Catching Up
Breaking News, Phanatic Addict Tuesday, May 8th, 2012
I’m really becoming torn with this team. Are we coming out of the fog, or do we still stink?
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Michael Herman is by no means a professional writer. His love for all things baseball has done more than just worry his soon-to-be wife, and empty his pockets. He's a self-proclaimed loser that can't make it through a social situation without having to refer to baseball. Thanks everyone who is following The Phanatic Addict. I know there are plenty of people out there that know more about baseball then I do. I'm assuming that everyone understands this is an outlet that I'm using to voice my opinions and theory. I'm not claiming to be "Right" or smarter then anyone else, that's for sure, and if you have some thought please feel free to comment or offer any opinions you have on our Fighting Philadelphia Phillies. Special thanks go out to my family for following me and acting so interested in baseball. My Fiance who does her best to stay up during late games with me and going with me to all these games. Thanks to the gang at PhilaPhans for the great opportunity to blog with them, and all their readers for blasting me.
Pence/Howard Injury Update
Breaking News, Phanatic Addict Tuesday, April 24th, 2012
The Phillies issue the following statement in regards to Ryan Howard and Hunter Pence.
And That’s Why He’s the Vanimal…
Breaking News, Phanatic Addict Friday, April 20th, 2012
Well it was a familiar story on Thursday night for the Phillies. The game was nice and tight all the way through, and again the Phillies pitching was brilliant.
Lee Steller in 1-0 Loss
Breaking News, Phanatic Addict Thursday, April 19th, 2012
This was by far the most painful loss of this new season.
Lee Vs Cain to Settle Series
Breaking News, Phanatic Addict Wednesday, April 18th, 2012
The Phillies flat out stunk against the Giants last night.
Halladay’s Velocity Down “A Tic”
Breaking News, Phanatic Addict Tuesday, April 17th, 2012
There was a little bit of chatter on the old internet last night about the velocity of Roy Halladay.
Roy vs Boy
Breaking News, Phanatic Addict, Phillies Monday, April 16th, 2012
Might I suggest a nap after work today? The Phillies are out in San Francisco and play tonight at 10:15. I hate these games out west, but this one I’m kinda excited about because of the pitching matchup. Tim Lincecum is 4-1, with a 2.61 ERA and 65 K’s in his last 10 starts against the Phillies, but [...]
Cliff, Vance, Fontenot, and Contreras.
Phanatic Addict Saturday, April 14th, 2012![](http://philaphans.com/phillies/wp-content/themes/blognewsv102/timthumb.php?src=http://philaphans.com/phillies/files/2012/04/4b2fvance414.jpeg.jpg&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1")
Just a round-up from the last few days… Last night… Cliff wasn’t Cliff. It’s as easy as that. At least not the whole night. He missed his spots a couple of times in the game last night, especially in the first inning, and that was all it was going to take for the Mets. Cliff Lee is a strikeout pitcher, and when you throw a lot of strikes, you’re gonna get hit sometimes. The Phillies as we know are pretty darn bad when they face knuckleball pitchers. Last night was no exception. Today… Vance Worley gets the start today against the Mets. Vance is 3-1 (3.00) against the Mets in his career, and pitched nicely last Sunday against the Pirates at PNC Park, allowing just one run in six innings. Jon Niese is 4-3 (4.07) against the Phillies, but is a better pitcher then that. Should be a pretty good matchup. Here’s the lineup Victorino, CF Polanco, 3B Rollins, SS Pence, RF Mayberry, LF Wigginton, 1B Galvis, 2B Schneider, C Worley, P Other news… As you know by now, the Phillies have signed Mike Fontenot to a minor league deal. They had looked at him a bit when he was a FA last season, but the Phillies have been a bit of a revolving door of infielders given all the injuries over the last few seasons, so that’s not much of a surprise. I wouldn’t say that the signing of Fontenot is telling of what’s going on with Chase Utley , but it may just be that they thing they see a small upgrade over a guy like Pete Orr. In 2011 Fontenot batted .227/.304/.377 with four homers and 21 RBIs in 252 plate appearances. The Phillies will have him report to extended Spring Training in Clearwater, and from there he’s most likely headed to AAA Lehigh Valley. Galvis will stay put. Jose Contreras is likely to return to the Phillies some time in the next day or two. He’s pitched in two consecutive games, and last night retired the side in order, with a strikeout. Likely David Herndon, or Joe Savery will be sent down. It just depends on how many left-handers the Phillies decide to keep. Keep up with me on Facebook , and Twitter , and soon my App will be available in the iTunes store.
Way to Go Joe!
Phanatic Addict Friday, April 13th, 2012![](http://philaphans.com/phillies/wp-content/themes/blognewsv102/timthumb.php?src=http://philaphans.com/phillies/files/2012/04/1eecjoe412.jpg&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1")
Everyone of the stupid trade ideas I saw this Winter involved Joe Blanton in some regard. I just don’t get it, what do people have against him? As for Thursday night? Joe was fantastic. Blanton pitched seven strong innings (and probably could have gone more) while allowing just one run. He was the beneficiary of great defense, and had command of all his pitches. Given what the Phillies may face this year, it will be nice to see this as a regular thing for Blanton. Chad Qualls and Jonathan Papelbon both threw scoreless innings notching a hold, and a save respectively. I’m really enjoying the emergence of Freddy Galvis . I had a friend text me on Wednesday night right before Galvis stroked that double telling me that he couldn’t stand him… I said “You’ll grow to love him.” Freddy may not hit for power like Utley, but his defense is spectacular. Truthfully, I don’t care if Michael Martinez ever comes back. Maybe we have our own Jeremy Lin. The Phillies may have eased the minds of fans for the time being, registering eight more hits. Shane Victorino , and Ty Wigginton both went deep for the Phillies with solo homers. Wigginton’s homer was a blast. It marked the 7th different team he has homered for. Anyways… Just nice to see the Phillies get a series win from a division rival, and get to .500. The Phillies are at home this weekend to take on the Mets. Friday will see Cliff Lee facing R.A. Dickey. We all know how well the Phillies do against knuckleballers, so let’s hope that Lee can do his thing, and keep the Phils in the game. Dickey is 2-3 with a 2.61 ERA vs the Phillies. Keep up with me on Facebook , and Twitter , and soon my App will be available in the iTunes store.
Now That Feels Better
Phanatic Addict Thursday, April 12th, 2012![](http://philaphans.com/phillies/wp-content/themes/blognewsv102/timthumb.php?src=http://philaphans.com/phillies/files/2012/04/48f1halladay411.jpg&h=&q=90&w=90&h=65&zc=1")
I said yesterday that it would be great to see the Phillies break out against Josh Johnson, but that that was pretty unlikely. I was wrong, and I’m very happy about that. After going down 1-0 in the second I again began to wonder “Can they come back from this?” And come back they did. The Phillies tagged Josh Johnson for six runs over 3 2/3 innings. They managed to rattle off 11 hits from the Marlins ace who is now 0-2 on the season. That’s right 11 hits, and 14 total in the game. Roy Halladay was again masterful. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first, and allowed just one run over seven innings. He had a few battles early that got his pitch count up over 6o in the first three innings, but Roy did his thing and made great work of the Marlins over the next four. Once the Phillies put up the 5 spot in the third, you could tell that Halladay was able to pitch a little more freely. “I think I looked up in the third and I had thrown 60 pitches,” Halladay said. ”At that point, you’d be happy with six. After it’s over, you’re never happy with six. I think it’s satisfying when you go through a game where you’re scuffling to get through four or five innings because of the pitch count and you’re able to get through six or seven innings. Halladay has the Phillies only two wins, and he’s allowed just one run and seven hits through his first 15 innings of work. That’s an impressive 0.60 ERA and 0.53 WHIP. The feel good moment of the night came in the when Freddy Galvis came to the plate with chants of ”Freddy, Freddy, Freddy,” echoing throughout the park, and Galvis answered the call with a double to right field giving the Phillies a 5-1 lead. Pretty cool moment for a rookie. Galvis was a bit of a scape goat for the first four games of the Phillies season, but let’s remember that this kid is a rookie, and if you look up and down the lineup, nobody was really hitting much more then him. He’s now got two big hits, and leads the team in RBI. He’s really got a great glove, probably better then Utley a this point, and if you can get him to hit .235 or higher until Utley comes back, you’re getting much more then you ever could have asked for. Back to those hits. It should be noted that the Phillies 14 hits came from all over the lineup. In fact, every player in the starting lineup, with the exception Halladay had a hit. Ruiz and Galvis both had extra base hits, and six different players registered an RBI. I really like this lineup. Good balance of power and speed. I’m still not sold on Jimmy batting 3rd, but it worked tonight. Mayberry still is struggling a bit, but I like him at first more then any of the other options that we have at this point. All in all, a good clean game for the Phils, and a good game for Galvis who again looked sharp at second base. Keep up with me on Facebook , and Twitter , and soon my App will be available in the iTunes store.
