Interleague Play Begins as Red Sox Head to Philly
by Ben Buchanan on May 21, 2010 12:30 PM EDT
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The Red Sox are on a roll, suddenly, with 3 good wins against 2 good teams. One of the biggest reasons? The resurgence of one David Ortiz, whose 2-run shot on Wednesday was the difference in a 1-run game. If he keeps it up, the Red Sox should have a good shot at winning this series against--
Oh, no, wait, it's interleague play.
Yes, it's that time of year again, when AL lineups get screwed up, AL pitchers throw out their backs trying to swing the bat, and the Red Sox manage to squeeze in 6 more games out west. Oh boy!
Normally, interleague play is the time for the good American League teams to take advantage of some weak competition. The NL hasn't had a winning record since 2003, and the disparity has become really very noticeable of late. Too bad for the Sox they've drawn the relatively strong AL West, along with a home-and-home against last year's National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies. Oh boy again!
So, are the Phillies still "that good?" The short answer is "yes." The slightly longer answer is "Oh, God, why?"
The Phillies combine, as we have been seeing lately, a top-of-the-line offense with a pitching staff that, though hurt by homers (tiny as their park is), maintains a top-5 xFIP. Lead by old friend Roy Halladay--who, yes, the Red Sox will get to face--the Phillies have as strong a staff as just about anyone, and their lineup manages to produce a .349 wOBA even without a DH.
This lineup starts, unusually, at second base. One of the league's perennial MVP candidates, Chase Utley has a bat that would be more than acceptable at DH, and does it while flashing one of the best gloves at 2nd. Generally speaking, the strategy with Utley should be simple: keep the ball away from him, because he'll kill you if you give him one to hit, or one to catch.
Utley's contributions are backed up by a lineup of all-stars. Home-run hitting Ryan Howard stands at first, an incredibly dangerous player even if he's overpaid now. Jayson Werth is an outstanding outfielder, and might be best compared to our own J.D. Drew these last few years. And Carlos Ruiz is off to a very hot start, though it's largely BABIP fueled and makes no sense given his career numbers. Finally, there's Jimmy Rollins, who has some big numbers despite being on the DL for most of the last month. There's not many spots to rest against this Phillies lineup, other than the 9-hole.
Every Red Sox fan knows how dominant Roy Halladay can be. Very, very dominant. And now the NL is learning too, as Roy's ridiculous 1.64 ERA is like something out of the dead ball era. If Halladay weren't enough, the Red Sox will also have to face Cole Hamels. The lefty hasn't exactly repeated on his success from '08 these last couple of years, but taking him lightly would be a mistake, as his ERA belies another solid xFIP of 3.74, as Hamels has been largely hurt by bad HR/FB% numbers. Of course, hoping that gets better against this power-hitting Red Sox team might be a stretch. The Red Sox might get something of a reprieve in the middle of the series against struggling youngster Kyle Kendrick on Saturday, but they shouldn't necessarily count on it. After a horrible April, Kendrick has had a fantastic May, allowing only 6 earned runs in 21 innings.
The Sox will want to chase these starters as early as possible to get to the softer underside of the Phillies bullpen. To this point in the season, the greatest skill the Philadelphia pen has shown is luck, with an underwhelming Chad Durbin having carried more of the load than he is likely able. Otherwise, the middle innings are taken up by a generally ineffectual group, with the dominant Jose Contreras providing a truly bright spot at the back end of the pen. With Brad Lidge struggling through injuries, it will likely be Contreras closing the door on the Sox should he get the opportunity--something we shouldn't expect him to mess up with any regularity.
There are lots of questions for the Red Sox this series. What does Terry Francona do with the hot David Ortiz? Can the back end of the rotation finally carry their weight? And, with the Sox on a 3-game winning streak and expecting Jacoby Ellsbury back on Saturday, is it finally time to turn this season around? We'll see starting tonight, as John Lackey takes on Cole Hamels.
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Interleague sucks
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by bestbostonsports on May 21, 2010 12:31 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
+1
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on May 21, 2010 12:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Agreed
I especially love how we get the Phillies six times and the MFY get the Mets six..
There are no stupid questions, but there are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.
by return2greatness on May 21, 2010 12:54 PM EDT up reply actions
We get the Phil’s three times at home, but the Twins twice?
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by bestbostonsports on May 21, 2010 2:11 PM EDT up reply actions
What do they do with Ortiz? hes been hitting lately, but you have to keep Youk and Beltre in there.
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by bestbostonsports on May 21, 2010 12:37 PM EDT reply actions
I agree
Maybe give him 1 game at first. But he’s a liability and it’s not like Youk and Betre have been slouches with the bat thus far.
"Where else would you rather be?" - Marv Levy
Lucchino (though he doesn't have a say) said he thought Ortiz would start at frist sunday
against Halladay. Makes sense as, while few people put up good numbers against Halladay, Ortiz has hit a decent .273/.330/.515 against him with 6 homers.
Also, apparently Ortiz has faced Halladay a full 39 more times than any other pitcher. Crazy.
I know Youk doesn't like playing LF
but PLEASE can we put him there and sit one of the scrubs we’ve been throwing out there lately? Youk will surely do it for a few games, right?
Now we don't have to decide who we play!
Lowell or Ortiz? Survey says…NEITHER. Awesome.
Not actually awesome
Galactus does as he pleases. Because Galactus is drunk.
@#$%ing Twit: @blogtard
I hate interleague play for a few reasons:
(1) NL baseball is boring. I hate watching pitchers hit, and the “strategy” involved in NL ball is overrated.
(2) You shouldn’t play more games against teams in other leagues than you do against teams in your own league. For example, the Sox play the Philles 6 times this year and only play the Twins 5 times. We aren’t competing with Philadelphia for a playoff spot.
(3) Because of the “natural rivalry”—the only reason for interleague; it generates money—teams in the same division don’t play the same schedule. TB and the MFY play Houston. The Sox don’t. Boston plays the Phillies, the best team in the NL, 6 times. The MFY get the Phillies for 3 games, and TB doesn’t play them at all. Since when are the Phillies and Sox “rivals?”
When interleague started, the Sox played the Braves, then the best NL team. That at least made some sense because the Braves left Boston over half a century ago. Why don’t the Sox play 6 games against the Pirates? They play each other in the first WS. I think the Sox’ “natural rivals” should always be the worst team in the NL.
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on May 21, 2010 12:47 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
The "natural rivalry" only works for a few teams, so they ake up the rest.
USG
by Ben Buchanan on May 21, 2010 12:54 PM EDT up reply actions
I understand that
Which is why interleague is BS. At the very least, all teams in the same division should play against the same teams.
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on May 21, 2010 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions
NL East vs. AL East
NL Central vs. AL Central
NL West vs. AL West
Then, maybe, mix and match in subsequent years (AL East vs. NL Central, etc) so that you can see different teams, but not at a disadvantage over the course of the year. I like the idea of Fenway vs. Wrigley, and I’m SUPER PUMPED for Manny to come back to Fenway in a Dodgers uniform.
Overall though, interleague is mildly novel. I personally prefer the notion of two teams who have never played, nor played anyone in common, meeting up in the World Series. No comparisons to anything else…just go at it.
Galactus does as he pleases. Because Galactus is drunk.
@#$%ing Twit: @blogtard
I wouldn't care about interleague if the NL would just get a DH
but they just insist on being the JV league.
Me and my MFY brethren take some pleasure in pummeling the Mets, but running the bases effectively ended Chein Ming Wang’s career so you just hope nothing like that happens.
And I agree about the whole “more strategy” thing in NL ball being ridiculous. You don’t have to be an astrophysicist to have your pitcher bunt or pinch hit for him late in a game.
I'm Lord Duggan and I approve this message.
Agreed
And just about everyone, except Willie Randolph, knows how do double-switch.
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on May 21, 2010 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions
I feel bad for Willie Randolph
I’m not saying that he was a great manager, because he certainly wasn’t, but the Mets have always just been snake bit and he took the fall for it. And it’s not like they’ve improved after he got the boot…..
I'm Lord Duggan and I approve this message.
He wasn't a good manager
And me made the mistake of trying to bring the “Yankee way” of doing things to the Mets. But you’re right, he wasn’t the cause of the problems with the Mets. Omar Minaya is an idiot—and even he isn’t the biggest problem. Jeff Wilpon is a meddler. The Wilpons are the baseball equivalent of the Dolans, who own the Knicks and Rangers.
I’m so grateful that the Dolans didn’t get the Red Sox. I believe theirs was the highest offer; but they didn’t have enough money up front, so Selig voided the deal.
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on May 21, 2010 3:53 PM EDT up reply actions
As a fan of the MFY
I have always thought that the “Yankee Way” was about winning the World Series at whatever the cost, not about busting balls, not having facial hair, and acting like a hard ass. That stuff is just fluff because it enhances the “mystique.”
I’ll understand if you disagree though.
I'm Lord Duggan and I approve this message.
As I've bit*hed about on another post the cmparative Inter-League schedules
..are ludicrously unequal
Boston: 6-PHI, 3-COL, 3-SF, 3-ARZ, 3-LAD
NY: 6-NYM, 3-PHI, 3-ARZ, 3-LAD, 3-HOU
TB: 6-FL, 3-HOU, 3-ATL, 3-SD, 3-ARZ
Boston gets arguably the best team in the NL for 6 including Doc Halladay and potentially a matchup of two of the best NL pitchers in Lincecum and Jimenez
As mentioned previously both TB and NY get the worst team in the NL for a 3 game set and dodge both COL and SF??
Right. Just play the games. They're not going to get rid of interleague. $$$
We’ve had interleague match-ups work to our advantage in other years. It looks to be against us this year. If the Sox are good enough to win it all this year, then let’s go into Philly and get it done.
And than let’s filet us some Rays next week.
Just peeking ahead a bit: Buchholz, Lester, and Lackey look to match up with Davis, Shields, and Garza. Not bad.
I like how we handled the lefty, Liriano, last night. Now let’s do the same to the lefty, Hammels, tonight. Work the count.
Bring it on. Let’s go Sox.
" Play Ball "
plus despite the fact that we don't have a DH
our pitcher will be just as effective against this lefty as our DH was yesterday.
Tough series.
Anyone know if Scutaro is playing?
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by bestbostonsports on May 21, 2010 2:10 PM EDT reply actions
is that from somewhere today?
because yesterday they were saying they hoped he’d be in tonight, but tomorrow at the latest
It may not help the Sox' record
But I enjoy watching them play the Phillies. That’s quality baseball right there! I’m looking forward to watching the series.
"You know you're having a bad day when the fifth inning rolls around and they drag the warning track." - Mike Flanagan, Baltimore Orioles pitcher, 1992.
Nice write up: A serie preview is always welcome!
Let me add those few note:
Ruiz: He has improved his walk rate each year he has been in the Majors. While he won’t continue to draw walks at a 20% clip as he has been so far in 2010, his plate discipline is not an illusion. Sure, his BABIP is unsustainable and should regress to his career avg of .271 but he’s an above average hitter at the catcher position.
Contreras: I was really hoping that Theo explore the option of signing him last winter because he’s for real! I mean, that pitching performance last year out of the Colorado Rockies’ bullpen was not an illusion. He added a ton of velocity to his pitches (he’s hit 97 MPH with his fastball several times this year) and he isn’t walking anyone. He has a K/9 of 11.6 and a BB/9 of 0.8.
For the rest of their bullpen, I hope we get to Danys Baez because this guy is the weakest link there and Chad Durbin too has been too lucky!
Shane Victorino is the most overrated player in baseball: He plays defense like Ellsbury. Every time I saw him take some weird routes to the ball (It pains me to say it but I watch a lot of Phillies games: I hate the team and its fans but they have players that I admire the most in MLB: Doc, Werth and Utely ) and he gets lots of credit for being “clutch” and “gritty”! God I hate him!
The Phillies have played .606 baseball without their lead-off hitter and slick-fielding shortstop Jimmy Rollins, just four combined starts between Joe Blanton and J.A. Happ, without their Plan A and B closers in Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson, and without their LOOGY in J.C. Romero: When those guys get back, they are clearly the class of the NL.
Westmoreland recently asked his son how he was feeling, and the response the father received didn't surprise him. "I'm going to be in Portland next year," Ryan said.
Victorino is very overrated. Agreed on Utley, he rules
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by bestbostonsports on May 21, 2010 3:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Philles are now a very well supported team!
It seems to me living in southcentral PA that it is actually harder to get Phillies tickets in Philadelphia than it is to get Sox tickets in Boston despite what I believe is a bigger stadium in Philly. Don’t expect to see any empty seats for any of these games in Philly!
When teams are winning, the fans come out of the woodwork
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on May 21, 2010 3:35 PM EDT up reply actions
Agreed, Interleague needs to go
Interleague play is just a cheap publicity stunt designed to help some teams sell a few more tickets. Sure, KC sells more tickets to Cardinal fans and the Twins to Cubs fans, but that’s about it. Just a cheap, quick grab at some money for a few teams. MLB should focus on establishing good play and rivalries withing the existing divisions.
Interleague just needs to be replaced
Fact is, I think baseball would be far better if we had cup competitions instead of interleague. So the AL and NL are rebalanced at 15 teams each (Brewers get to come back to their league), and each plays their own league a balanced 10 times a season. For the remaining ~22 games, clubs play in regional cup competitions, so nearly every team has some games that mean something come August.
And, in a dream world, the top 4 teams (those competing in the previous season’s LCS) compete with the top 2 of Japan, Korea and Cuba in a Champions League. So you replace pointless, unbalanced interleague with games that actually mean something.
Building Fenway from the ground up - Virtual Fenway
15 teams each would lead to CONSTANT interleague
Or one team being forced to sit for 3-4 days at a time.
USG
by Ben Buchanan on May 21, 2010 4:56 PM EDT up reply actions
It could lead to less interleague.
Only it would be spread out over the whole season. Two teams each series would play interleague. I’d like that a bit more than the set up now but I’m not holding my breath on it ever happening.
" Play Ball "
to me, one constant series of interleague
would be preferable to the silly 4 teams 6 teams thing that’s going on now.
Agreed.
How is it at all fair for Texas to be on top of a four team division and for St Louis to have five teams trying to knock them out of first place and the right to go to the playoffs. It never has made any sense to me.
The AL West teams open the season with a 25% chance of winning their division.
The NL Central opens with a 16.7% chance of winning theirs.
Bud fails in this case.
" Play Ball "
Whenever there are open slots
There are cup games through the year.
Building Fenway from the ground up - Virtual Fenway
I have tix for tonight,
I live around Philly. Every year JD gets bood so loudly and hits a bomb at Citizens Bank.
"We're not going to give up," It doesn't happen, so who cares? There's always next year. It's not like it's the end of the world."-Manny Ramirez
whereabouts?
Philly has the worst drivers in the country, bar none. It takes a fair bit to shock me having grown up with Massachusetts drivers, but I was routinely blown away at their actions.
Building Fenway from the ground up - Virtual Fenway
I have a lot of friends who are Phillies fans
I love to wear my JD Drew t-shirt when I’m with them.
I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.
by Drugs Delaney on May 21, 2010 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions
Bucks County.
about an hour north of the city… There are tons of new Phillies fans near me after 2008
"We're not going to give up," It doesn't happen, so who cares? There's always next year. It's not like it's the end of the world."-Manny Ramirez
BP starts at 7:05.
"man, this team they just suck so bad"- gizmosandy
DFA Bogar
Twitter: @BoldandBrash
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