2013 Team Awards: Philadelphia Phillies

In order to review the 2013 season, the crackpot staff of Off Base is handing out awards to each Major League team. Please send us $19.95 for the shipping and handling of your team's Hello Kitty stickers awards. Here are the Most Valuable Player, Least Valuable Player, Cy Young, Cy Yuck, Rookie of the Year and Reliever of the Year for the Philadelphia Phillies. 

*Guidelines, prices and participation may vary by author*

MVP: Cliff Lee

There is snow in the forecast, so of course I am writing about a team where a pitcher was it's most valuable player. I wanted to write Chase Utley's name in here along with his 3.9 fWAR and 126 wRC+, but I just couldn't do it. I do get a bonus though whenever I mention Chase Utley in a blog post though. So, Chase Utley Chase Utley Chase Utley Chase Utley. There, that should earn me some brownie points with MTD, maybe even actual brownies. 

Aside from the Utley-love that resonates around these parts, it was Cliff Lee that was the driving force for the underwhelming Phillies in 2013. His 5.1 fWAR led the team, and I personally have never seen a pitcher who's ERA, FIP and xFIP (2.87, 2.82, 2.78) were so close together. Lee may very well be the perfect pitcher, unfortunately, his 14-8 record isn't going to get much love with the BBWAA crowd. Don't worry, Cliff, you're still loved by those who pay attention (And those who are suckers for smooth lefties).

[Ed: If you'd like to argue Albert Pujols should have won the MVP in 2006 or 2007, we don't have to have a problem. But if you wanted to give a Phillie the MVP in 2006 or 2007 and chose Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins over Chase Utley, then I'm blocking you, reporting you as spam and turning you over to the NSA]

Curveballs for Jobu 8/28/11

Curveballs for Jobu is the trip around the ballparks Offbasepercentage keeps forgetting to take.

Today's honorary bat boy is Jody Reed.


[Reed autographed 1991 Score card. Estimated value: 8 kidney beans]


Indians 8, Royals 7. Cleveland trailed 7-5 in the bottom of the eighth when Asdrubal Cabrera launched a three-run home run to put the Tribe ahead for good. That was Cabrera's 21st home run, which leads all Asdrubals.

Pirates 7, Cardinals 0. Chris Carpenter came into his Saturday start with a 2.33 ERA in 19 career starts against the Pittsburgh, but the Overbays got to the right-hander for six earned. That's not only the most he's ever allowed to the Pirates, but the most since surrendering seven to the Reds May 15. You know who else gave up seven runs that day? Brian Duensing.

Angels 8, Rangers 4. The California Angels Based Out of Anaheim hit five home runs Saturday, including one from rookie Mike Trout, MTD's new imaginary boyfriend since Chase Utley extended the restraining order to 1,000 feet.

MTD after Trout's home run: "I want to take him to prom."

Devilrays 6, Bluejays 5. While watching this game I was forced to look at this logo



and that wasn't a nice thing for the Bluejays to do.

Tigers 6, Twins 4. Carl Pavano: 6 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 2 HR, LOSS.

Dodgers 7, Rockies 6 (11). A day after becoming the fastest Dodger to reach the 30-30 plateau, Matt Kemp hit a walk-off home run in the 11th as LA won its fifth straight game.

Whitesox 3, Mariners 0. Ken Harrelson's pick to click, Johnny Danksy, twirled a three-hit shut out and had 10 hegones! The Seattle offense, which had been lost for months, was finally spotted in a grocery store parking lot in Livingston, Montana.

"I told you it was in Livingston!"

- Fake Mariners fan fighting with his girlfriend

Diamondbacks 3, Padres 1. Fantasy Watch: Aaron Cunningham: 0-for-4.

Yankees at Orioles DH ppd John Habyan
Marlins at Phillies DH ppd hot dog bun riot
Braves at Mets ppd Chip Caray skinned knee



Other games, but down here....

Reds 6, Nationals 3
Brewers 6, Cubs 4
Redsox 9-4, Athletics 3-0
Giants 2, Astros 1 (10)

Ryan Howard: I Could Grandslam All Day

Remember life without Youtube? Yeah, neither do I. Thanks to Twitter, I can't remember what happened 35 seconds ago. So I shouldn't be that surprised this cartoon conversation between Ryan Howard and Chase Utley has been online for three weeks without me noticing it until now. Although I do worry my Chase Utley stalking skills might be past their peak. Anyway, the video is awesome.



Immediately I wondered why Ryan Howard is talking about stolen bases unless he really savored each of his 12 career steals. Then I had to remind myself that it's a cartoon and I need to get outside more.

H/T: C.J. Wilson

Curveballs for Jobu 5/27/11

Curveballs for Jobu is Offbasepercentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Today's honorary bat boy is Chris Clapinski.

Marlins 1, Giants 0.
So.. Anibal Sanchez is good at throwing baseballs. Sanchez tossed the complete game shutout and struck out 8. He's sporting a 2.60/2.74/3.03 (ERA/FIP/xFIP) pitching line now and if Hanley ever starts to hit, the Fish might be scary. The offensively starved Giants (170 runs scored is only better than the Twins 164) aren't off to a good start after losing their best hitter, Buster Posey, for the rest of the season. Giants pitchers must be thrilled.

Phillies 10, Reds 4.
Chase Utley hit his first (of many) home run of 2011. I celebrated with a $13 rum and coke at some new bar on Bourbon Street. In related news, Bourbon Street still sucks.

Cubs 9, Mets 3.
The Mets are getting terrible at an exciting pace. R.A. Dickey made it through 2.2 shutout innings before injuring himself trying to cover first base. Then the Mets bullpen tossed some batting practice and Carlos Zambrano had a better day at the plate than any Met hitter. July can't get here soon enough for Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran.

Red Sox 14, Tigers 1.
Rain ended this one right when the Tigers were going to make a comeback with their 6 remaining outs. Casper Wells had some big plans for the bottom of the 9th. Remember how terrible Carl Crawford was? That's all over now. He hit 2 triples and raised his OPS 103 points in 2 days.

White Sox 3, Blue Jays 1.
The White Sox managed to win despite Adam Dunn's trips to the dish. Dunn wore the golden sombrero as he's really starting to ramp up his year of suck. Jose Bautista failed to homer making the Blue Jays 48% less interesting.

Other games, but down here...
Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 3.
A's 4, Angels 3.
Orioles 6, Royals 5 (12).

Curveballs for Jobu 5/25/11

Curveballs for Jobu is Offbasepercentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Today's honorary bat boy is McKay Christensen.

White Sox 8, Rangers 6.
Offense might be down this year (it is) but it seems like everyday there is another player hitting 3 home runs in one game. Tuesday was Carlos Quentin's turn to join in the fun. He went 3-5 with 3 homers and 2 strikeouts. Adam Dunn showed signs of life going 1-3 with a home run and a walk. He's still hitting under .200 and slugging under .400 for the season. He's clearly out to sabotage my fantasy season. It's the only reasonable explanation.

A's 6, Angels 1.
David DeJesus came out of nowhere to hit a pair of home runs off of Dan Haren. It was all very confusing considering DeJesus had only 2 homers and a .232/.312/.344 line entering yesterday. With no save situation in site, Brian Fuentes had the night off from being lousy. The entire AL West is separated by 2 games.

Red Sox 4, Indians 2.
Josh Beckett dealt the Indians just their 5th home loss. Jason Varitek hit his first home run of the season. I also learned that Jason Varitek is still playing baseball. Indians young catcher Carlos Santana is mired in an 0-19 slump.

Reds 6, Phillies 3.
My pal Mev's (Diamond Hoggers) not so secret crush, Jay Bruce, avoided the golden sombrero and snapped the Reds 6 game losing streak with the go ahead 3-run double in the 9th inning. The notoriously streaky Bruce has just been owning the month of May with 8 home runs and a .333/.395/.718 line. Speaking of crushes, Chase Utley had a single!

Rockies 12, Diamondbacks 4. Part 1
Carlos Gonzalez is also starting to heat up in May. He hit 2 home runs giving him 7 for May with a 280/.389/.627 line. The bigger news out of this game was Jorge de la Rosa's elbow exploding. The lefty starter for the Rox tore his ulner collateral ligament which will cost him this season as Tommy John surgery is likely days away.

Cubs 11, Mets 1.
The Cubs aren't exactly in great shape either but it must be awful to be a Mets fan right now. I'd be keeping an eye on Mr. Met in case he's buying hundreds of feet of rope to fashion a giant noose.

Other games, but down here...
Orioles 5, Royals 3.
Tigers 7, Rays 6.
Yankees 5, Blue Jays 4. Jose Bautista homers, 0.
Twins 4, Mariners 2.
Braves 2, Pirates 0.
Dodgers 5, Astros 4.
Brewers 7, Nationals 6.
Diamondbacks 5, Rockies 2. Part 2
Cardinals 3, Padres 2 (11).
Marlins 5, Giants 1.

Chase Utley Close To Return!!!

Chase Utley is on the verge of rejoining the Phillies and a special place in my heart. I'm not sure when or how I became president of the Chase Utley fan club but apparently I have a mild obsession with him and his underratedness. I'm also not allowed within 100 feet of him according to a document I had to sign and have notarized. But enough about my legal issues, let's talk about Chase. He could be activated in time for Monday's game according to this AP article that I will now blockquote...

The five-time All-Star second baseman returned to the team Sunday and appears close to being activated off the disabled list. Utley hasn't played this season because of tendinitis in his right knee.

He played in his fourth straight rehab game Saturday night at Single-A Clearwater. He hit .281 with one homer in nine games.

Utley declined comment before Sunday's game against Texas. The Phillies say Utley will meet with head trainer Scott Sheridan and team doctor Michael Ciccotti before deciding the next course of action.

I've written ad nauseam about the lack of MVP support Utley has received over the years despite being the second best player in the National League behind Albert Pujols for much of his career. So I won't waste anymore space on that here.

Utley only played in 115 games in 2010 and posted the lowest wOBA (a very respectable .373) of his career for a season in which he played over 100 games. He was still the fourth best second baseman according to fWAR (5.2) in 2010 even though he played in 39 fewer games than the third best and 45 fewer than the first and second.

The Phillies must be almost as excited as me to get Utley back from the disabled list. Even though the Phils have the second best record in all of baseball, they're getting the second worst production from their second basemen (-0.6 WAR) besting only the Twins.

Just to be clear, my letters to Chase Utley were nowhere as creepy as Mac's love letter.



I used better stickers.

Off Base NL East Preview

Offbase editors Derwood Morris and MTD haven't had much luck previewing things lately-MTD incorrectly predicted Gary Discarcina would come out of retirement to help the Angels win the 2009 World Series and Derwood thought Teen Wolf 3 would be the 2010 summer blockbuster. But here are division previews anyway.


We start with the NL East, home of the reigning champion Phillies, wild card Braves, and the other three teams.


Philadelphia (2010: 97-65)
The Phils, who lost in the NLCS to the eventual champion Giants, already had Roy Halliday, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels, but they added some bum named Cliff Lee and now everyone from Jim down the street to that other guy are predicting Philly to go 161-1 (September loss to the Astros in a classic trap game). Oh, and they also have Joe Blanton in the rotation. You know the old saying: if Joe Blanton is your No. 5 starter, you'd better have four good pitchers in front of him. The Phillies do. And despite the knee problems for MTD's boyfriend Chase Utley, they should have enough offense with Ryan Howard, whose averaged 46 HR the past five seasons despite a down 2010 season, and....ummm, Raul Ibanez? OK, so maybe they won't have enough offense, but with that pitching it may not matter.

Atlanta (91-71)
There's a new era in Atlanta. No, the Hawks didn't go through with John Koncak Bobblehead Night after all. The Braves are going into a season with someone other than Bobby Cox as manager for the first time since 1989. The Wobbly One retired after taking Atlanta to the playoffs 15 times in 20 seasons. Big adult diapers to fill for Fredi Gonzalez, who used to be a Braves coach and recently was fired as Marlins manager by shortstop Hanley Ramirez. If it wasn't for the Phils rotation, we'd be talking about Atlanta's being the best in the East with Tommy Hanson, Tim Hudson, Jair Jurrjens and Derek Lowe forming a solid quartet. Atlanta has always moved top-Minor League talent to the majors whenever it is ready and 2010 NL ROY runner-up Jason Heyward will be joined this season by top prospect Freddie Freeman, a 2007 second-round draft pick who will play first base. The Braves also added second baseman Dan Uggla (hit at least 31 HR in four straight seasons) from the Marlins in a November trade, and the latest out of spring camp reported Chipper Jones will be brought to home plate in 2011 by-wheelbarrow.

Florida (80-82)
The Marlins unofficially played in front of a total of 440 fans last season, but this isn't about making fun of Marlins' crowds. We'll save that for our daily coverage during the season. This is about a blog writer admittedly knowing very little about a baseball team and trying to fake it in a season preview. Here goes:

* Hanley!
* Josh Johnson!
* Wes Helms!
* Will Javy Vazquez, formerly a terrible pitcher (again) with the Yankees, return to his I Only Pitch Well In The NL form? Does anyone even care?

New York (79-83)
Everyone likes to pick on the Mets because they aren't the Yankees and because they're terrible every year, but have they really been that bad? 2009 was a disaster (70-92), but last season they only finished four games under .500 and they had a winning record in every season from 2005-2008. So what are the reasons for all the pointing and laughing? Oh, wait, I know the reasons:

1. Up until Monday they still employed Oliver Perez and gave him $24 million the last two seasons while he was arguably the worst pitcher in baseball. They'll give him $12 million this season to work at the Chevron down the street from my apartment (speculation).
2. They gave Luis Castillo (career OPS+ of 92) nearly $19 million from '08-'10 and will give him $6 million this season to play for the Phillies.
3. Francisco Rodriguez
4. Omar Minaya
5. Wally Backman
6. They let Jeff Francoeur and his .293 on-base percentage come to the plate 447 times last season.
7. Lenny Dykstra

Washington (69-93)
No Stephen Strasburg. No Bryce Harper. But wait just a minute: the Nats signed Oliver Perez to a minor league contract! While Strasburg recovers from Tommy John and Harper bides his time in the minors (Offbase predicts a September call up), the Nats will hope their offense, led by Ryan Zimmerman (5.2 and 5.3 WAR the last two seasons) and new signee Jason Werth (7 years, $122 million!) can score enough runs to stay out of the cellar. Washington will also have to replace Adam Dunn, who hit 76 home runs and walked 193 times in two seasons in the nation's capital. And don't forget Roger Bernadina. He's on the roster too.

The Sky Is Falling: Luis Castillo

The Mets finally cut ties with one of Omar Minaya's ill fated contract extension recipients in Luis Castillo and it appears that he is being snatched up by the Phillies. The Mets will pay Castillo the final $6 million they still owe him to go play for a division rival. Hardball Talk breaks it down...

He’s a shell of the player Omar Minaya traded for and then signed to a four-year, $25 million deal and the deterioration of Castillo’s once-excellent speed has magnified his career-long lack of power, but last season he drew more walks (39) than strikeouts (25) while posting a .337 on-base percentage that was solidly above the NL average of .328 and got on base at a .366 clip during his entire four-year run with the Mets.

Castillo's value is entirely based on his ability to get on base at a decent clip but his days of OBP-ing over .400 are over a decade old now.

The signing makes sense for the Phillies since it won't cost them much and fills a now glaring need for depth in the infield. My initial thought, of course, is "OH MY GOD Chase Utley IS DEAD!" The speculation about Utley missing the entire season already had me pretty anxious but now I'm in full blown "refilling my xanax prescription" panic attack mode.

I'm not a Phillies fan so the fear of having to replace a projected 4.8 WAR player with a basic replacement level player doesn't bother me so much. But as one of Utley's better known stalkers, I'm quite worried. Apparently my get well basket of HGH infused muffins didn't do the trick.

The Sky Is Falling: Chase Utley

I think it has become fairly well documented across the Interwebs that I am a bit of a Chase Utley supporter, even though I think some of the language in the restraining order paints an unfair picture of me. So imagine the immediate dismay that washed over me when I heard the Phillies' second baseman was already experiencing tendinitis in his knee. Utley, the consummate professional, believes this is just a minor blip...

Utley said yesterday that surgery has not even been discussed as an option. In fact, Utley said, he has played through worse pain during his career. If the Phillies were in the middle of the regular season instead of at the beginning of the Grapefruit League slate, he said he would be in the lineup.

"I hope it's just a minor blip," Utley said. "I think we have the right people checking it out. I think the work ethic is going to be there in terms of trying to improve it. So in that aspect I think it's all good."

Utley was derailed from another potential 7 WAR season in 2010 when thumb surgery wiped out his July and half of August. With any luck, rest and rehab will take care of this bout with tendinitis and Utley will have a healthy 2011. I'm not sure I'm emotionally stable enough to survive an injury plagued season or, god forbid, the beginning of the steep second baseman decline. Luckily, Dave Cameron doesn't seem to think Utley will fall to the same fate as Roberto Alomar or Ryne Sandberg.

PECOTA projects a healthy Utley to be the best second baseman in baseball for 2011 and worth over a full win more than Robinson Cano (4.7-3.4). But 40 points of OBP and a run's worth of defense will do that. Even with a clean bill of health, my championing of an Utley MVP seems almost futile now.

As much as it pains me to say, it might be time to turn my lack-of-MVP-consideration fascination to Ryan Zimmerman.

Editors Meeting

Derwood lives near the other four places you don't want to visit in Georgia and MTD "lives" in "New Orleans", so occasionally they have to communicate through text message. Here's their recent conversation.


[Began February 14, 11:21 p.m.]

MTD - Jose Canseco's baseball reference page costs $135 to sponsor. But for $135, he'd probably come play wiffle ball with us.

Derwood - For $135? He'd leave us a few hangers out over the plate, then buy us Steak N Shake afterwards and pave the driveway.

MTD - I'm going to try to track down his representation. Where'd you say that mailbox he and Ozzie talk to is located?

Derwood - Take a right at Ozzie Canseco's pet raccoon.

MTD - Gotcha. Just before the well they think the Goonies live in?

Derwood - Just before the well they think Oddibe McDowell lives in.

MTD - McDowell? OK. Well, I hear Ozzie is really cleaning up on his mesh shirt line after Jose wore it on his last book tour.

Derwood - I don't want to see Ozzie Guillen in mesh anything.

MTD - I thought we were making fun of Ozzie Canseco. It works either way.

Derwood - For some reason I had a terrible vision of Ozzie Guillen in a mesh shirt. But if I was forced to choose to see someone in mesh, Ozzie Canseco or Ozzie Guillen, I'm going Canseco.

MTD - We need to change the subject. We shouldn't have to see any of those people in anything, let alone mesh.

Derwood - Change the subject? OK. So, Cano is better than Utley, right?

MTD - Let's go back to Ozzies wearing mesh...

Derwood - This needs to be the last time we talk about men in mesh...I know it's technically still Valentine's Day, so you and Utley's relationship is a sore subject, especially since he doesn't know about it.

MTD - My relationship with him is only between us, several attorneys and a Pennsylvania judge.

Derwood - First, put the ocean sounds cd on and put a cool rag on your forehead. And if you're going to lob pebbles at Utley's bedroom window, just make sure you have both pant legs on this time.

MTD - That was indeed a poor decision on my part. Next time, I plan on just bringing a boom box and a sweet mix tape.

Derwood - Anything with Bryan Adams should get that restraining order reduced to 150 feet.

J-Roll Has A Stake In Justin Bieber

Jimmy Rollins doesn't want to be just another former baseball player after he retires. He has big plans involving the music industry. Now, I couldn't name a Justin Bieber song but he seems like a safe bet since that kid is always trending on Twitter and Tom Brady apparently stole his haircut. Rollins has tried to develop his own music stars but let's just say he isn't quite P-Diddy yet so he turned his attention to buying in on established artists. And I'm using "artist" in the loosest sense with Bieber. Here's the deal...

Rollins owns 5 percent of the publishing rights to Justin Bieber's "Eenie Meenie," a hit duet with Jamaican chubster Sean Kingston. The song appears on Bieber's platinum album, "My World 2.0."

*snip*

Rollins indicated that his investment in Bieber's song cost him about $20,000. Rollins' attorney, Christopher Cabott, who also teaches entertainment and sports law at Temple, yesterday presented to the assemblage a formula that, for that 5 percent stake, recoups about $10,000 per million units sold.

I guess the $20,000 investment in Bieber isn't a bad move for a guy who bought a $350,000 Bentley with his 2008 World Series check. Instead of me alienating my 13-year-old girl fan base by filling the rest of this post with Bieber jokes, I decided to focus on my other problem with the Phillies short stop. And if you read me at all, you should know where I'm going with this.

I'm still upset about the 2007 NL MVP results. That voting was worse than a grown man buying a single ticket to a Justin Bieber concert. Let's just move right past the fact that Albert Pujols should have won with his .327/.429/.568 line instead of finishing NINTH, and focus on the Phillies. Rollins hit 30 home runs and a .296/.344/.531 line for a good .378 wOBA. Sure, maybe he deserved some MVP votes but he wasn't the most valuable player on his own team let alone in the league.

Ryan Howard finished fifth thanks to 47 homers even though he struck out 37.6% of the time. But the real crime here was that Chase Utley finished eighth in the voting despite finishing both third in WAR (7.7) and wOBA (.420) while playing Gold Glove defense at second (which he didn't win either).

It boggles my mind how Utley doesn't get more MVP love. He's been one of the top five players in the National League for the past five years. He's clearly the Phillies best positional player but still can't beat out Howard in MVP voting. It makes me sad. And whether you agree with me or not, you have to be impressed that I managed to turn a Justin Bieber post into a Chase Utley love fest.

At least Utley finally got to be on It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

Chase Utley And "It's Always Sunny" Together At Last

If you're a fan of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia and this blog, you probably know that Mac and I share some special feelings for Phillies' second baseman Chase Utley. While Mac actually writes love letters to Chase, I tend to simply dedicate 500 words here and there on why he deserves more MVP love than he gets. I mean, come on. The highest he's ever finished was 7th in the MVP voting even though he's been the second best player in the NL since 2006 and the best second baseman in all of baseball over that time. The poor man can't even win an effing Gold Glove.

Okay, sorry. This isn't the space for that rant. In last night's It's Always Sunny episode "The Gang Gets Stranded In The Woods," Chase Utley makes a cameo appearance along with former MVP Ryan Howard (who also received a second place MVP vote this year despite not be as valuable as Utley; anger rising). The gist of this episode is that the gang is headed to Atlantic City for an animal adoption fundraiser which will be attended by the two Phillies stars. Of course, hijinx ensues.

Here's the clip of Utley and Howard watching Dennis and Charlie get hammered...



That clip might not last long seeing as how I don't have the expressed written consent of MLB or FX. Either way, it was pretty funny even if Utley and Howard played it pretty safe. I'm still waiting for the episode that features Utley, Mac and myself getting wasted and talking about on base percentage and Ultimate Zone Rating. *fingers crossed*

Ryan Zimmerman Gets Chase Utley'd

The BBWAA released the outcome of the voting for the National League MVP earlier today and Joey Votto ran away with the award. Votto grabbed 31 of the 32 first place votes while Albert Pujols vultured the remaining top vote to prevent the sweep. Both hard slugging first basemen were deserving of the award so it's not worth dissecting how close the two really were despite the wide margin of victory. Besides, Rob Neyer already did that.

Instead, I'll use this space to complain about Ryan Zimmerman's 16th place finish. I may have written a few words in the past about the lack of MVP support that Chase Utley has received over his career. I mean, Utley has been the second best player in the NL since, roughly, 2005 but the highest he's ever finished in MVP voting is 7th. Hell, Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard have even won MVPs when Utley was a more worthy candidate. I could go on but there's some pretty ominous wording in this restraining order. (Can't resist; Utley finished with the 14th best fWAR and received zero MVP votes this season) Okay, on to Zimmerman and his Utley treatment.

I had Zimmerman third on my BBA ballot which might have been a tad high in retrospect but I wouldn't have had him lower than 5th-ish. How could I be so far off from the people who get paid to write about baseball? What do they know that I'm missing? Let's go to a little Twitter conversation with Fox Sports' own miniature baseball insider Ken Rosenthal.



First I'd like to take a moment to reflect on how polite I was. I was surprisingly calm for something I so vehemently disagree with. Contending team? That's it? Really? Strap on the nerd boots and let's go to the stats...

Ryan Zimmerman
142 G, 25 HR, .307 AVG, .388 OBP, .510 SLG, 13.9 UZR, 7.2 fWAR (Fangraph's WAR)

Scott Rolen
132 G, 20 HR, .285 AVG, .358 OBP, .497 SLG, 10.6 UZR, 5.0 fWAR

In Rosenthal's eyes, playing for a contending team negates the fact that Zimmerman was worth TWO more wins than Rolen. That is a significant gap even with the 10 extra games Zimmerman played. Rolen only finished two spots and eight points ahead of Zimmerman in the final tally but it still hurts my brain.

I might put more stock in WAR than I should but Fangraphs loved Zimmerman this season. His 7.2 WAR was only one tenth of a point behind Albert Pujols and two tenths behind Joey Votto. That would make him the third most valuable in the National League for the 2010 season. Yet, like Chase Utley before him, he was almost ignored in MVP voting. Why?

Much of Zimmerman's value is tied to his brilliant defense at third base. While there aren't any perfect metrics for defense, the nerds in basements have been making big strides in understanding defense and it's value. But, I guess it's still easier for the mainstream media to give votes to a terrible fielding first baseman who hits 31 home runs and strikes out over 150 times (Ryan Howard received a 2nd and 3rd place vote).

Still, 16th place is absurd. And so begins my crusade to get Ryan Zimmerman more MVP respect. Don't hold your breath, Ryan, it didn't help Chase any.

More fun with the NL MVP results
*Troy Tulowitzki finished 5th; five voters left him off of their ballots.
*Martin Prado finished 9th because why not.
*Brian Wilson finished well ahead of Adam Wainwright, Ubaldo Jimenez and Josh Johnson.
*Jimenez received one fourth place vote and that's it.
*Carlos Ruiz (Chooch!) finished ahead of Brian McCann.
*Buster Posey finished 11th including one third place vote. Not a bad year.

Why Does Everybody Hate Chase Utley?

I've made it abundantly clear over my months of writing here and the years at Monkeys Throwing Darts that I am an unabashed Chase Utley fan. It continues to baffle me why he doesn't get more MVP love every season. Even more baffling, Utley has zero Gold Gloves compared to Derek Jeter's five.

Brandon Phillips was solid by all accounts at second base this year. So it's not as an erroneous error as giving Jeter another Gold Glove over, oh say, me at short stop in the AL. But Utley was yet again the best fielding second baseman in the National League. As you all should know by now, defensive metrics are still in the works but we've at least advanced past the point where just looking at errors and fielding percentage gives us any kind of accurate portrayal of positional efficiency.

Personally, I prefer FanGraphs UZR (ultimate zone rating) when I'm looking at defense and that's mainly because they don't charge me for stats. Come on Bill James, I live in a basement, hook me up with the free info. Anyway, here's this year's second base UZR leaders...

1. Chase Utley 10.3

2. Brandon Phillips 9.7

3. Kelly Johnson 7.1

4. David Eckstein 6.2 (say what???)

11. Skip Schumaker -15.4

I'm going to go ahead and pretend that Utley didn't get the Gold Glove this year because he only played in 115 games otherwise I'll give myself a stroke. In case you were wondering, Utley was also the best second baseman in 2009 (11.2 UZR) and 2008 (18.4). And on another note, Skip Schumaker plays second base as well as I play poker when I'm drunk. I throw things everywhere and rarely make the right play.

Cincinnati at Philadelphia

As soon as I start a baseball blog, the Angels miss the playoffs for the first time since 2006. I hope you like your post-season previews filled with animosity and tears.

The first National League playoff game will kick off around 4:07 on Wednesday. That's right, I'm still on Central time. Let's start the Chase Utley love fest...

My Completely Biased Opinion.
I've been accused of having an unhealthy obsession with Chase Utley. While his wife has sent me some pretty strongly worded cease and desist emails, I'll continue to champion his MVP worthiness. Utley has been, aside from Pujols and now maybe Votto, the best player in the National League for years. How he doesn't get more MVP love than, oh say, Ryan Howard boggles my mind. The Phillies are a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs because...

Just Some of the Facts M'am.
The Phils rotation starts with Doc Halladay and his Cy Young 2.44/3.01/2.92 (ERA/FIP/xFIP) line and Cole Hamels sporting a 3.06/3.67/3.43 line and Roy Oswalt and his 2.76/3.27/3.45 line. Oh and Oswalt is pitching a 1.74 ERA since coming over from the hapless Astros. I like Jay Bruce and Joey Votto and all of the young talent the Reds have to offer. They're simply outclassed by the Phils and Dusty Baker doesn't help the cause with his bullpen mismanagement.

Prediction.
While it's hard for me to root against Posey's Giant, the Phillies might be the most dangerous team in the post-season. The rotation can't be matched and the lineup is solid . Phils via 3 game murder.

Curveballs for Jobu

Curveballs for Jobu is Offbasepercentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Today's honorary bay boy is Robert Eenhoorn and he's here because his name is ridiculous and he always looks angry.

The Saints pulled out a win, I partook in a few adult beverages and an ex-girlfriend got engaged last night. Let's take a look at some of yesterday's games while I rethink what I'm doing with my life...

Yankees 8, Rays 6. The Yanks padded their lead in the East to 1.5 games based on Curtis Granderson's monster game. I give Granderson a lot of flak about being a platoon player simply because he can't hit lefties but I really do like him as a person. He occasionally blogs over at the Big League Stew and that's pretty much all it takes to get me to like you. Granderson hit home runs off of Matt Garza and Grant Balfour (both righties), walked twice and swiped a bag. Chad Gaudin gets mentioned here because my buddy went to high school with him.

Angels 7, Rangers 4. My beloved Halos moved to a more reasonable 9.5 games back, giving me a little playoff hope while I pretend this is June. Jered Weaver tossed an ugly 6.2 innings giving up 3 earned on 9 hits and only striking out a pair. Peter Bourjos went 2-4 raising his BA to .205 and Brandon Wood's .159 average drools with jealousy.

Phillies 3, Braves 1. Remember when I was gushing about the Rockies last week? Get ready for an obnoxious amount of Phillies love. Cole Hamels tossed 8 innings of 6-hit, 1-run ball and is now 4-0 with a 0.63 ERA in September. That Chase Utley fellow is also tearing up September with a .329/.442/.557 line and I now proclaim him healthy. This could easily be the most dangerous playoff team in baseball.

Twins 9, Indians 3. Danny Valencia hit his 5th homer of the year and is hitting .362/.396/.574 in September. Sure, he could walk a little bit more but he's been a pleasant surprise for the Twins at the hot corner.

Curveballs for Jobu

Curveballs for Jobu is Offbasepercentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Today's honorary bay boy is Jeff Clement and he's here to remind you that he was taken 4 picks before Troy Tulowitzki. Oh, and he's a Pirate now.

Hey kids, looks like I'll be in charge of Jobu for the foreseeable future. Uncle Derwood suffered a crippling injury to both hands in an unfortunate soup can opening incident. We're trying to decide whether to put him on the 15 or 60 day DL. In the meantime, you're stuck with me at the helm which means plenty of highlights of poor relief pitching. Let's get at it...

Rockies 13, Diamondbacks 4. The Rox won their 8th straight and will continue to get top billing until they lose. They're only 2.5 games out in the NL West and I will switch my allegiance to them in the wake of the demise of the Angels. Troy Tulowitzki went 3-3 with 2 home runs and a double while raising his line to .327/.394/.567. If the young short stop can stay healthy for a full season, he will join the ranks of players who get snubbed on MVP votes. *cough*Chase Utley*cough*

Rangers 6, Yankees 5 (13). The playoff series preview ended in dramatic fashion with Nelson Cruz hitting the walkoff home run in the 13th inning. After a rough 3 innings from C.J. Wilson, the Rangers employed 300 relief pitchers to finish the game off. Derek Jeter went 1-7 but made close to $140,000 for the game. I can't wait for the Jeter hot stove bidding war. It's going to be fun to watch the Yankees bid against sanity.

Marlins 3, Nationals 1. Number of brawls: 0, number of fans in attendance: 37.

Phillies 8, Mets 4. I didn't even realize the Mets were still fielding a team. Roy Halladay gave up 4 earned runs but won his 18th of the season inching him closer to the Cy Young. Chase Utley went 1-5 but the hit was a home run. I still don't think he's healthy.

Rays 9, Blue Jays 8. Jose Bautista continued his assault on baseballs hitting 2 more home runs (46). Adam Lind hit his disappointing 21st homer of the year. It would be interesting to see how good the Jays could be if they played in any other division and stopped leading off with Dewayne Wise. But Yuni Escobar threw the ball in the general direction of first base allowing Evan Longoria to score the go ahead run on an error in the 9th inning.

Giants 1, Padres 0. In what will be the most compelling race down the stretch, the Giants slid by the Padres for the old virtual tie for 1st place in the West. My money is still on the Rockies due to their inability to lose in September. Blog favorite Buster Posey: DNP.

Ryan Howard's Platinum Sombrero

A golden sombrero is awarded to a player who manages to strike out four times in a single game (real golden sombrero not included). It's quite the feat unless you're Ryan Howard or Mark Reynolds. Unfortunately, cycles and no-hitters are all the rage nowadays. Not for me, though. I will pour over the box scores to bring you the finest at swinging and missing.

I went on a little strikeout vacation and missed 6 Golden Sombreros between August 11-16 and for that, I apologize. With everybody striking out at a ridiculous pace, I ran out of pinata blooper videos and tequila jokes. But if there was anything to snap me out of my funk, it was Ryan Howard's performance last night.

Howard snagged the Olympic Rings in a mind blowing 0-7, 5-strikeout day at the plate. His check swing punchout in the 14th inning drew his ire prompting some helmet tossing and wild gesturing. Which of course led to his ejection. Then Raul Ibanez replaced the swing and miss prone slugger at first base and Roy Oswalt made his left field debut.

The real shame in this is that Howard had 7 plate appearances and was robbed of a potential 8th. I could be writing Howard's Horn or Titanium Sombrero right now. While I try to remain positive that Ryan Howard or Mark Reynolds have a 6 strikeout game in them somewhere, let's take a look at Howards' day of futility...

Bottom 1st: Howard struck out looking against Bud Norris. Howard wasted no time but neither did Chase Utley who struck out swinging right before Howard. Did the Phillies rush their meat of the order back from the DL too soon? I can see this kind of slump for Howard but not Chase! I refuse to believe he's healthy.

Bottom 6th: Howard struck out swinging against Norris. Howard mixed in a fly out in the 3rd to keep things interesting.

Bottom 8th: Howard struck out swinging against Gustavo Chacin.

Bottom 10th: Howard struck out swinging against Fernando Abad. Howard is an equal opportunity swinger and misser, he doesn't care if I've heard of the pitcher or not.

Bottom 14th: Howard struck out swinging against Mark Melancon. This was the infamous check swing call that went against Howard causing him to go a wee bit crazy all over third base umpire Scott Barry. He threw his bat and helmet and charge after Barry flashing what I thought were gang signs. But I came to my senses and remembered this isn't the NBA.

Not a good night for Ryan Howard but I had a blast. Sure, I was denied a Titanium Sombrero by a fly out, foul out and overzealous umpire but this certainly rejuvenated my appreciation for a hitter sucking as bad as possible at the plate. Thank you, Ryan Howard.

Curveballs for Jobu

Curveballs for Jobu is Offbasepercentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Today's honorary bat boy is Yamil Benitez and he's here because of my recent obsession with the Montreal Expos. Even @Montreal_Expos thinks it's getting out of hand.

Hey kids, I'm covering Jobu today because Derwood is mad at me for not being able to patch him through on the podcast last night. I couldn't figure out how to work the software but I wasn't supposed to host either. I'd post a link but you're probably better off not listening to me say "um" and "Mike Trout" for an hour.

Red Sox 6, Angels 0. The Angels are 11-20 against the AL East and get killed by the Red Sox (0-8). The Halos left 9 runners on base doing some of their better anticlutch work this season. Ryan Kalish hit a grand slam off of Jered Weaver hoping to give Jon Lester the edge for second place in Cy Young voting. But I still have a glimmer of post season hope because...

Rays 10, Rangers 1. Matt Garza tossed 7 shutout innings and struck out 10. Carl Crawford was a double shy of the cycle. Pedro Strop pitched some "relief" for the Rangers throwing 35 pitches in 1.1 innings. He made the most of it though giving up 5 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks. When asked about Strop, Ron Washington said, "Who now?"

Phillies 9, Giants 3. Chase Utley's glorious return to the lineup wasn't exactly effective as the best second baseman in baseball went 0-5. The Phils smacked around Barry Zito and Chris Ray for 8 of the 9 runs. Blog favorite Buster Posey went 2-4. Jose Guillen hit his first homer as a Giant so it's just a matter of time before he yells at his first Giant.

Astros 4, Mets 3. Hunter Pence hit 2 home runs and all 4 RBI off of Johan Santana for the win. K-Rod had surgery for a torn ligament in his hand from punching his father-in-law and probably won't be getting paid for the rest of the season. The good news is Rodriguez extended his no punches thrown streak to 5 days.

Dodgers 6, Rockies 0. Brad Hawpe: DNP. It's doubtful Hawpe and his poor fielding will make it to the weekend as a Rockie.

Curveballs for Jobu

Curveballs for Jobu is Offbasepercentage's daily trip around the ballparks.

Today's honorary bat boy is Milciades Arturo Diaz "Junior" Noboa and he's here to remind you that I have a weird fascination with the Montreal Expos.

Jobu is late and slightly hungover today which can only mean one thing. It went out drinking with me last night and passed out a couple of feet away from the couch. I should never be left in charge of Jobu, I'm a terrible influence.

Orioles 5, Rays 0. The Buck Showalter express keeps rolling right along improving to 9-2. Eleven games seems like a big enough sample size for me to give the Manager of the Year award to Showalter, right? The Orioles won despite being dressed for Halloween.

Hideous. That's Luke Scott pictured celebrating after hitting his 22nd homer of the season in the 7th inning. Also pictured, Adam Jones doing his best impersonation of a candy corn.

Mets 1, Phillies 0. R.A. Dickey leads me to believe that if I can learn to throw a knuckleball, I can get my major league career back on track. The resurgent Dickey 1-hit the Phillies for the shutout with 7 strikeouts. Cole Hamels pitched all 8 innings for the Phils but allowed the lone run and took the loss. This never would have happened if Chase Utley was healthy.

Rangers 10, Red Sox 9 (11). I despise the Rangers. Almost everybody in both lineups hit home runs but Nelson Cruz's walk-off in the 11th was the one that counted the most. The Sox were up 8-2 in the 4th but couldn't hold off Josh Hamilton who went 4-5 with a homer and a walk. Mitch Moreland hit his first homer of the season because why not.

Nationals 4, Diamondbacks 2. Joe Saunders gave up 10 hits and all 4 runs in a less than optimal 6 innings. It may seem like I pick on Saunders a lot but that's only because I do and he's not so good at the pitching. Wil Nieves, inspired by Mitch Moreland, hit his second home run of the season.

White Sox 8, Tigers 4. Gordon Beckham temporarily remembered he was good at baseball going 2-4 with a home run and 3 RBI. Juan Pierre keeps leading off and went 1-4 to keep his OBP (.337) a good 30 points higher than his SLG (.307).

Cardinals 6, Cubs 3. Albert Pujols went 3-5 and hit his 29th homer of the season. Who knew a .313/.408/.579 line could be so disappointing? Colby Rasmus had a reverse Golden Sombrero going 0-0 with 4 walks.