Meet the Phillies

Wanna see Ryan Howard go head to head with Vlad Guerrero in a home run derby? How about on a golf course?  Here is a cool video of the two in a race to see who can hit a 500 ft. shot on a driving range.

After being benched for four games, shortstop Jimmy Rollins is set to return to the team today to face the Atlanta Braves.  The benching came as a result of poor performance at the plate, after going on a streak of 0-19.  Look for Jimmy to bounce back against the braves and have a good series.

On the other hand, Raul Ibanez may not be ready for his July 4th return.  It seems the groin injury might still be lingering, and Ibanez will have an evaluation on the 3rd to determine if he is ready to go, but it looks doubtful.

Its been awhile, but the team finally wins another series.  Inter-league play has been real tough on the phils this year, but they manage to bounce back and win back to back games to take the series against the Jays by winning 5-4 on sunday.  Winning Pitcher Jamie Moyer also won back to back games in his past two starts, bringing his record to (6-6) on the year.

The true winner of the game was the Phillies bullpen, which did not allow a run in the last 4 innings.  Brad Lidge made his return and was able to manufacture a save, even when the Jays tested his knee, by bunting right at him which led to a poor throw to first base.  

Chase Utley had the big hit on the day, with a 2-run triple in the top of the 4th.  Jayson Werth, pictured above, was walked 4 times and was able to score a run.  The team just needs to get back on track by winning series’, and it seems as though they are ripe for a run, if the pitchers can stay healthy. Yahoo Sports

Jayson was born May 20, 1979, in Springfield, Illinois, and is part of a very athletic family.  Jayson’s mother was an olympic track athlete, who competed in the long jump and 100 meter dash.  His father was a WR at Illinois State, where he led all D1 receivers in receptions.  Werth’s grandfather, uncle, and stepfather were all major league ball players as well.

Jayson was Drafted in 1997, at the age of 18, by the Baltimore Orioles.  He was planning on attending college at the University of Georgia, but after being drafted in the first round he decided to go pro.  Early in his career he played for Toronto and LA before making his way to Philadelphia and into a starting role.  Werth got his opportunity in 2007 when Shane Victorino was injured, after that Werth continued to rotate starts until he became a permanent fixture.  This happened about midway through the 2008 season, when he recorded a 3 home run night, including a grand slam and 8 RBI’s, which is a Phillies single game record.

The big win over Toronto came at the hand of starting pitcher J.A. Happ, who pitched a complete game shutout.   This improves Happ’s record to (5-0) on the season. Happ has been a huge addition to the starting rotation since he was brought up earlier this year.  On the day Happ only let up 5 hits, and had almost as may strikeouts with 4.

Happ had some help from the bats today, especially from outfielder Jayson Werth who was 4-4 on the day with 2 homeruns.  Werth also had a double, a walk, 3 runs,  and 3 RBI’s.  Another Phillie to go yard was 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz, with a 2-run shot to match Werth’s in the top of the first.

The Phillies had a strong outing after a, closed door, locker room meeting after last night disappointing lose to the Jays.  Charlie Manuel has a great way of inspiring players to produce, and maybe this will be the start of a steak of good play, at the mound and at the plate.

It has not been confirmed by the team, but it has be reported in Florida, that relief pitcher J.C. Romero grabbed and shoved a fan after thursdays game against the Rays.  Some Rays fan, who probably started watching baseball last year because of the Rays surprise success, made a comment to Romero about Steroids.  Hopefully the league does not issue any kind of suspension, because that fan brought it upon himself.  Catch the story on Yahoo Sports

Tonight against the Jays, Phillies starter Cole Hamels became the first Phillies player this year to be ejected from a game.  The ejection came after Hamels was pulled from the game.  The home plate ump came to the mound to break up the conference, and while Hamels walked back to the dugout he began to argue the umps calls of balls and strikes.  He was thrown out before he reached the dugout, becoming the first Phillie this year.

Worse news, another Phillies reliever has been injured.  This time its Chan Ho Park, when a ball struck his right knee off the bat of Toronto’s Alex Rios.  Hopefully the injury is not severe, and we don’t lose Park to the DL.

The Phils lost 6-1 at Toronto, and you can catch the story on Yahoo Sports.

Jimmy Rollins will continue to be benched tonight when the Phils face the Jays in Toronto.  Charlie Manuel decided to bench Rollins for 2 games, beginning last night against the Rays, as you can see on philly.com.  

The Phillies seem to always play well when Rollins is hitting, and of course lose when he goes into slumps, and Rollins is definitely in a slump.  After a streak of 0-19 at the plate, Manuel decided to sit Rollins down for a couple games.  I wouldn’t be too worried about it, because Manuel always seems to make the right moves which inspire results from his players.  Earlier this year when Rollins was batting around and under .200 Manuel put him on the bench, and Rollins came back in MVP form for a few weeks.  So look for Rollins to come back tomorrow against the Jays, and get the team back on track.

After loosing last night to the Rays, the Phillies move on only a half game head of the Mets the in the Division.  Tonight inter-league play continues as the Phils begin a 3 game series at Toronto, to take on a tough Jays team.  Hamels has been moved up to start tonight, so we can get a win and get ahead in the series.  Playing Toronto always brings back memories of the 1993 world series, so its would be nice to take 3 games from the Jays.

Raul Ibanez has be sidelined with a groin strain, and has been on the DL for 5 days now.  He says he is feeling better and is ready for his return, which is looking like July 3rd.  I bet he can’t wait to get back out there, and we all can’t wait for him to get back out there.  Ibanez has been our best and most consistent hitter this year, and leads all NL outfielders in All-Star votes.  

Read more about his recovery and watch some highlight videos of Ibanez here on the Phillies website.