A Tale of Two Left Fielders

Since Bobby Abreu has been traded, David Dellucci has been getting a lot more playing time in the Phillies outfield. Some of this has come in right field, which was vacated by Abreu, but some of Dellucci's starts have also come in left field in place of Pat Burrell. Yesterday's game against the Mets was one of Dellucci's starts in left. He ended up hitting a home run and the Phils won, 13-0. This started my thought proccess in two directions. First, who has hit better since Abreu was traded, Burrell or Dellucci? Second, do the Phils have a better record with Burrell in left field or with Dellucci in left field.

First, who is hitting better? Here's what I found:

Pat Burrell: 13 games, 11 started, 43 AB, 3 R, 10 H, 1 HR,
5 RBIs, 6 BB, 11Ks, .233 BA
David Dellucci: 13 games, 10 started, 39 AB, 13 R, 17 H, 4 HR,
9 RBIs, 9 BB, 3 Ks, .436 BA

I think the numbers tell a lot about who's been playing better lately. In virtually the same amount of time, Dellucci has hit for an average 200 points higher than Burrell while scoring 10 more runs and striking out much less. Seeing that would make me think that Burrell should be sitting so Dellucci can play.

What of the question of who contributes more in left field for the Phils? To figure this one out, I looked at each game since the Abreu trade and noted the left and right fielders and the outcome of the game. Here's the results.

Burrell (LF) and Dellucci (RF): 4 wins, 3 losses
Burrell (LF) and Victorino (RF): 2 wins, 2 losses
Dellucci (LF) and Victorino (RF): 2 wins, 1 loss

The results here show more that 1) my ideas don't always have merit and 2) given more playing time for the Dellucci/Victorino combo, my idea might be right. If I was Charlie Manuel right now, I would give it a shot. One thing I didn't mention in the first question was that in the same stretch of time, Victorino is hitting .282 with 11 runs scored. Even that's a good deal better than Burrell.


One last thing that needs to be mentioned is that the Phillies announced that Tom Gordon will miss the next couple of days because of a sore shoulder. Gordon said that he's been pitching with the soreness for a couple of months now. Couple of months, eh? Maybe since July 4th, like I mentioned a couple of days ago. One of my concerns when the Phils signed Gordon was that he's old. This is why I was concerned. Maybe it'll just heal itself with some time off, but if not then the Phils are in trouble because Gordon is still signed for another two years.

2-2, 45 games to go

The Phillies Bullpen

I don't think I'm done picking on Tom Gordon. He really hurt the Phils this past weekend. That being said, I wanted to take a look at how the bullpen did in the series against the Reds. With two extra inning games, plus a game Saturday where Mathieson left in the fourth inning, the bullpen was worked a lot. Here's the stats for the weekend:

Phils' Bullpen: 1 win, 1 loss, 15.1 IP, 10 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 7 BB, 15 K, 0 HR, 1.19 ERA
Tom Gordon: 1 loss, 1 blown save, 2.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 20.45 ERA

In fairness to Gordon, I looked to see when he had pitched last before Friday. It was a whole week before, so his blown save can't be the result of overwork. Still, the reason I bring this up isn't because of how Gordon hurt us, but instead how well the rest of the bullpen performed. Despite poor performances by both Myers and Mathieson, the Phillies were in each game until the final out. That's great work by the bullpen.

Note: If I remember, on Wednesday I want to put in my take on the Rookie of the Year award

1-2, 46 games to go

Ryan Freel, Tom Gordon, and Another Player

So the Phillies lost last night. I watched the game and I thought of a couple of things worth mentioning.

First is Ryan Freel, the Reds' utility player. Freel is in his fifth season in the league, fourth with the Reds. In his five seasons, he has played second base, third base, and all three outfield positions. This year he has done that while also hitting .294 with 27 stolen bases. His speed on the basepaths contributed to the Phillies loss last night. A player such as Freel gives a manager not only someone who can give a man a night off, but also a great defensive substitution in late innings.

Next player I want to mention is Tom Gordon. Somehow, Gordon has gone from gem of the bullpen to its downfall. The Phillies bullpen yesterday pitched 4.2 innings of relief, giving up 2 hits while striking out 4. Gordon came in for the 9th and gave up 3 runs on 4 hits and a walk, ultimately getting pulled for Rick White Flag. Since July 4th, Gordon has an ERA of 5.87 and has given up 17 hits in 15.1 innings. Gordon has given up more home runs (4) than from the beginning of the season to July 3rd. Maybe the trade rumors got to him? I don't know, but he's blown two consecutive games and is a weak point in the Phillies pitching right now.

Finally, another blog site I read, The Baseball Crank, does player comparisons from time to time. Here's one I came up with.

Player A: .289 BA, 16 HR, 55 RBI, 80 R, .365 OBP, .477 SLG, 51 BB, 21 SB, 25 2B, 3 3B
Player B: .269 BA, 17 HR, 49 RBI, 91 R, .332 OBP, .458 SLG, 41 BB,
26 SB, 31 2B, 4 3B



Player A? Johnny Damon. Player B? Jimmy Rollins. Both are leadoff hitters, and their numbers are pretty similar. I think this just speaks to the value of Rollins.

1-1, 47 games to go

Phils vs. Reds: 8-11-6

Alright. After last night's 14 inning game, I thought I should write down a couple of key points that I found to be interesting.

First, how about Ryan Howard getting the Barry Bonds treatment? He got 3 intentional walks in extra innings, including one in the 14th where there were men on first and second and nobody out. To be fair, the next batter in each situation was the pitcher. In addition to that, Howard did beat the Reds in extra innings back in May. But still, with 2 men on and noone out, you would think that they might not want to load the bases just to avoid Howard.

Next, how could the Reds not have enough men in the bullpen to go into extra innings without using two of their starters? To be fair to the Reds, the bullpen moves they made before the 10th can't be held against them. If Guardado holds the lead, then it really doesn't matter. Yet, after Kent Mercker pitched 2 innings they were forced to use Aaron Harang and Elizardo Ramirez. Both of these pitchers struggled coming in for relief, with Ramirez ultimately losing the game. What I don't understand is that this is the same Reds team that made about 1,000 trades at the deadline to strengthen their bullpen. The Phils had Castro and Sanches still in their bullpen, while the Reds only had Cormier (who was busy working on using a highlighter to color a baseball for most of the game). Just doesn't make much sense to me.

Finally, the dramatic plays that kept the game alive for both teams need their own mention. In the 8th, Ken Griffey's misplay of a fly to right-center by Pat Burrell led to Burrell's second triple since 2003. Later in the 9th, a failed pickoff play to second allowed Chris Roberson to advance to third and later score on a Shane Victorino sacrifice fly. The Phillies were not the only beneficiaries of dramatic plays, though, as the Reds' Todd Hollandsworth stopped a game winning line drive in the 13th inning with a desperation dive. In addition to all of these plays, both Eddie Guardado and Tom Gordon blew saves for their teams.

This is only one game, but it speaks well of what I mentioned yesterday. If the Phillies can keep this level of play up, they will be in good position in September.

1-0, 48 games to go

Thoughts on the Rest of the Phillies Schedule

Alright. I'm sitting here watching the Phils play the Reds and earlier Harry Kalas and Larry Andersen brought up a very interesting point. The Phillies have 49 games left, yet just 16 games against potential playoff teams. Yeah. I had to recount that just to make sure. It's true though. Just 16 games against the Reds, Mets, and Astros. Here's how the whole schedule plays out:

3 against the Reds (home)
4 against the Mets (home)
3 against the Nationals (home)
4 against the Cubs (away)
3 against the Mets (away)
3 against the Nationals (away)
4 against the Braves (home)
3 against the Astros (home)
4 against the Marlins (away)
3 against the Braves (away)
3 against the Astros (away)
3 against the Cubs (home)
3 against the Marlins (home)
3 against the Nationals (away)
3 against the Marlins (away)

The most important thing is to come out of this 7 game set with maybe 4 wins. Even 3 wouldn't be the end of the world. After that, their schedule is gravy. There's no reason they can't make a serious run at the wild card spot. Of course, this is the Phillies and they've blown better chances before.

Just for fun, I'm going to make a prediction for the Phillies. Looking at their schedule, I'm going to say that they go 31-18. That means they'll finish with a record of 86-76, 2 less wins than last season. I'm not going to be bold enough to predict wild card or not, but that's just because I don't want to be let down. Still, 86 wins would put them into contention, if nothing else.

Thoughts on MLB Comeback Player of the Year

I was watching Baseball Tonight and they raised the question of whether or not Jason Giambi could win Comeback Player of the Year two years in a row. That got me thinking about who are some of the players who should be considered for that award, so I figured I'd do some research and come up with a couple of names. If nothing else, it beats having to listen to the Baseball Tonight guys debate every night about who should be MVP.

That being said, this is my very unofficial take on a couple of players who should be considered for comeback player of the year. The official definition says that it should go to a player who has "reemerged as a star in the season." Based on some past winners, most notablt Gil Meche in 2003, I think the star quality is not as necessary as someone who has improved their play greatly. That being said, here's what I found.

American League: Magglio Ordonez

2005 numbers: 38 runs, 92 hits, 8 home runs, 46 RBIs, 17 doubles
2006 numbers (projected): 85 runs, 179 hits, 24 home runs, 115 RBIs, 33 doubles
Changes: +54 runs, +87 hits, + 16 home runs, +69 RBIs, +16 doubles

Makes a lot of sense to mention Ordonez, who they don't mention often in Tigers highlights. He's a big reason why the Tigers are playing so well. Ordonez hasn't had a season this good since 2003 with the White Sox


National League: Carlos Beltran

2005 numbers: 83 runs, , 16 home runs, 78 RBIs, .266 BA, 56 BB
2006 numbers (projected): 128 runs, , 50 home runs, 148 RBIs, .283 BA, 84 BB
Changes: +45 runs, +34 home runs, +70 RBIs, +.17 points on the BA, +28 BB

Maybe this might be seen as an easy pick, but since I haven't heard or read anyone else's picks I'm sticking with it. Beltran is projected to hit 3 times as many home runs as last season. He's already doubled last season's total. Carlos is also on pace to hit twice as many RBIs as last season. I don't think anyone else has improved like that.


Honorable Mention: Colorado Rockies pitching staff

Jeff Francis: 5.68 ERA to 3.55 ERA
Jason Jennings: 5.02 ERA to 3.48 ERA, 3 complete games and 2 shutouts (1 complete game in '05)
Aaron Cook: 3.67 and 3.78 ERA the past two seasons (a low of 4.28 before then)
Josh Fogg: 5.05 ERA to 4.39 ERA
Byung-Hyun Kim: 4.87 ERA to 4.58 ERA

I think this is a whole different area of research in and of itself. Colorado's five starters have all seriously improved their numbers. My guess is that a lot of this has to do with the humidor that they are using to store their baseball in, but still the numbers are ridiculous. I know the award can't go to a whole group, but these things need to be mentioned.


So that's what I've got. It's a very unscientific list, but the players I've mentioned have definitely improved their level of play from one year ago. If I remember, I will revisit this post around the end of September when names start to be mentioned seriously for the award. Hopefully my guys will be some of those names. I'm done with this for now though. I need to focus my attention to how the Phils are losing tonight

Thoughts on the USA - Puerto Rico Game

Yup. Count me as one of the few people who were excited for Thursday night, when the USA basketball team went up against Puerto Rico in an exhibition game in Las Vegas. The game didn't mean anything, but it was still the first chance to see the team that Coach K has been preparing to eventually play in the Olympics. Personally I was hoping just to see the U.S. dominate, something that hasn't happened since 1992 (I wasn't old enough to see those guys play, but I think the old puzzle I have of them in my basement gives me right enough to mention them).

The U.S. team did go on to dominate in the exhibition game on Thursday, winning 114-69. In the final three quarters they outscored Puerto Rico by a score of 85-43. Yet there were a couple of things that I saw that worried me just a bit as I watched, so I figured I'd write them down.

I watched more of the first half than the second and one thing Team USA struggled with in the first half was establishing an inside game. Many of the possessions in the first quarter had the US spread out around the 3 point line, trying to break through the zone of Puerto Rico. This led the US to taking bad shots and kept Puerto Rico in the game early on.

The other problem that Team USA encountered was the different rules that come with the international style of play. These rules include the trapezoid lane, being able to knock a ball out of the cylinder after it has bounced off the rim, and stricter rules against traveling. I doubt this will be much of a problem in the long run though because of the leadership that Coach K will bring. With his college background, he'll have the patience to teach the NBA players how to deal with the rules.

Other than those two things, I think the US is set. Their bench is huge. No player on Team USA played more than 20 minutes in the game. In comparison, Puerto Rico had four players with at least 20 minutes played and another three with at least 18. The ability to rest players during the game will give Team USA the ability to outlast their opponents.

I'll end with my last thoughts on the topic. Check out the production from Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. Paul had 8 assists in 15 minutes and Howard had 10 rebounds (including 5 offensive rebounds) in 12 minutes. That is just ridiculous.