MVN - Most Valuable Network

Guess Who’s Back (Hint: Jimmy Rollins)

On April 8, Jimmy Rollins awkwardly slid back into second base on a pickoff attempt from the arm of Aaron “I Am 2008’s Guillermo Mota” Heilman.

The injury, determined to be a sprained ankle, initially appeared to be a day-to-day discomfort for Jimmy. However, 30 days, 16 wins, and 12 losses later, the Phillies MVP shortstop is looking to return to the starting lineup…finally. The mere thought of having Jimmy back in the leadoff spot is very exciting, especially with how well this offense has played without him. To make room for his activation, Brad Harman was sent back to the 5-29 Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

Eric Bruntlett was immediately introduced to the wrath and passion of Philadelphia fans after committing two errors in a six-run Mets third inning as Jimmy’s replacement. I disagreed with the amount of flack he was receiving, but you know what they say about first impressions. (They say they’re lasting impressions.)

Bruntlett has actually done a respectable job in Jimmy’s stead. Since his disaster of a debut, Bruntlett has committed only 2 errors in 27 games, hit .304 with RISP, and helped the Phillies split a a four game series with the ML-best Diamondbacks by going 7-18 with 2 doubles, a triple, a homer, and 8 RBI. Many people who have closely monitored the Jimmy Rollins saga over the last month are skeptical that he will be able to stay healthy on that ankle for the rest of the season, so don’t be too surprised if you see Eric Bruntlett back at shortstop later in the season. Just hope that you never again have to read a paragraph about Bruntlett doing a commendable job again.

Some thoughts on the D-Backs series:

• Winning the third game of that series was huge. Pedro Feliz has done many things wrong this season (.293 OBP, major-league best 8 GIDP’s), but his home runs have all come at very crucial times. His two-run shot off Micah Owings in the seventh inning of Wednesday’s game tied it at 3 and enabled the Phillies to make a very impressive comeback win. Of his other four homers, two have come in tie games, one in a one-run lead, and the other in the seventh inning of a three-run deficit. He may be the least clutch player of all time and a lock to cancel out a leadoff single, but he has sure picked some good spots to go deep in.
• Shane Victorino is really heating up. In his last five games, Victorino is 8-24 with 8 runs scored. As I stated a few days ago, this is the perfect time for Victorino to be en fuego, because the Phillies have desperately needed a surge out of the leadoff spot since Jimmy went down. And with Jimmy’s return imminent, let’s hope Victorino can keep this up out of the 2-hole.
• There have been several trade rumors surrounding Ryan Howard lately. The most widely circulated one involves Melky Cabrera and Phil Hughes of the New York Yankees. What a ridiculous rumor. Why am I even wasting my time mentioning it? Because it brings up the possibility of Howard leaving at some point. I strongly believe that if Howard does depart from the Phillies, it will be via free agency rather than trade. The Phils will have to pay Cole Hamels and Howard after the season, and if they have any intention at making a major push at re-signing Brad Lidge or Pat Burrell, they will need as many dollar bills as they can get their hands on. Combine that with the fact that Pat Gillick will be stepping down as GM after this season, and we have quite a controversy brewing. Lidge and Burrell have been two of the four most valuable Phillies thus far (Chase Utley and Hamels being the other two), so letting them both walk would be a major mistake.

Cole Hamels will face Patrick Misch tonight at AT&T Park. Misch struggled against the Phillies last week, giving up homers to Utley and Feliz en route to four earned in four innings. Hopefully he hasn’t made any adjustments.

Tomorrow’s game will not be televised due to Fox restrictions. This is completely retarded. I’m sorry if that word choice offends some, but I am really burned up that because of TV contracts, I have to watch Yankees-Tigers instead of my own team. Speaking of which, every national game doesn’t have to be Yankees-Tigers or Red Sox-Tigers or Yankees-Red Sox. For those of us who love National League baseball, there is nothing worse than a four-hour snoozefest between these A.L. teams, especially when it features national TV announcers who have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about. That’s not even a generalization, either. Orel Hershiser aside, name me one good baseball announcer on on ESPN or Fox. Seriously, go ahead.

Sorry for going off on a rant, but to me, things like, I don’t know… being able to watch your home team play baseball on a Saturday afternoon mean more than contractual obligations, blackouts, and having to see the Tigers and Yanks on TV for the 40th time this season. It’s the same argument as with the MLB Extra Innings package fiasco last year. When did the welfare of these large companies or TV stations become more important than the welfare of the fans? I know this may seem like an overreaction, because this stuff rarely happens, but it should never happen at all. Period.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 9th, 2008 at 6:09 pm 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.