Phils Win NL East Again
September 29, 2008 by Steve Quinto
Filed under Major League Baseball, Phillies
After taking care of business and sweeping the last place Washington Nationals, the Phils clinched the NL East and will take on the Brewers in the playoffs. On Saturday, Brad Lidge barely escaped a threat from the Nats by getting Ryan Zimmerman to ground into a double play. Lidge should be getting CY Young consideration.
A well rested Cole Hamels will pitch Game 1. Currently, the Brewers starter is not yet decided. I wondered when the Brewers would go with C.C. Sabathia. He is slated for Game 2, which would make his 5th consecutive start on three days rest. Pitching him in Game 2 will allow him to pitch Game 5 (if necessary) on “normal” four days rest. Regardless of how he performs, Sabathia should expect Johan Santana money this off-season.
With the Phils not facing Sabathia during the season and most not having many career at bats, it is VERY important for them to take Game 1 and win the series in no more than 4 games. If they lose Game 1 and Sabathia shuts them down in Game 2, we could be looking at a quick series like last year.
Game 1 is at 3pm eastern time on Wednesday, and Game 2 is at 6pm on Thursday. I have never liked MLB’s decision to put games on in the afternoon on the weekday. At least the Phils have one night game. Last year, they had two day games at home which I think was unfair.
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September 29th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Phils are much better than the Brewers. I think they will be just happy to be in the playoffs. Look for the Phils and Cubs in a long series.
September 29th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Hey Steve, since your a Phillies fan I have to ask you, who do you give the NL MVP to? Does a hot September give it to Howard, or does Pujols being consistent all year and Howard playing below average for 4 months give Pujols the edge?
September 29th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I am not crazy about Howard’s .250 batting average, poor defense, poor on base percentage of a player his calibe(.339) and 199 K’s.
He did win MVP the year when the Phils didnt make the playoffs and the Cardinals did. I remember Pujols had some gripes about this.
Personally, I think Lidge is more of an MVP than Howard. Figure, Francisco Rodriguez had 7 blown saves. Lidge was 41 for 41. If Lidge had half as many blown saves, the Phils would be tied with the Mets right now.
But I do think Pujols is more deserving. Howard just did well in HR and RBI.
September 29th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Glad to see we agree Steve. People for whatever reason undervalue defense. Also look at Howards numbers before September, they were pitiful. If he did anything pre-allstar break, the Phillies would have won the East easily. He hindered the team more in the first half than helped them.
And yes Lidge deserves MVP consideration. He’s #3 for me on the Cy Young list too, behind Lincecum and Santana. Webb and Lidge are neck and neck for 3rd and 4th.
September 29th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
They need to do something to change the fielding percentage calculation. Does a 1B get credit for a put out if they sit there and catch the ball? I think they do. Howard has the same fielding percentage as Rollins. That does not tell the whole story. Every ball hit to a SS, their fielding percentage is on the line. A 1B is only on the line if they have to field a ground ball.
Howard also has poor decision making at times. A few times this year, he got a ground ball and had the deer in headlights look. He did that once with the bases loaded… runner on third less than halfway down line…. just froze and had to get runner at 1st…
September 29th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Just ignore fielding percentage, its useless. Look at stats like zone rating and runs over replacement for defense. They’ll give you a much better perspective on how good or bad a player is defensively.
Fielding percentage just tells you how a player does on balls he gets to, which isn’t fair because obviously a terrible player like Howard won’t get to many balls at all, hence hurting his team defensively.
September 29th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Agreed! It would be a great series!
September 29th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Steve,
Congrats on the NL East Crown. BOL in the PO’s
Jim