CHICAGO -- Greetings from the Windy City, where my hotel is located next to the fourth-largest building in the country. We're also nearly across the street from this landmark, which somehow survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. OK, now that you're situated, let's get to work. Jimmy Rollins, the stand-in for Chase Utley in the No. 3 hole, picked up three more hits yesterday against the Pirates to stretch his hitting streak to nine games, as you can read about within Kevin Tresolini's notebook. He's batting .381 with four triples, two homers and seven RBIs in that nine-game stretch, and since July 1, he's batting .333 with seven homers and 17 RBIs in 23 games. Rollins leads the NL in triples (14) and ranks first among all shortstops in homers (20), runs (90) and extra-base hits (58), second in RBI (64) and slugging percentage (.538), third in OPS (.877) and fourth in hits (124).
So, here's my question to you, loyal Phillies fans and readers of The Blog: If Utley and Ryan Howard weren't, well, Utley and Ryan Howard, would Rollins get more credit for being one of the best shortstops in the game? It seems to me, at least, that Rollins is rather underrated compared to Derek Jeter, Jose Reyes, Miguel Tejada, Michael Young and even Edgar Renteria and Hanley Ramirez.
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The Phillies went 5-1 on their just-completed homestand, but they also faced the Nationals and Pirates, last-place teams that any serious playoff contender is supposed to beat. This week will be considerably tougher. The Cubs were 22-31 and going nowhere when Lou Piniella threw a dirt-kicking tantrum June 2. Since then, they're 33-17 and have crept to within a half-game in the NL Central of the first-place Brewers, whom the Phillies will face over the weekend in Milwaukee.
Buckle up, it's going to be a BIG week.
Don't think these were in the paper today, so here they are, the pitching matchups for the Cubs series. You'll notice one name missing. Carlos Zambrano pitched yesterday, so the Phillies won't have to worry about beating the NL's first 14-game winner. Talk about your lucky breaks.
Tonight, 7:05: LHP Cole Hamels (11-5, 3.63) vs. LHP Ted Lilly (11-4, 3.46)
Tuesday, 8:05: RHP Adam Eaton (9-6, 5.83) vs. RHP Jason Marquis (7-6, 4.20)
Wednesday, 8:05: LHP Jamie Moyer (9-8, 4.75) vs. LHP Rich Hill (6-6, 3.59)
Thursday, 2:20: RHP J.D. Durbin (3-2, 6.30) vs. LHP Sean Marshall (5-4, 3.10)
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Don't forget: Trade deadline is 4 p.m. tomorrow. I'll keep my ear to the ground and The Blog ripe with the latest information on what the Phillies may or may not do. One interesting note: GM Pat Gillick and assistants Ruben Amaro Jr. and Mike Arbuckle all made the trip to Chicago, which is unusual considering only one (or sometimes none) typically go on the road. Maybe something's brewing? Or, maybe they just like Chicago's famous deep-dish pizza.
4 comments:
I'm curious - how does it work? As a beat writer, are you on the team charter with the Phils? Also, if Gillick and Amaro are on the plane, how do they keep quiet from the players about possible trades? I would think it would make for a bit of awkwardness.
Also - how will the acquisition of Tex hurt the Phils - I see it as a HUGE boost for the Braves. Do you agree? And do you see any trades happening with the Phils?
Anon: The writers don't travel on the team charter. We take commercial flights, just like any fan who is traveling to a game. We don't stay in the team hotel, either.
Obviously, the Texeira trade is big for the Braves, but it doesn't answer all of their questions. I think it's certainly possible the Phillies make a deal, but nothing as significant as getting someone like Texeira. And there may be even more urgency for them to find a pitcher now that Madson is injured.
Well, we got Kyle Lohse, at least he shouldn't be worse than Durbin I guess. It seems to me that we gave up too much by trading Maloney. Am I overrating Maloney?
Curtis Granderson has 17 triples.
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