Last night, the Cliff Lee pitched a gem of a game.  Basically, Cliff Lee was Cliff Lee.  He even showed the bat by hitting a double that was about 6 inches from going deep.  He thought he had it too and was quite upset that he only managed a double out of it.

Pitching wise, he scattered singles throughout the 7 innings he pitched and made only one mistake to Jay Bruce.  A mistake that would cut the Phillies lead to one.

Cliff Lee would go on to get a no-decision, because of Antonio Bastardo and Joey Votto.  Now, as much as I want to get mad at Bastardo, but, well, Joey Votto.    The good side of that home run was Cliff Lee’s reaction.

Cliff Lee is NOT impressed.

Now, luckily for the Phillies, the Cincinnati Reds have Jonathan Broxton in their bullpen.  The Phillies LOVE Broxton and he, well, can’t seem to pitch against the Phillies.  Like not at all.  And with him pitching, the Phillies scored 2 runs to take, and keep the lead.

Now, I often think that it’s my imagination about how good or bad a player plays against the Phillies, but apparently I’m not wrong about Broxton:

Jonathan Broxton has blown all five of his career save opportunities at Citizens Bank Park

— David Murphy (@HighCheese) May 18, 2013

I love Broxton.  Hey Dusty, please let him pitch again today, and tomorrow.  PLEASE!  Philadelphia will love you if you do!

For the last few seasons, starting pitching has been a strong point for the Phillies.  The same idea will continue this year.  On a staff that is lead by Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay, for the most part, pitching is shaping up nicely.

Well, at least some of it is.

Roy Halladay has had an interesting spring, an interesting 12 months really.  There were days when he has looked like the machine that he is rumored to be.  And days when he is a pitcher with an injury.  It has not been a good time in Halladay’s career and he has worked hard to keep pushing forward.

Unfortunately, the concerns seem to be back after Halladay’s latest outing.

Spring Training started on such a high note for Doc.  He said he felt good and, by all accounts, he looked good.  Torii Hunter couldn’t stop shaking his head after Doc’s first start of the spring.  Is it possible that that was the highlight of his year?  It better not be.

Last week, when Halladay faced the Yankees, his fastball was sitting around 89 mph.  The start before that, 90.  Today, it sat around 88 mph.  It should not be going down this early in the season.  Heck, it’s not even the season yet.  Halladay will be closely monitored as we get closer to opening day.

Both Doc and the Phillies promise everyone that he is not injured, just “lethargic” (whatever that means.)

Cliff Lee, has been, well, Cliff Lee and if the offense decides to schore runs for him, and the bullpen doesn’t blow his leads, then he will be fine.

Cole Hamels has been stellar.  His spring ERA sits at 0.90.  He has given up 1 run all spring.  (Yes, I am ignoring the start against the DR, they don’t count towards Spring Training stats.)  It has truly been a thing of beauty.

The Phillies have also taken note of their highest paid players’ spring and have officially name Cole Hamels Opening Day Starter.  He deserves it.

Kyle Kendrick and John Lannan have both been decent, but I still don’t like either of them.

The really sad part is that unless plans change, then Kyle Kendrick will be the starter for the Home Opener.  Yeah, please let Cliff Lee pitch that day.

January:

January was filled with many head-scratching moves.

The first of which was the signing of Chad Qualls, a man that had an ERA north of 5.00 at Citizen’s Bank Park.  That was along with a one-year contract to Kyle Kendrick (LFR).  I questioned theses moves a lot last winter, and then I remembered: Ruben Amaro Jr. and it all made sense.

One the flip side, Cole Hamels agreed to a contract for his final year of arbitration.  Many were hoping that his contract extension would occur here, but alas, it was not meant to be.

On what might have been the most under-the-radar signing of the offseason, Amaro signed Juan Pierre to a 1-year minor league contract.  That turned out to be a great move for the Phillies.   Pierre did a great job with the team over the summer, even if he couldn’t really throw.

To go along with the Pierre signing, Amaro turned Wilson Valdez into Jeremy Horst.

Grade: Optomistic

» Continue reading “Reflecting on 2012: Grading Month-by-Month”

The Hot Stove Season is moving quickly along, with the Phillies signing no one but minor leaguer Josh Fields. The obvious holes the Phillies need to address are the outfield, third base and a set up man in the bullpen. While some big names are still left, the market is shrinking so they made need to make a move soon. The Phillies do have some money to go after each position, although a trade would free up some more money.

» Continue reading “What do the Phillies Do Now?”

Roy Halladay’s season was bad.

Cliff Lee’s was weird.

Thankfully, Cole Hamels’ season could not be described as anything but good.

Photo Credit: Steve Trapani

Cole Hamels was the center of many, many trade rumors going into Spring Training, then the season, and then going into the trade deadlines.

Those rumors were not fun for Phillies fans.  He COULD NOT leave and I never believed that he would.  My belief was based off of two reasons:

1) Ruben Amaro Jr is obsessed with high-end pitching. (See:  Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Jonathan Papelbon.)

2) Cole Hamels is the homegrown ace that the Phillies fans have been waiting for.

The kid that we watched develop from draft, through the minors (which included bar fights) and make his Major League debut.  Through his time in the majors, he quickly showed his talent and took his game to the next level during the 2008 World Series run.  We suffered with him in 2009 and watched him re-emerge and get better every year since.

Luckily Ruben played to those ideas (at least in my mind.)  He gave Cole Hames a ridiculous contract that I think will turn into a good deal by the end of it.

This year, he was the best of the Three Aces.

Hamels ended the season with a 17-6 record and a 3.05 ERA.  Included in those wins was 2 complete game shut-outs. (I was at one of them in Miami.  Yeah, he was good.)  I’m actually a little surprised to find out that he ended with an ERA above 3, but that’s just nit-picking.

Hamels struck out 216 of the 867 batters that he faced in 215.1 innings.  Yeah, that’s pretty good.

Oh and he hit his first home run!  I had been waiting for that for the last 3 or 4 years.

At 28, he already has 7 solid major league seasons under his belt.  He already has a World Series ring, a NLCS and WS MVP and 3 All-Star appearances.

Entering 2013, Cole Hamels will be 29 in the prime of his career and it will not be hard to say that he is only going to get better.

Cy Young winner 2013?  Yup, I can see it happening!

Karilee Jeantet is Lead Contributor for A View From Section 116.  Follow her on Twitter @kjeantet and @viewfromsec116 and e-mail her AViewFromSection116@gmail.com.