Philadelphia Phillies

Cincinnati Reds (25-17) at Philadelphia Phillies (20-22) Bronson Arroyo (3-4, 3.76) vs. Kyle Kendrick (4-1, 2.47) TIME: 7:05, Citizens Bank Park TV: Fox Weather: 70, cloudy Media: Twitter and Facebook BIG Z UPDATE: Carlos Zambrano made his debut in extended Spring Training today, throwing two innings, allowing one hit and striking out five. A pretty good return to professional baseball for Big Z. With last night’s win, this series is already going better for the Phillies than the one they played last month, when the Reds swept them out of Cincinnati. It’s been a struggle to get back to.500 for the Phils, but with ace Kyle Kendrick on the mound, they could actually pull to within one game of that mark for the first time since April 15 when they were 6-7. Kendrick has pitched at least seven innings and allowed two runs or less in his last four starts, and five of his last six. In fact, since his rocky 2013 debut, he hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any start. Against the Reds, he has posted a career 4.19 ERA, but much of that came when he was a less seasoned pitcher. He hasn’t started against the Reds since July of 2010. He’ll have his work cut out for him against a Reds lineup that is third in the NL in runs scored. It’s the rock star, Bronson Arroyo, on the bump for Cincy. Hard to believe the 37-year old is still pitching the way he is, as he’s consistently given the Reds solid seasons over the course of his 30s. But even at 3.76, Arroyo has the highest ERA of any Reds starter. The Phils need to get to this guy. Over the course of his career, Arroyo’s had trouble when facing Philly, posting a 6.00 ERA. Surprisingly, much of that has been done is his home ballparks, as his ERA is a very respectable 3.33 when pitching at CBP. John Mayberry gets the start in center for the fourth consecutive game, while Erik Kratz gets a look behind the plate. Lineup: Rollins SS, Utley 2B, M. Young 3B, Howard 1B, D. Young RF, Brown LF, Mayberry CF, Kratz C, Kendrick P GAMEDAY BEER: Dogfish Head Raison D’Etre The box on this brew from Dogfish Head proclaims, “American beer of the year!” I’m too lazy to verify whether that’s actually true or not, but I can tell you the Raison D’Etre is one hell of a craft beer. It’s a mahogany ale, brewed with Belgian beer and green raisins. Like most Dogfish Head selections, it’s got a rich flavor and is quite heavy. At 8% alcohol by volume, it’s a great beer to get your night started. Enjoy! – RD

For those of you on the Darin Ruf bandwagon, it sounds like you’ll have to wait a while longer until he gets another chance in Philadelphia. And rightfully so. “I don't know where he is going to play, not right now,” GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “… we have to be fairly patient. Everybody wants to make moves today. We can still be somewhat patient.” Many people complain about Ryan Howard’s strikeouts. I get the frustration. He entered play on Saturday tied for the fifth-most strikeouts in the N.L. (46 in 147 at-bats). But Ruf’s really no better in that department. His 44 strikeouts (also in 147 at-bats) are tied for sixth-most in the International League. One of the biggest differences, stat-wise, is their on-base percentage. Howard’s sits at .283 (he’s walked only nine times). Ruf’s isn’t great, but it is a much more respectable .351 (he’s walked 17 times). Keep in mind: While Howard has had his struggles, he does have proven success in the big leagues. Ruf doesn’t. He has appeared in only 12 major league games. Plus, do you really think the team is ready to bench the 33-year-old Howard, who is in the middle of a five-year, $125 million contract? “He's getting a little bit better,” Amaro said of Ruf. “He's improving. He had a slow start and he got hot for a while. He's cooled off a little bit now. He's on the radar screen.” I agree that at some point he should be called up. But I’m actually with Amaro on this one. This isn’t the time for Ruf right now.

Don't look now, but it seems as if the Phillies are on a roll of sorts. Yeah, yeah, they are a flawed team with a pile of issues with the offense, middle relief, etc., etc. However, The Phillies have won four out of their last five games and six out of their last 10. Better yet, the Phillies are winning games against Arizona, San Francisco, Cleveland and Cincinnati. Those teams are in first or second place in its divisions. In...

Who/what is most to blame for Phillies slow start? Hitting Starting Pitching Bullpen Defense Charlie Manuel 5/18/13 - Phillies Individuals, Bullpen, Offense This post has been generated by Page2RSS

May 17, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Michael Young (10) celebrates scoring with catcher Carlos Ruiz (51) during the eighth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies defeated the Reds 5-3. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports What are the main jobs of a leadoff hitter? A leadoff hitter is supposed to be someone who gets on base a high percentage of the time, has some speed so he can steal a bag or move into scoring positions on well-placed base hits or outs, and put themselves in scoring position so that the “run producers” behind them can drive them home. That is what a leadoff hitter is supposed to do. This year, the Phillies leadoff hitters have been failing at their jobs. Miserably. Through 42 games, the Phillies lead-off hitters have a combined on-base percentage of .283. That’s 26th out of 30 MLB teams. Only the White Sox, Marlins, Mets and Twins have gotten less production from their leadoff hitters. Ben Revere, who opened this season at the top of the lineup, has had a horrific season at the plate, hitting .237/.286/.263 for an OPS of .548. He has scored just 13 runs in 36 games, with 7 steals in 10 attempts. He has since been dropped down to 8th in the lineup, and is losing playing time to John Mayberry in center. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Hilderbrand-USA TODAY Sports Jimmy Rollins, the Phils’ long-time leadoff hitter, has fared only marginally better, hitting .256/.305/.400 for an OPS of .705. He has scored 18 runs in 42 games, with just 4 steals in 6 attempts. Clearly, the Phillies are not getting enough production out of the top of the lineup. And while it has been assumed that Revere or Rollins were the only viable options in the leadoff spot, perhaps there is one other person who could do the job. Michael Young has done the best job at consistently getting on base on the Phillies this year. After drawing three more walks in Friday night’s 5-3 win over the Reds, Young now has walked 22 times in 41 games. Last year, he drew only 33 free passes in 156 games. His walk rate this year has skyrocketed to 13.9%, up from last year’s 5.1%. His career high walk rate is 7.9%, last done in 2009. Young has never come anywhere close to being the kind of disciplined hitter he has been so far this year. As a result, Young’s on-base percentage is .399, aided by a .301 batting average and a .360 BABIP. Still, Young has been getting on base far greater than any other member of the lineup. That, of course, would be an extremely valuable tool to have batting first right now. But what about his lack of speed, you may ask? Certainly Young cannot be expected to steal bases and create havoc with his legs. Well, Rollins has only stolen four bags and made just six attempts so far this year. Revere is just 7 for 10. Neither speedster has utilized their speed all that much, mainly because they haven’t been getting on base enough to do it. So would the Phils really be losing anything by putting Young’s legs at the top of the order? Or, to say it in a better way, doesn’t Young’s suddenly outstanding on-base skills trump the superior speed of people who don’t even get on base? There’s also the matter of Young’s propensity to hit into double plays, already a league-leading 10 so far this year. But as a leadoff hitter, Young would have at least one guaranteed inning every day in which there would be no possibility of him creating two outs with one swing. And Young hasn’t been getting many extra base hits, either. He is slugging .397, while Rollins is actually slightly better with a .400 slugging percentage. Removing a light hitter our of an area in the lineup in which slugging is more highly valued, and replacing him with a player with more extra-base hit potential – like Rollins – would also seem to make sense. Don’t get me wrong, Young is not the ideal option for

Hey there kids, welcome to another edition of In Play, Butt(s)– wherein I copy/paste a fine game recap from Phillies.com (this one by that good-for-nothing lout Todd Zolecki) and replace the word “run” with “butt”. It’s pretty much one of my best ideas ever. PHILADELPHIA — Jimmy Rollins spoke openly and honestly Wednesday when he said the Phillies needed to play better baseball in the next couple months to prevent a fire sale in July. He said he believed they could. The Phillies beat the Reds on Friday at Citizens Bank Park, 5-3, bouncing back in the bottom of the eighth inning after blowing a one-butt lead in the top of the eighth. It was the type of game they lose early in the season, but lately this team has shown intermittent signs of life. It will now need to start winning consistently to turn Rollins’ hopes into reality. “We still have some adjustments we want to make,” third baseman Michael Young said. “I still think the good feeling for our team is our best baseball is still in front of us. At the same time, we want to make quick adjustments. Good teams don’t wait forever. We recognize the things we want to work on, but we want to do it quickly.” Everybody in the ballpark recognized Joey Votto’s tying home butt against Antonio Bastardo in the eighth inning Friday. They also noticed what happened next. Young turned an impressive 10-pitch at-bat into a one-out walk against Reds left-hander Sean Marshall to get things started in the bottom of the eighth. Ryan Howard then reached on an improbable check-swing single to the left of the mound, catching nearly everybody in the ballpark by surprise. Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips covered his face with his glove as he met Howard at first base. He could not believe what had just happened. Howard could not believe it either, but he would take it. “Speed kills,” he said. “It’s like a meteor coming through.” “That’s how you beat the shift,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel joked. Reds right-hander Jonathan Broxton replaced Marshall. Broxton has had bad times against the Phillies, sustaining big losses with the Dodgers in the 2008 and 2009 National League Championship Series. His nightmares continued Friday when he promptly drilled Delmon Young with his first pitch to load the bases. Domonic Brown’s groundball up the middle allowed Michael Young to score, giving the Phillies a one-butt lead. Carlos Ruiz’s sacrifice fly to center scored Howard — television replays indicated Reds catcher Ryan Hanigan might have blocked the plate — to extend the Phillies’ lead. It righted the Phillies’ universe for one night. “I thought it was going to be a good race,” Manuel said of the play at the plate. “He beat it. He made it. He was safe. Oh yeah, he got in there.” The Phillies had taken a 2-0 lead in the third inning, when Rollins smacked a 3-1 fastball by Tony Cingrani over the left-field fence for a two-butt home butt. A couple of things about that homer: It was Rollins’ first against a left-handed pitcher since June 24, 2012. It was the Phillies’ first with a butter on base since April 27. The Phillies had hit 16 consecutive solo home butts since Brown hit a three-butt homer in the fifth inning against the Mets at Citi Field, making it the organization’s longest solo streak since 1961. The Reds hit 16 consecutive solo homers earlier this season (April 20 to May 11), but no team had gone longer without a multi-butt homer since the Giants hit 21 consecutive solo shots in 2011. Indeed, things appeared to be lining up nicely for the Phillies. Rollins hit the rare homer against a lefty, Young picked up the rare RBI (just his 10th of the season) with a two-out triple to extend the lead to 3-0 in the fifth and Lee settled nicely after facing 11 batters and throwing 47 pitches in the first

FOR A LITTLE while there, it looked like the Phillies had found their next great pinch-hitter. Laynce Nix slugged as many pinch-hit home runs this April (two) as he had in his entire career before this season (covering 179 pinch-hit plate appearances). And he was hitting .538 (7-for-13) off the bench.

Even though righthander B.J. Rosenberg was called up three times last year by the Phillies, he was surprised that it happened on Friday.

Former Phillies skipper told his 1980 team how to play, and still has a lot to say in his new memoir.