On Park, Jenkins, Sheffield

A flurry of Phillies news today.
First, the team announced that righty Chan Ho Park has won the fifth starter’s job, besting lefty J.A. Happ. Both had good springs, but I suppose the move was made with designs of lessening the impact of sending Happ to the minors, should he require the seasoning.
That’s just speculation. Whatever [...]

My predictions for the 2009 Phillies

Ah, yes. The time has come. One week from tonight, myself and 45,000 other Philly fans will crowd Citizens Bank Park for Opening Day (Night) 2009, when the Phils get things started against the Braves.
And receive a bit of hardware in the process.
But that Sunday night will just be the first of 162 games, a [...]

Young catchers on the move?

SATURDAY: Sure enough, Paulino has been dealt for lefty reliever Jack Taschner. This all but assures J.A. Happ the fifth starter’s spot.
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THURSDAY: Now Ken Rosenthal thinks that Chris Coste has secured the backup spot, and that Ronny Paulino is the one available after all.
Chris Coste has secured his hold on the Phillies’ backup catcher spot, [...]

Ibanez.gif

Behold, the .gif to end all .gifs. The squished resolution makes things a little difficult to see, but can you tell who that is in left field?
Rowdy Raul, gettin’ things done.
God I’m excited for the season to start.
Credit to The Fightins for the animation.

Don’t panic, don’t riot

UPDATE (3/17, (9:00 P.M.): The folks at ESPN cite Rich Dubee as believing Hamels to be a “long shot” to start Opening Day. Hopefully, it should only be that one start he misses.
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UPDATE (3/17, 4:26 P.M.): No structural damage was found in Hamels’s elbow, just inflammation. David Murphy is still dubious as to Hamels’s availability [...]

Pat Burrell is still the man

If you doubted this at any point, let those doubts be assuaged.
In today’s issues of the Daily News and Inquirer, Pat Burrell took out a full-page ad to thank fans for their support during his decade in Philadelphia, adding that he hopes to meet the Phils again – in an October World Series rematch.
Here’s the [...]

Please, don’t ever be like this

There is a link I was given just a few moments ago. Here it is.
But before you click that link, allow me to serenade you for just a moment.
Envision, if you will, my post on why trading Ryan Howard could be beneficial to the Phillies in the long run. Remember that one? Obviously, it won’t [...]

The WBC

As I’ve sat watching World Baseball Classic games basically all day, I’ve realized just how much of the game I’d missed over the winter.
I missed Adam Dunn’s monster home runs. I missed Jimmy Rollins and his defense. I missed the quirks of the game, like a ground ball to second base somehow making its way [...]

Evaluating the 2009 NL East via PECOTA

If you’ve read this blog at some time over the past few weeks, you’ve no doubt seen my post regarding projected performance for the Phillies in 2009. If not, go read up when you have a chance.
Now, I think it’s time to put some of these projections into play across the entire NL East, to [...]