Ryan Lawrence, Daily News Staff Writer
Phillies starters had thrown seven straight quality starts, with a 1.66 ERA over that span, when John Lannan took the mound on Wednesday in Cincinnati.
Lannan did not have a quality start. He gave up six runs on eight hits in 1 2/3 innings. Ten of the 14 batters Lannan faced reached base.
And then afterward, it turned out that Lannan wasn't healthy.
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Five facts and/or observations from yesterday's 1-0 and 11-2 losses to the Reds. . .
1) Ben Revere has not hit a ball out of the infield in his last 10 plate appearances. The last time he had a base hit that left the infield was April 12 in Miami. That was 21 plate appearances ago. Revere is the only player in the major leagues with at least 55 plate appearances and no extra base hits. His batting average is down to .194, and his on-base percentage down to .242.Thus far, he has led off every game for the 6-9 Phillies.
2) Nate Schierholtz hit a two-run pinch-hit double in the Cubs' 4-2 loss to the Rangers on Tuesday night and is now hitting .361/.425/.667 with five doubles, two home runs, three walks and five strikeouts in 41 plate appearances. Compare that to the performance of Phillies right fielders: .182/.294/.295, two doubles, one home run, seven walks, 13 strikeouts, 51 plate appearances. Schierholtz also has an outfield assist, which gives him one more than the three players who have started in right field for the Phillies. It's early, of course. But the Phillies' tack with Schierholtz was curious even at the time they decided to non-tender him this winter. The 29-year-old had already established himself as a solid rotational outfielder from 2009-12 before the Phillies acquired him as part of the package that saw Hunter Pence head to San Francisco. His .319 career on base percentage was higher than those of Laynce Nix, John Mayberry Jr., Domonic Brown and Delmon Young, and was the same as Ben Revere's. His .727 OPS was better than Nix, Brown and Revere. And he is the best defensive right fielder of the bunch. Schierholtz ended up signing with the Cubs for $2.25 million, which is right around what we would have projected him to make through arbitration. Again, it's early. But certainly worth keeping an eye on.
Ryan Lawrence, Daily News Staff Writer
Kyle Kendrick pitched seven shutout innings at Great American Ball Park on Tuesday night. But when he went to sleep, he still didn't know if it was good enough for the Phillies to win the game.
"That's a first," Kendrick laughed on Wednesday.
Tuesday's game was suspended by rain before the bottom of the ninth inning with the score tied at 0-0. Play will pick up at 5:30 p.m., with the originally scheduled game following a half hour after the conclusion of the first game.
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
One of the biggest changes in my philosophy about writing and reporting over the last decade involves athletes and their off-the-field views. I don't write about sports, I write about people is what I used to tell myself. Well, now I write about sports. There are some exceptions. If an athlete says or does something off of the field that adds something substantive to the public discourse, then I am all ears. For the most part, though, the attraction of sports is the way in which various talents and personalities manifest themselves in the heat of competition. These guys are not paid to think. In fact, thinking is often counterproductive, particularly in baseball. It is a singular sport, and I've found that the people who are most successful at it are often those whose mindset is simularly singular. They are focused on themselves, on their swing, on the pitcher, on the ball. Everything else -- the fans, the venue, the media, society at large -- is just white noise. It is not a sport that lends itself to introspection.
So rather than offer a critical dissection of the interview that Jonathan Papelbon gave to the Boston media yesterday with regard to the marathon bombing, I think I'm just going to relay the quotes and let them stand as another example of why we should not expect a lot of players to step outside of their comfort zone and think critically about serious issues.
Papelbon was asked about the safety at sporting events in the wake of the marathon attack and pointed to the Phillies' home opening tradition of having the players introduced as they enter the field from the stands.
Ryan Lawrence, Daily News Staff Writer
Before we get started, tune in to a new feature tonight: live, in-game blogging at High Cheese on PhillyDailyNews.com. The promo code to join: S87Y
Hot off the press, your Phillies lineup for the second game of the Reds series here at Great American Ball Park.
1. Ben Revere, CF
2. Jimmy Rollins, SS
3. Chase Utley, 2B
4. Ryan Howard, 1B
5. Michael Young, 3B
6. Domonic Brown, LF
7. Laynce Nix, RF
8. Humberto Quintero, C
9. Kyle Kendrick, P
- Poll: How many wins for Halladay? (3784 votes)
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Five facts and/or observations from the Phillies' 4-2 loss to the Reds on Monday night:
1) Last night, it took the Washington Nationals three innings to equal the number of runs that the Phillies scored in their series against the Marlins over the weekend. That's worth mentioning, because by the end of last season the Phillies' early-season offensive struggles seemed to have been forgotten by much of the local punditry, overshadowed by a pair of dueling narratives: one, that the struggles of the pitching staff were the reason the Phillies were not a playoff team; two, that the offensive production returned to an acceptable level once Ryan Howard and Chase Utley rejoined the lineup. As is usually the case with mass-produced narratives, both are too simplistic. Take, for example, last night's 4-2 loss to the Reds. While it would be easy to blame the bullpen for allowing a tie game to become a loss, a competent offensive performance against Bronson Arroyo would have prevented Cliff Lee from having to leave the game for a pinch hitter in the eighth inning at 96 pitches. It would have kept Jeremy Horst on the sidelines and Mike Adams and Jonathan Papelbon primed to deliver on any set-up/close situation that followed Lee's exit. Point is, you can stock a roster with 12 Justin Verlanders, but if you can't score a run off of Bronson Arroyo until your starting pitcher is out of the game, you are going to be a .500 team at best.
2) Last night's game reminded me a lot of last year's 1-0 loss to the Giants when Lee pitched 10 scoreless innings. That game also happened to be Lee's third start of the season. That's another thing that was lost in a lot of subjective breakdowns of "what went wrong" in 2012. Lee was pretty damn good for most of the season. He hit a bit of a rough patch in June, when he allowed 20 runs over four starts. But he had a 2.92 ERA leading up to that stretch and a 2.44 ERA after it.
- Poll: How many wins for Halladay? (3784 votes)
Ryan Lawrence, Daily News Staff Writer
As most of the Phillies checked into the visiting clubhouse at Great American Ball Park on Monday, the explosions at the conclusion of the Boston Marathon had just occurred.
All eyes were glued to the TV screens as the anchorman from a cable station read aloud the latest reports. Jonathan Papelbon went up to one of the TVs and pointed.
"I used to live right above where one of the bombs went off," the current Phillies closer and former Red Sox closer said a little while later. "It's kind of surreal. I don't know man, it's crazy. It's hard to even think about.... It's sad, man."
Ryan Lawrence, Daily News Staff Writer
It was a festive scene in the visiting clubhouse at Marlins Park on Sunday, because all is well that ends well.
Roy Halladay pitched eight strong innings and collecting his 200th career win after Laynce Nix hit a pinch-hit home run in the ninth inning. Halladay got a gigantic bottle of champagne from his teammates for his accomplishment.
The win gave the Phils their second straight series win and it (temporarily) ended Halladay's early season struggles.
- Poll: Phils' biggest issue (2983 votes)
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Five thoughts on the Phillies' 2-1 win over the Marlins on Sunday:
1) In 75 innings against starting pitchers this season, the Marlins have scored exactly nine earned runs. That's an ERA of 1.08. They've scored multiple runs against two of the 12 starters they've faced. So those weren't the '27 Yankees that Roy Halladay shut down on Sunday in a 2-1 Phillies win. Nevertheless, the veteran right-hander finally can afford himself a little bit of mental breathing room after his first successful outing of 2013. And you can't underestimate the impact that a relaxed psyche can have on performance. Halladay's next few starts are projected to come against the Cardinals (home, Friday), the Pirates (home, April 24), the Indians (Road, April 30), and the Marlins (home, May 5).
2) Halladay's velocity appears to have leveled off. He's been sitting at 88-90 on his sinker and 87-89 on his cutter, which is well down from where he was a few years ago. That's not to say that his velocity itself is a huge concern: it can't be, because it isn't suddenly going to improve. Plenty of pitchers have been effective at that speed. The reason why we continue to cite his velocity is that it is an objective baseline, and this particular objective baseline tells us that SOMETHING is different with Roy Halladay, and if that "something" is causing his pitches to not traveling as fast as they once did, it could also be causing his pitches to not move as much as they once did, or it could be affecting his command. Again, Halladay showed on Sunday that he can be effective despite that "something." His ability to consistently do so will be a huge factor in the Phillies' attempt to return to the postseason.
- Poll: How many wins for Halladay? (3784 votes)
Ryan Lawrence, Daily News Staff Writer
Three years ago in the same city, Roy Halladay retreated to the clubhouse following a win over the Marlins and was greeted to a standing ovation from his teammates.
On Sunday, Halladay got a big bottle of champagne from the Phillies, with a congratulatory inscription following a 2-1 victory. Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins presented it to Halladay for the 200th win of his career.
Halladay smiled, thanked them, and then respectfully told them he'd rather have a World Series.
