The Mets begin a three-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies tomorrow night at 7:10 at Citi Field.
The Phillies come into this series having lost 9 of 19 games in June. They are now 11 games back of the Nationals for first place in the NL East.
This year, with Chase Utley just coming back and Ryan Howard still injured, the Phillies have relied on a few players to carry them, especially on offense. Luckily for them, Hunter Pence and Carlos Ruiz are having the best seasons of their careers. Pence has 16 home runs and 46 RBI while Ruiz is leading the league in hitting. Past those two, however, the offense has been scarce for the Phillies.
The starting pitching staff, once revered as the greatest one ever assembled, has not been what it used to be this season. The Phillies have been without Roy Halladay since May 27 and likely won’t have him back until after the All-Star break. Cole Hamels, who was looking like a Cy Young Award candidate early in the season, hit a bump in the road recently and hasn’t been nearly as dominant. Cliff Lee is still winless and has a 4.13 ERA through 13 starts. The Phillies needed the pitching staff to step up to carry them with Ryan Howard and Chase Utley out, but that hasn’t happened.
Pitching matchups:
Game 1- Tuesday 7:10
Jonathon Niese (6-3, 3.55 ERA) vs. Vance Worley (4-4, 2.92 ERA)
Game 2- Wednesday 1:10
Chris Young (2-1, 3.30 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (0-5, 4.13 ERA)
Game 3- Thursday 7:10
R.A. Dickey (12-1, 2.15 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (10-4, 3.08 ERA)
Notes:
- Chase Utley returned this week after missing the first 76 game of the season with a knee injury. He has five hits in 13 at-bats since returning.
- The Phillies also have one of the worst bullpens in baseball. Their 4.57 bullpen ERA is 28th in baseball, just two spots in front of the Mets.
- The Phillies are one of the most impatient team in baseball. Their 204 walks are 27th in baseball.
- Brush up on your Cole Hamels knowledge with Ted Berg’s gallery, a must-see whenever Hamels is pitching. It’s hilarious.
- I don’t mean to get too eager, but a sweep of the Phillies would be devastating for them. With the way the Nationals are playing right now, the Phillies would probably fall another two or three games back if swept. That’s a hole I don’t know they can get out of. If they find themselves 15 games back at the All-Star break, there’s going to be a fire sale in Philly and no one will be safe.
7 comments
Stickguy
7/2/2012-11:52am at 11:52 am (UTC -4)
this series scares me. Yes, a sweep (by the Mets) would be huge, and pretty much guarantee the phils will become sellers.
But, I never will count those PITAs out. Just as easily, they could rise up and sweep the Mets.
as bad as they have been lately, they have a few bats that always burn the mets. And, they still have 3 very good SPs, and unfortunately the mets are getting those three (as opposed to the 2 BP machines that are also in their rotation).
Game 1 is going to be big, especially since that is the only RHP they are going to see. And I don’t want to be seeing the RH special lineup any more!
SaltyGary
7/2/2012-12:24pm at 12:24 pm (UTC -4)
That Hamels photo blog is hilarious. I didn’t realize he tried so hard to be pretty. Nice doggy backpack.
srt
7/2/2012-12:34pm at 12:34 pm (UTC -4)
This could go either way.
Worley has been pitching well and Niese needs to find some consistency. I fell better about this match-up only given the fact that we’re playing at Citi
Young vs. Lee: Lee has to get a W at some point this season, right? Crossing my fingers it won’t be in this series. Given the way he’s been knocked around lately and even though Young pitches well, doesn’t go deep into games – this might come down to a battle of who has the worse BP.
Hamels vs. Dickey: Don’t care how well Hamels has been pitching. In his career Hamels hasn’t fared all that well against the Mets. And well…it’s RA Dickey he’s opposing. To me this is a clear cut advantage Mets.
Mr North Jersey
7/2/2012-1:08pm at 1:08 pm (UTC -4)
As we get ready to face the Phils I was looking at how the NL East has fared vs it’s division rivals as opposed to the rest of the NL so far.
Record vs NL Teams outside Division
ATL 24-14 .632
MIA 21-14 .600
WAS 19-15 .559
PHI 21-18 .538
NYM 19-19 .500
Record vs NL Teams inside Division
WAS 16-09 .640
NYM 16-11 .593
MIA 12-13 .480
ATL 09-13 .409
PHI 10-17 .370
gategem
7/3/2012-9:05am at 9:05 am (UTC -4)
Nice article Connor but I hope your comment “the starting pitching staff, once revered as the greatest one ever assembled” was tongue-in-cheek.
Connor O'Brien
7/3/2012-10:51pm at 10:51 pm (UTC -4)
LOL. Best ever assembled. HA.
I wonder what would be though… maybe one of the orioles teams back in the 60s? not sure…
gategem
7/4/2012-1:34am at 1:34 am (UTC -4)
There have been some extraordinary pitching staffs. The best might have been the 1954 Cleveland Indians but other staffs such as the 1966 LA Dodgers, 1998 Braves and 1971 Orioles were right up there. The 1986 and 1969 Mets staffs were excellent and the Oakland A’s staffs of early to mid 1970’s were also intimidating. BTW the best pitching coach the Mets ever had was a backup catcher for the Dodgers, Rube Walker.