The ugly, and not so ugly, numbers
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The ugly, and not so ugly, numbers
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Just some random numbers while perusing my stats this morning. . .
1) The Phillies are just 5-for-38 with runners in scoring position in their current four-game losing streak.
2) Josh Beckett, Gio Gonzalez and Jordan Zimmermann have held the Phillies to two runs on 24 baserunners with 16 and seven walks over 19 1/3 innings over the last three games.
3) And now for the good news: The bullpen has not allowed a run in its last 12 2/3 innings, dating back to the first game of the Boston series. Particularly impressive have been the two newest faces: rookie Jake Diekman has struck out seven of nine batters in two appearances during the stretch, while Raul Valdes has struck out four of 12 in 3 2/3 scoreless innings. Jose Contreras has retired the last nine batters he has faced, while Antonio Bastardo has not allowed a run in the month of May, pitching 9 1/3 scoreless innings while allowing just four baserunners and striking out 10. All of that is a very good sign. As frustrating as this team can seem, a stable bullpen along with the strength in the rotation would give the Phillies the ability to put together a long run of W's if the offense were ever to heat up. Keep in mind they were seven games out in late July in 2010 and ended up winning the division going away. What they can't afford to do is give away games that they are winning, which is why the bullpen is so important. In Bastardo, Contreras and Diekman, the Phillies have three relievers with legitimate back-of-the-bullpen stuff. If Valdes can somehow turn into their most reliable lefty specialist since Scott Eyre, suddenly the bullpen transforms from a glaring weakness to a clear strength. Of course, that only happens if Bastardo and Contreras are consistent and Diekman turns into the pitcher he has shown flashes of being since his call-up.
Comments (35)
We need the media to BEG Chollie to put Ruiz in 4 hole and pence back to 3 or 5 hole where he is most comfortable and productive. Orr and Mayberry are starting to sting the ball so put them down in the lineup where there is less pressure. How bout this..Pierre 1, vic 2, polanco or pence 3, ruiz 4, polanco or pence 5 orr 6, mayberry 7, galvis 8. Never saw this lineup....WHAT CAN THEY LOSE????— Trot- The bullpen coming around is a big big deal. If the starting pitchers do their job and the bullpen does theirs it is a domino effect, the offense will relax and then do their job. Make sense??— Trot
- Desperate 2010 comment. The Phillies only had one decent team to contend with in 2010. This year 3 or 4 teams would have to fold even if the Phillies could put together a long winning streak- I don't see how that is possible with the players they have. Also, Jayson Werth was the offensive MVP that year and he isn't coming back and at 33 is a shadow of the player he was then. Becoming a shadow didn't just happen to Werth-- the same holds true for everyone in the 2010 line up except for Rollins who was already pretty bad then.— jtj06
- Statistics. Averages. people drown in bodies of water that only average less than 12" in depth— 1republican
- Yes, there is reason for hope.— sal_acid
- I'm glad Murphy put together those bullpen stats. Lost in all these bad offensive losses has been the fact that the bullpen does appear to be solidifying. We need a longer stretch to get a better read but it's feeling like Bastardo can be that consistent set-up guy we hoped for and Diekman and Contreras can be relied on. That allows Qualls to be used earlier or for fewer batters. I think he'll be much better in that scenario than as a regular set-up guy. If the pitching (rotation and bullpen) can get on track then we're back to the recipe we started the series with: Pitch well enough to win series, get to the trade deadline, make moves. But jt06's point is well taken -- there are a lot of teams in the mix in the NL East this year. As my dad used to say, the Phillies need to either s**t or get off the pot. The time to start winning some series is now, not in June.— s
-
- Nice to see positive news, esp Diekman & Bastardo who can setup Paps for years. After re-signing Cole RAB needs to focus on what he said last October but hasn't done-sign younger more disciplined hitters & not overpay undisciplined players. He's hurt our team & needs to prove he should be a GM.— phillies6pack
- Johnny Raincloud here questioning the strength of our starting rotation given the latest outings of three guys named Halladay, Lee and Blanton. Outstanding starting pitch + weak hitting + solid bullpen might = playoffs. If we have weak hitting and just an above average starting rotation, no way.
— eman - To say "if the offense ever heats up" is to assume there is an offense there to heat up.. which, it is painfully obvious, there is not.— dinsdale
- To say "if the offense ever heats up" is to assume there is an offense there to heat up.. which, it is painfully obvious, there is not.— dinsdale
- Keep in mind Murph, that 2010 was two years ago and Utley and Howard were playing. We also had Jayson Werth and got Oswalt and Sweeney for the playoff push. Blanton also pitched in that second half as well as he has ever pitch with the Phillies. And as jtj said, the division wasn't as good.— EL Zorro
- Now, I wonder how BEMiller and others feel about the wild card and the whole play off set up now.— EL Zorro
- RE: 2010. This morning I was thinking, maybe they'll be like the 2006 Cardinals, who I believe staggered to an 83 win season and won it all. As Juaquin Andujar famously said, "You Americans have one word for it: you never know."— ijj
- i didn't realize the headline would take me to an article about baseball. the phillies ? yawn ... wake me up when the season's over !— the_chief
- Conteras is garbage, nothing personal of course, but he has to be out of the equation. This is why the Phillies are a travesty, they count on over the hill, sub-mediocre refuse they scraped from the bargain bin like Qualls, and of course Contreraso or bush leaguers like Herndon. Deikman does look promising (if they don't turn around and trade him right away which is what Giles and Monty will do) and of course Bastardo along with a hopeful comeback by Stutes could bolster the bridge to Paplebon but for Ch...sts sake, do NOT USE Contreras! Its like playing Russian Roulette with a loaded 357 magnum chamber. I would use him with anything less than a 10 run lead! Of course, Cholly the caped Squirrel Hunter will keep using Contreras to ensure the Phils drop another 20 games in late innings. Heck, he has to do his thing, its what Monty and Giles want........ rent that basement for the next 10 years.— daystrum
- Good luck finding all-stars to fill every bullpen spot.
Contreras comes off his third straight inning of no hit no run pitching and that's your focus? I'd love to only have Contreras to worry about with this team.
I personally think we've seen the best of Stutes. He seems like he could spend more time on the DL than Lidge did.— s - Dave, what will it take to bring up Domonic Brown who, under orders from Monty and Giles, is rotting in the minors? What possible rational can they use to justify using Pierre who can't hit or throw a ball 200 feet, Mayberry who is as exciting as Philly low fat Cream Cheese, or Nix who is nothing more than a glamorized bench warmer, over Brown who was supposed to be their main franchise outfielder of the future? Bring the guy up! What is the hesitation?....that he might misplay a fly ball like, gee....Hunter Pence and Pierre, two of the most defensively incompetent outfielders in the major leagues? Monty and Giles don't want Brown up because, yes, I am going to say it, because he just might start to hit and light a spark. Can't to that, Gile and Monty are determined to bury their team and conduct their fire sale, their clients are counting on it. Its time boycott. Do it and maybe with any luck, the team can be sold to an owner who really wants to win, not just every 15-20 years but EVERY year:-)— daystrum
- The level of competition in our division means none of them are likely to get too far from us because they'll keep beating each other. If the Phils can hang and get some offensive relief they won't be too far out come crunch time.— The K Man
Also good news ... in a backward kind of way ... the division is better, and thus I don't see anyone running away with it. 90 - 92 games wins it ... IMO.
— zubzub- People really need to keep expectations in check here. Father Time is winning out. Jimmy, Shane and Polanco are all OLD and their batting averages show it -- and their OBP really shows it.
Carlos and Pence are the only real threats in the lineup. Ruiz is the best player on the team but he's a catcher -- it would be a miracle if he is able to play at this level all season. Halladay is showing some age. Thome is 2 for 18, no HRs -- can they schedule his retirement party along with Burrell's?
This will be the last season with this core and they will struggle to be a .500 team in a surprisingly strong division. Then it will be rebuilding time for Amaro.
So...enjoy it while you can. They won't contend; they'll be 10 games out by the All-Star Break. But it is nostalgia. Tickets will be plentiful for a change. Maybe Utley will try to gut it out for a few weeks and we can see Utley, Rollins and Howard on the same infield for the last time.— tomB - trot - I second that idea - Chooch just HAS to be in the cleanup spot! Why is that SO clear to us and apprently no one else in the Phils' dugout?— dwp66
- It's true the division will keep beating up on each other, but at some point the Phils have to start winning some of those series. Keep losing 2 of 3 to teams in the division and they'll never gain any ground. Consider on their 6 game win streak they only picked up 1 game (which has now been lost).— kmon
- The problem is the starting pitching had to carry all the weight and now its taking its toll on them. Because they couldnt count on the relief pitchers, this put alot of stress on them to win the game single handedly. Lee got hurt trying to finish one in the tenth, Halladay is off rythem, Worely is hurt, now we have just Cole and Kendrick, boy that makes me feel good! Besides the non hitting by these players, the relief pitching, or lack of, has started all this mess!— huntnmike3666
- RYNE TYME-get someone who has a brain before we lose him again.— philsfansince1946
- You and Matt Gelb need to a get girlfriends.— BRIANMC
- Fifty seven percent of all statistics are made up.— burholme
- Pence should be moved out of the cleanup spot. He is 1 for his last 22 ABs with RISP. Absolutely pathetic. Pence would have more RBIs if he didn't hit with RISP. Hey Howard haters, see what happens when he's not in the lineup. Of course Pence doesn't K as often but he sure as hell can't hit with RISP.— palmyra21
- The media needs to stop looking for every stat to try to keep hope alive. You can always spot a weak article when it uses anecdotal examples instead of the more common outcomes to a set circumstances. There is no reason to think that this team is going to change this trend. Bad baseball results in more L's than W's. Remember this team is sitting below .500 after the weakest part of their schedule. Put a fork in this season.— jfdatl
- To the exasperated but in informed, this is why Dom Brown isn't on the big club:
0 HR, 15 RBI, .248 BA, .291 OBP, .647 OPS, 5 errors & 23 Ks in 28 games at AAA.
— CallisonTaylorRojas - The Phillies are good at finding a way to lose.— 4thand10
- Daystrum, that's about the dumbest post I read in a long time. Saying the Phillies are deliberately keeping Brown in AAA on orders from Monty and Giles. The fact that he can't field, run bases, and up to about 10 days ago, hasn't hit a home run .Wouldn't that be the reason would it?
I doubt if you ever saw him play. He could with training be a DH in the American League. He's injury prone,and error prone.— phineas 
I'd love to know where @daystrum is getting all of his "inside information" on the ownership's plans.— verve- With all that has gone on with the Phillies so far, they are only 5 games back in the loss column from first place. One long good run of say 10 and 3 and the pressure is on the rest of the division.— Ron
- I don't understand how you can look at the Phillies line-up and the quality of competition and see a team capable of making the playoffs. This is an awful everyday line-up with no hope in sight.— UncleStosh
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David Murphy
Daily News Staff Writer
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