if it will take 95 victories to win the wild card, the Phillies have to go 69-40 the rest of the way. That’s .633 ball, which is about what the Red Sox and Mets are doing these days.

Can the Phillies do that too?

***
No one asked me, but I think the Arizona Snakes would be a much more menacing nickname than Diamondbacks. I don’t like snakes, in fact, I’m probably afraid of them. A Diamondback does nothing for me. Snakes and Bugs would be a better team name… the Arizona Flyin’ Bugs? That has a nice ring to it.

***
If you are like me and a fan/participant of endurance sports, it’s worth noting that Martin Dugard has a blog. I just discovered it yesterday after hearing him interviewed on The Competitors radio show from San Diego.

Speaking of cycling (wasn’t I), the 2007 Men's Pro Cycling Tour hits the area starting this Sunday with a race through downtown Lancaster. It culminates on Sunday, June 10 with the U.S. championship in Philadelphia.

Interestingly, folks in Lancaster complain about some of the top cyclists riding through their downtown streets, while in Philadelphia they turn the event into an all day party.

Yes, in that regard I believe the people in Philadelphia are smarter than the people in Lancaster.

***
Back to baseball…

The Phillies, the very minor flap with John Smoltz was fascinating not because of what Smoltz said regarding Brett Myers’ move from the rotation to the bullpen, but because of the way the Phillies reacted to it.

You know, because the Phillies go to the playoffs every year and the Braves have just one World Series title in their 124 seasons in the Major Leagues… wait, I think I got those mixed up.

Anyway, from the way I read the stories from the long-forgotten sweep in Atlanta last weekend, it sounded as if the Phillies reacted as though Smoltz offered his sage opinion regarding Myers’ move to the bullpen instead of simply answering a question posed to him by a writer.

Come on… baseball players don’t go around offering their opinions to anyone who will listen.

Oh wait… I forgot about this guy.

Digressing again, assistant GM told writers last weekend that Smoltz really ought to just butt out.

“The Phillies have a great deal of respect for John Smoltz and what he's represented to the Braves and to this division. He's a Hall of Fame pitcher. At the same time, I'm not sure it's appropriate for him to be making comments about personnel decisions that we've made as an organization.”

The entire thing could be a matter of poor reading comprehension on my part, but I don’t understand why the Phillies chose to comment at all, nor why they would be so dismissive of John Smoltz. In fact, I remember talking to him back when he was closing games for the Braves and asked him about the move from the rotation to the bullpen and how it affected his golf game.

Big time, is my many years removed paraphrasing of the conversation.

Back then Smoltz said that the training regime for a reliever was much more intricate than that of a starter. As a reliever, Smoltz had to be ready every single day and he had to train for that during the off-season. As a starter, he could pace himself a little more.

Certainly, in regard to Myers, I don’t think he injured himself because he wasn’t strong enough, stretched out or couldn’t handle the work load, but the everyday-ness of relieving could have caused a slight muscle weakness. Myers will definitely work all of those issues out if he has a long-term future as a reliever/closer.

***
Hey... Barry Bonds comes to town tomorrow. I bet he gets booed.

Catch him now

At one point last season, I tried to get Jim Thome to buy into a theory I had about John Smoltz. The theory was that in 2005, Smoltz was the last of a dying breed of pitcher who was going to throw a really hard fastball and an equally hard slider and come straight at a hitter with that. He wasn’t going to be fancy or cute.

According to the scouting reports, 60 percent of the pitches Smoltz throws are fastballs, while 22 percent are sliders. More telling is that 72 percent of the first pitches he throws to hitters are heaters, and in the rare chance he falls behind a hitter, 70 percent of the time he’s coming with the No. 1.

So with Smoltz, you know what you’re going to get, and there aren’t too many guys left like him. There’s Roger Clemens, when he pitches. Curt Schilling, of course, and Randy Johnson. But as far as guys who will challenge a hitter with nothing more than heat and guts, well, there are still a few guys who are on the way but still have to get a few more years under them.

Needless to say, it’s a treat to watch John Smoltz pitch. If you get the chance, do it now before it’s too late.

Anyway, I think Thome bought my theory, but I really wasn't able to get him to engage. I think he was a little preoccupied at the time – you know, trying to get ready to play a game when some punk writer walked up to him to ask about a guy who likes to throw fastball. Nonetheless, here’s the story from back then. I especially like the first quote from old favorite Todd Pratt.

Man do I miss that guy.

Did anyone see that? Catcher Sal Fasano made one of the funnier plays you'll see in last night's victory over the Marlins. No, we're not making fun of Fasano, we're just enjoying a moment of levity after a comeback win. So thanks to the magic of the Internet, the good folks at YouTube.com and our old pal Dan McQuade at Philadelphia Will Do, Fasano's wild fake-out is posted here for your enjoyment.