From Madness to Fever...Jimmy, Pat, Chase, and the Rhino

March 20, 2007 | By Matthew List | Discuss

Now that my friends was a weekend! It only cost me a girlfriend and a few hundred bucks, a small price to pay for the opening games of March Madness. Now that I’m broke, single and my brackets are completely destroyed one can only start hearing the pop of the catcher’s mitt, the smell of Bull's BBQ wafting through the air, the smell of the bull crap coming from the front office, the crack of the bat, and the ogling of college girls with practically no clothes on when you know you're too old and fat to even have a shot…yes boys and girls its baseball season. The sport of hot dogs, beer and laziness. But wait….do we actually have a winner in town this year? Are you telling me that instead of sitting on the top deck of Harry the K’s staring down at boobs, I’ll actually be watching the game? I think you may be right! Unless Abe Nunez is up of course. The kettle that is our Philadelphia Phillies is starting to slow cook for sure. Expectations around the town are nothing short of a playoff appearance this year. Lets take a look and see how the team’s offensive stars can improve from the almost and the never was that has been Phillies baseball.
 
Two words, Ryan Howard. The Rhino is coming off an MVP season from last year that was nothing short of breathtaking. Can he do it again? Most likely, no. The only way Howard can have another season like last is with protection hitting behind him. Now that major league pitchers know he is a beast master they will surely walk him if they are in any kind of jam. Pat Burrell must have a good year. Hitting .203 in the spring however, isn’t a good start to that. Pat has been given a free pass in this town for almost five years. His play in the field is very lackadaisical, a fly ball smacking off his head last year comes to mind. Not to mention I saw about five imitations of the “Burrell caught looking face” over the past weekend; all were very good. It reminds me of getting a bar tab that’s way bigger than previously calculated. I’m sure I can talk this site into having a photo contest for that one. Burrell will get booed back to the Stone Age if he doesn’t produce this year. His free pass has expired.
 
Chase Utley was awesome last season. He led the NL in runs scored and hitting left handers. He is my early candidate for league MVP this year. This would be the first time in Phil’s history they’ve had back to back MVPs of any kind, let alone two different players. He is the definition of a five tool player and one of the best hitters this town has ever seen. Getting him away from hitting second in the line-up should bode very well for the Chaser. I’m expecting 30 home runs, over one hundred runs scored, 15 stolen bases, and over a hundred runs batted in. For most players this is impossible, not for Chase.
 
Jimmy Rollins expects the team to beat the Mets in the NL east this year. He also has been called the de facto leader of the team. He made those comments as he was arriving at the last possible second to start spring training, while the other team leaders had been there for a day or two already. So much for leading by example. As a lead-off hitter goes, he is one of the best in the league, with only one problem. Stolen Bases are way down over the past three seasons, while home runs and strikeouts are too high. Jimmy has a bit of Willy Mays Hayes in him for sure. This directly correlates with Larry Bowa leaving two seasons ago. Bowa saw the natural ability in Rollins and rode him hard to play shortstop and leadoff the right way. A major key to the Phils' success is Jimmy doing just that. He needs to set the table for Utley and Howard. Hopefully he finally gets it and doesn’t worry about Juan Samuel’s home run records anymore.
 
We’ll have to wait and see who else steps up on offense for the Phightins this year. Fan Favorite Aaron Rowand should be productive if he doesn’t run into any walls. Wes Helms is having a great spring and could be a Gillic Gem in this powerful line-up. Shane Victorino needs to sacrifice a bit of his game hitting out of the two hole, just move those runners Shane-O! We’ll keep tabs on Werth and Nunez as well. Next week we’ll break down the pitching. Hopefully there are lots of heat pads for those old bullpen arms.