Balls, Sticks, & Stuff | Phillies, Eagles, golf and other matters of great importance...

From the Offense to the Defense to the Weather, THAT is Phillies Baseball

It certainly seems as if the Fightins have climbed out of their month-long malaise. They've won 4 of their last 5 at the expense of top-tier teams like the Red Sox, Yankees and Twins. Last night's 9-5 win over the Twins was powered by Ryan Howard and Chase Utley.

Howard, who began to show life Wednesday night with a homer in New York, had two home runs, a double and a triple against the Twins pitching staff while Utley, denying rumors of a knee injury did the talking with his bat and glove -- a single, a homer, and a fantastic diving play to his left in the field. Perhaps Davy Lopes should have played doctor a bit sooner?

With the resurgent Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay set to pitch over the weekend, the Phillies are set up to tack on a few more wins.

-----------------

A word about Scott Mathieson: Please, do not use the outcome of his 9th inning appearance last evening to cloud your judgement of his performance. He threw mid-to upper-90's fast balls for strikes. Unfortunately, two batters managed to get seeing-eye singles through the infield on a night when the Phillies defense was superb. Of the three hits Mathieson gave up, only one was struck well. I'm anxious to see how he does in his next appearances.

-----------------

Below is a photo gallery from the gorgeous evening spent in South Philly [hover mouse over photo for a description]:

Amaro: "Davy Lopes is not a doctor"

Earlier today, the interwebs, this site included, were a-flutter over the news that Chase Utley was injured. Ah-ha! An explanation for his slump!

However, in a phone call with CSNPhilly.com's Jim Salisbury, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro dispelled the notion that Utley is hurt and blew Lopes cover story with his mother, stating "Davy Lopes is not a doctor." Great, now Mrs. Lopes will find out that her son has been wearing a baseball uniform all this time and not a unique set of surgical scrubs.

In all seriousness, Amaro came down pretty hard on Lopes for talking about Utley's knee. But Amaro did admit that Utley's knee has been sore, which while it might not be an official full-fledged injury, Amaro should admit soreness is something that could be something that could hamper Utley's play.

Utley Hurting, Jinxed, or Both?

What an impossible game baseball is to figure out.

Heading into the Phillies/Yankees series, I told a Yankees fan that I thought the Phillies would win the first game with Roy Halladay on the bump, but then lose the next two with the patient Yankees hitters dismantling the salad Kyle Kendrick and Jamie Moyer bring to the table.

Good thing I don't bet on baseball.

So the Phillies have now won three of their last four games which were against powerhouses like the Red Sox and Yankees [while the Mets tear up the woeful Indians and Orioles, thanks interleague play!] and things are looking better. Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth both had nice at-bats that resulted in home runs in Wednesday's game, but, Chase Utley remains mired in his slump.

While Utley seems to think part of his problem is being jinxed or cursed and setting up some voodoo bats might help [hey, he's got a point, a .262 batting average on balls in play with an 18% line drive rate is a bit on the unlucky side], we might have finally found out about the injury we've suspected he's been suffering from. In an interview at Baseball Prospectus regarding base stealing, Phillies first base coach Davy Lopes divulged that Utley has been "hampered by a little bit of a knee injury."

Who knows how much it is affecting Utley, maybe a little, maybe a lot, but however much it is, hopefully he doesn't compensate for the injury so much that his swing is wrecked for the year, even after the injury has healed.

-----------------

Update: Ruben Amaro:"Davy Lopes is not a doctor."

Utley's Phone Booth Follow Through

Doug Sanders won 20 tournaments on the PGA Tour from the mid-1950's to the early 1970's. Sanders was known for two things in his career -- his colorful attire and a golf swing that Sanders himself described to be so short he could swing in a telephone booth.

When Chase Utley hit a solo home run against the Brewers on May 14th, Doug Sanders telephone-booth golf-swing was one of the first things I thought of. Utley's always been known for an abbreviated follow-through, but in this instance it was unbelievable how quickly Utley saw the pitch and then waited until the very last split second to whip his forearms, wrists, hands, and of course, bat, through the hitting zone, launching the ball into the left field stands.

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, this is the Golden Age of Phillies baseball.  I watch just about every game for reasons just like this.  I don't want to miss one of these golden moments.

-----------------

Ad: Support BS&S.com site and visit PhillyPhaithful.com for some "Good Schmidt".

Chase Utley Wearing Down in September, Coming Back to Earth, or Just Unlucky?

To begin the 2009 season, Chase Utley got off to a torrid start.  For the first month of the season, he had a Pujols-like OPS of 1.105 and it would hover around .900 for each month for the rest of the season until September, when it plummeted to .615.

The decline was actually to be expected though.  That's what happens with "Ut", he plays as hard as humanly possible and then wears down late in the season with nothing left in the tank.  Utley's career OPS is .902, but for September, his career OPS is .825.

However, Utley's late-season declines may not be entirely due to fatigue.  There may also be a certain degree of bad luck.  In order to eliminate luck when gauging a player's performance, expected batting average on balls in play [xBABIP] is useful, particularly when compared to his actual batting average on balls in play [BABIP].  xBABIP is calculated using line drive rates and strikeout to walk ratios and comes up with a batting average that would be expected based on the hitter's batting prowess while actual BABIP is just what you would expect, the percentage of balls in play that become hits.

If a hitter's luck is entirely even, then his xBABIP should be relatively equal to his BABIP.  If he's lucky, his BABIP will be well above his xBABIP and of course, unlucky means BABIP is significantly less than his BABIP.

With that in mind, take a look at Ultey's BABIP and xBABIP as the 2009 season wore on:

Suddenly in September, Utley had all the luck of Roy Sullivan.  His batting average on balls in play sank like a rock from .319 in August to .233 in September.  Sure, he wasn't hitting the ball as hard --his expected BABIP went from .341 to .314-- but it's not like he went Eric Bruntlett on us, which is what happened to his results.

Giving Utley a day off here and there in June and July certainly can't hurt at all, but at the same time, perhaps Utley needs to start rubbing some of Pedro Cerrano's trinkets on his bats.

Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino Win Gold Gloves, Chase Utley Shafted Again

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Every year, there are winners of Gold Glove awards who are frankly, undeserving [see "Abreu, Bobby"], and so the award has lost some of its luster. However, all of those mistakes shouldn't take away from the fact that if you win a Gold Glove, it's because the powers-that-be [in this case, coaches and managers] felt you were the best at what you do. And who among us wouldn't want that?

For Rollins, it is his third Gold Glove in a row and the second in a row for Victorino.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

You have to wonder when Chase Utley will win a Gold Glove, if ever.  Statistically speaking, the objective play-by-play data like Ultimate Zone Rating and the Plus/Minus system love Utley's play at second base, but for some reason, the voters don't see it that way.

If you are a Phillies fan, you certainy do see it that way.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Hamels, Myers Verbally Spar [Updated]

Make no mistake, the real story this morning is how Chase Utley and Cliff Lee threw the hopes of a repeat World Series title on their backs and extended the series for at least one, hopefully two, games in New York.

Chase Utley had two home runs and Lee lasted 7 innings against a relentless Yankee lineup.  No matter how the series turns out, we'll talk about how those two have performed to our grandchildren.

But what will also make headlines this morning is a story about two Phillies players who have had more of a love/hate relationship with fans.  According to a Yahoo! Sports report, Brett Myers and Cole Hamels got into a bit of a verbal altercation over Cole's "just put me out of my misery"-type comments following Game 4.

As Myers walked past Hamels near Hamels’ locker he said, mocking, “What are you doing here? I thought you quit.”

Hamels, the witness said, responded with an expletive.

Before the situation escalated, Myers was guided away by a team official.

It's an easy story to believe, after all, Brett Myers and Cole Hamels definitely operate on two entirely different plane of existence.  Brett has tattoos, Cole has delicate bangs.  Brett shoots first, asks questions later while Cole wouldn't pull a trigger without 4 days of rest.

The true personality of the team is really somewhere in the middle and while I'm glad somebody said something to Cole, I'd be more curious to see how Chase Utley or Jamie Moyer or Charlie Manuel or Jimmy Rollins would have handled it [or, for all we know, did handle it].

-----------------

Update: Multiple sources are now debunking the story above. Not sure who to believe at this point. My guess is that Myers did actually say that to Hamels, but jokingly, and Hamels took it that way.

Instant Classic: Chase Utley's 1st Inning Homer

A Conversation Between Chase Utley and Alex Rodriguez

 

[Original image taken from this excellent photo gallery at Philly.com]

Since I'm obviously lashing out at A-Fraud, might as well publish this one too:

Was Chase Utley Safe or Out?

A crucial moment in last night's Game 2 of the World Series came in the top of the 8th.  The Phillies were down 3-1 and Jimmy Rollins was on second base, Shane Victorino on first.  Chase Utley was at the plate, Mariano Rivera on the mound.

With Tim McCarver clamoring for the Phillies to send the runners once Rivera had two strikes on Utley, almost on cue, Utley grounds into a 4-6-3 double-play, ending the Phillies rally before it really got started.  Rivera would go on to lock down the game for the Yankees in the 9th.

Afterwards, in the press conference, Charlie Manuel was peppered with questions about his decision on that play.  He explained his reasoning for not running on the pitch, which was just as good as the reasoning to send the runners, and took another question.  But then, unsolicited, Manuel offered, "By the way, if you want to know the truth, go back and look at it, Utley was safe."

Take a look for yourself [click to enlarge]:

Looks like Charlie's right again.

Phillies Take Game 1, Pundits Scratch Heads

[Thanks to Dan McQuade for the video]

The video above says it all about Cliff Lee's performance tonight in Yankee Stadium.  Nonchalant and easy.  6-1, Phllies win.

Lee went the distance, completing the game with 10 strikeouts, no walks and no earned runs [the Yankees would score one run the 9th on a Jimmy Rollins error].  Alex Rodriguez accounted for 3 of those strikeouts.  You remember him right?  The one pretty much ordained the World Series MVP before a pitch was ever thrown?  Yeah, him.

The offense was initially powered by Chase Utley, who solo-homered in the 3rd and 6th innings. [Those that believe in karma or fate will remember that Chase Utley homered for the Phillies first run in last year's World Series.]  Extreme patience on the part of Utley's fellow hitters would chase [no pun intended] C.C. Sabathia early, and the Phillies were able to score 4 more runs off of the Yankees pen.

Up, 1-0 to nothing, the Phillies are attempting to follow the blue-print they've drawn up over the last two post-seasons -- win Game 1, steal home-field advantage, and then never look back.

If Game 2 of the NLCS Had a Soundtrack

-----------------

As I mentioned earlier today, I'm pinch-hitting a bit over at The 700 Level.  If you've got a minute, I've got a post over there regarding Chase Utley's costly miscue [link].

What a Whirlwind

Shane knocks one out... Clifton Phifer Lee paints the corners... Werth puts on his hulk hands and makes it 2-0... Raul pulls a mini-Holliday... Pete Happy swings at the first pitch [first pitch!?!?!]... Lee comes out for the 8th and gets into trouble, Madson and Ben Francisco in, Lee and Ibanez out... Fly to leeeft, BENNY BABY!!! Charlie's a genius until... Rockies knock around Madson, we're down two runs with only three outs left... Dobbs K's, Jimmy singles... Shane almost hits into a DP... Uts walks... The Big Piece doubles!... Shane almost misses third on the way home, Chase is chasing him, they both score and we're tied at 4!... Werth singles and The Big Piece rumbles home! 5-4 Fightin' Phillies!... Eyre and his loose bodies and sprained ankle come out for the bottom of the 9th... Two outs and two singles later, Charlie calls on Lidge to face Tulo... the Delaware Valley holds their breath... Struck him out!

Interesting Question

From Daily News beat writer David Murphy's Twitter feed:

Just took a quick press box poll. ESPN's Stark, Crasnick and myself all agree that Chase Utley might be the best baserunner in the game.

My reply:

He's good, but I think Utley's DP partner may be better. Rollins might not be as opportunistic, but he turns the bases great.

It's hard to explain in Twitter's 140 characters, but while Utley is a great baserunner -- who else would score from second on a high-chopper that never leaves the infield? -- I think Jimmy Rollins is better based on his technique and overall speed.

Next time you get a chance, watch how absolutely perfectly Jimmy turns around first base on his way to second.  He never appears to adjust his stride in order to hit the base and he never seems to slow down either.  I've never seen anyone do it better and I have to say, a Jimmy Rollins triple is more fun for me than sinking a double-breaking 50-footer for bird.

What do you think? Is Chase Utley the best baserunner in baseball? Is Rollins better?  If Rollins is better, is he the best in baseball?

Somewhere Up There, Harry is Smiling

After Chase Utley's game-winning home-run in the 11th inning over the Mets, we need to hear Harry's classic call.  Click here [original entry here].

Game Thread: Your 2009 Philadelphia Phillies Begin Their Title Defense

Charlie Manuel has posted tonight's starting lineup:

6:59 PM: SS Jimmy Rollins, RF Jayson Werth, 2B Chase Utley, 1B Ryan Howard, LF Raul Ibanez, CF Shane Victorino, 3B Pedro Feliz, C Carlos Ruiz, RHP Brett Myers.

That's three lefties in a row against the Atlanta Braves' RHP Derek Lowe.

Don't forget, the game situation and win probability will update in the right-hand sidebar as the game goes along [the first few entries are from a game used for beta testing].

Utley’s Hip Tweaked, Opening Day Start in Doubt

OK, so that is a lame, weak April Fool’s Day joke, and I apologize.

In other years, I’ve come up with something on this date that fooled at least a few of you, but today, I’m fresh out of ideas.

But consider this:  What if you were in a horrific car accident on September 15th, 2008, and you’ve been in a coma until this morning.  As an avid and devoted Phillies fan and Balls, Sticks & Stuff reader, the first thing you want to do is get online and read the latest news, find out what you’ve missed over these long months.

You log on, and find talk of the Phillies winning the World Series several weeks after your accident.  Since you see the date at the top of the page, you immediately assume this is some sort of April Fool’s joke.  You might even read more and see that not only did the Phillies win the World Series, but that their payroll is north of $130 million and that roughly 1/7th of it is going towards players released or traded away.

Is there any doubt you would close the laptop you are using in your hospital bed, look at everyone in the room and ask with a good-natured smirk, “alright, what really happened?!?”

You know what else, there’s a good chance that at least someone in the room with you would reply something to the effect of, “Yes, hard for us to believe too, but it’s all true.

-----------------

You can find follow Balls, Sticks & Stuff on Twitter and Facebook.  And, don't forget the Phloggers' Pheeds page for more blog-type content.