MVN - Most Valuable Network

Phils Win Big over D-Backs (And Giants Recap)

The Phillies started their seven game road trip out west by slamming the Diamondbacks 11-4. They were aided by sloppy defense from the D-Backs as well impatient hitting. Jamie Moyer got a lot of Arizona’s young hitters off balance, proving he’s still got the mojo. (That’s how you know Austin Powers is a classic. Anytime you hear certain words, like mojo or even mmmmmmovie, you think of Austin Powers. Perhaps this was an unnecessary side note, but I had to include it.)

I’m not going to write a game report because if you are interested in reading one you can find it anywhere on the internet. I will instead just use tonight’s post as a way to get some Phillies related stuff off my chest.

That series against the Giants was way too hard. The Phils should have handled the Giants easily, but for whatever reason, they played down to a very bad team. Speaking of which, is there a worse situation than the Giants in all of baseball? There is really no quick fix for this team, nor is there much to look forward to in the future. Yeah, they have Tim Lincecum. He’s dominant and will be for years to come, and who knows, might even develop the look of a pre-teen someday. There’s Matt Cain. He has nasty offspeed stuff and has unfortunately had a very rough time finding run support in his young career. But that’s it.

Some may argue that the Giants have these other young arms like Jonathan Sanchez or Brian Wilson, but they won’t be able to add enough to make this franchise anything close to legit in the coming years. They own the worst contract in the history (yes, the history) of professional sports in Barry Zito, and just threw 60 million at Aaron Rowand, who, while solid and a clear fan favorite here in Philly, is not someone you build a lineup around. That’s what baffled me when the Giants first signed Rowand. How do you make such an expensive and long commitment to a player who was the fifth best offensive weapon on his team last year? Mind-boggling.

Okay, I’ll stop talking so much about the Giants. I’m just a little upset that the Phillies could have easily gotten swept in that series.

Tonight’s game was necessary after the three games against San Francisco that came down to a final at-bat. It enabled the Phillies to rest Lidge, Romero, Gordon, and Durbin while getting Ryan Madson some work in order to boost confidence. It also took some pressure off of the hitters and loosened everyone up. It may be early May, but you can already see guys like Ryan Howard and Geoff Jenkins pressing up at the plate.

Howard and Jenkins each had very good games tonight. Howard crushed two balls that resulted in a sac fly and a flyout, but easily could have been doubles had they not been hit right at Chris Young and Eric Byrnes. He may be hitting .169, but a number like that doesn’t matter much because Ryan Howard is hitting the ball hard right now. He is creating runs, striking out a little less, and earning the fear his presence causes.

Geoff Jenkins has struggled so far this season, but had three nice singles to center, scored twice and drove in one in tonight’s game. Shane Victorino is also getting into a groove, which couldn’t come at a better time because the Phillies need a spark out of the leadoff spot and it’s hard to imagine Chase Utley and Pat Burrell continuing this torrid pace much longer. Don’t get me wrong, I fully expect Utley and Burrell to have great seasons, but I do not expect them to repeat their April magic each month during the course of the season.

Guys stepping up when others have a bad night is what defines a very good team. On a night where Burrell goes 0 for 5 and strands eight runners, the Phillies win convincingly. Why? Because guys like Victorino, Jenkins, and Eric Bruntlett get on base a total of eight times.

And for more good news, Jimmy Rollins went 4 for 4 with three doubles today in a rehab stint. There have been reports that he could be ready for the Phillies as early as Thursday. Regardless of how well the Phillies play, this team has a different feel without Jimmy. A negative one. Not that the other guys lack it, but Jimmy Rollins leads the Phils in swagger. He brings a confidence to the team that we all miss dearly and hope to see back soon. It’s weird how the Phillies have lost their unquestioned team leader for 25 games now, but there aren’t too many bad things to say.

Ok, enough warm-hearted optimism. Randy Johnson tomorrow. He’s not the pitcher he once was, but he will still probably dominate the Phillies. I have a feeling. Expect a big strikeout day out of Ryan Howard as well as two GIDP’s by Pedro Feliz. Those aren’t exactly bold (haha, get it?) predictions, given that Howard leads the majors in strikeouts and Feliz leads in grounding into double plays. But if either man has big game, feel free to rub it in my face in the comments section below.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 1:23 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.