Digesting Opening Weekend: Reasons Not for Phillies Fans to Get Worked Up; Checking In On Former Phils

Photo: Philliedelphia/Lindsey Crew

Beautiful city, beautiful ballpark, tons of Phillies fans… lousy performance.   So the Phillies are 1-2, marked with frustration, impotent offense, and good starting pitching but frustrating bullpen performances.  Let's take a look at some of opening weekend both for the Phillies and around the league and see where we stand.

Think 1-2 is bad?  It's not ideal, but look how other contenders have fared:

• The Atlanta Braves, picked by many to win the NL East, are 0-3.
• The New York Mets, who we all know are far from a contender, are 3-0. 
• The Baltimore Orioles are 3-0.
• The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are both 0-3.
• The San Francisco Giants are 0-3.
• The Miami Marlins are 1-2.

The Phillies bullpen was shaky, indeed.   But – this weekend featured a sharp 1-2-3 save from Jonathan Papelbon and blown saves from the following closers (or sort of closers, such as the Red Sox' two):

• Heath Bell
• Carlos Marmol
• Mark Melancon
• Alfredo Aceves
• Mariano Rivera
• Jose Valverde
• Chris Perez
• Sergio Santos

The Phillies hit .204 as a team the opening series.  Nine teams, including the supposedly-potent Washington Nationals hit lower.  Who has hit for the Phillies so far?

• Carlos Ruiz – 4 for 6 (.667)
• Juan Pierre – 2 for 5 (.400)
• Roy Halladay – 1 for 3 (.333)
• Shane Victorino – 3 for 10 (.300)
• Hunter Pence – 3 for 11 (.286)

Who has not:

• Freddy Galvis – 0 for 10 (.000)
• Laynce Nix – 0 for 4 (.000)
• Brian Schneider – 0 for 4 (.000)
• Jim Thome – 0 for 4 (.000)
• Ty Wigginton – 1 for 8 (.125)
• Jimmy Rollins – 2 for 12 (.167)

Philliedelphia/Lindsey Crew

The Phillies scored six runs in the opening series.  The only team that has fewer than six is the Minnesota Twins.  

How did some former Phillies do?

• Jayson Werth is 0 for 10 (.000)
• Raul Ibañez is 1 for 9 (.111) but has a home run and 5 RBI
• Brad Lidge pitched a perfect 9th Opening Day for a save for the Washington Nationals
• Brett Myers gave up a hit and a walk but did pick up a save for the Houston Astros
• Chad Durbin gave up a Citi-Field home run to Lucas Duda in a three-hit inning against the Mets for the Atlanta Braves.
• Ryan Madson is – injured.
• Roy Oswalt is working a cash register.