Jonathan Papelbon sits on the homerun side of the gate for the Philadelphia Phillies at the Bank. How will the 3-out hole in front of him be plugged?
TAL’S HANDY CAPS
WELCOME, NEWCOMERS:
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Check out: Philadelphia Phillies storyline: The comeback trail (Prediction #2) over 3.5 years
CAP-SIZE HINDSIGHT
TYPE | PLAYER | REASON |
|---|---|---|
| The Crystal Champagne Toast | Chase Utley | Four-Star Performance |
| The Penthouse | Pete Orr Chase Utley Dom Brown Chooch Ruiz | * Smoked A 2-RBI Gap Double To Close Within 1 Run In The 2nd During His 1 For 2 Game Stroked A 2-Run Single To Tie It Up At 4 In The 5th During His 2 For 4 Night With A SB, A BB & 3 RBI A 2-Out RBI Triple To Take A 5-4 Advantage In The 5th Smacked A 2-Run Double To Open A 7-4 Lead In The 7th During His 2 For 5 Evening |
| The Workhouse | Home SP | * A 39-Pitch 2nd Inning |
| The Leather Warehouse | 1B Darin Ruf | Made A Spectacular Over-The-Shoulder Catch Of A Foul In The 5th |
| The Fun House Of Mirrors | Home RF The Defense | Takes 1st On A SO WP & 2nd After A Throw (E2) To The Bag In The 8th A SO WP With The Bags Full & A DP Tag At The Plate To End The 8th |
| House Call | Ryan Howard Tyler Cloyd | Season-Ending Big Toe Injury Shut Down With A Dead Arm |
Hunter Provides A 9th-Inning RBI Single
NITECAP INSIGHT
Empty Pig ‘Pen:
The brain trust has reached a critical juncture with the relief corps. Other than Phillippe Aumont, they have all had a shot with the parent club or are injured. That said, he probably won’t solve the late-frame situation. Rube Amaro designated Chad Qualls for assignment, and demoted Joe Savery back to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. They were replaced by Brian Sanches and–with his first opportunity–Jeremy Horst, who Amaro received for Wilson Valdez.
Hunter Picks-Up 2 In The 3rd
Some spots are filled, like Cinco Ocho (closer) and Kyle Kendrick (long man) after Doc Halladay is reactivated. Antonio Bastardo has the 7th or 8th and Jake Diekman is the lefty specialist. If a backend wing arrives through a trade, Michael Schwimer, Raul Valdes, Sanches and Horst will compete for 2 front-end slots. Schwimer has a 1.64 ERA after returning and altering his delivery, while Valdes has been solid since arriving. He has a 1.59 ERA without the recent whole-staff debacle, where he parted with half of his 6 all-earned runs. Sanches or Horst are expendable when Kendrick goes back to the bullpen, and the other could be replaced by a bartered-for 8th-inning set-up arm.
One consideration is a swap of Jim Thome to a contender, which could net a decent reliever before Pap toes the rubber in the 9th. Bastardo is shaky with the entire 8th-frame role. He is hitting 94 on the gun, is working out of his own jams with better results recently, and one possibility is that he’ll be able to shoulder the job. His confidence has increased of late and a rise near the 2011 level appears within reach. If he had a right-handed compliment for a third of that load, I believe he would be adequate. The red pinstripes need a certain type of animal for that fenced-in area beyond centerfield.
Outings = Good, Okay or Bad
RELIEVER | RECORD | GOOD | OKAY | BAD |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LHP Jake Diekman | 1-0, 3.60 ERA | 08 | 5 | 4 |
| 2 | LHP Raul Valdes | 2-1, 2.84 ERA | 11 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | RHP Michael Schwimer* | 0-1, 4.15 ERA | 09 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | *Since June Call-up | 0-0, 1.64 ERA | 07 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | LHP Jeremy Horst | 0-0, 0.00 ERA | 01 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | RHP Brian Sanches | 0-1, 9.00 ERA | 01 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | RHP B.J. Rosenberg | 0-1, 23.14 ERA | 00 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | LHP Joe Savery | 0-2, 5.87 ERA | 07 | 3 | 7 |
King Cole Dials Up A Fastball In Game 1 On June 24 At The Bank Against The Rays
PRECAP PITCH
Cole Hamels:
His line against the Fish isn’t a good one, but he has had disappointing 1st starts to open the 2nd half of ‘11 and the last 2 years–2012’s 1st was versus them. His other poor outcome against Miami was during the 2nd of 4 rough appearances after Doc went down. His mark against the Marlins at the Bank is: 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA for 12 total, allowing 15 hits, 9 runs (8 earned) and 2 walks to 17 punch outs.
STARTER | RECORD | TM | STARTER | RECORD | DAY & TIME |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | LHP Cliff Lee | 06-08, 3.12 ERA | @ Nats | RHP Edwin Jackson | 09-11, 4.13 ERA | Wednesday, Day |
Mark Buehrle Readies His Next Pitch On June 24 At Home Against Toronto
Mark Buerhle:
He has lasted 6.1 innings plus in 9 of 15 attempts with 3 clunkers. His ledger against the Phils at the Bank is: 0-2 with a 5.56 ERA for 11.1 frames, giving up 19 hits, 7 all-earned runs and 0 free passes to 4 strikeouts.
DELIVERY = PITCHER’S 2012 | DEFINITION OF SEASON |
|---|---|
| Over The Top | Excellent |
| 3-Quarter Sidearm | Good |
| Sidearm | Above Average |
| Short Arm | Approximately Average |
| Submarine | Below Average |
Quality number of the pitcher: 1 – 5
Slot on his club: 1 – 5
Ranking is 1 to 5 & 15 for the less adventurous.
HURLER | Cole Hamels | Nate Eovaldi |
|---|---|---|
| NUMBER | A One | A Five |
| CLUB SLOT | Two | Four |
| FOR 2012 | 3-Quarter Sidearm | Short Arm |
| '12 RANKING | 2nd of 5 Categories | 4th of 5 Categories |
| LAST START | Knuckleball | Slider |
| LAST HIGH OR LOW | 11th of 15 Categories | 7th of 15 Categories |
DISPLAY NOTE: Non-listed results can go up or down by
* 1 notch & ** 2 clicks (This note will only appear when it’s relevant.)
* 1 Tick UP
PITCH | INN | ER - R- H | PITCH | INN | ER |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gyroball | 9 (CG) | 0 - 0 - 3 | 10 | Screwball | 6 | 4 |
| 2 | Fastball | 9 (CG) | 0 - 0 | 11 | Knuckleball | 5 | 3 |
| 3 | Cutter | 9 (CG) | 3 | 12 | Forkball | 0 - 4.2 | Monstrosity |
| 4 | Split Finger | 7 | 2 | 13 | Eephus Pitch | 0 - 2.2 | Disaster |
| 5 | Curveball | 7 | 3 | 14 | *Palm Ball | Ejected | |
| 6 | Sinker | 6.1 | 3 | 15 | *Spit Ball | **Ejected+ | |
| 7 | Slider | 6 | 2 | *Breaking Ball | Injured | ||
| 8 | Changeup | 6 | 3 | *Fosh | Rain Interrupted | ||
| 9 | Slurve | 5 | 2 | *Knuckle Curve | Pitch Count | ||
| ** = Suspended | * = A 2nd Pitch Also |
TAL’S HANDY SERIES
The Comeback: Check it out.
Philadelphia Phillies storyline: Past the first obstacle (Sunday)
Philadelphia Phillies storyline: The comeback trail (Friday)
 STATS APOCALYPTIC HORSEMEN CLIFF LEE |
|---|
CLIFF'S LINE: 6 INN, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K & 109 DARTS |
ACE | W - L | ERA | INN+ | CONV | CG - SO | BAD | INN | ER | BB - IBB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 34 - 23 | 3.48 | 6.1 | 59 of 86 | 2 - 2 | 12 | 582.2 | 225 | 114 -2 | 557 |
| Hamels | 17 - 06 | 3.05 | 6.2 | 21 of 31 | 2 - 2 | 03 | 215.1 | 073 | 050 - 2 | 218 |
| Lee | 06 - 09 | 3.16 | 6.1 | 23 of 30 | 0 - 0 | 02 | 211.0 | 074 | 028 - 0 | 207 |
| Halladay | 11 - 08 | 4.49 | 7.0 | 15 of 25 | 0 - 0 | 07 | 156.1 | 078 | 036- 0 | 132 |
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