Post by Bish on Dec 27, 2023 13:09:15 GMT -5
Philadelphia Phillies Historic 2008 Regular Season
There have been many great teams throughout the years…many. The final part is the pitching/fielding. Here we go!
Pitching
ERA: 2.36 (1st)
OPP AVG: .203 (1st)
HRs Allowed: 63 (1st)
BBs Allowed: 300 (1st)
Runs Allowed: 430 (1st)
Let’s break down each pitcher and how they did respectively…
Starting Pitching
#1: Ben Sheets
Verdict: Has there simply been a better pitcher over the last 3 seasons? I just don’t think so. Ben Sheets has simply been the man, and he was always present with us. He went through some bad teams in the early goings, then it started to get more competitive, and now he’s front and center our best pitcher as we’ve become a championship caliber team year in and year out. He just grabbed his 2nd Cy Young, and I don’t see why he can’t win another three of them provided good health. That’s simply how good this man is. What’s impressive is he won this award by missing pretty much the entire month of June! He was that dominant, folks. I don’t really know the lowest ERA in a season, but I’d imagine a 1.27 ERA is one of the ten lowest we’ve ever seen here…maybe, maybe not, but regardless. Ben Sheets will now try to win back to back Cy Youngs for the first time as he tries to keep his motivation at an all time high.
Grade: A+
#2: Cole Hamels
Verdict: I believe Cole Hamels has finally cemented himself as our 2nd best pitcher this past season. Inconsistency was such an issue for him in the early goings of his career, but starting last season he finally got a hold of it. This year he was simply dominant. We expect even better and bigger things as he continues to mature. 23-7 with a 2.25 ERA and 271 punch outs is something else. He also added in a save for good measure! At only just 25 years old, Cole Hamels is the future of this staff. His stuff is simply just been electric, and teams aren’t going to have too much fun seeing him for another decade plus!
Grade: A
#3: Chris Young
Verdict: Chris Young’s growth the past 3 seasons has simply been remarkable, and ultimately could be the biggest reason why this baseball team has won two of the past 3 championships. Young went from having his ERA be in the 4s to now being under three the past two seasons. This season he became a 20 game winner in which his ERA was 2.72. He even threw his most innings (238.1) as well as struck out his most batters (220). In the postseason, he was just 2-2 in five starts, but his ERA of 2.63 was fantastic. He pitched in some of our biggest games, and came through. Huge props to this man as he continues to get better and better each season.
Grade: A
#4: John Thomson
Verdict: When the Phillies acquired John Thomson, they saw a guy who had the stuff to be great, but needed to fine tune it. They gave up a really nice bat in Nick Markakis to do it. Well, a few seasons later, and that might’ve been one of Bish’s moves in a series of them. John Thomson has compiled a 57-20 record since coming over. Before that? He was 33-118…wow! Thomson’s ERA has been chilling around the 2.40 mark the past two seasons. He has been that damn good…and yet he is our #4 SP. He has only gotten one playoff start in the past two runs, but he made the most of that one. There were rumors that Thomson was thinking about testing FA, but once the Phillies got on this ridiculous run, he wanted to stay, and find some middle ground. He’s a weapon, and one the Phillies are glad they have locked up!
Grade: A
#5: Brad Radke
Verdict: Best #5 SP in the game this past season? I mean Brad Radke was a guy that we frankly didn’t give up much of anything, and he was at one point our best starting pitcher I kid you not. He won pitcher of the month in the National League in the month of May! Another thing that doesn’t get talked about with Mr. Radke is that he just won his 6th gold glove. Dude helps himself out as well which is important when you don’t strike out a ton of guys. Radke finished the season with an ERA of 3.06 in his 27 starts (he also had three relief appearances mixed in as well) over 200 innings. We simply couldn’t ask for more than what Brad Radke delivered for us.
Grade: A
Bullpen
Middle Relief #1: Jose Veras
Verdict: In our blockbuster trade with Play, we wanted Veras included for a reason. We needed to revamp a bullpen that simply wasn’t good enough. We viewed Veras as a great option in the middle relief role. He was really good last season, and we figured he would be a guy that would re-sign relatively cheap. Well, he delivered his best ERA of his career with us during the 2008 campaign. He had an ERA of 2.23 over 32+ innings. He was outstanding when he was called upon. He also re-signed at an extremely generous price which will keep him apart of the Phillies family for quite some time. Really good year for him.
Grade: A
Middle Relief #2: Travis Harper
Verdict: I forget what I even gave up for him when I acquired him from Spencer and his Giants…maybe it was a 3rd and some points? Totally forget, but man this guy has always ate up a ton of innings for us. Is he dominant? Absolutely not. Is he solid and completely reliable? Yessir. This year he was just awesome. Over his 88+ innings, he had an ERA of 3.06 and struck out 89 batters. His WHIP was also just ridiculous, too. He was great, and it’s hard to imagine him topping a season like this. I’ll admit, when you have all these Aces, you kinda forget how good a year Travis Harper had for us.
Grade: A+
Middle Relief #3: Pedro Feliciano
Verdict: Feliciano had an ERA of 1.50 in 30 innings the prior season. This past season that took place? An ERA of 8.65. Yikes. He just wasn’t good, and we pretty much had to phase him out during the stretch run/postseason. We still have some hope, but he’s pretty much readily available at this juncture.
Grade: F
Middle Relief #4: Matt Whisenant
Verdict: Don’t know how to bring up prior seasons, but Whisenant was extremely good this past season. We debated bringing him back, but then he informed us that he was going to retire after this season. With that said, he was really good in the innings he did pitch. We are going to miss him. He was an awesome guy in the clubhouse!
Grade: A
Set Up Man: Mike J. Adams
Verdict: When we acquired Mike Adams with Matsui, it was a no brainer. This was a guy that was going to bring stability in the bullpen. We needed somebody to give us that dynamic set-up/closer 1-2 punch. Here it was. The other thing that was nice about Adams was he was locked up on a good deal. We always strive to find those types of guys when we acquire them. Anyway, Mike Adams had his second best season arguably as he had a 1.24 ERA in just over 36 innings. He was reliable, he was a shut down guy, and he delivered when necessary. When called upon in the postseason, he also delivered. This wasn’t often due to how great our arms were, but he did his job.
Grade: A+
Closer: Chad Cordero
Verdict: We have been waiting for this type of season from Chad Cordero. He just hadn’t been the dominant guy we know he was capable of being. This year he eliminated all doubts. Just dominant from the get go. I don’t think he gave up an earned run until July. He was just that nasty. He finished up with an ERA of 0.89 in basically 71 innings of work. He accumulated 40 saves and finished up with a 6-2 record. Just ridiculous. I’m sure there have been better seasons from other top closers, but this one was up there I’d imagine. Cordero was also dominant in his two appearances of work as well. He did now allow a run in his 3.1 innings of work. With that, he has now not allowed an earned run in 13.1 innings of work over his two postseasons. He has also accumulated eight saves. Seven of those came in the prior run when he was asked to do much more. Dominant season.
Grade: A+
Fielding
Errors: 78 (1st)
Verdict: The craziest thing is, this was arguably the best fielding team as well which also helped the pitching staff even have a more dominant season. The Phillies had two A range fielders, three B range fielders, and the other three were C range fielders. The Philadelphia Phillies simply did not beat themselves. This was truly an impossible team to dethrone.
There have been many great teams throughout the years…many. The final part is the pitching/fielding. Here we go!
Pitching
ERA: 2.36 (1st)
OPP AVG: .203 (1st)
HRs Allowed: 63 (1st)
BBs Allowed: 300 (1st)
Runs Allowed: 430 (1st)
Let’s break down each pitcher and how they did respectively…
Starting Pitching
#1: Ben Sheets
Verdict: Has there simply been a better pitcher over the last 3 seasons? I just don’t think so. Ben Sheets has simply been the man, and he was always present with us. He went through some bad teams in the early goings, then it started to get more competitive, and now he’s front and center our best pitcher as we’ve become a championship caliber team year in and year out. He just grabbed his 2nd Cy Young, and I don’t see why he can’t win another three of them provided good health. That’s simply how good this man is. What’s impressive is he won this award by missing pretty much the entire month of June! He was that dominant, folks. I don’t really know the lowest ERA in a season, but I’d imagine a 1.27 ERA is one of the ten lowest we’ve ever seen here…maybe, maybe not, but regardless. Ben Sheets will now try to win back to back Cy Youngs for the first time as he tries to keep his motivation at an all time high.
Grade: A+
#2: Cole Hamels
Verdict: I believe Cole Hamels has finally cemented himself as our 2nd best pitcher this past season. Inconsistency was such an issue for him in the early goings of his career, but starting last season he finally got a hold of it. This year he was simply dominant. We expect even better and bigger things as he continues to mature. 23-7 with a 2.25 ERA and 271 punch outs is something else. He also added in a save for good measure! At only just 25 years old, Cole Hamels is the future of this staff. His stuff is simply just been electric, and teams aren’t going to have too much fun seeing him for another decade plus!
Grade: A
#3: Chris Young
Verdict: Chris Young’s growth the past 3 seasons has simply been remarkable, and ultimately could be the biggest reason why this baseball team has won two of the past 3 championships. Young went from having his ERA be in the 4s to now being under three the past two seasons. This season he became a 20 game winner in which his ERA was 2.72. He even threw his most innings (238.1) as well as struck out his most batters (220). In the postseason, he was just 2-2 in five starts, but his ERA of 2.63 was fantastic. He pitched in some of our biggest games, and came through. Huge props to this man as he continues to get better and better each season.
Grade: A
#4: John Thomson
Verdict: When the Phillies acquired John Thomson, they saw a guy who had the stuff to be great, but needed to fine tune it. They gave up a really nice bat in Nick Markakis to do it. Well, a few seasons later, and that might’ve been one of Bish’s moves in a series of them. John Thomson has compiled a 57-20 record since coming over. Before that? He was 33-118…wow! Thomson’s ERA has been chilling around the 2.40 mark the past two seasons. He has been that damn good…and yet he is our #4 SP. He has only gotten one playoff start in the past two runs, but he made the most of that one. There were rumors that Thomson was thinking about testing FA, but once the Phillies got on this ridiculous run, he wanted to stay, and find some middle ground. He’s a weapon, and one the Phillies are glad they have locked up!
Grade: A
#5: Brad Radke
Verdict: Best #5 SP in the game this past season? I mean Brad Radke was a guy that we frankly didn’t give up much of anything, and he was at one point our best starting pitcher I kid you not. He won pitcher of the month in the National League in the month of May! Another thing that doesn’t get talked about with Mr. Radke is that he just won his 6th gold glove. Dude helps himself out as well which is important when you don’t strike out a ton of guys. Radke finished the season with an ERA of 3.06 in his 27 starts (he also had three relief appearances mixed in as well) over 200 innings. We simply couldn’t ask for more than what Brad Radke delivered for us.
Grade: A
Bullpen
Middle Relief #1: Jose Veras
Verdict: In our blockbuster trade with Play, we wanted Veras included for a reason. We needed to revamp a bullpen that simply wasn’t good enough. We viewed Veras as a great option in the middle relief role. He was really good last season, and we figured he would be a guy that would re-sign relatively cheap. Well, he delivered his best ERA of his career with us during the 2008 campaign. He had an ERA of 2.23 over 32+ innings. He was outstanding when he was called upon. He also re-signed at an extremely generous price which will keep him apart of the Phillies family for quite some time. Really good year for him.
Grade: A
Middle Relief #2: Travis Harper
Verdict: I forget what I even gave up for him when I acquired him from Spencer and his Giants…maybe it was a 3rd and some points? Totally forget, but man this guy has always ate up a ton of innings for us. Is he dominant? Absolutely not. Is he solid and completely reliable? Yessir. This year he was just awesome. Over his 88+ innings, he had an ERA of 3.06 and struck out 89 batters. His WHIP was also just ridiculous, too. He was great, and it’s hard to imagine him topping a season like this. I’ll admit, when you have all these Aces, you kinda forget how good a year Travis Harper had for us.
Grade: A+
Middle Relief #3: Pedro Feliciano
Verdict: Feliciano had an ERA of 1.50 in 30 innings the prior season. This past season that took place? An ERA of 8.65. Yikes. He just wasn’t good, and we pretty much had to phase him out during the stretch run/postseason. We still have some hope, but he’s pretty much readily available at this juncture.
Grade: F
Middle Relief #4: Matt Whisenant
Verdict: Don’t know how to bring up prior seasons, but Whisenant was extremely good this past season. We debated bringing him back, but then he informed us that he was going to retire after this season. With that said, he was really good in the innings he did pitch. We are going to miss him. He was an awesome guy in the clubhouse!
Grade: A
Set Up Man: Mike J. Adams
Verdict: When we acquired Mike Adams with Matsui, it was a no brainer. This was a guy that was going to bring stability in the bullpen. We needed somebody to give us that dynamic set-up/closer 1-2 punch. Here it was. The other thing that was nice about Adams was he was locked up on a good deal. We always strive to find those types of guys when we acquire them. Anyway, Mike Adams had his second best season arguably as he had a 1.24 ERA in just over 36 innings. He was reliable, he was a shut down guy, and he delivered when necessary. When called upon in the postseason, he also delivered. This wasn’t often due to how great our arms were, but he did his job.
Grade: A+
Closer: Chad Cordero
Verdict: We have been waiting for this type of season from Chad Cordero. He just hadn’t been the dominant guy we know he was capable of being. This year he eliminated all doubts. Just dominant from the get go. I don’t think he gave up an earned run until July. He was just that nasty. He finished up with an ERA of 0.89 in basically 71 innings of work. He accumulated 40 saves and finished up with a 6-2 record. Just ridiculous. I’m sure there have been better seasons from other top closers, but this one was up there I’d imagine. Cordero was also dominant in his two appearances of work as well. He did now allow a run in his 3.1 innings of work. With that, he has now not allowed an earned run in 13.1 innings of work over his two postseasons. He has also accumulated eight saves. Seven of those came in the prior run when he was asked to do much more. Dominant season.
Grade: A+
Fielding
Errors: 78 (1st)
Verdict: The craziest thing is, this was arguably the best fielding team as well which also helped the pitching staff even have a more dominant season. The Phillies had two A range fielders, three B range fielders, and the other three were C range fielders. The Philadelphia Phillies simply did not beat themselves. This was truly an impossible team to dethrone.
