The Phillies season will be starting in an hour when they play the Atlanta Braves in Georgia. Surprisingly there will be a new name coming to the plate in the first spot in the lineup for the Phils. Charlie Manuel is sending centerfielder Ben Revere up there to start the game and not veteran shortstop Jimmy Rollins will be in the lead off spot .
You can understand why the centerfielder is leading off when you think of Revere’s speed and ability to steal bases. The key will be his willingness to be patient at the plate and take walks. If he can get on base it’s going to mean more fastballs for Rollins who is batting second, Chase Utley who is batting third and Ryan Howard, who will be in the fourth spot.
The Phils will have their work cut out for them with Roy Halladay showing a dropoff. He must find a way to pitch without having overpowering stuff.
Tonight, I like their chances with Cole Hamels taking the mound.
Play ball.
Just as I expected and called a couple weeks back…
The Regular LIne-up as long as Catcher Ruiz is out..
1) CF Revere
2) SS J Rollins
3) 2B C Utley
4) 1B R Howard
5) 3B M Young
6) LF D Brown
7) RF L Nix/J Mayberry
8) C E Kratz
9) Pitcher
Jimmy’s RBI total just went from 65 to 80. You now have a young speedster at the top, .290 hitter followed by a former MVP who drives the ball. Compare this to last year when Polly was to hit 2……professional hitter at number 5 instead of pence who was wild… Hey it’s going to be interesting at the very least
I agree with you there, they should be able to grind out and score more Runs and give themselves a better chance to win games late as opposed to blowing games late like last year.. Rollins RBI’s no doubt should increased, I just don’t want to see his Average drop .20 Points because he swinging for the Fences,,, If he can hit his .265 -.270, he will end up with 75 RBI’s and still pop 15-18 HR’s and Play a good, solid SS, then that’s a very good Season for him and the Team.. What could be real good is if Revere gets on base often, Rollins should see a lot of Fastballs early in the count and with a 1B holding Revere at first base, Rollins should have lots of room to poke the ball thru the hole for easy Singles..
This guy revere will be a special player, there is a new, far better dynamic with revere leading off, jimmy Rollins, not the same lead off guy, never was the lead off guy.
Big Roy would have done better even with a compromised fastball, cole Hamels is not big game
Gcobb strikes again …. WS MVP is not big game but of course game one of 162 is…. Bandwagon!!!!
I have to agree. Roy hasn’t won Philly shit. While Hamels proved he was big game by carrying us to a parade down broad. But hey i guess its time to jump off the Ben Franklin already
We don’t 100% agree… I wasn’t dissing Roy… Just saying it is beyond the gcobb negative nitwit brigade to criticize cole and to say he can’t win the big one
Not a good Outing by Cole Hanels tonight..
Doesn’t seem like Uggka hits 10 HR’s a year versus the Phils .
Even when he was with Florid, this guy kills the Phils every year
“Tonight, I like their chances with Cole Hamels taking the mound. Play ball.”
BAAAAAAAAMP, WROOOOOONG!!!!! BWAHAHAHA!!!!!!
Yes DCAR I see the pleasure you get when a Philly team loses … You like it and get to be that negative see I tell the truth guy that you claim to be. Then when they win oh yeah I’m a big fan
NAH, I want them to win. I’m just busting GCobb’s balls. This team ain’t going anywhere hac. Hopefully I’m wrong, but with this lineup, age & lack of power, I don’t think we’ll do that good. 3rd place, no playoffs. You know my stance on Booben, & the lineup. Nothing has changed. It kills me, what Booben has done to this team, the last 2 off-seasons! Whether you like it, or not, that’s the truth, not me being negative. I want them to win!
The point about Hamels is that this was a milestone start for him, his first opening day start, an important start for this season, and he came up small
Phillies closed the gap to 4-3, your a cevshould the slam the door, and he gave up more runs
2008 was five seasons ago, less expected of Hamels, and don’t forget his 2009 swoon.
Cole Hamels had a lot to prove this year, it’s now his staff, let’s see how he carries the load as a leader. Big Roy sure did.
You have already declared him small and a failure
Haveacigar can you read, where did I say he’s a failure,, he’s the ace finally by default, and he has a lot to prove this year, first start was not very good at all, this was a big game and he came up small, do you dispute that? The phillies so called anemic offense chased Hudson in only 4 1/3 innings, an ace wins that game. Hamels now winless last five starts at turner park. Again not ace-like.
Cole Hamels can and better pitch better, but he’s not in the category of ace yet
Last year:
2012 = 17-6, 3.06 ERA, 216Ks in 215 IP, 190 hits allowed
2011 = 14-9, 2.76 ERA, 194Ks in 216 IP, 169 hits allowed
2010 = 12-11, 3.06 ERA, 211 Ks in 216 IP, 185 hits allowed
Those are ace like numbers except for the wins which in 2010 and 2011, they didn’t give him a lot of run support.
He has had one bad season after he was WS MVP, and since then he has been lights out. Give him a break. It was 1 game. Stop taking what he is doing for granted.
It’s the gcob way… Talk doom and gloom… The of course after a great game or season talk about how great of a fan you are
True.
How great was it to see Utley get a hold of one yesterday?
On a side note, I really wish that Franske and LA did the calls on TV. McCarthy does nothing for me at all. They can mix in Sarge and Wheeler if they want, but those 2 are the best in my book.
Oh they are richie and Harry! I meant to post that all last year… Wheels is brutal, over analyzing and annoying… Reminds me of a certain southern poster on here. Franske is a wonderful play by play man and LA is quirky, funny and will say when a call stinks or a play stinks! McCarthy and Sarge the 4,5,6th
Please know one come on here and say FU no one is as good as richie and Harry…. We ALL love those guys and are sad at their passing but it’s time to move on and start dating again… And I pick those two guys
I would take Andy Musser over Wheel’s,McCarthy & Sarge
Haha he too is gone… And oh how the mighty have fallen we are calling for turkey neck Andy musser! I used to dred his innings… Now I dred all 9
Listening to Franske is relaxing. He knows when to shut the hell up.
Yeah, because not all of us, are good enough, to be the pom-pom waving, perfect Superfan like you, right?!? STFU & stop whining about fans being critical! Wash the sand out of bloody snatch already! All you do is continually make snide remarks, because we don’t agree with your, flawed, deluded brain! I’ll say it again, if you don’t like the truth, don’t read it!
The keeper of truth has spoken… Self anointed know it all… Everyone else that chooses to enjoy the teams, not rush to judgement (eagles off season ring a bell) let the season play out, be educated and understand that GMs in the real world have to take risks, have to balance owners wishes etc and don’t spend their time name calling in your book is Pom Pom
Keeper of the truth? Self anointed know it all? Sounds like the beginning of a Super hero movie! BWAHAHAHA!!!!
Hamels aside, I am very glad that Charlie was open to putting Revere in the #1 spot. Although people like to point out that his OBP is the same as Rollins, he has a lot of room to grow and (at this point in their careers), he is more of a threat to steal than J-Roll. Love that 11-12 pitch AB that he had last night.
Hamels will be fine. He should easily win 17 games. He’s the least of our worries. He had a bad game, & was throwing meatballs, last night!
Right, there is enough to worry about w/o adding him to the list.