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.
