MVN - Most Valuable Network

Phils Win Another Series, Sit Atop N.L. East

Another series down. Another series won. Things are going unusually well in the early going for the Phillies, who are 5-1-1 in their last seven series, and finished April with their first winning record in the opening month since 2003.

Had anybody told you the Phillies would finish April two games over .500 without 2007 MVP and team catalyst Jimmy Rollins, you likely would not have believed it, especially based upon the slow starts this team is prone to getting out to.

However, four hitters, along with the superb pitching out of the bullpen, have helped keep the Phillies afloat without their leader.

• Chase Utley obviously gets first mention here. Utley is playing out of his mind right now, and is showing no signs of letting up at the plate. He currently leads the NL with a .357 batting average, 11 home runs, and a 1.182 OPS. If the MVP award were given out today, Utley would likely be the unanimous selection in the National League.
• Pat Burrell has looked more like a #1 overall draft pick this year than he has at any point in his career. With the early struggles of Ryan Howard, Burrell has stepped up admirably from the five hole, setting a Phillies franchise record with 25 RBI in April. This Pat Burrell, who does not appear to be looking for walks (although his eye is sharp as ever), is one that every Phillies fan likely forgets ever booing, and it will be a tricky decision what to do with him at season’s end. Jayson Stark reported earlier in the week that with the current financial situation the Phillies have, they will probably be able to give Burrell only half of what he is currently making per year. Burrell has stated numerous times that he loves Philadelphia and the atmosphere of playing in this city, so one would hope a hometown discount is in the works. However, if he keeps this up, count on many American League teams making a STRONG push at Burrell to be their 2009 DH.
• Jayson Werth has gone from pretty good platoon player to very good starting centerfielder. He is averaging more pitches seen per plate appearance than any other player in the major leagues this season, and has looked very impressive in center field. He has very good speed and instinct and looks like a natural centerfielder. Some guys just have that look about them at certain positions, like they aren’t out of their element at all. Werth has that look in center.
• The fourth player is a combo of two role players: Greg Dobbs and Chris Coste. I don’t know how either of these guys do it, but it seems whenever a clutch situation presents itself, they deliver. Dobbs especially, given the fact he is mostly used in the late innings coming off the bench cold. He has expanded on his magnificent 2007 pinch hitting season by leading all pinch hitters in RBI and hits. Coste produces in every game he plays in place of Carlos Ruiz, and with his .350 average and a 1.035 OPS, it’s hard to imagine the two catchers having anything but a very close amount of at-bats throughout the season. Coste has earned the extra playing time.

As stated above, the bullpen has been remarkable. Brad Lidge and J.C. Romero STILL have 0.00 ERAs and the combination of those two, Chad Durbin, and Rudy Seanez have allowed 4 earned runs in 52.1 innings pitched. Ridiculous numbers.

Finally, Ryan Howard seems to finally be coming along. Yes, this is easy to say after a night in which he hits a game-winning homer and drives in another run with a double, but it was not just tonight that makes me say this. He has been hitting the ball hard lately, and while some of his ropes have resulted in bad-luck line outs or fly outs, the fact that he is putting the ball in play in some of these at-bats rather than fouling pitches off or striking out weakly is a sign that he may be on his way back.

How scary would this lineup be if Utley and Burrell keep this up and Howard finally gets it going? You would be hard pressed to find a better 3-4-5 than that.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 at 2:11 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.