Post by Bish on Jan 11, 2024 9:36:34 GMT -5
Phillies 2009 May Report
Record: 19-9
Home: 8-7
Road: 11-2
Positive Team Stat: HRs Allowed–10 (1st)
Notes: The next best the Baltimore Orioles have allowed 23 which is a tremendous number in its own right, but good lord this is just absurd. Truly all time stuff. This pitching staff with just an average to below average offense will win us 100 games. That’s how special it is. Believe me, that’s been proven already in the ultra frustrating 2007 campaign where the offense just fell off a cliff for some reason. Chris Young has really ramped it up this season whereas John Thomson and Cole Hamels have taken some slight steps back. Hopefully they’ll correct those issues.
Negative Team Stat: Batting Avg—.267 (11th)
Notes: Listen, our team’s batting average has been an issue aside from last season. We just aren’t getting as many hits as I’d like. We do all the other things well. Steal bases, walk, hit home runs, but getting consistent timely hits has been somewhat of a problem for us. We need to figure this issue out because you simply don’t want that to really cause issues down the line. I still believe with hitters like a Matt Kemp, a Hardy, a Chooch, etc. that this will be resolved because the talent is just frankly too strong not to. Gotta believe!
Major League Spotlight
Best Hitter: 2B Chase Utley
Playoff Stats: .284/.382/.545/.928 OPS 8 2Bs 3 3Bs 3 HRs 14 RBIs 16 Runs 7 BBs 10 Ks
Notes: Not many great candidates to pick from, but I was deciding between Grandy and Mr. Utley. I think Chase’s numbers are just slightly better. This wasn’t our best month hitting the baseball, and the results frankly showed that. We need to be better when the pitching is simply not on their “A” game. Utley had 14 extra base hits and his OPS was a nice .928. Utley really has been a force since last season for us. He had a great April, and he’s continuing to hit the ball extremely well for us. Hopefully that trend will continue!
Best Pitcher: SP Brad Radke
Playoff Stats: 5 Starts 4-1 1.06 ERA 43 IP 34 Hs 5 ERs 4 BBs 25 Ks
Notes: Who would’ve thought that Ben Sheets wouldn’t be our pitcher of the month during the first two months. Chris Young was our guy in April, and now it’s Brad Radke who I believe hilariously enough won NL pitcher of the month last year in MAY as well. Really funny. Once again, he dominated. He wasn’t as dominant as last year, but man he was really really good. He’s really elevated this team into a juggernaut because there simply is never an easy pitcher on the mound against us. He’s been better than Cole Hamels and John Thomson this year. Truly impressive. We are certainly glad to have Mr. Radke as his career winds down here in Philadelphia.
Minor League Spotlight
Prospect: LF Brock Holt (AA)
Notes: Brock Holt’s quick rise up to Double A was a tad shocking, and now he’s continuing raking at this level. He’s hitting .328 at the time of this writing with an on base percentage over .400. He’s got eleven doubles with 7 dingers. Scouts think there could be some untapped potential down the road for Mr. Holt.
Record: 19-9
Home: 8-7
Road: 11-2
Positive Team Stat: HRs Allowed–10 (1st)
Notes: The next best the Baltimore Orioles have allowed 23 which is a tremendous number in its own right, but good lord this is just absurd. Truly all time stuff. This pitching staff with just an average to below average offense will win us 100 games. That’s how special it is. Believe me, that’s been proven already in the ultra frustrating 2007 campaign where the offense just fell off a cliff for some reason. Chris Young has really ramped it up this season whereas John Thomson and Cole Hamels have taken some slight steps back. Hopefully they’ll correct those issues.
Negative Team Stat: Batting Avg—.267 (11th)
Notes: Listen, our team’s batting average has been an issue aside from last season. We just aren’t getting as many hits as I’d like. We do all the other things well. Steal bases, walk, hit home runs, but getting consistent timely hits has been somewhat of a problem for us. We need to figure this issue out because you simply don’t want that to really cause issues down the line. I still believe with hitters like a Matt Kemp, a Hardy, a Chooch, etc. that this will be resolved because the talent is just frankly too strong not to. Gotta believe!
Major League Spotlight
Best Hitter: 2B Chase Utley
Playoff Stats: .284/.382/.545/.928 OPS 8 2Bs 3 3Bs 3 HRs 14 RBIs 16 Runs 7 BBs 10 Ks
Notes: Not many great candidates to pick from, but I was deciding between Grandy and Mr. Utley. I think Chase’s numbers are just slightly better. This wasn’t our best month hitting the baseball, and the results frankly showed that. We need to be better when the pitching is simply not on their “A” game. Utley had 14 extra base hits and his OPS was a nice .928. Utley really has been a force since last season for us. He had a great April, and he’s continuing to hit the ball extremely well for us. Hopefully that trend will continue!
Best Pitcher: SP Brad Radke
Playoff Stats: 5 Starts 4-1 1.06 ERA 43 IP 34 Hs 5 ERs 4 BBs 25 Ks
Notes: Who would’ve thought that Ben Sheets wouldn’t be our pitcher of the month during the first two months. Chris Young was our guy in April, and now it’s Brad Radke who I believe hilariously enough won NL pitcher of the month last year in MAY as well. Really funny. Once again, he dominated. He wasn’t as dominant as last year, but man he was really really good. He’s really elevated this team into a juggernaut because there simply is never an easy pitcher on the mound against us. He’s been better than Cole Hamels and John Thomson this year. Truly impressive. We are certainly glad to have Mr. Radke as his career winds down here in Philadelphia.
Minor League Spotlight
Prospect: LF Brock Holt (AA)
Notes: Brock Holt’s quick rise up to Double A was a tad shocking, and now he’s continuing raking at this level. He’s hitting .328 at the time of this writing with an on base percentage over .400. He’s got eleven doubles with 7 dingers. Scouts think there could be some untapped potential down the road for Mr. Holt.
