NL Playoff Teams

I know we are only in the beginning of August, but there are a lot of teams in the hunt to make the playoffs. I think that its a good time to discuss potential NL playoff teams that can possibly create some havoc for the 2 frontrunners in the Phils and Dodgers. There is a lot of good pitching in the NL this year, and everyone knows that you need the pitching to make a run at the World Series. There are a lot of really good one - two punches at the top of rotations this year

San Francisco

Nobody thought that they would even be in discussion to make the playoffs, but here they are with two of the best pitchers in baseball at the top of their rotation, and the best home record in the majors. Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum are almost unhittable this year. With the two of them at the top of the rotation in a 5 game divisional series could make this team dangerous. There downside is that they have one of the worst offenses in baseball. San Fran misses out on the wild card due to the lack of offense.

St. Louis

Another team that had a lot of question marks coming into the season. No one knew how Carpenter would turn out this year. There was talk of putting him in the bull pen to try and save his arm. Well he has proved everyone that he is still capable of pitching in the bigs. Carpenter and Wainwright have been lights out at the top of that rotation. The Cardinals unlike the Giants have made some big moves at the deadline acquiring DeRosa and Holliday to protect Albert. The Cards win the wild card and go on to beat the Dodgers in the NLDS.

Colorado

Where did this team come from? What happened to Jason Marquis? This team reminds me a lot of the team that beat the Phils two years ago. They can hit and they have a pretty solid top of the rotation in Marquis and Jimenez. There offense is headlined by Hawpe and Helton. They are a good young team for the most part, but I think that their youth will show down the stretch, and they will lose out on the Wild Card.

Chicago

I know that this is a stretch, but I can see the Cubs winning the NL Central. Lilly and Dempster are getting healthy again, and Harden is getting better with each outing. They will hold off the Cardinals in the end, and then get swept for the second straight year by the Phils. There offense cannot find it and Milton Bradley is not the player that Lou thought he was last year.

Florida

Florida will do what they do every year. They will make a run and then fall out if it come September. They have a pretty good staff with Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco at the top, but their inability to play defense will haunt them. There bull pen is suspect with Lindstrom coming back, and Nunez has proved that he is just an ok reliever. Nick Johnson was a nice pick up for them, but he lacks the power that they are looking for to hit in the middle of that lineup.

Phils vs. Cards in the NLCS
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Maclin finally Signs

According to the National Football Post, the Eagles and Jeremy Maclin have agreed to a 5 year contract.

Its about time. Rookies have a history of riding the pine under Reid and holding out doesn't help. I'll set the Over/Under on catches at 35. I hope that he contributes on Special Teams.
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3 Phils among Top 30 prospects

OF Michael Taylor (20), OF Dominic Brown (24) SP Kyle Drabek (26) are among MLB.com's top 50 prospects. It is pretty incredible how the Phillies acquired Cliff Lee without giving any of these players. Tampa leads the way with 5 players among the top 50. The Texas Rangers have 4 and along with the Phillies, the O's, Marlins, Indians (in part thanks to the Phillies) and the BoSox all have 3. Except for Philly and the Sox, the rest of those teams have been pretty bad for the better part of the last 5 years or so. Carlos Carrasco and Lou Marson were on the preseason top 50 but have dropped off. Jason Knapp is #39


1 Jason Heyward ATL OF
2 Madison Bumgarner SF LHP
3 Mike Stanton FLA OF
4 Justin Smoak TEX 1B
5 Buster Posey SF C
6 Neftali Feliz TEX RHP
7 Chris Tillman BAL RHP
8 Brian Matusz BAL LHP
9 Jarrod Parker ARI RHP
10 Tim Beckham TB SS
11 Alcides Escobar MIL SS
12 Jesus Montero NYY C
13 Matt LaPorta CLE 1B
14 Wade Davis TB RHP
15 Freddie Freeman ATL 1B
16 Jake Arrieta BAL RHP
17 Jeremy Hellickson TB RHP
18 Yonder Alonso CIN 1B
19 Brett Wallace OAK 3B
20 Michael Taylor PHI OF
21 Carlos Santana CLE C
22 Desmond Jennings TB OF
23 Austin Jackson NYY OF
24 Dominic Brown PHI OF
25 Logan Morrison FLA 1B
26 Kyle Drabek PHI RHP
27 Jason Castro HOU C
28 Pedro Alvarez PIT 3B
29 Mike Moustakas KC SS/3B
30 Eric Hosmer KC 1B
31 Josh Vitters CHI 3B
32 Lars Anderson BOS 1B
33 Tim Alderson PIT RHP
34 Ben Revere MIN OF
35 Christian Friedrich COL LHP
36 Aaron Hicks MIN OF
37 Casey Kelly BOS RHP/SS
38 Martin Perez TEX LHP
39 Jason Knapp CLE RHP
40 Matt Dominguez FLA 3B
41 Michael Bowden BOS RHP
42 Peter Bourjos LAA OF
43 Pedro Borbon TEX OF
44 Mat Latos SD RHP
45 Jhoulys Chacin COL RHP
46 Jennry Mejia NYM RHP
47 Derek Norris WAS C
48 Jaff Decker SD OF
49 Matt Moore TB LHP
50 Angel Villalona SF 1B



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DW '09 Season Preview: St. Louis Rams

Last Year: 2-14
Key Additions: HC Steve Spagnuolo, OT Jason Smith, C Jason Brown, LB James Laurinaitis
Key Losses: Orlando Pace, Torry Holt

Offense: The Rams brought in longtime Eagles QB coach Pat Shurmur to run his version of the West Coast offense. Stephen Jackson will continue to shoulder the load and second year receiver Donnie Avery will replace Torry Holt as the # 1 receiver. Second overall pick Jason Smith will replace Orlando Pace as the bookend tackle. Kyle Boller was brought in to push Marc Bulger, but Boller has proven in the past to a pretty bad QB. Bulger must improve on his 22 TD's and 28 Int's over the last 2 seasons.


Defense: Steve Spagnoulo will bring the defensive scheme that he learned under Jim Johnson and implemented with the Giants to the St Louis Rams. One minor difference could be the personnel. Second round pick James Laurinaitis will look to start at MLB, allowing Will Witherspoon to move outside. Former first round pick Adam Carriker will start on defensive line. Howie's kid Chris looks to have a big second season at DE. This Unit will struggle due to years of bad drafting but they are headed in the right direction with Spags.

Fantasy Studs: Stephen Jackson: 253 car, 1042 yards, 7 Td's in '08. Donnie Avery: 53 rec, 674 yards, 3 Td's. He could be a sleeper moving to the Rams # 1 WR spot.



Prediction: 6-10. If the new offensice line can protect Bulger and open lanes for Jackson, this team could surprise but the fact is that they are young and will be lucky to win 6..
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Sixers to bring back Ivey

The 76ers continue their push to the NBA Finals (what?)by re-signing guard Royal Ivey, a month and a half after he opted out of his contract with the Sixers. In case you missed it, Mr. Ivey averaged a steller 3.0 ppg in 2008-09, almost a full point per game less than his career 3.8 career average. Royal is a decent defensive guard but this picture is of him being dunked on by Philly native, and guy who recently spurned the 76ers, Hakim Warrick.

I would imagine Ivey took a peek at the Sixers roster and figured, if I can't play here, I can't play anywhere. Welcome back Royal! Welcome back.

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Plax Indicted

It was announced this afternoon that Plaxico Burress has been indicted by a NYC grand jury. This couldn’t have happened to a nicer person… 

The charge is two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and one count of reckless endangerment.

Teammate Antonio Pierce was not indicted.

The district attorney says that each weapons charge carries a mandatory minimum of 3 1/2 years and a max of 15. The reckless endangerment charge carries a maximum of one year. He says that the facts of the case would dictate that the sentences be imposed concurrently and not consecutively.

His career is over.  Good riddance. 

 

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Bradley Out with Torn ACL

WIP’s Howard Eskin is reporting that Stewart Bradley has a torn ACL and will miss the entire 2009 season.  This is a huge blow to the Eagles defense. Bradley, second on the team in tackles last season, looked to be an up-and-coming star in the NFL, and without him the Birds have a pretty big hole to fill at MLB. Currently, second year player Joe Mays is listed as Bradley’s backup. Mays was selected in the 6^th Round last year from North Dakota State, he is listed as 5’11” 246 lbs.  Unproven and unknown, it’s anyone’s guess how Mays would respond to the challenge. This is terrible news for an Eagles defense just getting acclimated to a new coordinator after the loss of Jim Johnson, and playing without its emotional leader of the last decade with the departure of Brian Dawkins.   It will be interesting to see how they respond to this setback.

 

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Top 5 DT's

Here is the 6th installments of Ray Didinger's Top 5's. click here for the first 5.

1. Jerome Brown (1987-91) – Jerome had his best season in 1991, when he led all NFL tackles in solo stops (88) and quarterback sacks (nine). He made the Pro Bowl for the second time that year and was widely acknowledged as the most formidable run stuffer in the game.

Bill Parcells said the 6-2, 300-pound Brown was the most disruptive player on the Eagles defense. That’s high praise from a notoriously tough critic.

2. Charlie Johnson (1977-81) – It was a tough call, deciding between Brown and Johnson for the top spot. Johnson was the more consistent of the two and he played a vital role as the nose tackle in the Eagles 3-4 defense. He occupied two blockers on every play, which allowed inside linebackers Bill Bergey and Frank LeMaster to flow to the ball.

3. Floyd Peters (1964-69) – The Eagles were a losing team for most of the decade, but Peters was respected by the players around the league. He was twice voted into the Pro Bowl and he earned Most Valuable Player honors in the 1967 game, a rare feat for a defensive tackle. Peters later went into coaching and become one of the NFL’s most respected defensive coordinators

4. Vic Sears (1941-53) – Sears played 13 seasons for the Eagles, and since he played both ways at tackle for most of his 131 regular season games, it is believed he logged more actual minutes on the field than any other player in franchise history.

5. Andy Harmon (1991-97) – Harmon has the most sacks of any defensive tackle in team history (40) and he really worked to make himself into a productive player. He was originally drafted as a defensive end, a sixth-round pick from Kent State who looked like a long shot to make the team, given the veteran talent (notably Reggie White and Clyde Simmons) already in place.

Harmon’s best season was 1993, when despite playing with a pulled hamstring and a sore Achilles tendon, he recorded 11 and a half sacks, breaking Brown’s club record for sacks by a defensive tackle.


Again Dirty Wudders cannot comment on 3 of the 5 players on this list and is starting to think Ray Didinger is a show off.



Here is the Top 5 of DirtyWudders' lifetime:

1. Jerome
2. Andy Harmon - From what I remember, #91 was always hurt but played through. 38.5 sacks in a 4 year stretch is pretty amazing for a DT.
3. Corey Simon -'03 Pro Bowler was a bit overrated but had a couple of decent seasons.
4. Hollis Thomas - Perfect situational fat guy to clog the holes.
5. Mike Patterson - run stuffing tackle, enters his 4th year as starter for the Eagles.
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Phils Lose West Coast Battle

Giants 7 Phillies 3: Cole Hamels gave up 6 ER in 5 innings, earning his first loss since July 1^st and dropping his record to 7-6 with a 4.68 ERA.  The Phils were up 3-1 in the 5^th inning, but the Giants rallied with two outs to score three runs in the bottom of the 5^th, and three more in the 6^th.  Barry Zito got the win for the Giants, giving up three runs and striking out five while walking none. The Fightins have been struggling lately with RISP, going 8-64 on the seven-game West Coast trip and never really getting anything going.  They’re home this week with series’ against Colorado and Atlanta, Cliff lee is scheduled to start the Thursday afternoon game.  The Phils still lead the East by 5 over the Marlins – the Mets are 9.5 out, just thought I’d mention that. 

 

LenDale White:  I thought this story was pretty funny.  Here’s a quote from the story:

LenDale White lost more than 30 pounds this offseason and is in his fourth training camp with the Tennessee Titans at his slimmest weight since high school. The running back admits he wishes he understood earlier in his career the importance of being in shape.

Just how did he lose the weight? White gave up tequila.

Christ, how much tequila was he drinking? I mean, I have a serious drinking problem, but I don’t think I’d drop 30 pounds if I stopped!  This guy puts me to shame…fat loser.

 

 

 

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Clifford

Last night we watched why Clifford Lee was the Cy Young winner last year. This guy was dominant. I know it was only his first start as a Phil, and that it was against a terrible hitting team in the Giants, but he looked really good. He had 3 great pitches that were working last night in his change up fastball and curve. Did anyone see him warming up off the back of the mound too? I thought that was a little different, and he sprints off the field. Oh an he was 2-4 withs a double. All in all this was a great pick up for the Phils and the Dodgers have to be kicking themselves in the ass right now that they didn't acquire him at the deadline.

Last night was great. Cliff Lee had a no hitter into the 6th until Doc jinxed him when he texted me asking how he was doing. In case you didn't know Doc was in Camden Yards taking in a Orioles Red Sox game. He was actually scouting the Sox for when we play them in the Series this year now that they got Victor Martinez. Here at Dirty Wudders we are constantly working on breaking news for the people. Anyway back to my boy Clifford. Why would Charlie keep him in for the 9th? He was at exactly 100 pitches after the 8th and he had to get out of a little jam that inning after giving up a lead off double. He has pitched 3 complete games in his last 4 outings now. We need to save that arm for when it really matters. There was no need for him to go back out there. The Phils are not in a situation where Cliff Lee is a rental player, like C.C. Sabathia last year. Let this guy make the transition into the NL and don't over use him. We need this guy if we want to repeat.
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