Pulling Away

If you look around at the standings throughout Major League Baseball, you will see some extremely tight races. Tampa has a 2 game lead over the Yanks in the A.L. East, Minnesota has a 2 game lead over the Tigers in the Central, and the Rangers also have a 2 game lead over the Athletics in the West. In the N.L., the division races are even tighter. The San Diego Padres have a 1.5 game lead over the Giants in the N.L. West, and in the N.L. Central the Reds have just a .5 game lead over the Cards. There is one division race in Major League Baseball that is not so exciting, and that is the division race in the National League East. The Phillies are currently in first place, and they have a comfortable 5 game lead over both the Marlins and Nationals. The Phils have been playing extremely well lately, and they are quickly beginning to run away with this division. The Phils ended their home stand successfully last weekend by taking 2 out of 3 from the Braves. The Phils then split with the Rockies and then made a huge statement this past weekend by sweeping the Brewers. The Phils went 4-1 on a quick yet successful road trip. The Phils returned home last night and smacked the Pirates around winning by a final of 12-2. Kendrick pitched 8 innings and gave up only 2 as he earned his second win of the season. The Phillies got offensive production from just about everyone including Ryan Howard. Ryan Howard hit a grand slam and finished with 6 rbis on the night. Jayson Werth also had a huge offensive night with a 3 run homer. Right now, the perfect storm is brewing in this division for the Phils. The Phillies are hot, and the other teams in the division are not. Right now is the time the Phillies really need to play hard and put some distance between themselves and the rest of the teams in the N.L. East.

Is Jayson Werth It In 2011?

In case you haven't heard, Phillies right-fielder Jayson Werth is in the final year of his contract. Werth is quickly becoming a star, and it has become apparent that the Phillies have to make a decison about what to do about his future. So far this season, Jayson is playing at an extremely high level. He is hitting .349 with 7 home runs and 26 rbis. There are many options when it comes to Jayson Werth, I'm going to analyze a few for you. Option number 1, and probably the most popular choice among the fans, would be to re-sign Jayson, and give him whatever amount of money he wants. The only problem with this is that the Phils already have a lot of money committed to guys like Ryan Howard, Roy Halladay, Chase Utley, and Shane Victorino. Jayson is also going to ask for a lot of money. Outfielder Jason Bay, who signed with the Mets during the past off-season, is making 16 million a year. Werth, who in my opinion is better than Bay, is going to ask for more than that and the Phillies are simply not going to pay that kind of money. For now, we will say that option number 1 of resigning Werth is highly unlikely. The next option for the Phils would be to let Jayson walk at the end of the year and simply bring up Domonic Brown from the minors. I really like Brown and I think he has the potential to be a solid everyday player. He had a very strong spring, and I think he has a very bright future. The only problem with Brown is that he is yet another left-handed batter, and I don't see him fitting into this lineup. The Phillies need a power right-handed batter and Domonic Brown does not bring that to this team. A more exciting option in the Jayson Werth dilemma would be to trade him. The Phillies could trade him for another top-line starter or get help in the bullpen. This seems like a pretty good option considering that he is going to walk at the end of the season and it would be better to get at least something for him. As with all the other options, there is a negative to this option as well, and that is you don't have Jayson for the end of the season. If you remove a guy like Jayson from the lineup, the team is going to suffer. Domonic Brown would be the likely candidate to replace him, but once again he would just be another lefty in an already heavy lefty batting order. The final, and in my opinion best option for the Phillies would be to trade Shane Victorino at the trade deadline, get a pitcher in return, and then be able to resign Werth. This option could work but I love Shaner and I don't want to see him go either. I want everyone in this nucleus to stay with the Phillies for as long as possible. Still, Werth is such an important part of this team and I think the Phillies have to do everything they can to keep Werth in Philly.

Old Reliable, Jamie Moyer

With all the hype this season surrounding new ace Roy Halladay, Jamie Moyer who has worked his way to a 4-2 record, has gone virtually unnoticed. Roy Halladay deserves all the attention he is getting, don't get me wrong. He is 6-1 with a 1.45 ERA, and 3 of his 6 wins are complete games, a remarkable feat. Still, Jamie Moyer deserves some attention as well because when he pitches, he keeps the Phillies in the game and always gives his team mates a chance to win. You know what your gonna get from Jamie every time he goes out there. Your gonna get a guy who can pitch 6 innings, give up 3 or 4 runs, and in the end help his team to win ball games. Jamie is a guy who hustles and always gives 110%. On Friday night, Jamie pitched a complete game shut-out and became the oldest player to ever pitch a complete game. By pitching a complete game, Jamie proves to his team mates and all of Major League Baseball, that even at 47 years old, he can still go out there and compete. Right now, Jamie is doing a great job. He is 4-2 with a 4.38 ERA and he is having a very solid season. Looking down the road, as the wear and tear of the season begins to take it's toll, Jamie will have to make adjustments and keep himself in top shape. But that's later in the season, and for now Jamie is pitching at a very high level and it is always fun to watch him go out and compete.

Hot Homestand

So far this homestand, we have seen everything from a 17 year old running onto the field and getting tased, to a 47 year old pitching a complete game shutout. We have seen Cole Hamels pitch 8 scoreless innings, Carlos Ruiz hit a walk-off home run, Jayson Werth tear the cover off the ball, and this entire offense awaken before our eyes. There has been a lot of action so far this home stand and it may seem a little overwhelming, so let me break it all down for you. Let's go all the way back to last Friday night when the Mets came into town with a half game lead over the Phils.

METS SERIES

The home stand did not start well for the Phils as Kyle Kendrick got rocked and the Phils offense once again was non-existent. The Phillies lost 9-1 and it seemed that their struggles from the road trip were going to carry into the home stand. On Saturday, that all changed. Roy Halladay took to the mound and was dominant and for the first time in a long time the Phillies offense finally came alive. The Phillies put a 6 spot on Mike Pelfrey in the 4th, and then added 4 more 2 in the 5th and 2 in the 7th to win it by a final score of 10-0. Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, and Jayson Werth led the offensive attack, and the Phillies piled on the runs showing no mercy. Roy Halladay was his ususual dominant self as he pitched a complete game shut-out, his 3rd complete game of the season. The Phillies used Saturday's offensive explosion to spring board them into Sunday night's game against the Mets in a very important rubber match. More than anything, Sunday night was a statement game for the Phils, and they needed to use the opportunity to show the Mets that they are still the best team in the N.L. East. The Mets sent their ace Johan Santana to the mound and the Phillies countered with old reliable Jamie Moyer. After Jamie Moyer allowed a David Wright home run in the top of the first the Mets were leading 3-0. The Phillies responded nicely in the bottom of the first by hitting 2 home runs one from Placido Polanco and the other from Ryan Howard. The game continued pretty quietly from that point on until the 4th. Jamie gave up 2 more runs and the score was 5-2 in favor of the Mets; not for long. The PhillieS offense exploded in the bottom of the 4th and put a 9 spot on Johan Santana, one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. The inning could have been avoided entirely if Johan had been able to get Jamie Moyer out. With the bases loaded and 2 outs, Jamie Moyer stepped to the plate and was able to work a walk which scored a run but more importantly brought Shane Victorino to the plate. Shane Victorino hit a grand slam, Chase Utley hit a 2 run shot, and the Phillies added one more to cap off a 9 run inning. The final score of the game was 11-5 and the Phillies won the series and showed the Mets who is boss.

CARDINALS SERIES

Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals came into town next and they took the first game of the 4 game series. Joe Blanton in his first game back pitched well, but the bullpen ultimatley gave up the lead and the Phillies could not fight back and lost by a final of 6-3. The game was not completely dull, a 17 year old teenager ran onto the field late in the game and evaded police and security until he was eventually tased and face planted in the outfield. There was a lot of contreversy over this issue and my opinion is a taser was completely unneccesary in this situation. Just tackle the kid and rough him up a little. A baseball stadium is not a venue to be using a taser. If he was putting any of the players at risk, that is a completely different story, but he wasn't putting causing harm to anyone. He was waving a towel and running around like an idiot. So just tackle the kid and get him off the field so we can play baseball. On Tuesday night, Cole Hamels finally looked like the Cole Hamels of 2008. He pitched 8 scoreless innings and he made hitters look foolish all night. He had his change up, his curveball, and fastball all working for him. Cole even attempted the complete game shutout and went into the 9th with a 1-0 lead. Unfortunately for Cole, some knuckle head decided to jump onto the field right before the first pitch of the inning. He wasn't tased, but he definitely had an affect on Cole who lost his rhythm and gave up the tying run. Fortunately, Brad Lidge was able to come in and preserve the tie and the Phillies eventually won it on a walk-off home run from Chooooooooooooooooch. On Wednesday, the Phillies got a strong pitching performance from Kyle Kendrick and scored 4 runs as they blanked the Cardinals 4-0. On Thursday the Phillies looked to take 3 out of 4 from the Cardinals and they did just that as they got a strong pitching performance from Roy Halladay who picked up his 6th win of the season. Jayson Werth hit a 3 run bomb in the bottom of the first, and the Phillies eventually won the game by a final of 7-2. The Phillies took 3 out of 4 from the Cardinals, and just as they did in their series vs the Mets made a statement to the Cardinals that they are the elite team in the N.L. The Phillies won their 4th straight game last night vs Atlanta. The offense got to Derrick Lowe and provided a lot of run support for Jamie Moyer. He didn't need it. Jamie Moyer pitched a complete game shutout and in doing so became the oldest player to pitch a complete game shutout. The Phillies are really clicking right now on all cylinders. They are pitching well and tearing the cover off the ball at the same time. It is important for the Phils to finish this home stand strong, and keep the Braves in the basement of the N.L. East race.