So What Do We Have Here?

Ho hum. Just another 5-1 start to a season, nothing to see here. After worrying about the offense all off-season, the Phillies have now scored 5+ runs in every game (of course losing the only one in which they didn't). Halladay, Lee and Oswalt have looked good. Hamels and Blanton? Eh, not so much. Overall though, this is exactly the start the team needed.

Notoriously slow starter Ryan Howard has come out of the gates hot and almost every regular is hitting over .300 so far. Is it early? Absolutely. But this team has gotten off to some very shitty starts before, so starting like this helps everyone take a deep breath and relax. Sure, the Astros and the Mess aren't expected to sniff 80 wins this year, but April is unpredictable (as you can see with the Orioles and Royals both being in first place). To win games you're supposed, especially early, is a good sign. (Just look at the Red Sox.)

So now our Phightin's head off to Atlanta to face what is likely their biggest competition in the NL (yes, I really think the Braves are the second best team in the NL). While the Braves are off to an underwhelming 3-4 start, they're still a really, really tough matchup for us. The pitching duels:

Friday: Cliff Lee (1-0) v. Tim Hudson (1-0)

Saturday: Roy Oswalt (1-0) v. Brandon Beachy (1-0)

Sunday: Cole Hamels (0-1) v. Lowe (1-1)

Like most series they'll play this year, the Phillies go into every game with the pitching advantage (regardless of Cole's first game, he's better than Lowe). I. Love. It.

Here's to 161-1.

Cliff Lee.

ESPN's AJ Mass Has No Idea What He's Talking About

That completely asinine blurb appears in ESPN.com's recent 2011 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers, Busts article. I don't know if AJ Mass just mailed this one in or what, but he couldn't be any further from the truth. I'm not even looking at this from a fantasy baseball perspective - it's just all wrong from a general baseball aspect.

I try to not get on anyone for stating their opinion, but it's tough when they're basically inventing a reason like this. The reason Hamels has been a .500 pitcher over the last two seasons has nothing to do with the execution of his curveball being "few and far between". Wins are a fickle stat and not entirely indicative of how well a pitcher is performing. Plain and simple, Hamels got no run support last year. He struck out over 200 guys with an ERA of 3.06 for Christ’s sake. If he even gets a little more run support, he's easily a 15 win pitcher. In fact, according to Fangraphs, Hamels only threw his curve 8% of the time last year due to the introduction of his cutter. The debut of that cutter helped keep hitters off balance and only helped make his fastball, curve, and changeup (his true “out pitch”) more effective.

Anyway, it's predictions like these that just annoy me and make me wish AJ Mass was in my fantasy league. If you're looking for some really exceptional fantasy baseball advice, do yourself a favor and go to Razzball.com. Best fantasy blog on the interwebs. You can thank me later.

Fear Itself is Afraid of Cole Hamels

Cole Hamels is awesome. It's become blatantly obvious now that all those idiots who were giving up on him last season...well...are idiots. (Please note that TheWizWit team called this one back in March. Yes, we're that smart.) After one sub-par year (see very end of this post) fans were ready to give the ole' heave-ho to the 2008 NLCS and World Series MVP. People called him soft, immature and made entirely too big a deal out of his comments during the World Series (if you didn't understand what he meant when he made those comments then you probably listen to WIP too much). But thankfully, Cole has gone out there in 2010 and made each and every person who tore into him last year look pretty dumb.

Like Andy Reid time management dumb.

Will Cole Hamels Bounce Back This Year?

Baseball season is right around the corner and TheWizWit [dot] com is here to get you prepared with more Phillies knowledge than your tiny little brain can handle. Over the next few weeks we're going to answer a multitude of questions facing our 2010 Fightin' Phils, all leading up to the ultimate question: Will the Phillies win the World Series? [The answer, yes.]

This may be one of the most important questions facing the Phillies in Twenty-Ten.

Will we get the World Series MVP Cole Hamels? Or will we be stuck with 2009 version featuring a prim donna, Hollywood head-case who'd rather complain about what time of the day he pitches than dominate the diamond?

He'll Win One Cy Young, and 11 Cole Hamels

See that photo? It's of Cole Hamels. In Florida. For Spring Training. Today.

It's back folks. Baseball Season 2010.

Go Phillies.

Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before

This morning's front page of philly.com made a rather familiar statement - Phils Still in the Running for Halladay. That's right, the trade deadline deal that never was seems like a possibility again.

Obviously the offseason has just begun and this is nothing more than a rumor, but it sure does get you excited for the next year.

Game 3 - It's Cole's Time

Cole Hamels has become an enigma. While we continue to love and support him each time out there, we aren’t sure from start to start what we are going to get. Tonight, he takes the mound against the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the World Series.

Game 5 Preview: Padilla vs. Hamels

Tonight, our Philadelphia Phillies have a chance to clinch their 2nd straight National League Pennant. After Monday's thrilling, walk-off win, the anticipation for tonight's game couldn't be higher. Charlie Manuel will send last October's hero, Cole Hamels, to the mound. Joe Torre and the Dodgers? They counter with Vicente Padilla.