Phillies Weekend Preview
Neither of these players will be playing this weekend...
The Phillies finally got a win yesterday but it took them 11 innings to score a run. After the game, their hitting coach was fired and they traveled back to Philly to start a new series. We’ll see if the firing of Thompson will light a fire under them or have a negative effect.
Tonight the Phillies play at home for the first time since before the all-star break. They’ll be playing the Rockies who have a better record than the Phils but are in third place in the NL West behind the Padres and Giants. If the Phillies were in the NL West, they’d be in 5th place. This is no easy matchup.
Friday: Roy Halladay(10-8, 2.40) vs Aaron Cook (4-5, 4.65)
Roy Halladay gives the Phillies their best chance to win one this weekend but he hasn’t been pitching well recently. The good news is that it’s a home game. Doc has a 1.87 era in his 11 starts a CBP this year. As for the Rockies, Aaron Cook isn’t having the best season but he’s the guy who got the Rockies their only win in last years playoff series with the Phils. I still expect the Phillies to take this one.
Saturday: Ubaldo Jimenez (15-1, 2.38) vs. Who Knows??
While the Phillies haven’t selected a starter for Saturday’s game yet, they already know they’ll be up against this year’s best pitcher. Ubaldo’s era is almost exactly the same as Halladays but he has 5 more wins and 7 less losses. That pretty much wraps up the Phillies season. It will be very tough to get to Jimenez but his 5.59 era in his last 3 starts shows that he’s human.
Sunday: Jeff Francis (3-3, 4.63) vs. Still A Mystery…
Thanks to injuries and lack of depth, we still don’t know who will be pitching Sunday for the Phillies. If they can complete a trade soon, it could be a new addition. We know that the Rockies will send Francis to the mound. He had a good start in his last time out but his previous 5 starts weren’t pretty. He had an era over 8 during that stretch. Phillies should be able to get to him if they decide to bring their bats that day.
Monday: Joe Blanton (3-6, 6.03) vs Jason Hammel (7-5, 4.23)
Technically, Monday isn’t the weekend so we’re not going to preview this game.
