Phillies Finish Home Stand on High Note

As seen on Phillies Nation.

There was some magic in those pink bats that Jayson Werth, Placido Polanco, and Shane Victorino used. They each smashed solo home runs to help the Phillies wrap up a 7-3 home stand. But it was the bullpen that was the story in the Phillies 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

Cole Hamels lasted just five innings, but was backed by solid defense. In the first inning, Omar Infante rounded third as Werth threw a laser to Carlos Ruiz, who applied the tag. Infante was gunned down, and the inning came to an end. Hamels allowed three earned runs on eight hits. He struck out five, but was a tad wild as he walked four. Luckily for Hamels, he received run support unlike his last start.

The Phillies loaded the bases in the first inning. Werth was hit by a pitch by Kenshin Kawakami to force in a run. Ibanez followed with a shallow fly ball to right field. It was nowhere deep enough to score a run, however when Chase Utley is on third base, nothing is shallow enough. Melky Cabrera took his time, and Utley took advantage and tagged from third to score. By the third inning, the Phillies led 4-0 thanks to home runs by Polanco and Werth.

The Braves inched back off Hamels, but the bullpen stepped in and dominated. Chad Durbin pitched two perfect innings and struck out four. Jose Contreras has made us all forget about his poor spring training. He threw a scoreless inning to set it up for Brad Lidge.

Eric Hinske and Infante hit two loud fly balls. On any day, those balls probably would have left the yard, but thankfully the wind knocked them down. After all the fans took a deep breath, Lidge retired Martin Prado to record his first save of the season.

The Phillies' bullpen combined for four scoreless innings. Nor Durbin, Contreras or Lidge allowed a single base runner. The bullpen needs to continue this sort of dominance, and the Phillies will continue to succeed.

Durbin Avoids Arbitration

Chad Durbin avoided salary arbitration by agreeing to a $2.125 million contract.

Durbin signed with the Phillies as a free agent in 2007. He pitched very well in 2008 which earned him $1.635 million in 2009. In 2010, Durbin gets a significant raise despite pitching almost 20 innings less and having an ERA almost two points higher in 2009, compared to 2008. Durbin went 2-2 with a 4.39 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 69.2 innings last year.

Carlos Ruiz, Shane Victorino and Joe Blanton remain arbitration eligible.

Other Phillies News: It was reported that Jimmy Rollins was in the Cayman Islands when an earthquake hit on Tuesday. Rollins, who is getting ready for his wedding, is reportedly fine.

Player Recap: Chad Durbin

This article was featured on Phillies Nation under 2009 Player Reviews.

Coming off a year in which he posted a 2.87 earned run average, Chad Durbin’s expectations were high coming into 2009. During arbitration, Durbin was given a well deserved $735,000 raise. Durbin wasn’t expected to duplicate his 2008 season, however he would serve as a reliable long man or right handed specialist.

Unfortunately, injuries played a part in Durbin’s season. In July, Durbin was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right latissimus strain.

Overall, Durbin had a solid season. In 59 games (62.9 IP), Durbin went 2-2 with a 4.39 ERA. He saved 2 games in 3 opportunities, and had 8 holds. He held opponents to a .220 average overall, and a .234 batting average with runners on base. He had a decent strikeout ratio: 8.01 (62 K/47 BB) per nine innings. When he started to walk batters, he got into trouble. Durbin did not allow many hits; his WHIP (1.48) was high because he walked 6.07 batters per nine.

The bullpen was such an important factor, especially Durbin. When Durbin did well, the team usually did well. In both the division and championship series, Durbin did not allow a base runner. However, when Durbin struggled, so did the Phillies, as shown in the World Series. During the regular season, Durbin gave up at least one earned run in 20 games. The Phillies lost 14 of those games.

Durbin was pretty average. There were times he came up big. But there were also times where he was unable to

Injury Report

The Phillies were able to remain healthy in 2008 which was a big factor to winning the World Series. In 2009, the Phillies have had a few hit by the injury bug so far.

Chase Utley is taking his final steps to getting closer to Grapefruit League action. Utley could appear in games as early as next week.

Pedro Feliz played in Friday's game against the Pirates. He was 0-2, but says there is no doubt he will be ready for opening day. He also appeared in a simulation game on Wednesday.

After recovering from a shoulder injury suffered earlier in the spring, Jayson Werth experienced "a little tweak." Scheduled to play in Thursday's game, he was scratched from the lineup due to a groin injury.

Chris Coste and Chad Durbin both returned from hamstring pulls. On Wednesday, Coste was 1-2 with a home run during a simulated game.

Durbin allowed 2 hits and one run and struck out one in one inning of work. Durbin didn't feel any pain while pitching.

Brad Lidge also pitched in the simulated game on Wednesday. Lidge allowed a home run and struck out a batter in an inning of work.

"I felt good," Lidge said. "I actually felt a little better than I thought I
would feel. I think the slider was better than it usually is this time of year.
My fastball didn't feel great, so I'll definitely have to work on that location.
That's pretty standard for me in Spring Training."

QUOTE SOURCE: Phillies.com

7 Down, 1 To Go; Other Updates

The Phillies avoided arbitration with reliever Chad Durbin on Wednesday, signing him to a one year, $1.635 deal.

For Durbin, a little over $1.5 million is reasonable. Durbin made just $900,000 in 2008, but his due to his performance, he deserved a raise. Giving Durbin too much money would not make much sense since 2008 was a career year for Durbin. He still has a high career ERA over 5. In 87.2 IP, Durbin was 5-4 with a 2.87 ERA during the 2008 season. The deal was just right. Not to high, not to low.

Toward the end of the season, Durbin faced a "dead arm" period and started to struggle. He managed to pitch through it.
The Phillies signed all their arbitration eligible players but one: Ryan Howard, who is still pushing for $18 million.

Prince Fielder is a similar player to Howard. Both have extreme power. The Milwaukee Brewers are close to signing the arbitration eligible Fielder to a 2 year deal that would be worth at least $18 million. Hear that Howard? Fielder is getting two years out of $18M.

Cole Hamels threw 3,914 pitches in 2008, leading the Majors. CC Sabathia, who was the 2007 leader (3,892), threw 3,912 pitches, finishing second. Brett Myers (3,718) was third. Joe Blanton (3,547) was 11th. The number of pitches includes the postseason, and for Myers, Minor Leagues.

Throwing as many pitches as these guys, it increases risk of injury. 10 out of 18 pitchers who reached the 3,400 pitch mark in 2007 had a serious injury in 2008.

Remember Freddy Garcia? Remember the hype around him when the Phillies got him?Remember how he made just 7 starts with the Phillies in 2007? Remember his ERA was over 5 in those starts? Remember how the Phillies gave him $10 million for one year?

Well, both New York teams are interested in him. The Mets and Yankees are the top front runners for him.

The Texas Rangers are close to signing Omar Vizquel. He agreed to a Minor League contract with a base salary of $1 million. The 41 year old is an 11 time Gold Glove Winner, and has played the most games at shortstop than anybody in MLB history.

Jeff Kent officially announced his retirement today. In 17 Major League seasons, Kent batted .290 with 377 homeruns. He had a career OPS of .856.