Heard in the Cheap Seats

By now, I think most Phillies fans have heard that Brad Lidge was placed on the 15 day disabled list, retroactive to Sunday.  On the surface, you might think this is just a simple case of an injured player getting some much needed rest.  The diagnosis at this point is a sprained knee.  We all know that Lidge has been just as bad this season as he was great last year.  We also know that for quite awhile now, there have been reports of a troublesome knee.  The problem is, with this news comes a slew of other questions.  Thus is not just a simple case of Lidge going on the 15 day disabled list in my opinion.  This is much bigger.

First of all, before the Phillies signed Lidge, he had issues with his knee.  He had 2 separate surgeries in the offseason.  The knee has bothered him once again most of this season, yet he continued to pitch.  Of course, we all know that he struggled mightily pitching on a bum knee.  There is certainly a chance that his knee is more severely injured than a sprain.  If that’s the case, the Phillies will need to make at least one addition to their bullpen. 

Another issue that no one seems to be worried is this: Ryan Madson has never been a closer.  From the discussions I’ve heard and read between Phillies fans, everyone seems to assume that Madson will be successful.  Well, there is no guarantee of that.  Madson certainly has the stuff to be a very good closer, but being a closer is a whole different mental ballgame than being a 7^th or 8^th inning pitcher. He has seven saves in his entire career.  If Lidge is more seriously injured than we know at this point, and Madson struggles, the Phillies will need to address the closing situation.  On the flip side of the same issue: What if Madson goes something like 8 for 8 in save opportunities, and Lidge comes back in 2 weeks?  It would be a very interesting dynamic in the bullpen.  Pitchers do not like to have their roles juggled all over the place. 

One other question that arises from this situation comes from the conspiracy theorist in me.  Could this be a case of the Phillies wanting to give Lidge a break  from the scrutiny?  Maybe Lidge’s confidence was not where Charlie Manuel wanted it to be, and the Phillies convinced Lidge that he needed to rest his knee.  If that’s the case, there are a millions other questions.  The Phillies certainly can’t afford to have their closer pitching with shattered confidence.

It’s rare that the news of one player on a baseball team being placed on the 15 day DL comes with so much baggage, but this one does.  Depending on how this all plays out, there may be a lot more issues and questions that arise for the rest of this year and next season as well.

I was originally going to do a huge breakdown of the NBA Finals, but I decided not to.  Why?  Honestly, I just can’t stomach writing about these two teams in depth.  I can’t stand the Lakers, and the Magic ended the Sixers and are coached by one of the most annoying people in the NBA, and that’s saying something.  I love NBA basketball and I will be watching, but I just can’t subject myself to a full breakdown.  At least, not for free.  I will instead just do a brief breakdown and give you my pick for the series.  I should mention that I almost always pick against the Lakers and am usually wrong when I do.

I think conventional wisdom says that now that the Lakers have reached the Finals, they will win.  Their propensity to get bored and not show up likely won’t happen now that the end is in sight.  Everyone is saying that Kobe Bryant can cement his legacy by winning a championship without Shaq.  On the other side, you have the Orlando Magic, who are seemingly occupying the space that was supposed to be reserved for LeBron James and the Cavs.  I’ll admit that they have surprised me.  They are firing on all cylinders now.  This series will be closer than some people think.  It comes down to how well Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol guard Dwight Howard and how well the Lakers cover the Magic shooters.  If the Magic somehow continue to shoot at a blistering rate, they can win.  Kobe Bryant will do his thing, but I think the key will be Rashard Lewis.  If he can be huge in this series, the Magic can pull the upset.  He creates matchup problems for every single team in the NBA.  On the other side, Kobe needs either Gasol or Odom to contribute somewhere around 20 points and 10 boards.  The Magic beat the Lakers twice during the season, because they are pretty much impossible to guard when they are moving the ball.  It will be an exciting, high scoring series, that’s for sure.

My brain tells me to pick the Lakers, but it is extremely hard for me to that.  I really don’t want to see that smug look on Bryant’s face when he wins his 4^th ring.  Unfortunately, I think that’s what we’ll see.  Although, maybe my pick can put a reverse jinx on the Lakers and then watch as Kobe disses his teammates.  LAKERS IN 7

As you probably already know my brother and I were able to take part in a conference call this morning with new Sixers head coach Eddie Jordan.  Chris did a great job summing up the call, and there are also some great summaries and observations on the other blogs that took part.  I will say that I think it is pretty clear, at least at this point, that Jordan is not looking at Sammy Dalembert in a favorable light, nor should he.  I was a little shocked when he essentially referred to Dalembert as selfish.  Like I said, both my brother and the other bloggers have already pretty much given all the insight into what was said this morning, so there is really no need for me to beat that one into the ground.  My interpretations are very similar to the rest of the guys on the call.  One thing I did want to say was that, going into the call I was not the biggest Eddie Jordan supporter.  I certainly wasn’t upset that he was hired, but he wasn’t my first choice.  I came away from the conference call feeling much better about Jordan.  Now, that doesn’t mean that he will succeed, but what I liked about him was that he has a clear plan and a strong belief in his plan.  He even did a little selling to us when he reminded us that the 2 trios (Hughes, Arenas, and Jamison, and Butler, Arenas, and Jamison) he coached in Washington were the highest scoring in the league.  My hope is that he and Stefanski work together to build a roster that fits Jordan’s philosophy.  It should be an interesting summer ahead for the Sixers.  I also wanted to post the full transcript for people to read for themselves and make their own conclusions.  Thanks go to Jeff from Philadunkia.com for the transcript. 

Brian Depressed Fan – When it comes right down to it, who gets the playing time: a weak defender who fits the offensive system or a strong defender who does not? What is the priority?
Eddie Jordan – There has to be a balance. If you have skill to score the basketball, you”re going to play. I mean, you can”t win 0-0. If you have a weaker defender, you play team defense to cover for him. At the same time, if you have four strong offensive players, then you can carry one defender, sometimes two. I think championship teams start with a solid, veteran front line.
Ricky Sixers 4 Guidos – Do you see Lou Williams in the combo guard role he’’s played in the past, or could he slide in as a starting point?
Eddie Jordan – In this offense, you really play two combo guards at all times. In training camp, we”ll see how Lou handles it. But yes, I see Lou as a combo guard.
Derek RealGM - Can Iguodala play the two?
Eddie Jordan – Yes. I think he can flow from the two to the three. I like to think he’’s a three-man first. It depends on the roster, if Smith or Speights can earn time, then he’’s at the two. I played Jared Jeffries at the two on a team that went to the second round of the playoffs. I will use him at the two if one of those big men can earn the time.
Dannie ReclinerGM – How will Samuel Dalembert fit into the offense next year?

Eddie Jordan – Just like everyone else Samuel has to buy into being an unselfish player that cares about his teammates. That has been a knock on him, he has to get past the selfish up and down mentality of playing in the NBA. I’d like to see him care about his teammates, the offense can run through him or around him, and he can still be a valuable part of the offense. He has to have an approach that he can be highly competitive and being unselfish teammate and that’s what we’re looking for first.

Ricky Sixers 4 Guidos – The Sixers couldn’t sell out an arena last year, even during the playoffs. Is this because the Sixers just have to win more basketball games or play a fun style of basketball or both?

Eddie Jordan – I don’t know. I really don’t. I haven’t been here long enough to understand why they haven’t filled the arena for playoff games. I think if you have an exciting team and they win than people will come out to see them. That’s been proven throughout the NBA in the history of the NBA. If you win and you’re exciting, and if you have a chance to play for either the Conference championship or NBA championship, than they will come and fill the arena. So outside of that I don’t have a problem.

Brian Depressed Fan – During your time in Washington it seemed as if once you had your full arsenal of players with Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, and Antawn Jamison you were one of the fastest teams in the NBA and had close to the most possessions per game. Than when you were hit by injuries in 2007-08 that pace slowed considerably and that was how you competed with a depleted roster. What do you foresee for the Sixers this year, do you see them as a top 10 team in possessions per game?

Eddie Jordan – I think we’re going to be a high possession team. Two reasons: number one we have terrific athletes. I think Andre Iguodala can run, I think Thaddeus Young is a runner, Samuel at the center position can be a runner if he puts his mind to it, Willie Green can get up the floor, Jason Smith was very athletic before he got hurt and that’s number one. Number two, this team has shown they can generate points on the defensive end. They can create turnovers and they get out and run. We should continue to defend well, rebound well, turn people over, get out and get earlier baskets and if not than get into the offense. I think part of this team matches Washington. Gilbert Arenas was a really quick shooter off the break and in the offense, Antawn Jamison at the forward position was a catch and shoot guy in the early offense, so I don’t see those type of players here and when we were hit by injuries especially Gilbert we had to slow it down because our backup guards weren’t fast enough (DeShawn Stevenson and Antonio Daniels) so we slowed the game up a little bit. I really envision our 76ers being a high possession team.

Chris Heard in the Cheapseats – One of the primary weaknesses of this team last year was defending the perimeter and I’m curious what is your philosophy is on the defensive end of the floor particularly around defending the three point shot?

Eddie Jordan – Well you emphasize containing the defense, you emphasize containing the dribble. One of the first things you work on, and work on very often throughout the season is one-on-one containment. If you can defend the first dribble, then you’ve done 80 percent of your job on the perimeter. If you get deep on the first dribble than it’s hard for help to come. If you can stay in front of your man on the first dribble than that’s how you can stop the draw and kicks and you don’t have to help so much. When you help you leave somebody to help and there’s a shooter left open or the next guy passes to the next guy. So that’s number one, you have to defend the first dribble and defend the dribble on the perimeter. How do you do that? First of all you’d like to have guys who are defenders first, you have to have athletes. You have to be able to move your feet, stay in front of the dribble, change direction, and sometimes get up on somebody to make it hard for them to even put the ball on the floor. That’s how you can number one stop the three, two if there is help you have to keep coming in the rotation and that’s a term we use throughout the season. Don’t stop your defensive rotation, if they draw and kick and one guy flies at him another guy must come and another guy must come so keep coming and you have to run people off the three. You have to rebound the ball and not give a guy a second chance because you see a lot of games where there’s an offensive rebound and a kick out for a three. Those are daggers as we like to call them. So again stay in front of the dribble, keep coming in your rotation if there’s a breakdown, and you have to rebound the ball so there won’t be a kick out for a three.

Ricky Sixers 4 Guidos – In terms of veterans inside the locker room, Andre Miller might not be back as well as Theo Ratliff and Donyell Marshall. Do you think the team will need a couple of veterans to keep the locker room united and also to play on the floor or are you find with 25 year olds running the show?

Eddie Jordan – I think that’s a good question, that’s a good point. You always like to have solid veterans in the locker room to keep everything professional, to keep a work ethic, to keep a focus, to keep a serious mindset of going to practice everyday, and that’s very important. Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler were great leaders in our locker room in Washington. You like to have responsible veterans to be there and keep our young guys focused. It is a relatively young team, but I do think our young guys are very serious and they have great work ethic. I’m talking about Thaddeus Young and even Andre Iguodala is still very young and has great work ethic and a serious mindset. That is a big part in the NBA.

Dannie ReclinerGM – How would you address the roster the way it is in terms of strengths and weaknesses?

Eddie Jordan – I haven’t had much time to talk about personnel with our front office. I just got the job on Friday and we’re looking at the draft and working guys out tomorrow. We’ve already addressed some issues with the team: three point shooting, point guard if Andre doesn’t come back, and probably another big man that can defend in the paint. Right now I think the playoff experience that this young core group has had is very important they’ve got to the first round two years in a row. Number two this team competes. They’re undersized but they compete. I think that’s partly due to one of the best players being defensive minded: Andre Iguodala. If one of your best players defends than everyone else follows. It’s a young team it’s a team that’s got some talent and some young players that haven’t played a whole lot like Jason Smith. Plus Elton was out all year and he’s been a continuous all-star. So I like the fact that they compete and they’ve got two guys coming back from injury that didn’t compete last year.

Brian Depressed Fan – Will there be a full-time shooting coach on staff?

Eddie Jordan – Yes it is something we’re looking into. We hope there will be.

Brian Depressed Fan – Coaching against the Sixers you were 7-11 against them and I was wondering as an opposing coach what is the look on the Sixers. What are you trying to shut-down what are you trying to exploit? As the Sixers coach what are you going to do to try to improve those areas?

Eddie Jordan – Number one when you’re going against the Sixers you want to prepare to not turn the ball over. They’re a very fast team and if you turn the ball over against the Sixers than they can get out on the fast break on you and score on the open floor. So number one, limit your turnovers. Number two you can’t allow them to get offensive rebounds. Samuel Dalembert and Andre Iguodala can both hit the glass and they both pose problems on the offensive glass. I also think that the bench with Lou Williams coming off and Willie Green was coming off the bench at one time, I think the bench had a lot of risk takers but they turned you over. You’d have to keep the energy off their bench. Now as far as us as a team when I’m coaching them I think you have to be a lot more organized and a lot more often in the offense. I think that’s a big key for us this year

Philadunkia – The shooting guard position has kind of been a pressing issue during the off-season so far. I saw that you have Toney Douglas of Florida State, Stefon Jackson from UTEP, Jodie Meeks from Kentucky, and Terrance Williams from Louisville coming in tomorrow to workout who are all shooting guards. Is this definitely a need position that you’re looking into in the off-season?

Eddie Jordan – Yes it is a very big issue that we’re addressing that we need better three point shooting whether it’s from our forward or from our guard spots. Both positions have to improve and the coach and the coaching staff has looked at improving through development. Now that’s not always going to be the end all, we need to acquire better shooters. Our job is to continue to work with our players and see if Willie Green can be a better three point shooter, if Andre Iguodala can be a better three point shooter, if Lou Williams can be a better three point shooter. I had DeShawn Stevenson the last two years and he improved to be a 40 percent shooter last year from the three point line. So its how much work can our current players put in and how much work our players are willing to put in with our coaches to improve and get better. Than its up to our front office to see if we can make transactions where we can acquire, without losing our core guys, some shooters.

Anthony Heard in the Cheapseats – The coaches last season tried to fit Elton Brand into a certain system and than obviously got hurt. So how do you see Elton Brand fitting into what you want to do, especially offensively? Also do you believe as a coach it’s better to fit a player into your system or kind of tweak the system to better utilize the skill-sets that certain players have?

Eddie Jordan – Number one Elton will be moved around in the offense, he’ll be facing the basket from the logo area, he’ll be facing the basket from the elbow, he’ll be posting up on the box. He’ll even look at the basket from the top of the key or between the top of the key the free throw area, he’ll play a lot of two man games off the elbow like Kobe and Lamar Odom would do or Kobe and Gasol would do, hopefully he can get out and run, than we’ll do some pick and rolls with forwards and guards and Elton likes to pick and than pop so all those options are available for Elton in this offense. Number two, I think that Elton is a guy who has to defend the post, but again a lot of these things will work out in training camp. Good coaches develop players and fit a system with their players. Whether it’s the triangle, whether it’s the UCLA offense that Jerry Sloan has been using for 20 some odd years, we fit the offense to our best players and that’s what good coaches do. Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, and Caron Butler were the highest scoring trio in the NBA in the system and before that Gilbert Arenas, Larry Hughes, and Antawn Jamison were the highest scoring trio in the NBA and that’s because we tilted the system to fit our best players.

Ricky Sixers 4 Guidos – Is there any chance that Thaddeus Young could evolve into an Antawn Jamison type power forward?

Eddie Jordan – I think he could because Antawn was an interior player to start and even when I talked to coach Dean Smith he said that he saw Antawn had been taking a lot of threes and he never thought that he would evolve into that type of player but its effective and I said yes coach he’s worked on it and he’s been an unorthodox player since he’s started with scoring in the paint and he moved out to the three. I think Thaddeus being left handed could pose some problems of first being an interior player and we’re going to see if he can move out and improve his mid-range jump shot and see if he can make a high percentage of his three point shots.

Another week is in the books for the Phillies which means it’s time for another installment of “Inside the Numbers”.  I know, I know.  I am a couple days late once again.  It seems to be a pattern for me with these statistics.  It’s amazing how fast the baseball season flies by at times.  We are already just about 1/3 of the way finished the season.  This is the time of the year where the contenders start to distinguish themselves and the also-rans start to fade into the distance.  The following stats are from last week’s games against the Marlins and Nationals.  The Phillies won four out of the six games at home.

Stats from 5/25-5/31 Vs. Marlins and Nationals, Record- 4-2

TEAM BATTING

57 for 204

28 Runs, 4.67 Runs per game

30 XBH

.279 BA, .359 OBP, .510 SLG

RISP

11 for 64

.172 BA, 15 RBI

STARTING PITCHING

4-2

36 IP, 33 H, 19 ER, 9 BB, 35 K

4.75 ERA, 1.17 WHIP

BULLPEN

4 Saves

18 IP, 16 H, 4 ER, 7 BB, 21 K

2.00 ERA, 1.28 WHIP

VERSUS RHP

30 for 118

.254 BA

VERSUS LHP

26 for 86

.302 BA

BENCH/PH

1 for 8

.125 BA, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB

2009 Season Stats thru 6/2 game vs. Padres

TEAM BATTING

50 Games, 282 Runs

5.64 Runs per game

.266 BA, .348 OBP, .472 SLG

RISP

.266 BA, .378 OBP, .459 SLG

198 RBI

STARTING PITCHING

19-14

5.72 ERA, .292 BAA, 1.48 WHIP

60 HR allowed

BULLPEN

11-6

16 Saves in 22 opportunities= 73%

3.77 ERA, .228 BAA, 1.34 WHIP

VERSUS RHP

1187 AB, 195 Runs

1 Run every 6.08 AB

.270 BA, .353 OBP, .481 SLG

VERSUS LHP

540 AB, 87 Runs

1 Run every 6.21 AB

.256 BA, .339 OBP, .454 SLG

BENCH/PH

.202 BA, .292 OBP, .405 SLG

4 HR, 16 RBI, 14 R

We are starting to see the numbers of the starting pitching improve slowly but surely.  There is still a long way to go for the staff, but any progress is good.  The bullpen should be bolstered with the return of Romero this week.  This would be a great time for the Phils to make a push.  We know that they have the ability to come from behind in the standings late in the year as they have the past two seasons, but I’d prefer some front running this year.  The Phillies head west, including a 4 game series against the Dodgers, the team with the best record in the National League currently.  That should be a fun series between two very good teams.  Could be a preview of another NLCS between the two teams, but I won’t get ahead of myself.

This is not the kind of Eagles news anyone wanted to hear.  I must preface this by saying that nothing has been made official yet, but ProFootballTalk.com has posted a story that says ComcastSportsnet is reporting Brian Westbrook will be out with an ankle injury until the start of the regular season.  If this is true, this is very bad news.  We know that Westbrook has not participated, and Andy Reid said yesterday that Westbrook was getting his ankle “looked at”.  According to the report, Westbrook was examined by an ankle specialist in Baltimore and may need to have a “cleaning out” procedure done.

We have seen over the years how much easier the Eagles offense is to defend when Westbrook is out of the lineup.  A lot of the expected success of this Eagles team next season is based on a healthy Westbrook.  If Westbrook is indeed out with an injury it brings up quite a few questions:

1)       When Westbrook returns, can he ever get back to his top running back form or has he become too banged up to be an effective full time running back?

2)       Is LeSean McCoy capable of shouldering a big part of the load in Westbrook’s absence?

3)       Will the Eagles look to add a free agent veteran running back such as Deuce McCallister?

4)       Can the Eagles win a Super Bowl without a healthy Brian Westbrook?

We don’t know the answers to any of these questions yet.  What we know is that the injuries continue to hamper Westbrook.  The Eagles are a much better team with Westbrook in the backfield.

UPDATE: CSN is now officially reporting that Westbrook is still being evaluated by doctors in Baltimore and may need surgery for a right high ankle sprain.  It is the same ankle he injured last season.  The report says Westbrook should be ready for the start of the season, but does not give any other timetable for his return.

ANOTHER UPDATE: It’’s now official.  Westbrook’’s agent Todd France has said Westbrook will have surgery to remove bone spurs from his right ankle.  France did not say what the timetable is for Westbrook’’s return, but he did say it was a “minor” procedure and that there were other options such as cortisone shots.  He stated that if this were during the season Westbrook would not be having surgery.  I am sure we will be learning more in the next few days.  It would be great if Westbrook could participate in at least some of training camp.

I can honestly say I am a bit shocked by this one.  It is being reported by Tim Pinacchio that the Flyers are likely to sign Ray Emery as their starting goaltender for next season.  Due to his veteran unrestricted free agent status, any contract cannot be signed before July 1^st.  The news that the Flyers may have an agreement with a goaltender isn’t shocking, but the fact that it is Emery is, in my opinion.  There had been rumors about a month ago that the Flyers had contacted Emery’s agent.   This news, however, will I think catch a lot of fans by surprise.

No one disputes the fact that Emery, 26, is an extremely talented goalie.  Emery played his first full NHL season in 2005-2006 with the Ottawa Senators and played very well.  He followed that up with a 2006-2007 season in which he went 33-16-6, with a 2.47 goals against average and a .918 save percentage.  He took the Senators to the Stanley Cup Finals that season.  The following year he battled injuries and played poorly and was subsequently waived by Ottawa at the end of the season.  He spent the past year playing in Russia and went 22-8 with a 1.86 goals against average. 

But, all his statistics and talent only tell part of the story with Emery.  It would take me too much time to run through the list of behavioral problems that he has had.  He is known to have a hot temper and to rack up way more penalty minutes than a goalie should.  He has been suspended by the NHL for a stick to the face, he has fought teammates in practice, failed to show up for practices, and been stopped by police around 30 times for things such as road rage and various other traffic violations.  According to Pinacchio, many sources and GM’s believe that Emery’s bad behavior is behind him.  The time spent in Russia was supposed to do him some good and supposedly the Flyers have done thorough research on Emery.  That’s all well and good, but then explain to me how it was during his recent time in Russia that Emery was pulled from a game and then assaulted the team doctor twice.  He then never reported back to the team because of a contract dispute.  Then, when he returned to Ontario this past March, he was pulled over for stunt driving and his license was suspended.  Yeah, seems like he has really changed a lot and learned his lesson to me.

Look, I am all for people getting second chances in life, but I also believe where there is smoke there is fire.  But, that’s not what we are talking about here.  I never understand why people say someone deserves a second chance when we should really be talking about a 100^th chance.  I don’t need hard proof for every little thing and I don’t need to listen to sob stories and blame games.  Like I said, if you punch teammates in the face more than once, attack team employees, admit that you’ve been pulled over more than 30 times, among other things, you are not on your second chance.  You are also not the type that tends to learn from their mistakes.  This guy has been paid millions of dollars and he can’t stop acting like a jackass.  Seriously, who the hell still drives like an ass and gets their licensed suspended after they have been pulled over that many times?  I guess the first 29 times were just a joke.

Is it fair for me to judge someone else’s character?  Maybe not.  I have done plenty of stupid things, but consider myself a good person.  I also know that I wouldn’t make the same mistake 30 times.  In the context of the Flyers, they are obviously pretty desperate to not spend another season with Marty Biron as their goaltender.  Maybe Emery plays great and stays out of trouble and maybe the Flyers win a Stanley Cup.  If that’s the case I will be the first one to say I was wrong.  But, we have seen it a thousand times where teams give an athlete another shot to get their career back in order and eventually it blows up in the team’s face.  It’s just a society thing.  Sports teams are no different than we are as people.  We tend to be a very forgiving society.  We take a lover back after they have cheated on us and then are shocked when they do it again. 

I don’t want this to come across like I am speaking from a pulpit, because if you knew me you would know that is the furthest thing from the truth.  I just don’t agree with this decision if it ends up becoming official.  I hope Ray Emery really has realized his mistakes and learned from them, but if it turns out he hasn’t I will just be sitting in my recliner shaking my head.

At times, I can be quick to rip a player, coach, or a general manager when I feel it is necessary.  By the same token, I should also give praise and admit when I am wrong.  Admitting that I am wrong or have made a mistake is about as easy for me to do as it is for me to complete a triathlon.  Yeah, I can do it, but I don’t.  So, here goes…

About a week and a half ago I wrote a post questioning whether or not it was time to take Lidge out of the closer’s role.  Well, Lidge has given us all the answer:  It wasn’t and it won’t be.  Now, if you go back and read what I wrote, I never actually said he should be demoted, but I brought up the fact that his confidence didn’t seem to be there.  I will tell you that it looks like Brad Lidge’s confidence is just fine, which is a great thing for the Phillies.  Here’s what Lidge has done in his 5 appearances since the day I wrote my post:

4 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 5 K, 1 BB, 5 Saves

That is dominating stuff!  That is the real Brad Lidge.  Lidge has stated that he knew he would get his stuff back, but he didn’t think it would take as long as it did.  Maybe it was simply a case of his knee injury causing his mechanics to be slightly off.  I was wrong to question his confidence, especially this early in the season.  I jumped the gun a bit, and Charlie Manuel didn’t.  I stated in my previous Brad Lidge post that Manuel likely wouldn’t make a change, and probably shouldn’t unless the bottom fell out.  You can say a lot of things about Charlie Manuel, but one things is certain: The guy has the pulse of his players and he puts his trust in them. 

I guess I should have known all along that Lidge would turn his season around, but with each poor performance I grew increasingly nervous.  I am officially apologizing.  With Lidge back to his usual self and tonight’s return of J.C. Romero, the Phillies bullpen should be rounding into form. 

Since everything went so quickly back to normal with Brad Lidge, I may have to write scathing words about any Phillie that goes into a slump.  Then, as soon as I do, they will turn everything around and make me look like a huge jackass.  If it takes me looking like a jackass for another World Series, so be it.

This post is for a buddy of mine.  With Brett Myers on the DL and scheduled to undergo hip surgery tomorrow, his spot was filled yesterday by Antonio Bastardo.  Just say that name a few times.  It’s a great name to say, although I must admit that I find myself slipping into my terrible impression of the “Telemundo” announcer after I say the name a few times.  Aside from his name being a fun one to say, Bastardo also had a pretty nice major league debut against the San Diego Padres.

First, let’s look at who Antonio Bastardo is:

He is a 23 year old left hander from the Dominican Republic.  He is small for a pitcher, listed at 5’11”, 168 pounds.  According to scouting reports that I have been reading in the minor leagues he possesses a pretty good fastball, and a slider and changeup that he can throw in any count.  Bastardo has pitched for Lakewood, Clearwater, Reading, and most recently Lehigh Valley.  He has compiled a 17-7 record with 2 saves and a 2.42 ERA in the minors since 2007.  Also, in 242 innings pitched, Bastardo fanned 270 hitters.  He missed a good portion of 2008 with shoulder problems, and most of his minor league time was spent at the A and AA level.  He started this season in AA Reading, was then promoted to AAA Lehigh Valley and made just 2 appearances there before being called up for last night’s game.

In last night’s game, Bastardo went 6 innings, allowing one run on four hits, striking out 5 and walking only one.  I’d say that’s not too bad for a guy making his big league debut (and only his 3^rd appearance above AA) against a former Cy Young award winner.  The interesting thing to note is that Bastardo hardly threw anything besides fastballs all night.  His fastball was mostly in the low 90’s and occasionally reached 95 mph.  I found this interesting because in most of the scouting reports I read, it was said that Bastardo could throw 3 pitches in any count.  My guess is he was just not comfortable enough to throw his offspeed stuff to big league hitter which is understandable. 

So, now the campaign for Bastardo for Rookie of the Year has started.  Ok, maybe it hasn’t, but if nothing else, the kid earned himself another start.  I am not going to say that at this point in his career Bastardo is the long term answer to the subtraction of Myers, but by each start that he earns himself, he continues to buy the Phillies more time in their search for a starting pitcher.  We all know that unless your name is Mariano Rivera and you are only pitching one inning, you can’t get away with one pitch, so Bastardo will need to throw his offspeed stuff.  No matter what happens moving forward, Bastardo may have given the Phillies a glimpse at one of the pieces of their future rotation.  I hope so, because I want to keep saying “Antonio Bastardo” in my stupid voice.  So, there you go, Eric.  Hope that filled your Bastardo appetite for today.

To be perfectly honest, there isn’t much that can ever be taken from OTA’s in the NFL.  It isn’t until players get into full pads in training camp on a day to day basis and hit the field in preseason that we can tell anything about them.  Usually, the only things to talk about, in my opinion, are who did or didn’t show up and injuries.  So on that note, there were 2 pieces of news that I felt were important.

The first was that Sheldon Brown did not report to the Novacare Center.  This is not at all surprising to anyone.  We all know Brown wants out of Philadelphia.  So far, he has attended anything mandatory, but due to the fact that the current practices are voluntary, the Eagles did not expect Brown to be in attendance.  It seems to be the prevailing thought that once training camp roles around Brown will show up and do his job like a professional, but a lot can happen between now and then.

The other piece of news that I am more concerned with was that Brian Westbrook sat out with an ankle injury.  The Eagles didn’t say much other than that Westbrook was having the ankle “looked at”.  Westbrook had problems with his ankle and knee last season.  While this may turn out to be nothing at all, it doesn’t change the fact that whenever I hear Westbrook’s name and “injury” in the same sentence these days I am worried.  Given his history of injuries, his age, and his position, it is not surprising.  The Eagles offense has been much more potent and successful with a healthy Westbrook.  No matter what, we may be looking at the drafting of Lesean McCoy.

It has been awhile since I have written anything about the Eagles, but leave it to a member of the New York Giants to get my juices flowing.  In case you missed it, Osi Umenyiora got a 5 month head start on a little Giants/Eagles trash talk.  Here’s what he said:

“They should. I do — and I wasn””t on the football field,” he said. “I was on the field, but I wasn””t playing and I saw the way it ended. It was a team we should have beat and it was a team that, if the opportunity arises again, we will beat.”

We all remember that the Birds went into the Meadowlands and ended the Giants season with a thorough butt kicking.  Is it too early for me to be excited about their first meeting of the season on November 1^st?  Probably.  Talk is extremely cheap in June, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t fun to discuss.  I do think Umenyiora’s comments come across a bit like spilt milk, but he is certainly entitled to his opinion. 

Of course, the Eagles have a few players of their own that won’t shy away from a little trash talk, so here was Desean Jackson’s response at the Eagles OTA’s today:

 “I had a chance to see him this off-season, hanging out with him a little bit,” Jackson said. “He was, ””You know, I wasn””t playing,”” this and that. He”’’s a very competitive guy. He”’’s a great player. I don””t take anything away from him. It”’’s just unfortunate that he got hurt last year and wasn””t able to play.

“But with him or without him, we are confident in ourselves. One player can””t determine if they win or lose. As everybody knows, it”’’s a team. You””ll never know what would happen if he was there or if he wasn””t there. All I know is that we got the victory and that”’’s what I””m going to go off of. We””ve just got to get another two this year, or however many we play them…We went in their house and beat them twice. We understand what it takes.”

It’s just much more fun when both Philly and New York teams are competitive at the same time, not only for fans but for the games themselves.  Well, we have a great Mets/Phillies rivalry, and now the Giants/Eagles are doing a little jabbing.  I am sure there will be a lot more talk in the coming months that will culminate with a slugfest when the two teams meet in Philly November 1^st.  I, for one, can’t wait!