Cole Hamels had a terrible outing against the Mets last Saturday, allowing seven runs on eight hits in just 4.1 innings. It was a frustrating performance for the lefthander, and the worst outing he had since his first start of the season.
The All-Star quickly put his bad outing behind him, and returned to form Friday night against the Padres.
Hamels returned to the elite form that he has shown all season. He recorded his 18th career double digit strikeout performance. He struck out 10 batters, and only allowed one run on three hits over eight innings. He earned his 12th win of the season, tying him for the lead in the National League.
Hamels only received three runs of support from his teammates, but it was more than enough. The offense managed just six hits off of the San Diego staff, but they were timely hits.
After Shane Victorino reached base on an error, Carlos Ruiz doubled him home. Victorino would score again in the 4th inning on a balk by pitcher Cory Luebke. John Mayberry Jr. drove in the third run with an RBI double, the seventh double he has hit since July 9th.
Ryan Madson got his first opportunity to close a game since returning from the disabled list. The righthander responded with a painless 1-2-3 ninth inning. He threw just 11 pitches, and earned his 16th save of the season.
Player Of The Game: Cole Hamels
Hamels was the anchor for the Phillies in Friday’s victory. He kept his mistakes to an absolute minimum, and when a pitcher only gives up three hits, the opposing team isn’t going to have many opportunities to put runs on the board. The ace got himself back on track, and his stellar performance was the fuel for the team’s latest win.
Beast….he coulda beaten them with one arm…oh wait…he did.
In the throwback joints….crispy…GO PHILLS.
Great perfomance and bounce back game tonight by Hamels, who has grown into a real Top Shelf/Ace Pitcher this Season.. He’s been very consistent and is Pitching with great confidence and an attidue which is a fantastic combo for a Pitcher to have.. The Bats hit just enough tonight but with Hamels Pitching like he did, you don’t need many runs.. Nice to see some timely hits and a strong Closing type of finish by Madson.. With the Starters in a groove (Halladay,Lee,Hamels and Worley) and the young guns (Stutes,Bastardo & Madson) shutting them down at the end of games..The Phils are in solid shape for the stretch run..It will be interesting to see what, if any, trades occur.. Lidge just called up, Mayberry is contributing with some RBI’s and Victorino back healthy and hopefully Polanco in a little while..
Remeber the Yankees of last year who up to the deadline had the best overall record even though they weren’t playing all that well, they made a few moves and added L Berkman,A Kearns,K Wood and to be honest, they went backwards and were not the same team and got bounced of te Playoffs.. maybe there is something to being patient and team chemistry, lord knows the True line-up that Manager Charlie envisioned at the beginning of the SPring Camp has played very few games together as a unit with all the injuries to Utley,Brown,Polanco,Victorino at various times this Season..
They are certainly on a roll with contributions from Rollins,Martinez,Mayberry Brown and Ibanez over the last month or so.. What happens when the big man (Howard) gets hot and really gets going… Watch out NL..
Ryan Howard article from Yahoo. Ryan Howard is leading the National League in RBIs, and he’s on his way to another 30-homer season. Still, if you look a little deeper, the 31-year-old is having a disappointing campaign and a terrible July, with just a .548 OPS in 14 games this month. That’s a small sample size, but Howard’s decline has been nearly linear: Beginning in 2006, his MVP campaign, his yearly OPS has been the following: 1.084, .976, .881, .931, .859, .795. This would all be worrisome in itself, but his contract makes it positively frightening. Starting next year, the Phillies owe him $125 million through 2016. Is Ryan Howard’s bat turning from elite to ordinary?
Diagnosis: Ryan Howard has been one of the ultimate touchstones for the debate about just how useful RBIs are in measuring a hitter’s value. The sabermetric answer, of course, is “not very.” RBI totals have much more to do with a hitter’s teammates — the ones who got on base in order to be driven in — than with the one driving them in.
Howard leads all of baseball with 296 runners on base. He had an amazing 60 game-stretch recently when he hit .223 … and he still drove in 47 runs in those 60 games.
But a low batting average is the least of it. Bill Baer at Crashburn Alley lays out the statistics of the matter: Ryan Howard is in the process of posting career lows in Isolated Power, Weighted On-Base Average, and hitting against left-handed pitchers.
The drop in Isolated Power — a measure of a hitter’s ability to hit for extra bases, calculated by subtracting batting average from slugging percentage — has been particularly precipitous, declining from a spectacular .346 in 2006 to a more ordinary .207 in 2011, lower than his teammate Shane Victorino(notes). Moreover, the collapse in his platoon splits suggests that Howard, who only has a .637 OPS against southpaws this year, may need to be removed from his everyday role when a left-hander is on the mound. Weighted On-Base Average is an overall measure of offensive performance, sort of like a more advanced version of OPS — another measure in which he’s posting a career low.
The drop in his Isolated Power is particularly salient for a power hitter like Howard: It’s 40 percent lower this year than it was when he won his MVP. But his walk rate this year has declined by nearly a quarter, from 15.3 percent in 2006 to 11.7 percent this year. (He has also cut his strikeouts, but not by quite as much.) If that weren’t enough, Fangraphs has Howard as a below-average baserunner and below-average fielder.
That said, Howard is a notorious second-half hitter. For his career, he has an .867 OPS in the first half and a 1.007 OPS in the second half. So it’s very possible that he’ll catch fire for the rest of the summer and post the kind of numbers we got used to seeing from him before his injury-shortened 2010. However, I noted Howard’s traditional second-half bounce in Slumpbot last June, and Howard proceeded to produce an .858 OPS in the second half after posting an .859 OPS in the first half. So it’s quite likely that Howard’s problems — especially his declining power and walks — are caused by something other than the calendar.
Ryan Howard is still a pretty good hitter, particularly in a year in which offense is down across the league. But he isn’t very good, and his power has been on a linear decline for six years. Even if his Batting Average on Balls in Play climbs up 34 points to reach his career average, that overall decline is almost sure to continue.
Good stuff Dag…
Wonder if you could help analyze the same type of #’s/Stats for Chase Utley over the last 2-3 Seasons and will probably find a similar decline in productivity..
People that have to dig THAT deep into the numbers are nerds. Who gives a damn HOW he gets it done as long as he gets it done?
Phils are going to trade for Hunter Pence and sweep the World Series — holla at me!
Birdo I think thats the point. Howard doesnt get it done, hasnt gotten it done and in all likely hood wont get it done in the future. Then kicks in a 25 million dollar a year contract for 5 years. In 2 years he will be batting .220 with 22 home runs and 110 rbis. I mean my goodness he plays in one of the smallest ball parks in the league.
Damn Daggs, you wrote a thesis. That idiotic contract Amaro gave Howard, is going to kill them in the upcoming years. In no way, shape or form, should Howard have gotten that contract at the time. It was rushed into by Amaro, & quite frankly, Howard is not worth it. BTW, his #’s have not been the same since. He is my favorite my player, so i’m not hating. It’s the truth.
that article is pure trash,making up statistics that real baseball people would laugh at, to suggest the unimportance of rbis, because somenoe got on base, no sh, sherlock, but somebody has to be clutch to hit them in, written by some stat loving, geek, couldn’t tell the diffeence between the smell of a glove from his arze
I didnt write that shit. I found the article on Yahoo and just shared it.
Move Howard back home to ST Louis and sign Pujols to a 8 year 225 million dollar contract. lol
DAGGS, I know, just busting your beanbag. Man, I got tired reading it. Your fingers must have gotten tired writing it. LMFAO!!!!
Pujols would be a dream come. He is the greatest of this generation & my favorite MLB player. But realistically, it ain’t happening.
Like that angle Dag…i think some of his power decline is the fact that its a pitchers league and he isnt getn ish to hit…least the power has shifted in the force.
I could see them doin one of two deals.Prospects and cash for a bat or standing pat and stayn at the dance with the date you brought. That usually turned into a goodtime.
The way the stunners are holdin there ground in these conditions and yes against some sorry squads..minus the Cubs hitters…I see no reason we’re not in the NLCS with the faithful on our side. And finding a way too win these tight games and being cluth no matter who makes the play reminds me of the 07′-08 squads.
Paul…Braves?
those were the days. he looked like steve carlton
2 Pitching Prospects & OF D Brown to the Orioles for OF Adam Jones..