Ryan Church hit his second career grand slam yesterday, and his first home run since returning from the disabled list in late August.
Church, regarding his offense, while speaking with reporters following yesterday’s win against the Brewers:
“I’m starting to get my stroke back…I was telling guys earlier this week that it definitely feels like a second spring training for me. It’s a process, and things are going to finally start coming…It’s been a hectic year…It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. I’m a big believer in that and hopefully that’s what continues to happen.”
In 12 games since returning from the disabled list, Church is batting .243 with one home run, seven RBI and three doubles.
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Let’s hope Churchy is on track for a hot September…
yea, if his spring training ends now, then hopefully he can get back to the hitter he was before the injury
I have felt pretty negative about this team for the better part of this year. The feeling around them just wasn;t one that I felt good about as a serious contender. I’m really starting to feel like these guys can make a legit run.
The return of Church and Wagner (cross our fingers), along with the unexpected play of murphy and evans has been huge.
Most importantly, I dare you to find a team that September call up’s benefits more….we have a variety of options coming out of that pen now..
“I’m really starting to feel like these guys can make a legit run”.
The team has the best record since July. Wouldn’t you call that a “legit” run?
OFFTOPIC:
hey matt or whomever, can we have a post breaking down the stats of the starters for this w/e… it appears at beerleaguer a lot of people are claiming the phils have the edge…
on first glance i see:
pelf/myers – Pelf has been pitching great, and Myers has been walking a tight rope (lots of base runners)
pedro/moyer – we finally got to moyer last week, i think we can do it again, and hope that pedro can hold on (or use our bunch of bullpen members)
santana/hamels – santana has been great in big games against good teams, i dont’ see that changing, and the mets have in the past hit him well.
I don’t see how that translates into an advantage for the phils..so a stat breakdown would be great :)
IMO:
Pelf/Myers – Small advantage to Pelf because of how he’s been pitching of late
Pedro/Moyer – Two wily old vets that know how to pitch – wash
Johan/Hamels – Two ace leftys – wash
I wouldn’t put too much stock in what they are saying. It looks fairly close to even to me, but I would give the Mets the slight advantage:
Pelf/Myers – The Phils fans don’t know anyone outside of their own team, so they probably haven’t caught on to how great Big Pelf has been. Myers has been good since coming back, but like you said he is walking a tightrope, and the Mets could pound him. Advantage: Mets
Pedro/Moyer – I might give them the slight advantage since Pedro seems to be struggling with some arm issues, but we pounded Moyer the other night. Advantage: Even
Santana/Hamels – Hamels is their hero, so of course they would pick him. However, again as you stated, Santana has been money. Advantage: Mets
So they certainly stack up well, and could get good performances from their pitching, but for them to think they have the “edge” on paper is a little bit off in my opinion.
Lets look at how the pitchers have fared against the opposing team this season:
Friday:
Myers: 1GS, 0-0, 5.40era, 5IP, 3H, 3R, 5/2 BB/K, .167BAA
Pelf: 2GS, 1-0, 5.40era, 10IP, 15H, 6R, 4/5 BB/K, .349BAA
Saturday:
Moyer: 5GS, 1-1, 4.40era, 28.2IP, 29H, 14R, 3/15
BB/K, .261 BAA
Pedro: 2GS, 1-0, 6.10era, 10.1IP, 12H, 7R, 5/14
BB/K, .286BAA
Sunday:
Hamels: 1GS, 0-1, 5.14era, 7IP, 8H, 5R, 3/4
BB/K, .286BAA
Santana: 4GS, 1-0, 3.10era, 29IP, 23H, 10R, 3/26
BB/K, .213BAA
Perez: 4GS, 1-0, 0.35era!!, 26 IP, 17H, 1R!!, 11/27
BB/K, .181BAA
To me, looking at the stats on the surface shows that the pitching matchups are fairly even. However, they don’t identify underlying trends.
For example, Pelfrey was hit hard in his first start against the Phils early in the season, but its fair to say he has become a different pitcher, and had a good start against the Phils last time out. Of course Myers has also improved since his last start against the Mets.
Last week, the Mets were FINALLY able to get to Moyer, hit him hard, and take him out of the game early. Is that a sign of things to come? Pedro on the otherhand, was staked to very big leads in both starts, and likely changed how he would normally attack the hitter, going after him more.
I threw Perez in here because he is the wild card. Should the Mets decide to skip Pedro, which we have heard some chatter about, then I’d guess you’d see Santana on Saturday and Ollie on Sunday. If that happens, the Mets have the clear cut advantage.
I don’t think you’ll see Perez on 3 days rest.
I just realized how parallel the matchups seem to be — our old guy vs. their old guy, our ace vs. their ace…I can’t really explain Pelfrey/Myers. Our pitcher who had to go back to AAA before coming back and dominating vs. theirs?
Our former first round draft pick vs their former first round draft pick.
Ugh, how did I miss that? The Procede must be eating away at my brain.
a push on the 2nd and 3rd match-up, but I think Big Pelf has the advantage on 1st game.
I don’t care what a Philly blog says. Games and pennants are won on the field, not on paper. I like the Mets chances this weekend to take at least 2 out of 3.
TV Alert: Tonight SNY broadcasts the Cyclones game. Wilmer Flores, who some think is now the organization’s top prospect, is now playing for the Cylones. He’s just 17! The Cyclones have a 1/2 game lead in the wild card with 3 games left to play. So it will be an interesting game to catch.
Pelf/Myers – Pelf is taller
Pedro/Moyer – Pedro has better hairstyle
Johan/Hmels – uh… Johan has more money
Advantage Mets…
Check Mets Geek for a post about the upcoming series. They do a great job breaking down the pitching matchups.
Big Pelf over Myers, obviously.
I’d give Moyer the edge over Pedro. We all know there’s a much better pitcher somewhere deep inside Pedro but he must exorcise the demon that hinders him.
And get real, Phillies: Santana is better than Hamels. Hamels is exceptional but Santana is the Mack Daddy-o.
I have to say, I really like the platoons in the outfield corners. It keeps the guys fresh and puts them in the best situation to get on base. I hope it’ll continue to have success.
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