Marlon Byrd signs 2-year deal with Phillies

     Outfielder Marlon Byrd has signed a two-year, 16 million dollar contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. Byrd began his career with the Phillies in 2002, and has since played for the Nationals, Rangers, Cubs, Red Sox, Mets, and Pirates.
     Last season, Byrd slugged 24 home runs, 35 doubles, and scored 75 runs in 532 at bats. His OPS was quite good at .847. Byrd can play all three outfield positions, but the Phillies should use him in right field for the majority of next season. Byrd had 10 outfield assists and a .980 fielding percentage last season with the Bucs and Mets.

Analysis: This is a great pickup for the Phillies, as they really needed a right handed power bat, as well as a good right fielder. Expect Byrd to bat fifth or sixth in the lineup.
     

Michael Young traded to Dodgers

     Former Phillies corner infielder Michael Young is now a Dodger. The Phillies acquired lefty Rob Rasmussen in the trade, who is in AA. Young has a 1.155 OPS in his last seven games and has been solid at the plate this season, but had a hefty price-tag and was a defensive liability.

Ryne Sandberg and the Phillies beat the Cubs, of course

      Ryne Sandberg won his return to Wrigley Field as the Phillies came back from a 5-0 deficit in the late innings. Sandberg played 15 seasons for the Chicago, where he became a Hall of Fame second baseman.

• Michael Young wen 4-5 and drove in the winning run
• Roy Halladay did not look sharp, allowing 5 earned runs in 5 innings
• The Phillies have a 9-6 record since Ryne Sandberg took the helm, a .600 winning percentage

Halladay solid in return

     Roy "Doc" Halladay has returned from the disabled list. He was solid in his outing against the Diamondbacks, allowing just four hits and two earned runs over six innings. He had a little help from Roger Bernadina though, who robbed the D-backs of a two run homer.

     The two-time Cy Young award winner said that his movement and arm slot are back to where they need to be, and that his cutter (clocked at 87-89 mph on Sunday) will gain a little velocity as time goes by.

Phillies walk off third straight

     Under new manager Ryne Sandberg, the Phillies have walked off three times in a row. The first was driven in by Michael Young, the second by Domonic Brown, and the most recent on a bases loaded walk by Chase Utley to beat the Diamondbacks.

     Nothing feels better than a walk off win, and the Phillies are showing signs that they have what it takes to win consistently again. I have a feeling that they will finish the season strong and end up close to .500.

Ryne Sandberg replaces Charlie Manuel

     I know this post is a little late.... so yeah. Anyways, a couple of days ago Phillies third base coach and Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg was promoted to manager as Charlie Manuel was released. Manuel was the best Phillies manager of all time, helping them to one World Series victory and a couple of NL pennants in seven-plus seasons. He essentially turned the Phillies from an average team to the best in baseball for years.

     Unlike in the case of the Philadelphia Eagles (firing longtime coach Andy Reid), the Phillies won't get anywhere by firing their best manager in history. Not because Sandberg is a bad manager, but because the Phillies do not have much anything to work with right now. General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. has made some good moves (signing Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee) and he has made some stupid ones (getting rid of Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino, as well as signing guys like Ryan Howard to huge, risky contracts), but this one takes the cake.

      All in all, there was no point in firing Charlie Manuel. None at all. You can give an artist a brush, and even if he's Pablo Picasso, he can't do much without any paint.

MLB Trading Block 2013

MLB.com

     Matt Garza is one of the few players who are very likely to be traded this season. The Cubs pitcher is having a good season so far, going 6-1 with a 3.17 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 11 starts. He is already in talks to be traded to the Rangers.

     The Phillies have a few pieces they could move as well, but are unlikely to do so at this point. Those pieces being Chase Utley, Jonathan Papelbon, Cliff Lee, and Michael Young.

Phillies rout Dodgers 16 to 1

image from foxsports.com

     The Phillies snapped the LA Dodgers' 6 game winning streak last night with a huge 16-1 win. It was the most hits and runs the Phillies have scored since last season. Delmon Young had 6 RBI, while Michael Young had 4 hits, including a homer.

     John Lannan pitched 7 innings of one-run ball while notching three hits of his own.

Nolan Arenado's nice play

http://wapc.mlb.com/play/?content_id=28021871&topic_id=8878968#

     I can't embed this video so you can click the link above.

     Nolan Arenado made a nice play on a bloop hit by Phillies righty Kyle Kendrick. The ball dropped in right behind the pitcher's mound, but third basemen Arenado never gave up on it, as he barehanded it and fired to first in time to get KK. 

Can Domonic Brown please be an All Star?

From ap.org

 
       I am writing this to benefit the National League All Star team for 2013. Everyone, Phillies fan or not, needs to vote in Domonic Brown as a starting outfielder in the All Star game. If you leave out the outfielder with the most home runs, second highest OPS, most RBI, and second most extra base hits... than you probably don't know what "All Star" means.

     The only NL outfielder who is doing as well as Dom Brown is Carlos Gonzalez, and his offensive stats are inflated due to his home ballpark - Coors Field (you can hit the ball 8-10% farther there, which adds about 5-10 homers per year).

     As of the last vote update, Dom is not even in the top 15 in NL voting for outfielders. All I have to say is: B.J. Upton just plain sucks this season, and he has more votes (as of June 4th) than Brown.

     I mean, if Brown can keep this pace (while getting some more walks), he could easily be a top 5 MVP candidate in his first full season.

The Decline of Cole Hamels

     The Phillies' left hander Cole Hamels was at one point a perennial Cy Young candidate. Now he is just trying not to embarrass himself on the mound. Sitting with a record of 1 and 8 (or 1 and 9 depending on what happens in the game tonight as I am writing this) with a 4.86 ERA. This is coming off of two seasons in which Hamels averaged a 2.92 ERA and almost 16 wins.

     Sure, you can blame lack of run support, but the ERA above 4.50 just looks too ugly to go with even a few more wins.

     If Hamels had started the season even a modest 6 and 4, the Phils would actually be in the postseason race. They still have a chance, but I can't put them into the playoff picture until they can play  at least three, four, or five games above .500 baseball.

Domonic Brown's Dominant Start to the Season

    

      In the last 30 days, nobody has hit more home runs (in the National League) than Domonic Brown of the Philadelphia Phillies. The outfielder is beginning his first full season in the big leagues as a left fielder, and is already on pace to hit almost 40 homers this season. That is more than both Mike Trout and Bryce Harper in their first full seasons. The main difference is that Brown is 25 years old.

     Brown's 1.385 OPS in the past week leads the majors, as well as his 5 home runs and 8 runs batted in. The big deal about Brown is that he has more raw power than most. His home run per fly ball rate is one of the highest in the league, while only having 9 walks. If he can become more selective to get himself into better  hitting counts, Brown can easily be a perennial 30 to 40 home run hitter with a decent average and the speed to steal bases.