Do We have a Chance?

I’ve been asked a few times why I haven’t written anything for the blog (at least twice I swear.) The answer is quite simple. I got burned out. I won’t put out garbage work. And I’m not getting paid or trying to impress a teacher so if it’s not fun it’s not worth it. But not only on the blog but also on the Phillies. They had gotten close last year. Close enough to send out playoff invoices and then they got manhandled by the Astros…who has a triple A line-up. Swept! And poof went their chances.

Even pitchers and catchers and Grapefruit action didn’t get me feeling up to writing. People dissecting every pitch of Spring Training like it was game 7, really who cares? You know who had the best record this spring? Kansas City followed by Seattle. Anyone wanna bet neither one makes the playoffs? It’s just one year? Well, last year Toronto went 24-7 and promptly went on to miss the playoffs and completely overhauled their team.

But alas, The next pitch is for reals and the Wriz has the old familiar feeling so lets hop to it. I’m not sold on the Phillies are a playoff team but they are in the mix but to return to the dominate team they once were seems unlikely as too much would need to go right.  The most important things for the Phillies are health, Dom Brown, Kyle Kendrick and Ben Revere in that order.

If one less guy got hurt last year they would have made the playoffs. Or if one more did and that guy was Chad Qualls they would have been there too. But basically every starting IF must play at least 130 games. And the rotation must basically remain intact which is a longshot given Doc’s predicament. It would have been nice to have Aaron Cook as insurance but the $100,000 bonus he would have made if he was assigned to the minors nixed that idea. Fucking cheapskates.

Dom Brown had a phenomenal spring, but if you have to take Spring pitching stats with a grain of salt then so too with hitting stats. Maybe the best thing that happened to Dom was Delmon Young not being ready for the start of the season. That ensured Brown, at the very least, a platoon job. But the Darrin Ruf had more boots in the outfield than an Uggs factory and Brown moved up to full fledged starter. I’ve been drooling over the guy since he first came to town, but the Phillies handled him so so badly. What I liked the most from him this spring wasn’t his production but his confidence and his acceptance that’s he’s a big leaguer. Is it too much to ask that he goes .290 25HR 85 RBI?  I don’t. In fact, the RBI total could be higher depending on when he settles into the line-up.

KK. Kendrick was 9-4 with a 2.87 ERA in the second half. Numbers like that over a full season will get you CY Young votes. Do I expect that from KK? No, but 15-16 wins and a low 3 ERA would be nice. Last season, KK was either really good or god awful. Lets hope the god awful KK pitched his last game yesterday.

Ben Revere. He’s got a youthful exuberance and seems a tad immature, but fuck it I like what hes all about and that’s getting on base and causing havoc. Let him take all the selfies he wants if he can up his on base percentage.

I’m looking forward to see that the boys can do now that their not the top dogs anymore. I’m pegging them for 84 wins and just missing the playoffs, but if Halladay can find a way to compete its on!

Other things I’m looking forward to:

-CJ Hood’s song parody of the Beasties Paul Revere called Ben Revere

-Cole Hamels making fools look stupid on his way to a monster season
-Darrin Ruf’s first cleanly fielded ball in the OF
-Bunts Meet & Greet 3—June 2^nd in the Linc Lot—Don’t say you didn’t know
-Netfather making his flight this time
-The Big Piece’s return to form
-Delmon Young’s blow up

Things I’m not looking forward to:

 

-3^rd place

-Being playoff-less again
-DB29’s suspension appeal hearing AKA Hamilton gate
-See Doc look like the Walking Dead when its hot
-finding out the dirty secrets Amaro has hid all offseason

I’ll post my awards predictions early next week. Once I figure out who’s on what team. I kid. Does Hubie Brooks still play?

See ya at the Ballpark!

Jay Wrizight

jaywrizight@yahoo.com

Staff Infection?

Certainly, one of the great things about watch sports is that no matter what team you like someone will always have a different take on the same situation.  Just look at the recent trade deadline chatter. One person is saying Dom Brown is untouchable while another is saying unload him for middle relief help. For the most part, the Wriz will listen to anybody’s ideas as long as they can back it up with some sort of knowledgeable baseball logic. “Because he stinks” doesn’t support your argument. “Because he can’t hit rightys for shit” is sufficient as long as it’s accurate.

Whether you talking baseball or almost any other aspect of life, The Wriz respects those who think for themselves. By all means, you may take information from whatever source you deem useful but ultimately rationalize the information and come to your own conclusion.

I know this is some deep thinking kinda shit. I know it’s not what you expect on Phillies Bunts and certainly not from the Wriz, but there is a specific reason I bring this up. Kornhole has alluded to it several times saying Cole Hamels suffers from Surfer racism. I don’t know about the terminology Kornhole used but he has a valid point.  Some players like Cole Hamels get chastised for even one poor outing while others like Roy Halladay get a free pass. No one ever says two bad words about Chase Utley but no one can let it go Howard went down looking in the NLCS.  I’ll give you an example:

Player              W/L                 Win %             ERA                WHIP

Pitcher A         6-5                   .545                 3.19                  1.26

Pitcher B         10-7                 .588                 3.14                  1.12

The stats aren’t that far off but how the players are treated by the Phillies fan base is as different as night and day. Player B is Cliff Lee, an All-Star and makes $20 million a season. Player A makes one tenth of that and is perennial whipping boy, Kyle Kendrick. Statistically speaking if Kendrick is THAT bad then so too is Lee. But KK isn’t that bad, in fact, his ERA and WHIP are better than the NL averages. Oh but Cliff Lee only gave up 1 earned run in June. That’s pretty good, actually it’s fucking amazing, yet his ERA is only 0.05 better than KK.

Recently, I’ve been defending KK saying he’d probably have been an ace on some of the Phillies teams in the late 80’s. I arbitrarily chose 1987. Kevin Gross was the staff ace and currently KK has a better ERA and WHIP. (Gross was 12-14 with a 3.69 ERA and 1.28 WHIP) Yeah, yeah that team blew, but he also puts the #5 starter on the 1993 NL champions to shame. Ben Rivera was 13-9 with a 5.02 ERA and 1.59 WHIP. That’s some Days Baez shit right there!

I know what you guys are going to say, but no the Wriz doesn’t have a #38 jersey or even a Kendrick player tee nor do I want one. Heck, I don’t even want him to stay in the rotation once Oswalt is activated. He should go back to long relief where he was done a fine job, but also if Worley falters I’d have no problem inserting Kendrick back in the rotation. Just realize this whole 4 Aces thing is something special not every starter the Phillies have is an ace or an all-star but they are ALL even KK and Fat Joe better than what a lot of teams have to offer.

See ya at the ballpark!

Jay Wrizight

jaywrizight@yahoo.com

We are currently looking for writers. If you’d like to write for the Bunts contact the Wriz!

 P.S. Another reason to keep KK around. His Wife is smokin hot!