The Philadelphia Phillies are going through a rough stretch, losing eight of their last nine games.  Throw in that they have been swept in their last two series, against the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles, and you have the makings of death spiral.  Settle down, Phils fans, it is not the beginning of the end, it is just the June swoon the Phillies always seem to endure.

When things are going badly, though, they always seem to get a little bit worse before getting better.  When closer Brad Lidge went on the Prior List, most thought Ryan Madson would step in and do a stellar job filling in for him.  When Lidge blew his sixth save of the year, after going 41 – 0 in save opportunities during the 2008 World Series winning campaign, it made sense that something was not right with the hammer.  Be it mentally, or phyically, something was not adding up, and it looks like his knee may have indeed been the issue.  Enter Ryan Madson as the closer.

Madson nailed down his first two opportunities against the Mets.  Since then, however, he has an 0-2 record with two blown saves.  While I do think that Madson can get the job done as a closer, it does not appear that he is ready to do so yet.  The good news for the Phillies is that Brad Lidge should return this week, possibly as early as Wednesday.  When we hear the exact date, we will be sure to pass it along to you.

This weekend the Atlanta Braves were in Boston taking on the Red Sox, and showing that they can compete with the AL’s top teams.  Sure they may have lost two of three to the Sox, but consider that they won 8-2 on Friday, lost a pitcher’s duel in which Josh Beckett threw a complete game shutout on Saturday, and then battled to a 6-5 loss on Sunday.  Now consider the events of the seventh inning in yesterday’s game.

Apparently J.D. Drew struck out to end the inning, only homeplate umpire Bill Hohn decided to extend the at-bat.  After getting ahead in the count 0-2, Braves reliever Eric O’Flaherty laced a fastball threw the zone for what should have been strike three.  Hohn called it low and inside, and then Drew laced the next pitch off the Green Monster plating a run and giving the Sox the lead.  How an umpire can miss a call like that is beyond me.

What happened next is what made me smile, though.  Not only does O’Flaherty get tossed for asking where the pitch was, after being taken out of the game by Bobby Cox, but then Cox gets the business as well.  Add in Chipper Jones, who just went ballistic, and we finally see some fire from the Braves.  This will hopefully carry over into today’s game with the Chicago Cubs, and then the series with the Yankees this week.

Philadelphia Phillies Left-fielder Raul Ibanez has hit the 15 day Prior List, with a strained left groin.  MRI scheduled for today, so hopefully the extent will be known later this evening.

Also hitting the Prior List is Toronto Blue Jays closer Scott Downs with a sprained big toe.  Taking his place in the 9th should be Jason Frasor, who is a must grab and should be owned anyway (he was only owned in 25% of Yahoo leagues as of this morning).  Also landing on the Prior List is Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay, also of the 15 day variety.  Halladay’s stint is retroactive to the 13th, and he has been diagnosed with a mild groin strain.

Keeping with the theme, Erik Bedard hit the Prior List dated back to 8th with inflammation in his left shoulder.  He is going to visit with Dr. Andrews, which is about the worst news we could give you.  When more is known, we will pass it along.

Hat tip to RotoWorld.com for these Prior List updates.

Joey Votto has not laced up his cleats for the Cincinnati Reds since May 29th.  He was placed on the 15 day Prior List on May 30th, and can return whenever he is ready.  Dude has had one hell of a season so far.  He has battled the flu, an inner-ear infection, and some sort of personal issues that finally landed him on the Prior List.  While he has been very quiet about what said personal issues are, he does plan on telling the public something in the near future.  He also plans on stepping foot back on the baseball diamond very soon as well.  Votto is on his way to Sarasota, Florida for a minor league rehab assignment.  Sarasota is also where Votto makes his offseason home, so that should help with his “issues” as well.

Before things took a turn for the worse, Votto was killing NL pitching to a tune of a .378 batting average and 1.091 OPS.  He has eight homers on the year through 126 at-bats, which equates to a pitcher hanging his head every 16 times Joey steps up to the plate.  Throw in his 33 RBIs, 23 Runs and two stolen bases and you have one of the top one baggers in the league at the ripe old age of 25.  It is unclear of when he will make it back to the Bigs, but I would expect that he will arrive sometime next week.

For a great read on Votto, check out this Fox Sports column by Jon Paul Morosi.

Well, according to Heather Dinich he is.  Give Heather some credit, it is not easy to rank the 30 best players in a 12 team conference, especially when each team has 105 total players.  All in all, a good quick read from Heather about Irving, who Wolfpack Nation has high expectations for in 2009.  As more NC State players make the list, we will do our best to bring them to you.

The much anticipated debut of John Smoltz in a Red Sox uniform will come next Thursday, June 25th, in Washington, DC against the Nationals.  Of course, that is provided nothing goes drastically wrong during his final rehab start today in Pawtucket.  To make room for Smoltz, the Red Sox will be jettisioning, well, we do not know who they will be demoting from the Bigs to make room for him.  Terry Francona, the Red Sox manager, says that if they need to use a six man rotation then they certanly will.  Problem is, the Major League roster is only 25 men deep, so someone is going to have to disappear for Smoltz to get the nod.

The speculation has been that Brad Penny will be traded to make room for Smoltz, and with some recent developments across baseball (Jake Peavy’s injury, Astros playing too well to move Roy Oswalt to name a few) Penny might just be the best pitcher on the market right now.  Either way, Smoltz will get to make his first start against the worst team in the entire Major Leagues, and should be able to rack up some strikeouts on his way to a solid outing.  Those of us who have had him stashed away should not hesitate to activate and start Smoltz from the get-go.

When Jordan Schafer was demoted to AAA Gwinett earlier this month, I wondered what effect it might have on his attitude and what role he may play in Atlanta’s future.  A Braves fan who goes by the moniker Roy Hobbs and I exchanged a few emails, in which he pointed out that McLouth would be moved to a corner spot (likely left when Garret Anderson is done stealing money from the Braves after this season) and Schafer inserted back in center.  This made a lot of sense to me, especially after doing a little digging on the interwebs.  Why does this matter now?  Simple, we have a Schafer update to pass along.

So do not look for Jordan to be back in the Majors anytime soon, as he will not even swing a bat until this weekend at the earliest (according to his two weeks of scheduled inactivity).  He will then need at least a few weeks to get things turned around before being recalled to Atlanta.  He may also need a personel move by the Braves in order to get called back up, because McLouth is now roaming center and injuries notwithstanding he is not sitting down for the 22 year old Schafer.  Does that mean either Garret Anderson or Jeff Francouer could be shipped out of town?  One can only hope.

Earlier this week, Raul Ibanez was the focus of some controversy because a blogger declared that speculation as to whether or not Raul was on the juice was valid.  This sparked a heated reply from Ibanez, that was certainly warranted.  The problem here is that in the current climate of baseball, speculation is going to come about for any player doing what Ibanez is doing (aging player putting up numbers that are on pace to completely shatter his career figures).  Fair?  Absolutely not.  I never once thought that Ibanez was on the juice, and I am glad that he is absolutely mashing for the Phils.  Raul is a class act through and through, and in no way deserves this kind of attention.

Hit the jump for more. Continue reading ‘Steroid Speculation, is it Fair?’

It is no secret that we are big fans of Mike Missanelli of ESPN950 out of Philly.  Yesterday, he had Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr on to discuss Brad Lidge being put on the 15 day Prior List.  Sounds to me like dude’s knee might actually be fine, and that they want Lidge to work through his mechanical issues in the Minors rather than Flushing Meadows.  Mikey Miss had the same feeling.  Throw in the fact that Lidge was not happy at all with the decision and we have the makings of testy situation in the Philadelphia bully.  The good news is that the Phils have Charlie Manuel, who I think is one of the best managers in baseball, and if anyone can get Lidge comfortable with this decision it is “Uncle Charlie”.

Personally, I do think Lidge has something wrong with his knee, and that he thinks he can pitch through it.  I do not think that his knee is why he was placed on the Prior List, however.  That move was made to protect Lidge’s state of mind.  If dude were to go into Queens and blow a save, he might once again fall into the death spiral of fail that paved his way out of Houston.

Don’t look now, but Lance Berkman went 2 for 4 last night with a round tripper to raise his average on the year to a paltry .251.  At first glance, Berkman is having a terrible year.  I should know, I own him in two of my fantasy leagues.  Through 191 at-bats, dude has 11 homers, 33 RBIs, 29 Runs and only a single stolen base.  This time last season, he was raking for a .374 average, 18 homers, 52 RBIs, 60 Runs, and 10 stolen bases.  Yikes.

So why am I suddenly optimistic about this year’s version of Big Berk?  Over the past month we have seen his average go from .184 to .251 while his OPS has risen from .743 to .866.  During that same time frame, he has four homers, 15 Runs, 17 RBIs and his lone stolen base of the year.  Setting the world on fire?  Not exactly, but in order to raise his average and OPS he has hit at a .330/1.008 clip.  If Berk can get his wheels going a little bit as well, his season, and our fantasy seasons, could very well be salvaged.  If you do not own Berkman, he is a good trade target.  Just hope that his current owner remembers April much better than May.