Philadelphia Phillies

The Phils take on Bryce Harper and the Washington Nationals this weekend The Phillies haven't been the only team bitten by extremely low run support this season. The Nats just returned to Washington from a 4-6 West Coast road trip to play the Phillies this weekend. We've all known about the Phillies inability to score well with Cole Hamels on the mound this season, the Phils have a Runs Scored average of 2.80 when Cole is on the mound, which is tied for 9th on the MLB. The Washington Nationals have been scoring worse for Stephen Strasburg, they've only been able to support Strasburg with 2.60 run support on average per start, which is tied for 5th worst in the majors. Both Cole Hamels and Stephen Strasburg will face each other as they are starting Sunday's game in DC. The Nats have been floating back to earth kind of quickly lately, they are only 1 game above .500 as we start this weekend series, and the Phillies can suddenly help themselves really nicely should they do really well in this series. The Washington Nationals are only 1 game above the Phillies, and the Atlanta Braves still have a nice 4 1/2 game lead on the Nationals. So it will be good to do well in this series, the Phillies could find themselves in 2nd place after the weekend. The Nationals have a terrible team batting average, they are 29th out of 30 teams in the majors, the Phillies though are above them with the 16th spot in the majors in relationship to team BA. Kyle Kendrick and Jordan Zimmermann face off in this first game of the Phillies / Nationals series down in Washington D.C. Home Run Hitters The league leader in home runs is now Chris Davis with the Baltimore Orioles with 15, Miguel Cabrera and Justin Upton both have 14 in second place. Ryan Howard has not found his swing yet this year, he is stalled at 6 HR, even 40 year old Raul Ibanez has more home runs for Seattle with 8 so far this year The DL is filling up with Phillies The DL is home to three good players on the team now: Roy Halladay is out until late summer at the earliest. Carlos Ruiz is out for a few more weeks. Chase Utley just went on the DL, he could be out two weeks.

May 17, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee (33) celebrates with manager Charlie Manuel (41) after defeating the Cincinnati Reds at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies defeated the Reds 5-3. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports The Phillies are giving me bipolar disorder. One day I think they’ve got a shot at competing in the National League East, given how they’re still just 5 1/2 games behind Atlanta and only one game behind Washington, are 14-10 in their last 24 games, and one game under .500, at 23-24. They’re still in the conversation in the NL East. The next day I think they have no chance, as evidenced by the parade of former All-Stars either already on the disabled list – Roy Halladay, John Lannan, Carlos Ruiz, Mike Adams, and Chase Utley – or guys who are currently hurt, namely Ryan Howard, with a run differential that indicates their record should be much worse than it is (-31, 4th worst in the NL), and an offense that clearly has had its problems. If you look at it analytically, the Phils are still in the hunt. But if you use your eyes, this team does not have a prayer at winning the World Series this year. I’m a confused and scared mess right now, guys. And I’m not alone. The baseball community is a bit mixed up as to what the Phillies should do in the next couple months. Some, like ESPN’s Dave Schoenfield, think the Phils will be buyers. Others, like CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman, Sports Illustrated’s Jay Jaffe and Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, think the Phillies will be sellers. “My guess is this is not a contender,” Rosenthal said in his online video blog. “And if the Phillies are not a contender, then they have to do for the second straight season something  that they don’t really want to do, and that’s deconstruct. Cliff Lee, Michael Young, you can go right down the line, Jonathan Papelbon. I can name virtually any Phillie and at least the Phillies could entertain the idea of maybe getting rid of some of these guys. “Now, you’re not going to get a ton of talent for Cliff Lee when he has so much money left on his contract, but you could pick up a number of those dollars and perhaps make it work that way. Clearing the money alone would be useful to the Phillies for the future, getting young talent would be even better.” There’s no doubt the Phils are going to be the most interesting team to watch as the trade deadline approaches. And if you listen to Ruben Amaro, it sounds like a decision on whether to double down on 2013 or punt for the future, could be coming sooner rather than later. “We still have good players,” Amaro told MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. “We just haven’t put it all together yet for whatever reason. They haven’t gotten going offensively in particular. We still think that they can, but they haven’t. The real question is: How long can you wait? Right now, we’re willing to wait, because no one is crazy and running away with it. We’re willing to wait, and how long we’ll wait is a decision I’ll have to make. Right now, I view us as buyers.” Within that statement is the key question. How long can you wait? When it comes to their most tradeable stars, the Phillies are going to have to wait. Utley and Ruiz are both on the DL, so no one is going to touch either of those guys with a 10-foot pole until they come back and prove they’re healthy and productive. Roy Halladay would have been a commodity for some, but his broken shoulder rendered that moot. And while Michael Young and Delmon Young are both free agents after the year and would likely be on the block should the Phils sell, neither player costs very much and would bring back much in terms of talent, so there is no urgency to trade either of them in the next week or two. Of course, there is the walking trade rumor Cliff Lee, who

As always, basics first. Clarkin is a 6' 2" 190 lb Left Handed Pitcher from San Diego, CA. He is a commit to University of San Diego (that had a crazy good recruiting class that will likely lose many to the First Round). For his repetoire, Clarkin currently has a potentially plus Fastball, a potentially average to plus Changeup, and a flat out filthy Curve that has plus-plus potential. Scouting reports are somewhat mixed as some think he's maxed out physically for his frame and others think he can add 15-20 pounds and gain 2 or 3 MPH on his fastball. That's a huge difference. A guy with his fastball in the upper 80's/low 90's probably maxes out as a #2 Starter. A Lefty with a Fastball typically working at 95 and maxing out at 97-98 mph is almost certainly an Ace and one of the best starters in baseball (assuming improvement in his other 2 pitches and development of a show me pitch). So what does this kid look like? Let's go to the video. Lots of effort in the video below from Perfect Game. The high leg kick looks familiar and the high hand placement scouts like as it improves his deception. He throws from what looks to be a 3/4 arm slot and his mechanics look a little inconsistent, which has also been noted by scouts. It's not anything scouts seem to see as a red flag, more just minor tweaks to iron out those differences. Otherwise, this is a bad angle video and you can't see any pitch movement, so on to the next video. This is another Bullpen Banter video. We can see better here that, much like Rob Kaminsky, Clarkin comes down with his foot to the first base side of the mound and throws across his body a bit. Sometimes his foot points toward the first base line and he sometimes hops at the end of his delivery. Those foot turns should be a minor fix, though he'll likely keep throwing across his body some. Here's an older Bullpen Banter video of him from the Perfect Game All America game last summer. This is largely more ofthe same as above, but it can be fun to watch what these kids do, in the event you draft one of them. So what does this all come down to? Well scouting reports uniformly praise his Curve, note he may have an above average Fastball and his changeup is pretty advanced for a High Schooler. His control is inconsistent (mostly due to equally inconsistent mechanics). Anytime there's a question about mechanics and control problems, well some of those guys never figure it out, even for minor fixes. His ceiling is somewhere between Cole Hamels and Jon Niese (quite the range). He's either maxed out physically, or he'll grow 15-20 lbs. If his ceiling really is Hamels, I'd take him mid-teens, sure. If he's Niese? Meh, I'd rather go for a high risk guy and hope for the best. Perfect Game Profile Big League Futures Scouting Report

The real question concerning the Phillies is no longer what will happen to them this season. That much is pretty clear. They needed a lot to go right in order to contend again, and a whole lot more has gone wrong. They needed to catch lightning in a bottle one more time, and instead the season has turned into a Molotov cocktail that will explode in their hands sooner than later.

Shane Victorino is looking forward to making his Citizens Bank Park return Wednesday with the Red Sox.

Second baseman is expected to miss 2 to 4 weeks, but will the Phillies still be in the mix when he returns?

Former ambidextrous pitcher Andrew Pullin eager to show he can play second base

Starring: Chase Utley (not pictured), Michael Martinez, Pete Orr, Darin Ruf, Josh Fields, and Cesar Hernandez. The Phillies, stunningly, opted to bring up Michael Martinez to replace Utley. The switch-hitting Martinez is carrying a .226/.297/.274 line through 118 plate appearances with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. As the following flow chart will show you, the decision doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Click to enlarge.

The Philadelphia Phillies have placed five-time All-Star secondbaseman Chase Utley on the 15-day disabled list with an obliquestrain. Read more Chase Utley news

The Philadelphia Phillies have placed second baseman Chase Utley on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right oblique. Read more Chase Utley news