Phillies to face Pujols less Cardinals!

The Phillies(45-28) will start a 3 games series tonight vs the (40-33) St. Louis Cardinals. The Phillies will have the upper hand in the series as they will be sending their top 3 starting pitchers (Halladay, Lee, Oswalt) to the mound in the series. Also in other news Cardinals star 1st baseman Albert Pujols will be out for the series and, for the next few weeks with a sprained left wrist that he sustained over the weekend so that will be one less bat the Phillies will have to worry about as the Cardinals lineup is loaded with good hitters already such as Lance Berkman who is having a carear year and, the always talented Matt Halladay. Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard loves visitng his hometown of St. Louis as he is a .365 hitter at Bush Stadium. Roy Halladay (9-3 2.56 ERA) will take the ball in game 1 and, will be looking for his MLB leading 10th win of the season vs Cardinals Right Hander Kyle McClellan (6-3, 3.96 ERA) tonight at 8:15 pm

Poll Question

What should the Phillies do about their right field situation?

a)      Start Dominic Brown full time

b)      Platoon situation Brown/Francisco

c)       Make a trade for a veteran right fielder

Oswalt goes 7 strong for 4th Win of the Season!

Roy Oswalt earned his 4^th win of the season yesterday afternoon. Oswalts first win since April 24^th. Oswalt was able to regain his form after a trip to the DL, some family issues and, a few shaky starts to go seven strong innings striking out five to get the Phillies past the Cubs in a 4 to 3 victory.  Ryan Howard provided plenty of offence with 3 rbi’s on the afternoon. Howards 7th inning single off Cubs left-hander Sean Marshall scored Chase Utley and, Shane Victornio to give the Phillies the lead. Chase Utley also helped spark the offence as he continues to swing a hot bat going 2 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored. Phillies right hander Michael Stutes pitched a scoreless 8^th leading the way for Ryan Madson to come in and, close the door in the 9^th inning earning his 15^th save of the season as he continues to be lights out for the Phillies going 15/16 in save opportunities so for this season. The Phillies have the day off today Monday June 13^th and will next face the Florida Marlins at home on Tuesday to start a three game series. Hamels (8-2, 2.58 ERA) takes the mound for the Phillies vs. Florida’s Chris Volstad (2-6, 5.51 ERA) tomorrow night.

Has J.C Romero been causing anyone else a headache?

J.C Romero has continued to struggle this season after coming in late in the game last night in a no pressure situation against the Chicago Cubs giving up 2 hits 1 earned run and a walk. I don’t know about other Phillies fans but I have seen enough of J.C Romero in a Phillies uniform. The 35 year old left hander pitcher has been shaky all season long posting a 4.11 ERA with 12 walks in 15 and, a third innings pitched. Being a relief pitcher especially a left handed pitcher you are called apron to come in to a tough situation to get a hold, save, or get another pitcher out of an inning so for a relief pitcher to be wild is a no go. Romero’s pitches have been all over the place this season as he has been unable to find the strike zone. Romero has shown no control and, has been ineffective.  After joining the Phillies in 2007, Romero pitched well in 2007 and, continued to shine in 2008 while helping the Phillies win the 2008 World Series. However, since then he has been suspended once for 50 games for the use of a banned performance enhancing substance that he said he bought over the counter at a drug store in Cherry Hill New Jersey and, claims he didn’t know there was any illegal substances in the drug. It can only make one think if the illegal substance was the key to his success because, since that 2008 season Romero has had several trips to the disabled list and, has not been the same effective pitcher. In terms of finding his replacement a promotion from someone in farm system up to the Major league club may be an option but the better route may be to acquire a veteran with experience for the playoff run. There will be a few relief pitchers on the market come the trade deadline and finding one at a decent price shouldn’t be hard to find despite G.M Ruben Amaro Jr saying the team won’t be making many or if any major moves because, they are at their payroll max. But with this Phillies team being a major contender I cannot see the Phillies not putting out a few extra million dollars to find a solid relief pitcher.

Phillies Quick Hits June 9th

Phillies left hander Cole Hamels continued his 2011 season of dominance with his 8^th win of the season last night over the L.A Dodgers. Hamels pitched a gem of a game by pitching eight scoreless innings striking out nine and, lowering his season ERA to 2.58. Hamels gem allowed the Phillies to take the series two games to one over the Dodgers. Despite the Phillies only scoring 2 runs a Solo Home Run by Ryan Howard and, then a Dominic Brown fielder’s choice late in the game to score Shane Victornio in it was more than enough as Hamels was unhittable and, Ryan Mason then came in during the 9^th to shut the door earning his 14^th save of the season. Madson is now 14 for 14 in save opportunities this season. Hamels Gem  gives plenty of reason to why great pitching is always key to a successful team. The Phillies begin a four game series with the Chicago Cubs tonight at 7:05pm. Kyle Kendrick (3-4, 3.78 ERA) gets the start vs. Chicago’s Randy Wells (1-1,5.74 ERA)

Jimmy Rollins update

After receiving a MRI on Monday afternoon results showed that shortstop Jimmy Rollins has a bone burse on his right knee after he fouled a ball off of it vs. Pittsburgh this past weekend. Rollins has missed the past three games and a D.L stint may be possible. However, Rollins has stated that he does not need to go on the D.L and manger Charlie Manuel has been quoted as saying Rollins may be back in the lineup as soon as tonight vs. L.A.  Wilson Valdez has been filling in for the injured Rollins providing solid defense so to prevent further injury to Rollins knee the Phillies should be safe in considering Rollins return to the lineup considering it is still early in the season and there is no need to rush Rollins back into the lineup  so quickly and risk further damage to his knee.

Phillies quick hits Sunday June 5th

The Phillies ended their four game losing streak behind ace Roy Halladay on Sunday vs. the below five hundred Pirates squad that Philadelphia has dropped the past two games to. Despite the back to back losses to Pittsburgh the past two nights Halladay and Howard where able to lift the Phillies out of their mini slump with strong performances. In my view it is a such a long season that there is no need to panic if a team loses a few games in a row even to a bad team. The season is a marathon and not a sprint so bad losses will occur. Halladay picked up his 8^th win of the season to help the Phillies avoid the sweep at PNC Park in Pittsburg by  throwing seven strong innings despite giving up two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Ryan Howard lead the offence with 3 Rbi’s, Chase Utley also looked strong as he regained his stroke with his first three hit game of the season. This weekend’s return of a healthy Shane Victorino also helped as he was able to chip in with two hits and a Rbi on Sunday afternoon. The return of Shane Victorino couldn’t have came sooner because John Mayberry Jr and, Michael Martinez who had been filling in for the injured Victornio were beginning to become exposed as Martinez is a player who shouldn’t even be in the Major Leagues. However as a rule 5 draft pick Martinez has to remain on the roster for the entire 2011 season or he has to be offered back to the Washington Nationals. In my view I don’t know what the club sees in Martinez who has a lack of pop in his bat batting just  .180 on the season, he is also a below average outfielder, and is already 28 years of age. Mayberry Jr also had been hurting the club as he seems to just be a career 4^th outfielder considering he struggles against right handing pitching. On Sunday Night the club opted Mayberry Jr back down to Leigh Valley their triple A club as they await a roster move on Monday morning on weather the off injuried Ross Gloud will be ready to return?  The NL East leading Phillies return home to Citizen Bank Park on Monday night to take on the L.A Dodgers behind Cliff Lee.