And now ... back to baseball

Well now Madson's closing, and appears to be doing OK so far, and Romero looks nearly in mid-season form. Chan Ho Park looks like he might be coming around, tho they may have just ruined Kendrick again throwing him into the fire like that.

I still have worries about Moyers, Happ and Bastardo, but it's the lineup and situational hitting that really bugs me. Rollins showed signs of life hitting 6th, but reverted back to form back at lead off. I still think he's the LT answer at lead off, but Chollie can't afford to wait with the pitching increasingly on edge. Put him at 6th and keep him there for more than a couple of hot games.

Here are the ugly facts about just how bad Rollins has been leading off. His 226 overall avg is above his 209 avg leading off. Not only that, but here are two players with higher OBP's than Rollins this year -- Myers and Moyers. And who's right on Rollins' tail? Well, Durbin and Chan Ho Park. I mean that is REALLY pathetic.

Problem is, Victorino is not much better hitting lead off, and hits much better at 2nd. And after that, Phils really don't have any conventional options. And Werth hits much better at 3 than 2.

Also a problem is that Werth not hitting LH pitching very well, nor is Howard, while Ruiz and Victorino are murdering it. Meanwhile, Werth also struggling against RHs, as are Ruiz and Victorino, while Feliz is murdering it. So the need to split Utley, Howard and Ibanez seems less critical, based on how they bat.

So here is what I would try, generally:

Utley (L)
Victorino (S)
Werth (R)
Howard (L)
Ibanez (L)
Rollins (S)
Feliz (R)
Ruiz (R)

Vs. RHP, might try

Utley
Victorino
Feliz
Howard
Ibanez
Werth
Rollins
Ruiz

Vs LHP, might try

Utley
Victorino
Ruiz
Howard
Ibanez
Werth
Rollins
Feliz

I say Utley has the constitution for a radical change and has the highest OBP of the starters. Reward Ruiz and Feliz for their strong performances, and put werth and rollins where they deserve until they start performing better. Werth at least gets some walks but strikes out WAY too much -- he needs to focus on getting on base instead of trying to be a slugger. Meanwhile Rollins has as many walks as Coste (in twice the number of games). And both Rollins and werth are climbing the ranks of grounding into double plays, alongside slow-footed power hitters Howard and Ibanez.