Philadelphia Phillies Wish List

Ryan Madson
Coming off their first World Series title in 20 years, the Philadelphia Phillies entered 2009 with virtually the same team as in 2008 (except for the addition of Raul Ibanez in left field). However getting to the World Series was a lot tougher in 2009. Injuries decimated the bullpen as everyone except setup man Ryan Madson spent time on the DL and Madson was hardly lights out (5-5 with a 3.26 ERA in 79 games and converted 10 of 16 saves). No one expected closer Brad Lidge to be perfect again, but he was hardly automatic in 2009 as he blew 11 saves in 42 opportunities. Lefty JC Romero missed the first 50 games due to a performance-enhancing drug suspension, but returned and injured his elbow. It seemed like every week someone was going on the DL and a new body was being called up from the minors.
Ace Cole Hamels was hardly an ace and was inconsistent all season (10-11 with a 4.32 ERA in 32 starts with 24 homeruns allowed and more hits than innings pitched). A slimmer Brett Myers hurt his hip and missed a portion of the season. Joe Blanton had his typical average first half (6-4 with a 4.44 ERA with 19 homeruns allowed) and good second half (6-4 with a 3.62 ERA and 11 homeruns allowed). Chan Ho Park struggled in the starting role (but thrived as a reliever), opening the door for lefty JA Happ’s outstanding rookie season (12-4 with a 2.93 ERA in 23 starts). The struggles in the rotation led to the acquisition of CY Young winner Cliff Lee from the Cleveland Indians (and outfielder Ben Francisco), though the Phillies were linked to Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay (but the price seemed to be too high). Lee dominated in his time with the Phillies, even into the playoffs (7-4 with a 3.39 ERA in 12 starts and 10 BB/ 74 K but in the playoffs, Lee was 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA in 5 starts with 2 complete games and 6 BB/ 33 K). They also added free agent veteran Pedro Martinez, who also added a boost to the rotation (5-1 with a 3.63 ERA in 9 starts)
The offense was typical for the Phillies, even with leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins’ lackluster season. Centerfielder Shane Victorino and rightfielder Jayson Werth had career years. First baseman Ryan Howard sizzled again when the summer heated up (.305 with 23 homeruns and 74 RBIs in the second half).
The 2009 Phillies made it back to the World Series, the first time since the 1995-1996 Atlanta Braves. Unfortunately the offense sputtered and the pitching just could not hold down the NY Yankees. Heading into the offseason, the Phillies had some holes to fill and question marks that needed to be answered. Members of the World Champion team that had major supporting roles were free agents like Matt Stairs, Eric Bruntlett, Myers, and Scott Eyre. Lidge, Romero, Ibanez, and Jamie Moyer had offseason surgery, with Lidge and Romero questionable for spring training and Moyer having complications. With a payroll set to bulge due to arbitration cases for Victorino, Blanton, and catcher Carlos Ruiz, GM Ruben Amaro was hoping to stay within a set amount. Here’s the Phillies wish list:
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Placido Polanco signing
A third baseman: Despite his solid season, Pedro Feliz was a free agent and not expected to be re-signed due to his struggles in the playoffs (.167 in 54 at-bats with just 4 RBIs and 11 Ks). Ruben Amaro quickly signed former Phillie Placido Polanco, who was coming off a Gold Glove season with the Detroit Tigers at second base. Polanco hasn’t played third since 2005 but is a hard working veteran who will be excellent batting in the 2 hole (where he is the game’s best) in front of Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, and Raul Ibanez.
- A backup catcher: Starter Carlos Ruiz has been a postseason hero for the Phillies the last two years. Late in 2009, the Phillies cut ties with backup Chris Coste (a fan favorite) and added veteran Paul Bako. However with Bako a free agent, the Phillies decided to go after a local free agent. Brian Schneider, who spent the last two years with the NY Mets, signed on to backup Ruiz. Schneider has been known to be a great defensive catcher though he tends to struggle with the bat.
- Bullpen help: This is a major need as there are quite a few question marks with the health of the arms returning. The biggest hole is to add a left-hander to complement JC Romero and management hoped to re-sign Scott Eyre, but both sides are far apart. The Phillies seem fine with going to young lefties Sergio Escalona and Antonio Bastardo (who was on the postseason roster but was rarely used) in 2010. Rumors have the Phillies signing a mystery reliever with Danys Baez and Mike MacDougal being the leading candidates.
- Adding another starter: Despite Kyle Kendrick’s resurgence at the end of 2009, the Phillies are looking to add a starter to compete with Kendrick, veteran Jamie Moyer, and Drew Carpenter. However the Phillies made a blockbuster deal to land Roy Halladay (who they coveted in July) but traded away Cliff Lee and top prospect Kyle Drabek. So yes the Phillies added a workhorse in Halladay, but still may need another starter.



Yankees 8, Phillies 5: Game 3 in Philly began just like it did in last year’s World Series, in a rain delay. The only difference this year was that it was warmer and the delay wasn’t as long (1hour and 20 minute delay and a new 9:17 start time). The Yankees Andy Pettitte looked rattled early on, needing 51 pitches to get through the first two innings. In the second inning, left-handed pitcher killer Jayson Werth blasted a solo homerun to left field near the MasterCard “Hit It Here” sign to give the
Phillies pitching wasted an offensive effort from Werth, who belted another homerun off of Pettitte in the 6th, this time hitting the Geico sign, which was about 20 feet from the MasterCard sign. If he had of hit it, MasterCard would have donated $1 million to the Stand Up To Cancer initiative. The theme for the World Series so far for the Phillies has been a lack of offense from anyone other than Werth and catcher Carlos Ruiz. Pedro Felix got his first hit in Game 3. Ryan Howard had struck out 6 straight times before finally making contact (though also making an out). The top four batters in the Phillies order is hitting .200 or below, not giving Werth a chance to drive anyone in. The Yankees however, showed no signs of needing the designated hitter in Game 3, even getting a pinch-hit homerun from their DH, Hideki Matsui, in the 8th inning. Sure the Yankees aren’t tearing the cover off of the baseball, but they are getting clutch hits and have 5 homeruns in the three games. The Yankees are also getting excellent starting pitching, with Pettitte winning his ML record 17th postseason game. The Yankees hope to continue the trend of great starting pitching when they send ace CC Sabathia to the mound in Game 4 on short rest.
The Phillies have announced their Game 4 starter as Joe Blanton and the Yankees are leaning towards the three-man rotation, meaning Game 1 starter CC Sabathia would pitch in Game 4. Blanton had been the Phillies most consistent starter throughout the 2009 season. Blanton pitched mostly out of the bullpen so far this postseason, though he made the Game 4 start in the NLCS against the Dodgers. Many of the Yankee hitters are familiar with Blanton from his days with the Oakland A’s. Sabathia was good in his first start of the World Series, but was out-pitched by his former teammate. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts his game plan and how the Phillies hitters adjust to him. A key to Game 4 is how long Blanton goes in the game. It could be a game that is determined by the bullpens. Another key will be Carlos Ruiz. It will be Blanton’s first go-round against the Yankees in the playoffs and he’ll need to rely on Ruiz. Ruiz will also need to be big at the plate to turn the lineup over to the speed and power.
re-emerge? The Phillies hitters need to adjust and jump on the fastball early in the count. How will the Yankees hitters react to seeing Lee a second time? A key will be Yankees catcher Jose Molina. He will need to keep Burnett’s emotions in check and to keep everything in the dirt in front of him. Molina will also need to produce at the plate or he may be the first move Girardi makes in terms of pinch-hitting. However, Girardi could go with Jorge Posada as the catcher to get more offense, but it would be sacrificing defense and stability with Burnett.
It will be interesting to see if Girardi gets Hideki Matsui some playing time in the outfield with the 3 games in Philly. He has been one of the Yankees best hitters of late (3-for-6 in the World Series so far) and I find it hard to believe that Girardi would only get him 3 at-bats as a pinch-hitter in the 3 games. We will find out how good of a manager Girardi really is as he’ll have to manage pinch-hitters and game situations, along with double-switches.
The 2009 World Series is truly a matchup of the two best teams in baseball. There is trash-talking, with each city’s media taking things to the extreme and trying to get the players involved. One NY newspaper depicted Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino in a cheerleading skirt and called the Phillies the “Frillies”. Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins predicted the Phillies would win in 5 games. Both teams expect hostile crowds while on the road and Rollins loves to silence opposing teams’ home crowds. Plus he used to being hated in NY.
Both team’s ballparks are susceptible to the homerun as they were ranked in the top two in homeruns in
e a few questions marks in their lineups. The Phillies Chase Utley has a 25 straight postseason games of reaching base streak, which ties a ML record. Though he has been on base, he really has not been hitting (.211 against the Dodgers). The Phillies need more than just Victorino, Howard, and catcher Carlos Ruiz to produce. Rollins will need to be the fire-starter and put pressure on the pitchers and Jorge Posada behind the plate for the Phillies to be successful. Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher of the Yankees have been struggling throughout this postseason and some have talked about benching Swisher. The Yankees are relying on Swisher becoming the clutch hitter he has been all season long and Tex to be the power-hitting, RBI machine he was all season.
found his 2008 self. Chad Durbin has been lights-out coming in to get out of jams and if his sinker is working, double-play balls will be common. Everyone else is either hurting or coming back from an injury (Scott Eyre, Chan Ho Park, and Brett Myers) or inexperienced (Antonio Bastardo, Happ). Yes the Yankees have postseason sensation Mariano Rivera as their closer, but he has been far from dominant in the last year or so. Getting to Mo has been a challenge and manager Joe Girardi has been using him for more than an inning lately. I think that the young bullpen pitchers have struggled lately mainly due to overuse throughout the regular season. Look at box scores and some pitched almost every day (like Phil Coke and his 72 games). Alfredo Aceves ended up with 10 wins, mainly out of the bullpen. Dave Robertson was in the top 5 in the AL in strikeouts per nine innings (12.98) and has been dominant. Phil Hughes has been struggling though he has been the 8th inning setup man for most of the second-half. Since Girardi seems to have lost some confidence in his bullpen, Brian Bruney has been added to the roster and could regain his role of setup man if he dominates.
Game 1: Cliff Lee @ CC Sabathia
Game 2: Pedro Martinez @ AJ Burnett
Game 3: Cole Hamels vs. Andy Pettitte

Phillies 10, Dodgers 4: Jimmy Rollins had stated in years past that the Phillies were the team to beat. After winning the 2008 World Series, they would BE the team to beat. Now that they are again the
his 34 2009 postseason at-bats) to end the first inning. The Phillies, or should I say Jayson Werth jumped on Dodgers starter Vicente Padilla after 2 walks, and Werth crushed a 3-2 pitch (after fouling off several pitches) into about the same place Ethier’s homerun landed in the right field seats. Looking for a shutdown inning from Hamels, yet James Loney had other things in mind and crushed a pitch deep into the right field seats to cut the Phillies lead to 3-2. The ball was sailing out to right field throughout the game and early on the game looked to be a slugfest. Pedro Feliz jumped on the first pitch of the 2nd inning, depositing yet another homerun into the right field seats, increasing the Phillies lead to 4-2. The Dodgers were forced to bring in 8th inning lefty George Sherrill to stop the bleeding in the 4th inning with the bases loaded. He hit Shane Victorino, forcing in the 6th run, but he came back to strike out Chase Utley to end the inning. Dodgers pinch-hitter Orlando “the O-Dog” Hudson, hit a sole homerun to left to cut the lead to 6-3. After a double by Rafael Furcal, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel gave the quick hook to Hamels and brought in rookie JA Happ. Ronnie Belliard walked, but Happ got Ethier to fly out (just got under it) on the first pitch. In came Chad Durbin to face Manny Ramirez with 2 on and 2 outs. Manny weakly grounded out to Durbin (2-for-12 against Durbin in his career) to end the inning. The Phillies continued to add on against Clayton Kershaw as Victorino absolutely crushed a 2-run homerun to left to increase the lead to 8-3. Against Phillies relievers Chan Ho Park and Ryan Madson, the Dodgers loaded the bases with one out and a run in (8-4). However Madson bared down and got Loney to pop out in foul territory, Russell Martin to strikeout, and Case
y Blake to ground out to end the inning without allowing another run. As Phillies closer Brad Lidge came in from the bullpen, the Phillies crowd of over 46,000 was on their feet, waving their white rally towels, and going nuts.
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