It became clear after last night's 7-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox that the Phillies have two locks for the National League all-star team:
Cole Hamels, who pitched eight strong innings.
Chase Utley, who went 3 for 3 with a home run and four RBIs.
Hamels is 9-2 with a 3.47 ERA. He is tied for the major-league lead with nine wins and leads the majors in strikeouts with 104. He is this team's first true ace since Curt Schilling. Just having Hamels in the rotation -- he pretty much guarantees a victory every fifth day -- gives the Phillies a chance to stay in the postseason hunt in the National League. And then there is Utley. He is hitting .310 with 12 home runs and 52 RBIs. He is second in the National League in RBIs. He currently leads the NL voting for second basemen, and he should win easily.
Incredibly, the Phillies are just three games behind the slumping New York Mets in the NL East. The Phillies have the best record in the league (30-20) since they started the season 4-11.
Is this the same team that just lost 2 of 3 to the Royals?
Yes, I think it is.
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Hamels said he didn't have his best stuff.
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The Phillies can sweep the Sox with a victory this afternoon. Is Kyle Kendrick up for it?
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Freddy Garcia gets a second opinion about his injured shoulder today in Mobile, Ala., where noted orthopedist James Andrews looks at it. The safe bet is season-ending surgery. Garcia said he "probably" will have it ... if Andrews concurs with Phillies doctors. But I spoke with somebody today and he said there is nothing clear-cut in the MRI that says Garcia absolutely must have surgery. I found that interesting. Of course, there definitely is an injury there. At the very least there is a "fraying of the rotator cuff." I'm not sure how that heals itself other than having surgery, so that's why I would not be surprised if Garcia elects for surgery.
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Detroit's Justin Verlander no-hit the Milwaukee Brewers last night at Comerica Park. Verlander faces the Phillies on Sunday afternoon at the Bank.
My bold prediction: the Phillies get a hit.
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The Shane Victorino Hula Figurine is a hot commodity. It's selling on ebay for as much as $100, with most going somewhere between $60 to $80. I mentioned this to Victorino and he laughed. He said he saw one stuck to the top of a guy's John Deere tractor the other day.
Then I clubbed Victorino over the head with a bat and grabbed the unopened box of hula figurines next to his locker. (Hey, a beat writer's gotta eat.)
Comments (6)
Just seems to me that no matter who the player and what the position ... if you are going to pay them $10 million, an MRI before consumating a trade is not too much to expect these days. Maybe it would not have shown any problem but then again we will never know (and neither will the Phillies). I hope the team reviews it policy of relying on medical reports of other teams before making such deals in the future. I am not accusing the ChiSox of misleading the Phils because they likely were unaware of Garcia's condition (if one existed at the time of the trade). But no excuse for not requiring an MRI.
Posted by Kirk Willison | June 13, 2007 11:04 AM
Posted on June 13, 2007 11:04
Funny thing, we would have been crucifying Ed Wade daily for these off-season moves, but Gillick seems to bulletproof. Helms, Barajas, Garcia, UGH! I'll give him props for Dobbs and give him a pass for Eaton & Werth (so far). I just fear that he and Amaro (and the ownership) will have a long run, which will not fix what ails this franchise.
And Chase Utley is a God!
Posted by jimmymack | June 13, 2007 12:08 PM
Posted on June 13, 2007 12:08
Totally agree that Cole is the staff ace now, and it is so nice to have one. When I see he is pitching, I just relax because I know it will be a good night for the Phils. And that is such a nice feeling to have. Plus, I think the guys love to play behind him because it seems they always give him good run support. If he can work on cutting down on giving up the long ball, then he'd be even better. But you got to love the fact that he can give up back to back jacks and then keep them scoreless the rest of the game (with some nice defensive help mind you).
Posted by Deb | June 13, 2007 12:13 PM
Posted on June 13, 2007 12:13
As for getting Garcia a MRI before we signed him... I completely agree, you gotta kick the tires a bit before you make a $10M mistake.
But... I believe I heard on Todd's podcast the other day, that there may have been other teams interested in Garcia. And since he was in Venezuela, him getting a physical/MRI may have hurt the Phillies chances of getting him due to time and interest of other teams. Although, if we did get him checked out and found out he was not in 100% shape, we would not have wasted the money.
We took a risk... and it looks like we got burnt.
Posted by RJ | June 13, 2007 12:49 PM
Posted on June 13, 2007 12:49
Funny thing, we would have been crucifying Ed Wade daily for these off-season moves, but Gillick seems to bulletproof.
Umm, I would suggest turning on sports radio in Philly.
And I think I am in the camp that Gillick had the wool pulled over his eyes with Garcia. The Sox sent us a dud. Why didn't Gillick have more tests/observations done?
Posted by Civil Negligence | June 13, 2007 7:00 PM
Posted on June 13, 2007 19:00
the phils should have used this prior draft all on pitchers since they have no quality ptching in the minors to bring to the bigs. also, does anyone in the organization know how to teach the sinker or splitter which are the two most effective pitches when you play in such a small ballpark?
Posted by mark peltz | July 4, 2007 12:25 PM
Posted on July 4, 2007 12:25