Tag Archives: Philadelphia Phillies

Is the National League Cy Young race already over?

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Watching Washington Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez through the early innings of yesterday’s eventual 7-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, one would have likely had a hard time believing that the left-hander is in the running for the National League Cy Young Award. It is especially true when you consider the performance that New York Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey put on just a few hours earlier when he earned his 20th win of the season after tossing 7 2/3 innings, allowing just three runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out 13 batters.

But if you were to check the box score after the game, Gonzalez’s start would have appeared to be business as usual – three runs on six hits and three walks while striking out six through six innings. After suffering a hiccup in the first inning, which included three walks and three runs on a lofty 37 pitches, Gonzalez settled down. The following five innings, through which he allowed not a walk or a run, required just 69 pitches.

Now, once again, Gonzalez sits atop all of baseball after earning his major league leading 21st win as he continues to build his case for the NL Cy Young. But for Gonzalez, the path to the award is still very much an uphill climb as two contenders remain in the mix – one obvious and one less so. Continue reading →

Werth incites wrath at Citizens Bank Park

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You have seen it before, countless times probably. A player gives four strong years to a team, including a round of postseason heroics that contribute heavily to a World Series win, before moving on and signing with another team as a free agent upon the completion of his tenure. That, of course, fills the vacated fan base with vitriol. So angered are they that they feel it necessary to show the player that he is not only unwelcome in his former stomping grounds, but that he is also unwelcome in his new home. They accomplish the latter by buying up every right-field seat for each meeting between the two teams so that they may tell the player personally. Methinks, however, that this scenario is more a case of not knowing what you have until it is gone – a phenomenon that seems to have most recently affected fans of the Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth.

Werth, who ended his run with the Phillies after signing a seven-year, $126 million contract with the Nationals in December 2010, has since incurred the wrath of those who would not have him back.

That wrath has never been more apparent than it was last night when the league’s classiest baseball fans went out of their way to show Werth how much he is missed. But in dealing with their grief over Werth’s departure, Phillies fans seem to have pigeonholed themselves into the second stage of the Kübler-Ross model – anger. Continue reading →

A look into the remainder of the Nationals’ regular season

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If you will, take a trip with me to September 2011. It was only a year ago that the Atlanta Braves entered September with an 8 1/2 game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals for the National League Wild Card, while the Boston Red Sox held an even larger nine game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays for the American League Wild Card. It would take two simultaneous disastrous collapses, collapses that rivaled the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies and the 1978 Red Sox, for either of the leaders to fall out of playoff contention. Well, in 2011, the Cardinals and the Rays took the Wild Cards in their respective leagues.

Now, back in the pseudo present, the Washington Nationals took an 8 1/2 game division lead into Turner Field on Friday night to begin a three-game series with the Braves. The good news for the Nationals was that their worst-case scenario was taking a 5 1/2 game division lead back to the district. The bad news is that they will be returning to the district with a 5 1/2 game division lead after being swept by the Braves and leaving their magic number untouched.

Before you begin wondering when Positive Mental Natitude became Negative Mental Natitude, let me say that I am in no way suggesting that the Nationals are on the verge of suffering a collapse on par with those seen last year. To do so would undermine the talent that makes up the roster and would suggest that I have failed to follow the team closely at all this season.

I am suggesting, however, that baseball is anything but predictable. With 16 games remaining on the regular-season schedule, the Nationals are all but assured a playoff berth – needing only to go 3-13 for the rest of the season to ensure it. But for a division win, which is more desirable than ever considering the new playoff system, the Nationals have their work cut out for them.

Having said that, let us take a look at the remaining 16 games on the Nationals’ schedule. Continue reading →

Pitching matchup – game 128

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The weekend was not kind to the Washington Nationals (77-50), who were swept in a three-game series by the Philadelphia Phillies and extended their losing streak to four games. That is the big story. The bigger story is Nationals’ right-hander Stephen Strasburg and his impending shutdown. After making 25 starts and tossing 145 1/3 innings, Strasburg is only expected to have a handful of remaining starts for the Nationals before he is shut down as part of his Tommy John surgery rehabilitation plan.  One of those starts will come tonight when Strasburg and the Nationals begin a two-game series with the Miami Marlins (58-71) – a series that could prove to be a potential turning point in the Nationals’ season. Looking to keep the Nationals in the loss column will be Marlins right-hander Ricky Nolasco. Continue reading →

Sweep, split or be swept – a turning point for the Nationals

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Despite having played well for nearly the entire season, both the media and fans of the Washington Nationals point to a July 20 affair with the Atlanta Braves, a game that saw the Nationals lose in 13 innings after leading 9-0, as a sort of catalyst for the team. They highlight the series as a turning point for the Nationals even though the team entered the series with a record of 53-37 and a .589 winning percentage.

Since that series, the Nationals have posted a record of 24-13, good for a .649 winning percentage. And while they have certainly played better since gift-wrapping the largest lead in franchise history and handing it to a divisional rival, is the team’s performance really representative of a turn-around? Probably not.

The thing is, the Nationals were already playing well up until that series. Sure, the July 20 game marked a distinct lapse in performance, but all it really represented was a change from playing well to playing better.

Now, as the Nationals head into a short two-game series with the Miami Marlins, a series that comes on the heels of a four-game losing streak, they sit on the cusp of what could potentially be a true turning point – for better or worse. Continue reading →

Nationals, Harper continue slump

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By now, I am sure you have heard that the Washington Nationals were swept by a Philadelphia Phillies team that sits 16 1/2 games behind the Nationals in the National League East. Apparently – and I still do not quite understand this one – the sweep, which came on the heels of a loss in the finale of a three-game series with the Atlanta Braves, makes the Nationals the worst team in baseball despite the fact that they still hold the best record in baseball at 77-50. At least, that is what some Nationals fans would have you believe.

I am not exactly the poster child for positivity, though this blog may have you believing otherwise, but I do understand the absolute inevitability of a losing streak or two (or three or four) throughout the course of a 162-game season. Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who spoke with reporters after Saturday night’s 4-2 loss, understands as well.

“Three! Ugh. We’re ready to quit,” Zimmerman said. “Everything’s going to go into shambles.”

Now, in case you could not tell, Zimmerman was being a bit facetious.

The willingness of the face of the Nationals franchise to brush off what amounts to a bump in the road cements the losing streak as a non-issue. As such, it hardly warrants the bit of discussion it is receiving here. What does warrant discussion, however, is everyone’s favorite teenager Bryce Harper, who in the second half of his rookie campaign is batting .194/.266/.316 with just nine extra-base hits and 12 RBIs. Continue reading →

Pitching matchup – game 127

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After dropping the first two of a three-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies (60-67), the Washington Nationals (77-49) look to put an end to their first three-game skid since July 19-21. They will also be looking to avoid being swept for the fourth time this season and will do so without All-Star shortstop Ian Desmond and outfielder Michael Morse, both of whom are once again out of the lineup. If the Nationals hope to salvage this afternoon’s finale, they will need a strong showing from right-hander Jordan Zimmermann, who will take the mound opposite Phillies left-hander Cliff Lee. Continue reading →

Pitching matchup – game 126

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The series opener at Citizens Bank Park last night between the Washington Nationals (77-48) and the Philadelphia Phillies (59-67) was anything but a high point in the season for the first-place Nationals. It did not take long before the team’s season-long theme of injury reared its head again, forcing outfielder Michael Morse out of the game after taking a Kyle Kendrick changeup to his right hand in the top of the first inning. Luckily for the Nationals, Morse’s X-rays came back negative. The injury, which came on the heels of hearing that All-Star shortstop Ian Desmond was scratched from the lineup, is not expected to keep Morse out of action for long. Tonight, they will look to get back in the win column after dropping back-to-back games to divisional rivals as they send Gio Gonzalez, who is tied for the major league lead in wins with three other players, to the mound to face off against two-time Cy Young award-winner Roy Halladay. Continue reading →

Morse narrowly escapes injury

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Michael Morse

Michael Morse was forced from the lineup after taking a Kyle Kendrick changeup to his right hand. Photo: H. Rumph, Jr. / AP

After sustaining a strained lat muscle that sidelined Washington Nationals outfielder Michael Morse for the first 50 games of the season, the last thing he and the team were hoping for was another prolonged injury.

Luckily, after taking a Kyle Kendrick changeup to his right hand during the top of the first inning in last night’s 4-2 loss to the Phillies, the Nationals’ 2011 batting leader is not expected to miss significant time. Continue reading →

Pitching matchup – game 125

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Baseball is kind of a funny game. About this time last year, the Washington Nationals (77-47) were opening up a three-game home series against the Philadelphia Phillies (58-67), a series that would see the Nationals take two of three from the first-place Phillies. At the time, the Nationals were in third place in the National League East and aiming to spoil the Phillies’ playoff hopes. This year, that scenario is almost completely reversed, as today the first-place Nationals will open a three-game series in Citizens Bank Park against a third-place Phillies team that can only hope to help close the 6 1/2 rift between the Nationals and the Atlanta Braves. Tonight, the Nationals, winners of 14 of their last 17 road games, will send right-handed veteran Edwin Jackson to the mound to take on right-hander Kyle Kendrick. Continue reading →