Unfinished Business in La-La Land

<b>UNFINISHED BUSINESS IN LA-LA LAND</b>

After winning the NBA title, the Lakers faced the possible loss of four players. Two of these issues have been resolved: Kobe Bryant decided not to exercise his early termination option and Trevor Ariza went to Houston. Two more are outstanding: Lamar Odom is eyeing a contract in the neighborhood of $9m per season and Shannon Brown’s status is at present unknown. He is either a restricted free agent (in which case the Lakers have the opportunity to match any offer sheet he receives) or an unrestricted free agent (in which case the Lakers lack that option). One of the biggest splashes in the Free Agency Period came when once Defensive Player of the Year Ron Artest decided to join the Lakers. This move compensates for Ariza’s exodus. If the goal is another championship, however, the Lakers cannot be finished making moves.

<b>Priority: Re-sign Lamar Odom.</b> Yes, he is inconsistent. Yes, he has had some injury concerns (although they seem to be a thing of the past). The fact is that Odom is able to play the 2, 3, or 4, and can guard the 1 (depending on the 1) through 4. That is a skill set that is difficult to find in itself. On top of that, he is a dominant rebounder, a respectable scorer, a very good passer, and developed an intermittent stroke from distance late last season. He is in his prime and must be re-signed. Quite simply, without Odom, the Lakers would lack the depth necessary to win another title.

<b>Potential Solution:</b> Short of Lamar Odom, there are not many reasonable options for the Lakers. In-house “options” include Luke Walton and Adam Morrison. While Walton brings a lesser degree of most the skills Odom possesses, the dropoff from Odom to Walton in terms of athleticism and consistency is troubling. Adam Morrison, when he grows up, wants to be Luke Walton with better shooting ability. Barring borderline supernatural progress in the Summer League, Morrison figures to wear a suit and tie for most of next season. Free Agent options include Grant Hill, a fantastic fit for the triangle, but a poor shooter from beyond the arc. Pay attention to the difference between Odom’s career (31%) and last season (32%) three-point accuracy and Grant Hill’s (28% and 32%, respectively). The difference is not huge, but it is part of a larger puzzle. Remember: the Lakers sacrificed Vladimir Radmanovic (38% career, 41% for the Lakers last season) and Trevor Ariza (30% career, 32% last season, and 48% in the playoffs).

<b>Second: More bigs.</b> The Lakers must find a way to develop a reliable backup Center. Of course, the team’s flexibility allows Gasol to shift to the 5, Odom to enter the starting lineup at the 4, Artest at the 3, and Kobe at the 2; but lest we get ahead of ourselves, there really is no backup for Pau if Bynum is out for whatever reason (fouls or injuries; take your pick). DJ Mbenga may be a stopgap, but unless he develops an offensive game, he is nothing more.

<b>Potential Solution:</b> No idea, to be honest. There are some veteran bigs available who are intriguing (Rasheed Wallace, for instance). Yet there is no obvious fit as there was in the case of bringing aboard Artest. Inviting Sheed to join forces with Artest might be a foolhardy move, given the volatile situation that would create. Perhaps the Lakers will tempt fate and run with minimal Center depth. Perhaps someone will step up during the Summer.

<b>Third: Groom a point guard for the future.</b> Derek Fisher is perhaps the point guard of the present. He is aging, and looked awkward for a good part of the late regular season, but he straightened things out just in time. Jordan Farmar is inconsistent and has not shown the progress one would like to see from him. In short, there is no compelling reason to think that he is the point guard of the future. Interestingly, Shannon Brown is probably most what Phil Jackson is looking for in an initiator. Unfortunately, he is a free agent about whose status we have heard very little.

<b>Potential Solutions:</b> The Lakers appear to be enamored of Nate Robinson. It is unclear what sort of deal could land Robinson, but although not a pure Point, he is a solid shooter (44-33-84 last season) whose only bad number is 5 feet, 9 inches.

Phils’ Staff Ace

STAFF (Season)
Games: 68
IP: 387 (5.69/game)
WHIP: 1.72 (666)
BAA: .290 (443/1526)
Quality Starts: 32
ERA: 5.23 (225)
Record: 23-18

Individual
Inning Pitched
Moyer 78.1
Blanton 76.2
Hamels 76.1
Myers 63.2
Happ 35.1
Park 33.1
Bastardo 19.0
Carpenter 4.1

WHIP
Bastardo 1.26 (24)
Myers 1.35 (86)
Hamels 1.36 (104)
Blanton 1.45 (111)
Happ 1.50 (53)
Moyer 1.52 (119)
Park 1.74 (58)
Carpenter 2.54 (11)

BAA
Bastardo .253 (19/75)
Happ .264 (34/129)
Myers .268 (66/246)
Blanton .282 (87/308)
Hamels .298 (90/302)
Park .308 (41/133)
Moyer .312 (98/314)
Carpenter .421 (8/19)

Quality Starts
Blanton 7 Hamels 7
Myers 6 Moyer 6
Happ 3
Park 2
Bastardo 1
Carpenter 0

ERA
Happ 4.08 (16)
Hamels 4.24 (36)
Myers 4.66 (33)
Bastardo 5.21 (11)
Blanton 5.28 (45)
Moyer 5.97 (52)
Park 7.29 (27)
Carpenter 10.38 (5)

Team Record
Carpenter 1-0
Park 5-2
Blanton 7-6 Hamels 7-6
Moyer 7-7 Myers 5-5 Happ 3-3 Bastardo 2-2

W/L Record
Happ 2-0 Carpenter 1-0
Hamels 4-3 Myers 4-3 Blanton 4-3
Bastardo 2-2 Park 1-1
Moyer 5-6

Complete Games
Hamels 1

OVERALL
Hamels 23.0: Since May: 57 Ks, 10 BB, 1 SHO, Phils are 6-3 in his starts.
Blanton 29.0: ERA by month – April 8.41, May 4.65, June 3.55
Myers 31.0: Had been leading team in nearly every category.
Happ 33.0: Has gone at least 5.1 innings in all six starts.
Bastardo 38.0: Good – 1.26 WHIP, .253 BAA; Bad – 5.21 ERA, 1 inning outing vs. Boston.
Moyer 43.0: Atrocious May (1-4, 8.01) followed by strong June (1-1, 4.32).
Park 45.5: His ship has sailed this season.
Carpenter 47.5: Has some time to think about his lone start.

Phils Staff Ace: 36 Games In

STAFF (Season)
Games: 36
IP: 196.2 (5.46/game)
WHIP: 1.63 (321)
BAA: .305 (244/800)
Quality Starts: 15
ERA: 6.36 (139)
Record: 11-11

-It has not always been pretty, but the Phils have settled down a bit and seem to have at least two good, solid starters in the rotation. The move from Chan Ho Park to Happ should be good in the long term. Meanwhile, Joe Blanton and Jamie Moyer both continue to struggle. Despite all the turmoil (a terrible start, Hamels’s injuries), the Phils’ starters are 11-11 and are trimming down the ERA, BAA, and WHIP.

Individual Stats
Inning Pitched
Myers 50.0
Blanton 39.1
Moyer 35.1
Hamels 34.1
Park 33.1
Carpenter 4.1

WHIP
Myers 1.40 (70)
Hamels 1.40 (51)
Blanton 1.68 (66)
Park 1.74 (58)
Moyer 1.84 (65)
Carpenter 2.54 (11)

BAA
Myers .267 (51/191)
Hamels .296 (42/142)
Blanton .305 (50/164)
Park .308 (41/133)
Moyer .344 (52/151)
Carpenter .421 (8/19)

Quality Starts
Myers 5
Blanton 3 Hamels 3
Moyer 2 Park 2
Carpenter 0

ERA

Myers 4.50 (25)
Hamels 4.95 (20)
Park 7.29 (27)
Blanton 6.86 (30)
Moyer 8.15 (32)
Carpenter 10.38 (5)

Team Record
Carpenter 1-0
Park 5-2
Moyer 4-3 Blanton 4-3
Myers 4-4
Hamels 3-4

W/L Record
Carpenter 1-0
Myers 3-2
Moyer 3-3
Hamels 2-2
Park 1-1
Blanton 1-3

OVERALL
*Myers 12.5: Easily Philadelphia’s most consistent pitcher so far.
Hamels 22.0: ERA on April 10th: 17.18; ERA now: 4.96.
Blanton 24.0: Phils keep finding ways to overcome Blanton’s poor games.
Park 27.5: Sent to the pen after giving up 5 ER in 1.1 innings.
Moyer 28.0: 0-2, 19 ER in last three starts.
Carpenter 32.0: Did just enough to get the W

Phils Staff Ace: Circuit Five

Hamels is on the mend, so he misses a start. The rotation shifts forward. Blanton and Myers have both shown good strides. Hamels cannot catch a break. Moyer keeps doing his thing. Park might be sent to the pen.Circuit 5:

STAFF (CIRCUIT)

Games: 5
IP: 27.2
WHIP: 1.84 (51)
BAA: .330 (36/109)
Quality Starts: 2
ERA: 6.83 (21)
Record: 2-2

STAFF (Season)
Games: 24
IP: 129.1
WHIP: 1.72 (222)
BAA: .320 (172/538)
Quality Starts: 7
ERA: 6.54 (94)
Record: 6-8

Individual
Inning Pitched
Myers 37.0
Moyer 28.2
Blanton 26.1
Park 20.0
Hamels 17.1

WHIP

Myers 1.57 (58)

Moyer 1.64 (47)
Blanton 1.75 (46)
Hamels 1.79 (31)
Park 1.95 (39)

BAA
Myers .293 (43/147)
Moyer .316 (37/117)
Blanton .330 (37/112)
Park .346 (28/81)
Hamels .365 (27/74)

Quality Starts
Blanton 3 Myers 3
Moyer 2
Hamels 0 Park 0

ERA
Myers 5.35 (22)
Moyer 5.65 (18)
Blanton 6.84 (20)
Hamels 7.27 (14)
Park 9.00 (20)

Team Record
Moyer 4-1
Park 3-1
Blanton 3-2
Myers 3-3
Hamels 1-3

W/L Record
Moyer 3-1
Myers 2-2
Blanton 1-2
Park 0-1
Hamels 0-2

OVERALL
Myers 11.5: Steps up to spell Hamels, has three quality starts in last four starts.

Moyer 13.0: Good run support, no disasters have kept him looking good.
Blanton 19.5: Jekyll and Hyde, has three quality starts and two miserable games.
Park 28.5: Last chance to fight off Happ? Has not pitched one good game.
Hamels 32.5: Last two appearances: 7.2 IP, 8 Hits, 10 Ks, 2 BB, 2 ER

Howard Matches Schmidt

That did not take too long. With a bases-loaded swing Monday night against former Phil Kyle Lohse, Ryan Howard slugged his seventh grand slam of his career, pulling even with Mike Schmidt. The two are now tied for the club record.

The home run was Howard’s fifth of the season and the 182nd of his career. It also ran his season total to 19 RBI and 518 in his career. Those numbers are a long way off the club records, both held by Schmidt, but Howard continues to do things no Philly has done before, as he takes aim at a fourth consecutive 40 HR, 130 RBI season.

Howard also singled in a previous at bat. The two hits has pushed his batting average to .293 for the moment. After hitting just .251 last season, that is a welcome sign from the big man.

Phillies PROD (Productivity): April

PHILLIES PRODUCTIVITY NUMBERS, APRIL

Travis Rodgers

The productivity number (PROD) is simply a measure of the number of bases a player is able to earn per trip to the plate. It comes apart from SLG in some instances. Consider Wade Boggs (career SLG of .44, career PROD .52) vs. Rickey Henderson (career SLG .42, career PROD .53). Henderson’s ability to create bases on the base path was far superior to Boggs’s, and this typically translates to more runs produced. In fact, Henderson produced 3 more runs per 100 trips to the plate than Boggs did.  A PROD of 0.50 is a good number. Higher is better.

Starters

Ibanez .79
Utley .72
Howard .57
Victorino .55
Werth .54
Feliz .54
Rollins .33

Reserves

Stairs .80
Marson .40
Bruntlett .39
Coste .34
Dobbs .20

PITCHERS
STARTERS (Higher is better, 0.50 is still good)
Moyer .46
Park .43
Myers .39
Blanton .34
Hamels .31

RELIEVERS
Condrey .73
Madson .73
Happ .65
Durbin .54
Taschner .53
Lidge .48
Eyre .35

Schmidt in Howard’s Sights

Ryan Howard, the Phils’ big lefty, has put up some impressive offensive numbers during his three full seasons in the bigs. He has hit at least 47 home runs and driven in at least 136 rbi in each of the past three seasons. After setting the club’s single season mark for home runs in 2006 with 58, he added 47 and 48 for good measure. His 181 home runs rank him 10th all-time among Phillies.

With a grand slam on Monday, his fourth shot of the season, Howard moved to within one of the club mark for grand slams. Mike Schmidt, the Hall of Fame third baseman, holds the club mark with 7. Howard seemingly has a long, long time to chase Schmidt. So while he slowly bides his time, moving up the club’s home run list, keep an eye out for the grand slam lead. It’s within reach.

Utley Joins Phils Greats: 500/500

Travis J. Rodgers
It’s not stolen bases and home runs, but Chase Utley has joined a fairly select group of Philadelphia hitters by topping the 500 mark in both runs scored and runs batted in. On April 19th, a game after reaching 500 RBI, Utley hit a solo home run to reach 500 runs in his career. With two RBI Sunday against the Marlins, Utley moved to 504 runs and 508 RBI.

Utley is currently 35th in club history with 504 runs. The next few hitters are grouped together fairly closely, so even a so-so season should see him leapfrog eleven hitters, landing him in 24th place (he would need 557 to accomplish this feat). With 508 RBI, Utley is currently 28th on the career list for Phils, behind teammates Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins. Ahead of the trio of current Phils is Scott Rolen, with 559. Twenty three Phillies have reached this mileston before Utley.

The next stop, 600/600, is noticeably more select. Dick Allen, Johnny Callison, Granny Hamner, Willie Jones, Cy Williams, Greg Luzinski, Bobby Abreu, Pat Burrell, Sherry Magee, Sam Thompson, Chuck Klein, Del Ennis, Ed Dalahanty, and Mike Schmidt are the fourteen members of that club, although Jimmy Rollins is working his way there as well. Rollins has 852 runs scored and is stalled at 549 RBI.

Philadelphia Phillies Productivity Ratings

A productivity rating is a measure of the number of bases a player is able to generate for himself, whenever it is within his power to do so. That sounds a bit abstract. In concrete terms, it is a measure of how many bases does the player earn per trip to the plate, including stolen bases, walks (intentional or otherwise), etc. A good rating is 0.5, meaning that the player earns 1/2 base per trip to the plate. So in a game where the player comes to the plate four times, the player will typically earn a trip to second base or will earn a trip to first base twice. Notice that this does not mean that he will not score in an average game. If the next player up to bat averages 0.5, and so forth, then if the players both double, the first player will score a run.

Regulars (3.1 pa/ team’s games)

Raul Ibanez (.79)

Chase Utley (.68)

Jayson Werth (.57)

Ryan Howard (.55)

Pedro Feliz (.51)

Shane Victorino (.45)

Jimmy Rollins (.25)

Reserves (.62 pa/team’s games)

Matt Stairs (.91)

Lou Marson (.44)

Chris Coste (.42)

Carlos Ruiz (.42)

Eric Bruntlett (.40)

Greg Dobbs (.18)

Did Bynum Foul Out?

During the Lakers vs. Jazz game Thursday evening (game 3), Andrew Bynum found himself in foul trouble early. He had three fouls at the half, in only 4 or 5 minutes. He picked up a quick foul later in the third, and then another. TNT showed a graphic that stated “Fouled out – 4 points”.  But it’s not clear that he did foul out. That would be a strange wrinkle if it is in fact true.