Philly Making Power Moves?

There have been many, many acts of futilty throughout history born out of desperation. It is inevitable. You can either go down quietly or you can try and do something....anything. To me, it is sort of admirable the way the Phillies decided to 'go after it'.

I know this all sounds petty and irrational being the Phillies run differential is 39 runs better than the Mets, but I am a believer again. The Mets are a juggernaut and have finally started clicking and the Phillies could not just stand idly by and let the Mets blow past them. They had to take action immediately.

Joe Blanton may be an innings eater and hat has value for sure, but his 77 ERA+ and the overall negative trend of his career leaves me not all that concerned. He peaked in 2005 and has been either slightly above or slightly below average since with a his worst season yet in 2008.

The beauty of it all is that Brett Myers and Adam Eaton have basically just been as bad as he has so he basically gives them no discernable upgrade unless of course he turns it around and becomes league average again....dare to dream Philly fans...dare to dream. I mean, sure this helps and they dealt from a position of depth, but you will excuse me if I yawn this one off.

* * *

Pedro gets pushed back and I really do not expect much from him the rest of the way. He has become extremely fragile since joining the Mets, but Tony Armas can probably hold the five spot good enough for the Mets needs.

Overall, Pedro has been really bad so it is not like there is that much to replace.

Strangest quote...

Manager Jerry Manuel characterized Church's situation as "kinda ticklish," referring to the effects of the concussion Church sustained on May 20.

Kind of ticklish?

The man speaks the truth.

Before he became aware of Hernandez's premature departure, Manuel reiterated that El Duque would be hard-pressed to displace of the regular starters.

"I wouldn't take any of those guys out," Manuel said. "It's gonna be tough for El Duque."

Fun facts from Buster....

Batters with highest percentage of working into hitters' counts (min. 200 PA):
Albert Pujols, 33.3
Ken Griffey Jr., 32.6
Pat Burrell, 28.8
Adam Dunn, 28.5
Ray Durham, 28.0
Jayson Werth, 27.9
Chipper Jones, 27.7
Nick Swisher, 27.4
Jim Thome, 27.3
Jason Giambi, 26.9

Batters with lowest percentage of working into hitters' counts (min. 200 PA):
Alexei Ramirez, 8.2
Ivan Rodriguez, 8.5
Miguel Olivo, 9.2
Joey Gathright, 10.3
Clint Barmes, 11.1
Erick Aybar, 11.3
Carlos Gomez, 11.3
Corey Patterson, 11.3
Jason Bartlett, 11.7
Hunter Pence, 11.8

Pitchers with highest percentage of working into hitters' counts (min. 300 PA):
Oliver Perez, 27.6
Phil Dumatrait, 26.5
Daisuke Matsuzaka, 25.6
Miguel Batista, 25.2
Tom Gorzelanny, 24.7
Dana Eveland, 24.5
Andrew Miller, 24.5
Doug Davis, 24.4
Seth McClung, 24.0
Barry Zito, 23.8

Pitchers with lowest percentage of working into hitters' counts (min. 300 PA):
John Lackey, 9.2
Ervin Santana, 10.2
Kevin Slowey, 11.8
Greg Maddux, 12.0
Joel Pineiro, 12.0
Dan Haren, 12.3
Andy Sonnanstine, 12.3
Justin Duchscherer, 12.5
Carlos Silva, 12.6
Paul Byrd, 13.1