Philadelphia Phillies storyline: Radar guns and Cy Youngs

Cole Hamels is in ace form for the Philadelphia Phillies after cranking out another strong performance. Will he be the third member of the staff to earn that hardware?

TAL’S HANDY CAPS

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CAP-SIZE HINDSIGHT: 4-3 Triumph

TYPE	PLAYER	REASON
The Crystal Champagne Toast	Kyle Kendrick	Four-Star Performance
The Penthouse	Darin Ruf Kyle Kendrick John Mayberry Jr. Jeremy Horst	Smoked A 2-RBI Triple To Open A 2-0 Lead In The 2nd During His 1 For 2 Night With An IBB Nursing A 2-Run Advantage, Punched Out Werth With A Runner At 3rd To End The 5th, & Escaped A Harper-At-3rd One-Out Jam In The 6th Fired 7 Scoreless, 4-Hit Innings Made A Superb Catch Of A Blooper In A Critical Spot During The 8th Ended The 8th-Inning Threat With A Called K On The 4-Hole Stick
House Call	Jimmy Rollins	Has A Calf Issue

Above Asterisk (*) = Corresponding Play

Erik Kratz Goes Yard In The 2nd

NITECAP INSIGHT

The Home Stretch:

While there are many predictions for this year’s candidates, I am reviewing the top-tier hurlers in the sport instead. Not all who blow up speed guns are among the elite arms. A number one needs 3 above-average pitches to be among the best for more than a season or two. The first set of studs in the below table entered this campaign as the top 5. In order to join that group, an ace must put together consecutive summers of excellence. The other categories are: 1 sparkling year, other number ones, and those with health-related issues.

The I-Cannot-Believe-It Moment In The 3rd

Doc Halladay remains in the 1 spot after an injury-plagued 2013, but Hamels and Felix Hernandez have passed Cliff Lee. Lee has had a strange tour, but–unlike Tim Lincecum–he hasn’t completely tanked. The Freak lost his fastball, relied heavily on his changeup, and skirted by due to his reputation in ’11. He still could be a one in ‘13, or he could be at the bottom of the San Francisco rotation with Barry Zito. Baring a miracle, Lincecum won’t begin the next campaign on the top shelf.

Justin Verlander and Matt Cain will be added to the top 4, if they continue their dominance. The same is true of Clayton Kershaw and Jered Weaver. David Price has recaptured his 2011 form and needs to duplicate it for 2 straight. Adam Wainwright had a sterling 2010, missed 2011, and he is still recovering. Josh Johnson hasn’t been disabled but he is still not all the way back either. Zack Greinke had his 2009 Cy Young summer but hasn’t repeated it. Ian Kennedy had a career year (2011), while Ubaldo Jimenez had a half of one (2010) before fading.

The I-Am-So-Caught Realization In The 3rd

Jon Lester and Dan Haren are experiencing down campaigns, while Josh Beckett has alternated greatness with shabbiness since 2005. If he continues this schedule, he’ll be lights-out in 2013. C.C. Sabathia is a certified stud but always falls short of the upper echelon. GM’s didn’t have $10M in March for Roy Oswalt, but 2nd-half-team Texas returned him to the 5-man unit after a bullpen demotion. Chris Carpenter had a relapse of his nerve problems, but he might see some action before this 162 ends. Johan Santana was surprising everyone until his 134-bullet no-hitter, but since then he has had 7 clunkers in his last 10 appearances. I don’t believe that is coincidental, because he had a CG shutout in his prior-to-that start.

Brown Ships The Single By Air In The 3rd Before The Braun Incident

Among the names to look over next summer, Jake Peavy is 31 and having his first strong tour since his 2009 troubles. Then, there are veterans with solid seasons: Johnny Cueto, Gio Gonzalez, Ryan Vogelson and R.A. Dickey. Plus, the next generation of aces features Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmerman. Are they having that one big year or will they duplicate their stats, like Hamels, Kershaw and Cain?

CONV = Converted Start Of 6.1 Innings Or More

INN+ = Minimum Innings For Conversion Number

BAD = Clunker

NOTE: Click entries button to open more than the visible 10.

	NUMBER ONE	W - L	ERA	INN+	CONV	CG	SO	BAD
1-1	Doc Halladay	06 - 07	3.80	7.0	11 of 17	0	0	04
1-2	Cliff Lee	02 - 07	3.83	7.0	15 of 21	0	0	02
1-3	Cole Hamels	14 -06	2.94	6.2	18 of 24	2	2	02
1-4	Felix Hernandez	11 - 05	2.60	6.1	21 of 25	4	4	06
1-5	Tim Lincecum	06 - 13	5.45	7.0	08 of 25	0	0	13
2-1	Justin Verlander	12 - 07	2.53	6.1	17 of 25	6	1	02
2-2	Matt Cain	12 - 05	2.90	6.1	18 of 24	2	2	03
2-3	Dan Haren	08 - 10	4.90	6.1	08 of 22	1	1	09
2-4	Jon Lester	07 - 10	5.03	6.2	14 of 25	2	0	05
2-5	Josh Beckett	05 - 10	5.19	6.2	10 of 20	0	0	06
2-6	C.C. Sabathia	12 - 03	3.56	6.2	14 of 20	2	0	02
2-7	Zack Greinke	10 - 04	3.81	6.2	13 of 25	0	0	09
3-1	Clayton Kershaw	11 - 06	2.90	6.1	17 of 25	2	2	03
3-2	Jered Weaver	15 - 03	2.74	6.1	14 of 22	3	2	03
3-3	David Price	16 - 04	2.39	6.1	20 of 24	1	1	02
3-4	Ian Kennedy	10 - 10	4.35	6.1	12 of 24	1	0	07
3-5	Ubaldo Jimenez	09 - 12	5.62	6.1	07 of 24	0	0	08
4-1	Adam Wainwright	11 - 10	3.87	6.1	12 of 24	2	1	04
4-2	Johan Santana	06 - 09	4.85	6.1	07 of 21	2	2	08
4-3	Josh Johnson	07 - 09	3.73	6.1	11 of 24	0	0	06
4-4	Jake Peavy	09 - 09	3.11	6.1	18 of 24	4	1	04
4-5	Roy Oswalt	04 - 02	6.04	6.1	02 of 07	0	0	03

Kyle Kendrick Delivers His 3rd-Inning Pitch On August 14 In Miami

PRECAP PITCH

Kyle Kendrick:

He has lasted 6.1 innings plus in 6 of 16 outings with 4 debacles. Against the Brewers in Philly recently, his relief line was: 1.2 frames, 1 hit, 0 runs, 2 walks (1 intentional) and 2 whiffs on 33 peas.

	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

Randy Wolf Finesses His Offering On August 14 In Denver

Randy Wolf:

He is 2-5 with a 4.74 home ERA, which is 2.21 lower in Milwaukee. He has worked 6.1 innings or more in 7 of 23 attempts with 9 monstrosities. During the last series at the Bank, his mark was: 6 full, 5 hits, 2 both-earned runs, 3 free passes and 5 strikeouts on 108 finessed tosses.

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

Starters’ photos, not described otherwise, are in the 1st inning.

Quality number of the pitcher: 1 – 5

Slot on his club: 1 – 5

Ranking is 1 to 5 & 15 for the less adventurous.

*** = Approximately equal to after plus-and-minus computation

HURLER	Kyle Kendrick	John Lannan
NUMBER	A Five	A Five
CLUB SLOT	Four	Five
FOR 2012	Sidearm	Short Arm
'12 RANKING	3rd of 5 Categories	4th of 5 Categories
LAST START	Eephus Pitch	Slurve ***
LAST HIGH OR LOW	13th of 15 Categories	9th 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, ** 1 Tick DOWN

	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

STATS APOCALYPTIC HORSEMEN COLE HAMELS
COLE'S LINE: 7 INN, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K & 99 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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