One of the most exciting occurrences in baseball has to be the home run. According to USA Today, hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports. Just hitting a baseball in general, not hitting a home run. So, if hitting a ball is that difficult, imagine how much more difficult it is to hit the thing 400 feet.
Throughout the "Steroids Era," home runs were a dime a dozen and became way too common. We're now back at a point where they have some novelty to them again, especially for the Phillies. We're no longer a team that relies purely on offense; in fact, we have built our season almost completely on the success of our starting pitchers.
Commentators love to talk about hitters' vs. pitchers' parks nowadays, and no series brings that more to light than one between the Mets and Phillies. For any ball hit deep in either park, we get to hear about where that would land in the opposing team's home field. A ball to the warning track in Citi Field? "That's probably 9 rows deep in a home game for the Phillies" A ball in first row at Citizen's Bank Park? "That's a routine fly ball if we're in New York right now." As annoying as Christopher Wheeler is about this, it's hard to ignore when you hear it so much.
The Mets, though, feel like a team that we should be hitting home runs against, no matter where we are. I imagine this started back with Pat Burrell crushing balls out of Shea Stadium seemingly any time we played there. Something must have caught on, though, because Burrell is not the only Philly (past or present) with a lot of success against the Mets (42 home runs-most against any team).
Jimmy Rollins has 23 of his 168 homers against the Mets, 3 more than he has against anyone else.
Of Shane Victorino's 75 career home runs, 10 are against the Mets, the only team he has double digits against.
Chase Utley has hit 26 of his 186 career home runs against the Metropolitans, more than any other team.
Ryan Howard has 31 home runs against them. Although this isn't the most he has against anyone, it's a pretty nice number considering he's done it in 104 starts against them (that would translate to 48 in a full season).
So, if you're like me, you've come to expect a home run or two every time we play against the Mets. With every player's home run comes something totally different, though. For some, the swing is a thing of beauty. Some of them seemingly hit home runs by accident. Some are ecstatic that they just hit one out, while for others it almost appears boring to them. After doing my best to check out videos of some Phillies home run swings (damn you, MLB, and your copyright laws), here's what you can look for if any of our players hit home runs in this upcoming series:
Jimmy Rollins
J-Roll usually knows when he hits a homer, and it seems like he kind of extends his swing behind his back more than he usually would. There's also something that just feels sharp about his swing. When he hits a home run, you kind of feel like he was trying to do that and that only. You gotta love seeing that in the first at bat of the game (although, the first pitch isn't always preferred).
Shane Victorino
Shane always seems so excited to hit a home run that he is halfway down the first base line by the time he finished his swing. He has a knack for hitting important ones, so that makes sense.
Chase Utley
Utley's may be the coolest of anyone's in my opinion because he doesn't even decide to finish his swing. He somehow keeps his hands within about 3 inches of his body throughout the whole swing and sends a ball to any part of the field with a short, compact, unbelievably powerful swing.
Ryan Howard
Ryan Howard can also hit the ball in any direction, and the direction he stares off in is the only thing that really changes from home run swing to home run swing. As he hits the ball, he completely turns his body by simply pivoting on both feet at the same time and then watching his masterpiece sail into the upper deck.
Hunter Pence
Hunter Pence puts every ounce of energy into every swing he takes (see: "I don't [hit bloop singles]. I melt faces"). His home run swing just looks like he sort of knows where the ball is going to be, then he just completely lets loose as different parts of his body flail in opposite directions. Meanwhile, the ball lands 10 rows deep and Pence and the Phillies trot into October.
Raul Ibanez
Suckhole's swing is similar to Pence's, except his always seems like a total accident. While Pence is downright giddy about hitting a home run, Ibanez seemingly needs to regroup after hitting the ball, put hit helmet back on, then start running frantically before realizing he hit the ball far enough that he doesn't really have to run. And with every Raoops home run that is hit, the Phillies organization takes a step back. John Mayberry!! Domonic Brown!!
Placido Polanco
There seems to be nothing all that special about a Polanco home run swing other than the fact that Placido Polanco is hitting a home run. Usually, he will hit a line drive to the opposite field for a single. If he pulls the ball and gets any type of air under it, it seems like it could be a home run.
John Mayberry
Mayberry's home runs look more like line drives than anyone else's. They don't seem to get as high off the ground as a Ryan Howard home run, they just get the crap out of the ballpark. It's pure, Ibanez-replacing poetry.
Carlos Ruiz
I actually feel less athletic after watching Chooch smash a ball over the outfield wall. His short, stocky build seems to kind of lift up with his swing, revealing just how short and stocky that build really is. He runs the bases and I wonder if he actually plays Harry in the Home Alone movies (of which there are only 2. Don't get me started).
Wilson Valdez
TBD
Cliff Lee
It's like Gummy Bears shoot off of his bat, creating a beautifully rare double-rainbow in the ball's trajectory. It tastes like bacon and smells like new tennis balls. The feeling of Christmas morning sweeps through the ballpark, and Phillies players giggle like 4-year-old girls as Lee rounds the bases and intoxicatingly upbeat music plays in everyone's hearts.
While hopefully we get to see all of these in the next 3 days, that's highly unlikely. As a nod to our players' home run swings, though, I am going to predict who hits home runs in this series more so than anything else.
Game 1: Dillon Gee (11-4, 3.92 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (13-7, 2.82 ERA)
Gee's experience against the Phillies this season includes relieving Mike Pelfrey and actually pitching worse than him, quite the feat considering how much we kill Mike Pelfrey. Surprisingly, though, only 3 of the players on our current roster have hits against Gee in their careers. He has been pretty good for the Mets this year, although he's just 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in August. Compare that to Cliff Lee's 3-0 record and 0.75 ERA in August, and we seem to have a mismatch here. Lee's only start against the Mets this season gave him a no decision despite pitching 7 innings of 1-run ball. I expect him to get the win he deserved last time in this game.
Prediction: Phillies 6 Mets 0
Keep an eye out for: Howard and Utley going deep in this one. Howard is 2 for 4 with 2 home runs against Gee. Utley hasn't homered off of him, but he is one of those 3 Phillies with a hit.
Game 2: Jon Niese (11-10, 4.05 ERA) vs. Vance Worley (8-1, 2.76 ERA)
It seems like every time we play the Mets we have to face this Niese majoker. He seems to have gotten better with each of his 4 starts against us, giving up less runs or lasting longer in each subsequent game. Does that mean he's figuring us out, or have we just been given enough opportunities to fully figure him out? Worley is 2-1 against the Mets, dominating them in his first and last start against them but not looking so hot in that one in the middle. There are plenty of guys that Worley needs to be wary of, but Josh Thole is actually the most worrisome. He's 2 for 5 with a double and 3 RBI against Worley, plus he's hitting .353 in August.
Prediction: Phillies 4 Mets 2
Keep an eye out for: Mayberry getting the start against the lefty and hitting a home run. Also, let's give Valdez his first homer of the year as he probably fills in for Rollins, who has a strained groin and is probably headed to the DL. He's 6 for 17 against Niese with 2 doubles, so this seems like the guy he could get it off of.
Game 3: Mike Pelfrey (6-10, 4.61 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (7-5, 3.24 ERA)
If there's one opposing pitcher I love to see that we're facing, it just may be Mike Pelfrey. Not only does it mean we get to play the loser Mets, but it also means we're playing against a guy who has pitched just 19 innings in 4 starts against us this season and put up a 7.58 ERA. Kendrick pitched extremely well in his one start against the Mets, going 7 and giving up just 1 run on 6 hits. He's another guy that has to look out for Thole, though, as he is a .385 hitter against him. Reyes also is a .385 hitter against Kendrick with a 1.179 OPS. The reason I'm not that worried about that, though, is that he's a loser. (Also, he's on the DL. Total loser)
Prediction: Phillies 9 Mets 5
Keep an eye out for: Shane, Chase, and Ryan all hitting homers. Combined, they have a .328 average, .994 OPS, 8 home runs, and 21 RBI against Pelfrey. Hopefully they all get those homers out of the way in the first, or else I doubt he'll be in the game long enough to give them all a shot...amIright?!
No comments:
Post a Comment