Going Yard in Citizen's Bank Park

Tomorrow evening before the Phillies-Braves game, Rocky Wright will step to home plate and take some batting practice rips in the Citizen's Bank Park batting cage. The Wright name is one familiar to Philadelphia area baseball and softball, as Rocky and his late father Melvin have successfully played and coached in the Central Bucks and Pennridge areas throughout the past several decades.

Mel's name is almost synonymous with American Legion baseball literally and figuratively, first through his many years of dedicated service and then by the annual award given to each season's top players that bears his name. Rocky followed a long, successful career of playing baseball and fast pitch softball locally with his own, still running coaching tenure at the helm of the Pennridge American Legion team.

Rocky and I have spent many hours in our lives enjoying playing softball together, but maybe even more importantly, sharing countless laughs and forging a friendship on and off the field. He is one of the true "good" guys and I wish that I could be at "The Bank" to watch him tomorrow evening.

The occasion tomorrow is part of the annual Phillies Phantasy Camp. Rocky is a seasoned veteran of the camps, having competed three times previously and now scheduled to attend again in the spring. In the process, he has gotten to know Scott Palmer as well as former players such as John Kruk, Larry Anderson, Ricky Jordan, Ricky Bottalico and Jim Eisenreich. He was even recognized with the Andy Seminick "Iron Man" Award one year for throwing on the tools of ignorance for every inning of the camp's competition.

Having played more than a thousand games with Rocky through the years, I would expect for him to give the crowd something to talk about by launching a few long balls into the stands. Home run power has always been a big part of his game and often in a prodigious way. I witnessed many majestic shots off his bat in softball over the years that towered into the sky and landed 50-100 feet beyond the outfield fence, the true definition of a bomb.

If you are heading out to "The Bank" tomorrow a little early, be sure to look for the big guy taking some hacks in the cage. Also, you may want to station yourself in the left field stands to watch so you can grab one of the balls that Rocky is sure to send your way.

2009 Phillies: Murderer's Row

The 2009 Phillies team continues its assault on pitching staffs around the league. They lead the National League in Runs (647), HR (176), Total Bases (1906), RBI (622) and Slugging Percentage (.450.)

With the regular season roughly 3/4 completed, it seemed a good time to put the team's current pace into perspective. The 2009 team is on pace to eclipse the numbers posted by the 2008 World Series Champion team in all these categories as follows:

Category 2008 2009*
Runs 799 859
HR 214 234
TB 2412 2531
RBI 762 826
SLG . 438 .450
* Projected

Opposing pitchers have taken notice. Recently, all-star pitcher Dan Haren of the Diamondbacks has had two rough outings against the Phillies and suggested that he rather pitch against the American League All-Star team line-up than this Phillies line-up. That is pretty high praise from one of the best pitchers in baseball. Television announcers from opposing clubs are usually a good reflection on that team's view of the Phillies. Universally, they express awe over the team line-up and high praise for the Phillies team overall.

On the right side bar below the Things We're Tracking section is a breakdown of the 2009 Phillies first 7 regulars in the line-up. It shows their hitting performance year-to-date and how this projects out over the full season. This does not take into account current trends, so certainly some hitters who are in a good groove could surpass these numbers or vice versa.

Among the things you might notice is that four players project to hit 35 or more home runs with more than 100 RBI. Additionally, all 7 players project to hit double digit home runs and collect more than 70 RBI. It is easy to see why others around the league are impressed....I know that I am.

Oops, There Goes Another

Following the lyrics of Harry Kalas' favorite song, Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth had the Diamondbacks singing to themselves "Oops, there goes another." Both hitters stayed smoking hot, each collecting a pair of hits while driving shots deep over the centerfield fence. The two players accounted for 6 RBI in the Phillies' 12-3 victory, completing a 3-game sweep of the Diamondbacks.

Werth's blast came in the 6th inning off starter Doug Davis (after Howard walked with one out) to extend the lead to 6-3. The shot traveled an estimated 425 feet. Howard clubbed his shot in the 6th inning with two runners aboard, effectively putting the game out of reach at 11-3. Howard's bomb landed in the visitor's bullpen, an estimated 449 feet from home plate.

The Phillies improved their record to 69-49 (a season high 20 games over .500) and extended their NL Eastern Division lead to 6.5 games with the Marlins loss. They head to New York for a weekend series against the Mets starting tonight. The series does not have quite the same luster with the Mets continuing struggles, but it would be a safe bet that their division rival would love to set back the Phillies's quest for a "three-peat."

Werth crushed four homeruns, drove in a pair of runs in each game and hit .583 in the Diamondbacks series. Howard collected 7 RBI in the last two games alone. The duo have now combined for 11 home runs in the past 7 games.

Meanwhile, Joe Blanton turned in another quality start to record his 8th win of the season. Blanton also demonstrated poise by shutting down Arizona over his final four frames after some bad luck. Apparent confusion allowed a pop up to drop into to shallow left for a double, which later resulted in a run. Also, a ground ball found its way through the infield when Howard had to avoid a sawed off bat heading towards him.

Overall, the Phillies hitters seem to be heating up. With Citi Park's expansive dimensions, they will likely need to find ways to score other than via the home run. Of course, if Howard and Werth continue their assault, tonight's starting pitcher, Cole Hamels, will surely not mind.

Phillies Sluggers Finding Long Ball Groove

After somewhat of a lull, three of the Phillies sluggers are finding their long ball groove over the past week. Ryan Howard (5), Jayson Werth (4) and Chase Utley (2) have combined for 11 big flies in the last 6 games.

It is no coincidence that this power surge has coincided with the team winning 7 of the last 8 games. The Phillies continue to be a team built to score with one swing of the bat. Four of the top ten home run leaders in the National League reside in spots 3-6 in the team's batting order. Overall, the team is leading the National League with 168 four baggers, 26 more than the next team (Colorado Rockies.)

Howard's recent bombs have vaulted him into a tie for the 5th spot with 31, while Werth now finds himself tied for 7th with teammate Raul Ibanez with 27. Utley is only two behind them with 25 home runs.

Currently, all four players have a realistic shot at notching 35 or more homers for the season. This has to keep opposing pitchers anxiety high as they try to work their way through the Phillies line-up, especially since Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino and Pedro Feliz do not exactly offer an opportunity to let down.