Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies will pay tribute to the past later this summer, with Brad Lidge retiring in red pinstripes a day before Curt Schilling is inducted into the Wall of Fame. Schilling, the Phillies ace from 1992 until midway through the 2000 season, won three World Series rings after leaving Philadelphia but produced two of his best seasons here and provided long-lasting memories with his 1993 heroics. Schilling was also the topic of an interesting discussion on 97.5 The Fanatic last week that juxtaposed him against a recent Phillies ace. The discussion centered on whether fans would have rather had peak-Schilling or peak-Halladay heading their staff. The results were split. Even though the availability bias — how more recent information can color our opinions — could have moved the needle towards the truly dominant Roy Halladay, there are still plenty of people who remember how brilliantly Schilling pitched. There are both tangible and intangible factors to incorporate into this discussion but it really looks like a dead heat. Regardless of his tough-to-watch 2013 campaign, Halladay very much remains an inner circle Hall of Fame pitcher. Schilling, who pitched in an era flush with HOF-worthy talent, will probably get in even if not on the first ballot. There is no wrong answer when choosing between two of the best pitchers in the long history of a sport, but the statistical comparisons were much closer than you may have thought. First, let’s start with their career numbers. Schilling made 569 appearances and 436 starts from 1988-2007. He threw 3,261 innings with the following numbers: 83.5 WAR, 216-146 W-L record, 8.6 K/9, 1.9 BB/9, 4.4 K/BB ratio, .239 BA against, 1.14 WHIP, 80 ERA- and 74 FIP-. The latter two stats measure ERA and FIP against the entire league to better compare performances across different contexts. With an 80 ERA-, Schilling prevented runs 20 percent better than the league throughout his career. His FIP was 26 percent better than the league over those 20 seasons. Halladay’s career is still in progress, but to date he has made 410 appearances and 384 starts from 1998-2013. He has thrown 2,721.2 innings with the following numbers: 67.9 WAR, 201-104 W-L record, 7.0 K/9, 1.9 BB/9, 3.7 K/BB ratio, .250 BA against, 1.17 WHIP, 76 ERA- and 77 FIP-. Looking past the counting stats for a moment, as Halladay could make them up if he recovers from his surgery and has another few solid seasons under his belt, their rate numbers are really very similar. Schilling seems to have Halladay beat in everything other than ERA- but many of the areas are too close to call. Doc’s strikeout rate is lower but he has an equally sizable advantage in groundball rate — 54% to 39%. Next, let’s look at their best 10-year stretches, with Schilling get an 11th year as his stretch includes a 2005 season during which he was hurt and returned as the Red Sox closer. Even their peaks are very similar. Schilling 1996-2006: 66.5 WAR, 2,305 IP, 9.4 K/9, 1.8 BB/9, 5.4 K/BB, 75 ERA-, 68 FIP- Halladay 2002-2011: 60.9 WAR, 2,194 IP, 7.0 K/9, 1.5 BB/9, 4.6 K/BB, 67 ERA-, 71 FIP- Schilling’s WAR total ranked 3rd in that span. He threw the 5th-highest amount of innings with the very best K/BB ratio. His ERA- and FIP- ranked 11th and 3rd, respectively. In fact, he was tied for 11th in ERA- with Halladay. Doc’s WAR total led the league in that span. He ranked 2nd in innings pitched to Mark Buehrle, who threw just 10 more frames. His K/BB ratio ranked third, with Schilling posting the best rate during that stretch. Both his ERA- and FIP- were the best in baseball. The statistical comparison and the associated rankings segues into a discussion of context. Context is integral when comparing players in any scenario but even moreso when making cross-era comparisons. The usage patterns for starting pitchers shifted between the beginning of Schilling’s peak and when Halladay really took off and stats normalizi

Cliff was Cliff at his finest and the Phillies won another series last night in Miami. Two out hits accounted for a pair of runs in the sixth after Delmon’s solo homer gave Cliff a 1-0 lead in the fourth. Two-out hits have been missing most of the season. In their last six series, the Phils have won three and split three. Cliff threw 115 pitches, 85 for strikes, in tossing his first shutout since September 5, 2011. He also added a pair of hits. The win moved the Phillies to within one .500, a mark they haven’t seen since they were 6-6 back in April. Alumni Weekend Brad Lidge will retire as a Phillie, Curt Schilling is going into the Toyota Wall of Fame and the 1993 Phillies are being saluted during Alumni Weekend, August 1-4. For details, including the fourth annual Alumni Luncheon for Seniors, check out http://www.phillies.com/alumni. Minor League Report **Lehigh Valley was idle. **Reading won its 3rd in a row, 7-5, over Altoona on Anthony Hewitt’s 3-run, walk-off HR with 1 out. C Cameron Rupp also hit a 3-run HR, his 7th. WP: Brody Colvin (2-0) in relief. Clearwater won, 3-2, at Port Charlotte, scoring the winning run in the 5th on a wild pitch. WP: RH Perci Garner (4-0), 2 R, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 SO, 6.2 IP. SV: Colton Murray (4). Lakewood lost, 8-6, at Delmarva. C Justin Dalles, 3-3, 2 RBI. SS Ramon Quinn, 21st-22nd steals. This Date May 23, 1991—Making his 15th major league start, RHP Tommy Greene pitches no-hitter at Montreal, 2-0, before 8,833. He walks seven and strikes out 10.

Delmon Young is heating up and someone’s never been more in love. The weather’s gettin’ hot and so is Delmon Young! What say you, Ruben?? “Ditto.”

In macho sports culture, it is considered an attribute if you’re willing to play through an injury, even one that debilitates you enough to hamper your performance. If a player sits out a game with an illness or light soreness, he is lambasted on sports talk radio for being wimpy and effeminate. Teammates, themselves ascribed to macho sports culture, grow weary of players who take games off with minor ailments and wear their own injuries as badges of honor. What players, and the culture at large, never seem to learn — after reaggravating an injury, making a current injury worse, or creating a new injury due to overcompensation — is that it never pays to play through pain. Kirk Gibson moments are incredibly rare and never worth the otherwise poor performance caused by the injury. Chase Utley, though, is smart. You have probably gathered this with the precision with which he steals bases, the way he positions himself at second base to have more opportunities to make plays, and his prowess at the plate. It has been unfortunate that we haven’t been able to see him play as much over the last four years due to his knee problems (patellar tendinitis and chondromalacia). Now 34 years old, the potential Hall of Famer will likely miss some more time, now with a midsection injury. Via Matt Gelb: Chase Utley swung for the first time in batting practice Tuesday and it did not feel right. He took a second hack, then another, and one more. That is when he went to Charlie Manuel and told him his right side hurt. [...] Utley consulted with teammates, past and present, who suffered similar injuries. Their advice was consistent. “The main thing they said was, ‘Don’t rush back,’ ” Utley said. “That’s when you can make it worse and prolong the time you’re out.” [...] “I think it was a smart thing to do,” Utley said of informing Manuel. “You want to be careful with these things because they could linger and get worse if you try to play through it. I think we caught it early enough, but it’s hard to know until we have some imaging on it.” From 2005-09, Chase Utley averaged a 135 adjusted OPS. Since 2010, when injuries started affecting him, his adjusted OPS has only been 116. Add in a midsection injury and you have to wonder just how productive he could have been in all facets had he not alerted his manager to the issue. Instead, Utley will likely recuperate while his vacant spot is assumed by Freddy Galvis, one of the few bright spots thus far in 2013. With his usual great defense, Galvis has also thrived offensively — an unexpected bonus from a player who slugged .321 in the Minors. Hopefully, Utley’s judgment is seen and respected by other players across the league and the hard shell that is macho sports culture starts to erode. And players will stop foolishly putting their health on the line in a selfish attempt to be seen as manly and tough by their peers.

Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports Boy, Cliff Lee really knows how to prepare for a job interview. Newly clean-shaven and ready to make a good impression, Lee went out of his way to show the entire baseball community that he definitely is a guy you’d like to hire, throwing a complete game shutout last night against the Marlins, 3-0. Yes, even though it was against the Marlins, it still counts the same as other shutouts. Suddenly, Lee’s name has been the focus of trade rumors this week, thanks to the hard work and the never-ending need to create content by a couple of national writers. First, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman asked Lee about the potential of being traded, should the Phillies become sellers at the trade deadline. That was followed up by an excoriating look at the state of the Phils by Sports Illustrated’s Jay Jaffe, who also concluded that Lee is likely to be shipped out if this season goes in the crapper. It’s one thing if mindless bloggers like us, who follow every single move the Phillies make, and even some they don’t make, speculate about potential trade targets. It’s quite another when national writers start putting players on the auction block a full two months before the trade deadline when the team is just a game under .500. The timing seems a bit soon and a bit weird (although it should be noted, there are a couple smart people, like ESPN’s David Schoenfield, who think the Phils will be buyers at the deadline). But, in the internet world, the need to create content is a relentless shrew, and something has to fill that void. Enter Cliff Lee. Certainly, last night’s “audition” for the world couldn’t have gone any better. Lee had only one troublesome inning, the second, when he loaded the bases with nobody out. He managed to escape unscathed, thanks to a 5-2-3 double play and a pop out. That failed insurrection seemed to take all the wind out of the sails of the over-matched Marlins. By the way, the Marlins’ #3 hitter last night was some ham-and-egger named Derek Deitrich, and their cleanup hitter was some retread named Marcell Ozuna. They sure ain’t the ’95 Indians. Still, it was clear early on that Lee wasn’t going to let the dregs of the Marlins lineup, or the suddenly suffocating trade rumors swirling around him, to deter him from his mission. With Chase Utley likely to hit the disabled list due to a rib cage/oblique injury, Lee becomes the Phillie who likely has the most trade value of anyone on the roster, should Ruben Amaro decide to sell come July. Yes he’s still owed a lot of money (at least $62.5 million after this year), but his performance is so good, and his potential to influence a team’s fortune so pronounced, that the Phils could probably get a prime prospect or two in return. As it was noted in those two national media reports, however, Lee has a no-trade clause to 21 teams (who those teams are is unknown). So Lee still has a great deal of say where he will go, if the Phillies decide to trade him. But suddenly the Phils, once again, are refusing to completely tank. Last night’s victory was the first time in their last eight tries that they were able to climb above two games over .500. And, since April 26, the Phillies have lost only one series, their two-game sweep in Cleveland. During that stretch, they’ve won series against the Mets, Giants, Reds and Marlins in three-game series, while splitting four-gamers against the Diamondbacks and Marlins, as well as a two-gamer against the Indians. During that time, they’ve gone 13-10. It’s not lights out, but it is winning baseball. As I wrote about yesterday, the Nationals have a slew of problems of their own and, after breaking their four-game losing streak yesterday, are still just one game ahead of the Phillies in the standings, at 24-23. The two teams begin a weekend series in Washington, where the Phils attemp

Here’s a rundown on how the Phillies’ minor league teams fared on Wednesday, May 22.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly criticized his team and benched All-Star right fielder Andre Ethier, then watched Los Angeles beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-2 Wednesday.

Rightfielder Delmon Young homers again as Cliff Lee and the Phillies blank the Marlins.

If history is any indication, then the second baseman is likely headed to the disabled list with an oblique injury.

Following Wednesday's 3-0 victory over the Miami Marlins, the Phillies announced that reliever Phillippe Aumont had been demoted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, with a corresponding move to follow prior to the team's next game on Friday. For a club that entered that evening's contest with a bullpen ERA that ranked 4th worst in all of Major League Baseball, surely some adjustments were in order. However, Aumont was not the problem. As recently as Sunday, the 24-year-old righty's season ERA was 2.92 and sat at 2.25 last Friday. After coughing up two earned runs in 2/3 of an inning on Monday, Aumont's season ERA rose to an unlucky 4.15 in 16 games. Surely Aumont, who gave up runs in each of his two most recent appearances and who sported the worst WHIP (2.08) on the pitching staff, hadn't been sparkling as of late, but he had an ERA better than the Phils' stud 8th inning guy Mike Adams just last weekend. And even with his recent efforts, or lack there of, Aumont's 4.15 ERA and K-per-9 rate of 10.38 ERA were considerably better than the numbers posted by Jeremy Horst (5.09 ERA and 5.60 K/9), Chad Durbin (8.10 ERA and 9.45 K/9) and anything B.J. Rosenberg can do for the Phils. Triple-A hurler Mike Stutes, who has been blazing hot out of the IronPigs bullpen lately, as he's tallied a 0.59 ERA over his last 11 games with 14 strike outs and three walks during that stretch, is deserving of consideration for a promotion and could be the guy that fills the void left by Aumont. In 63 career big league contests, the 26-year-old Stutes has a 6-2 record along with 3.86 ERA. Stutes missed much of last season after requiring shoulder surgery in June. Again, there's no question that some revamping was needed in order to improve the Phillies' relief corps, but there are multiple pitchers hurting the team worse than Aumont had been. Here's hoping the move is temporary and the 6-foot-7 260-pounder gets the chance to work on his command and the silver lining of a potential Stutes return sees his success continue.PhoulBallz.com, The Shore Sports Network