Rangers/Interleague Preview

Interleague play begins tonight!

Exclamation points can be interpreted in many different ways when simply put into writing. In this case, an exclamation point probably provokes anger in the minds of Phillies (and, generally, National League) fans. It says something like "Interleague play starts tonight. Crap." Compare that to the reaction of any American League fan, and it will probably be read as "Interleague play starts tonight. We can look like actual contenders for a few weeks."

Interleague play is most definitely a flawed system. Throughout the season, we play the same teams that the teams we are competing against play. Everyone in the NL East plays everyone else in the NL with the same frequency, give or take a game or maybe 2 at the most. Interleague play, though, matches teams up with unfair opponents. This season, we play the Rangers, Mariners, A's, Red Sox, and Blue Jays. I would say that we should definitely win one of those series (Mariners) and definitely lose 2 (Rangers, Red Sox) ("should" being said because these are actually considered good teams and we suck against the AL). The other 2 are pretty much toss ups. The Braves (commonly thought of as our biggest competition in the East) play against the Angels, Rangers, Blue Jays, Mariners, and Orioles. Who cares?

I do. The Angels for A's swap is a push to me. Both series can be considered a toss-up. The Orioles, though, are not very good. This means the Braves should win this series. Meanwhile, we get to play the Red Sox, a team picked by every baseball mind in America to go to the World Series prior to this season beginning. Is this a joke? 'Cause it's not funny.

The Phils are 106-129 all-time against the AL in the regular season. Under Charlie Manuel, they have the 6th-worst record against the AL of any National League team. Last year, however, we did manage to have a winning record at 10-8. Can that success continue? Let's hope so.

The Rangers are a tough team. The good news is, they are not at their toughest. Nelson Cruz and Josh Hamilton, 2 power-hitting outfielders, have been out for what assuredly seems like years to my brother-in-law who has them both in fantasy baseball. The other goods news is, we still have the sweetest rotation ever.

The bad news is, we have never really faced any of their pitchers. And the Phillies suck against a pitcher the first time around. Yikes.

Game 1: C.J. Wilson (4-2, 3.38 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (5-3, 2.21 ERA)
As I've kind of already hinted at, everything is going wrong for the Phillies right now. This game is a perfect microcosm of that. Bad things:
We suck in interleague play
We've (basically) never faced C.J. Wilson
We can't hit for crap right now
Howard can't hit lefties
Halladay has a 5.36 career ERA against the Rangers, his highest against any team
I want to be positive, and the calling up of Domonic Brown to replace our newest addition to the DL (Shane Victorino) has me thinking much more positively, but he won't play against a left-handed starter. There's not much to get excited about here other than a hopefully solid outing by Halladay.
Prediction: Rangers 4 Phillies 1
Keep an eye out for: John Mayberry getting the start and hopefully some revenge against his former team (although he never played in the Majors for them). Also, keep an eye out for the hate mail that I get sent by people who are tired of reading about how great John Mayberry is. Sure, the second coming is happening tomorrow, but it isn't in the form of the Jayberry.

Game 2: Colby Lewis (4-4, 3.81 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (2-4, 3.84 ERA)
This will be my first Phillies game of the season. Well, you know, as long as the rapture doesn't prevent it*. I feel pretty good about this one, and, yes, that is most likely just because I really want them to win when I'm there. I think we do have some things going for us, though. There is an OK-to-decent chance that Domonic Brown gets a start here, and nothing would please me more. Also, Cliff Lee will be getting his first shot at his former team. Although we don't have experience against Lewis, he's not as good as Wilson, and he's not a lefty. That makes me feel encouraged by this matchup. I think Lee turns it on this game and our bats show some type of life. Also, this would be a good time for a win because it's my parents' 33rd wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! Hope you enjoy your present (a shoutout in the blog)!
Prediction: Phillies 5 Rangers 0
Keep an eye out for: Cliff getting double-digit strikeouts against his old teammates

Game 3: Matt Harrison (3-4, 4.27 ERA) vs. Roy Oswalt (3-1, 3.09 ERA)
Another matchup that does not excite me. Is Oswalt OK to just be able to pitch without limiting him to a certain number of pitches? Who the heck is Matt Harrison? Am I going to hate getting the answer to that question? Hopefully his limited and not-so-great career statistics will show up in this game rather than the Phillies' tendency to suck hard against inexperienced left-handed pitchers that they've never seen before. I hate to think that the latter is going to happen here. But I love that I just got to use the word "latter."
Prediction: Rangers 3 Phillies 2
Keep an eye out for: All of the Rangers' runs coming off of our bullpen

*Students have been asking about this May 21 malarkey for weeks now. Today it was a hot topic of conversation in my 5th period class. It also somehow came up that I was going to the Phillies game. One student asked, "What if it's a really good game and then all of that stuff happens before it ends? How disappointed would you be?" Are you kidding? If Jesus is taking me home, I don't really think I'd be willing to complain to him about me missing the possibility of a no-hitter or a walk-off home run. I mean, maybe my first question to him would be something about how the game was going to end, but I cannot imagine the word "disappointed" will be a part of my first face-to-face encounter with the Prince of Peace. Call me crazy.