30 Teams In 30 Days

Philadelphia Phillies: Stop Complaining, Philadelphia
(Over the next 30 days, BERNing on Sports will be previewing every team in the Majors, yes, even the Royals. Only one a day, every day, so try not to get too hooked.)

We Shouldn't Be Hearing From You Anymore, Philly fans...

But you know we will. I was happy for the Phillies fans last year that they final got a championship in their city for the first time in 25 years. But I still contend that their drought really wasn't that bad and we shouldn't have heard so much about it. (After all, anyone over the age of 35 in Phliadelphia would remember the Sixers title in 1983 or the Phillies last world series crown in 1980.) Philadelphians like to whine and complain a lot, so it's not surprising, but now that the Phillies took home the 2008 World Series crown, we shouldn't be hearing from these complainers anymore. Enjoy your championship, and don't complain if they don't win it again this year. Although they still have a good team, and should contend to win another.

Pat The Bat vs. Raul Ibanez's Bat

Pat Burrell took a lot of heat during his nine year run in Philadelphia. The former number one pick in the 1998 draft was placed with enormous expectations immediately and the city of Philadelphia isn't exactly forgiving, or rational, about their sports teams most of the time. Burrell didn't hit for a high average during his teure in the city of brotherly love and could be frustratingly inconsistent, but he did hit a lot of home runs. 251 in fact. And most recently, Burrell provided that lethal right handed bat to sandwich between lefties Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. That was one of the biggest reasons the Phillies couldn't be beaten in last year's run through October. Replacing him is another lefty, Raul Ibanez. He's an excellent hitter who should fit into the offense quite nicely, assuming that the soon-to-be 38-year old doesn't tail off his production. He and Burrell are both weak defensive players, so Philadelphia doesn't really gain or lose anything there. But will he be a better fit than Burrell? I'm not so sure.

Pitching Still A Problem

Cole Hamels established himself as a brilliant pitcher in the playoffs last year if he hadn't already established this fact before. His presence at the top of the Phillies rotation anchored their run to the World Series title, and will key whatever run Philadelphia ever makes in the future. But maybe even more important to the Phils success in October was the suprising performances of Brett Myers, Joe Blanton and Jamie Moyer. (Both Myers and Blanton were hitting homers in the playoffs, which should have been the sign from above that the Phillies were going to win it all.) Sure, Myers had a great second half after being sent to the minors to figure things out after an abysmal first half. But can he sustain a good year for the entire season? Can Joe Blanton, who has been a fairly average pitcher for most of his career, be the pitcher he was in the post season for an entire year? And is Jamie Moyer getting the senior citizen discount at the movies yet? The Phils rotation has a lot of questions to answer, as usual. If their rotation is good, they're the favorites again in the NL East despite the Mets high-priced additions. But if not, they'll have trouble winning their third consecutive division crown.

Would the Real Brad Lidge Please Stand Up?

Last year was an incredible year for the Phillies closer, as former GM Pat Gillick looks like a genius now for acquiring the guy who had worn out his welcome in Houston. He didn't blow a save last year except for in the All-Star game, and was absolutely unhittable and spectacular. And yes, he has been that good before, prior to the torpedo he served up to Albert Pujols in the 2006 NLCS. But I'm not totally convinced that he'll be as good this year as he was last year. If he is, the Phils are all set in the late innings. But with the ups and downs Lidge has had over the last few seasons, I'm not so sure we can expect Lidge to be as great as he was for another year.

Bold Predictions

1. Ryan Howard will hit .275 or higher this year, finally returning to the form he had when he hit .313 in is MVP award winning 2006 season.
2. Shane Victorino will have his first 20-20 campaign, finially reaching the 20 homer plateau while continuing to steal well over 20 bases.
3. And the Phillies will still win the NL East, despite the moves made by the Mets to improve.

Up Next...Monday, Cubs.

30 Teams in 30 Days

New York Mets: Here's To Hoping The Third Time's A Charm

(Over the next 30 days, BERNing on Sports will be previewing every team in the Majors, yes, even the Royals. Only one a day, every day, so try not to get too hooked)

Keeping It Real

It took them a while, but finally the Mets did what everyone wanted them to do for the past few seasons: shore up their bullpen. Last season alone, the Mets bullpen blew 29 games. For those of you keeping track at home, they missed the playoffs last year by 3 games and two years ago by a single game, each collapse both pathetic and memorable (if even historic) in its Septemberish way. So, finally, the Mets stopped relying on Aaron Heilman (who they finally traded and I believe has since been traded 35 other times---have fun Cubs fans) and got lucky that Billy Wagner got hurt. Yes, I said it. Wagner, for as great as he was, loved blowing games and with him still in the picture you couldn't realistically spend big time dough on a Frankie Rodriguez. So, now you have K-Rod and J.J. Putz, which is real nice, but did you do enough to keep tabs with the Phillies? Read on...

So Yeah, About That Bullpen...

Unless you lived in the area, you really don't have a sense for how bad this group's been over the past two seasons. Leads going into the 8th were about as solid of a lock as the Nationals beating the Globetrotters. Whether it was Luis Ayala, or Heilman, or the recently departed Duaner Sanchez or Wagner. Either way, who ever was trotting out there was cause for heart attack. And so, it goes without much analytical saying that getting Putz was nearly as (if not as) important as getting Rodriguez. One of them will get hurt or need some time off, that's nearly a guarantee. Having two guys in your pen that throw gasoline and have seasons worth of closing experience (and we're not talking Mike Macdougal here) should be enough.

The Year of The Comeback

What Fernando Tatis did defies logic. Carlos Delgado's little run you could call a career resurgence. He'd at least done what he did (put up nice power numbers, not so hot average, in bunches) in recent memory (2006). Tatis, he just...wow. Think about it. After not playing in 2004, 2005, and 2007, Tatis came back in 2008 to put up his best season since 1999. No joke. And while both of these stories are nice and cozy, they (like that Rays bullpen) aren't likely to repeat themselves. Players of Tatis' caliber and Delgado's age don't often see spikes in their performance at these points in their career. Tatis may not play as much if Daniel Murphy can push him out, but again Murphy's only a young kid and what exactly you'll get out of him is really unknown. Throw in that Ryan Church seems like he's had as many career concussions as Eric Lindros in right field and you've got the makings of a very questionable lineup.

And Ode To How Bad Luis Castillo Is

We all know how much of a waste he's been, how terrible the 4 yr/40 mil contract was, so no need rehashing that. But, all I'll do is (attempt to) quote WFAN's Evan Roberts who was at the very first Mets spring game this year.

"[Castillo] lead off today and struck out looking on three pitches. Didn't get the bat off his shoulder, just watched three straight. Then, next at-bat he wound up making an out, but looked at the first two strikes in that at bat too. Took the first five pitches for strikes. I feel like he's in June form, already."

Vying For The Right To Throw Batting Practice

The clowns that the Metropolitans have in camp for their 5th starter spot are laughable. Freddy Garcia, bless his heart, doesn't have it any more. That shoulder's shot. I've watched him this spring and his ball is as flat as a 5th grader, and doesn't get much higher than the 80s.

Tim Redding has never been any good, and yesterday he got absolutely trashed. Not that spring stats mean much, but no one wants to give up 14 runs and 5 homers in their first 2.1 innings. And, the last vet in the mix is the incomparable Livan Hernandez. I say this because I can't figure how he's A) stayed in the league so long, B) not gotten killed by a line drive back up the box, and C) racked up so many wins along the way. He's pitched at least 200 innings nearly every year since 1998 (on year he actually threw 199.2, and last year he only got up to around 180), so durability's not a question. But, it just seems to me like if anyone should be campaigning for him to make the club, it's David Wright, so he can throw to him in the Home Run Derby. I could go on for ever about how amazed I am by how hittable Hernandez is, but I'll spare you.

Bold Predictions

The Mets will finally hold on this September and win the division, for a few reasons. One, the Phillies didn't make themselves much better. Two, you know Brad Lidge isn't going to go another full season without blowing a game. And three, despite expected failures from the Mets lineup, that staff/pen should be good enough.

There will be only three players worth having on any fantasy teams in the Mets lineup (they play center, short and third). Maybe not that bold, but I'm also going to say the rest of the positions on the field will fail to produce anything more than boos or laughter.

Up Next...Saturday, Tigers