FanNation - The Republic of Sport

PhillyFan83: Bring it Brewers said 07/02, 02:44 PM
The Phillies.

Despite their recent struggles, they still hold onto 1st place. The past 2 weeks aside,they have been one of the most complete teams in the MLB.

They have the 4th best run differntional in baseball.

They have the best bullpen ERA in the league.
Tom Gordon- J.C. Romero-Brad Lidge has been one of the best combos this year for 7-8-9 inning.

The rotation has been solid. They are 5th in ERA.
Hamels has been very strong for the most part, and the only weak spot in the rotation has been Brett Myers who was optioned to AAA.

The hitting is STILL dangerous. Very dangerous, especially at home.
So what if they are in the middle of the pack for AVG and H. They still are near the top in R, HR, RBI, OBP, SLG, SB, SB%,and 2B.

They have nice lineup with speed (J-Roll and Victorino), power (Howard, Burrell, Utley), and AVG (Utley, Rollins, Burrell).

The NL East is just not that great this year.

Atlanta is banged up.
The Mets, regardless of manager are still a mess.

The Marlins, while playing good, can't relay on the 3rd worst ERA in the league and swinging for HR's while playing poor defense all year. It's going to catch up to them.

PhillyFan83: Bring it Brewers said 07/02, 05:41 PM
This was the team I was expecting.

I'll compare the teams..

Both teams have identical AVG 257.

Phils though beat NY in HRs, H, R, 2B, OBP, SLG, while NY beats the Phils in SB, mainly due to Reyes. They have a better AVG with RISP.

Defensively the Phils are better in the field 984% to 981.

The Phils at home- 22-18.
Forget about the past 2 weeks. They picked a bad time to struggle yes, but look at the teams they faced... @STL, BOS, LAA, @OAK, @TEX.... Not exactly gimme series...

1. Johan Santana... true he's a 2nd half pitcher.. but the Phils have their ace in Hamels. Outside of Johan, the staff has been very inconsistent.. Maine, Perez, and Pelfrey have all had up and downs seasons. Pedro has not been the same we've seen over the years and age is a factor.

2. Speaking of age.. the Mets's players might be wearing down. Alou, Delgado, Schnieder, even Wagner we see aren't exactly young anymore.

3. You have Wright.we have Utley. Howard puts up HUGE 2nd half #'s.

4. The Mets still play sloppy. The Phils have an advantage in the bullpen by a long shot. Wagner and Lidge are somewhat close, but outside of that the Mets bullpen is poor. Heart is also a big ??

PhillyFan83: Bring it Brewers said 07/02, 08:00 PM
The Mets pen is better than it was in previous years.. Schoenweis (spelling?) and Heilman have been better.. but they don't compare to the Phils's Romero (1.67 ERA), Chad Durbin, a nice long reliver (1.65), Rudy Seanez (2.45), and while Tom Gordon's ERA is high.. its mainly due to a few implosions and a couple of bad outings recently...

Lidge- 0 blown saves, .82 ERA, > Wagner

Another thing the Phils have over the Mets is their play against each other. Dating back last year when the Phils beat NY 10 straight ending the year. While this year both teams have been about even vs each other, the Phillies have the Met's number.

I didn't say Utley was the 2nd half player Wright is. But Howard most certainly can compete...

07- 280 AVG, 26 HR, 69 RBI, 611 SLG
06- 355 AVG, 30 HR, 78 RBI, 751 SLG

He's a 2nd half player.

Inconsistency is still a problem with the bats as well....

Beltran this year has gone through cold and hot stretches..
Delgado is in a recent hot surge, but is still hitting 236.
Reyes and Wright produce, but not to their potential just yet...

The Phils have a good enough all-around team and will have enough willpower to regain the NL East crown.