July Has Been Extraordinary For World Champs

The Phillies made a huge trade Wednesday afternoon acquiring the reigning American League Cy Young award winner Cliff Lee and OF Ben Francisco from the Cleveland Indians for 4 top prospects.  That's a significant move no doubt.  The Lee deal comes after the Phillies main focus for the past 10 days has been Roy Halladay but after Toronto GM JP Ricciardi asked for J.A. Happ, Kyle Drabek and Dominic Brown the discussion went south.  That's been the main news in Phillies-land for about two weeks. But something else needs to be talked about and it's not getting much pub. This team is on absolute fire right now.

When they flew out of Atlanta after getting swept on July 2nd they had just lost their 14th game out of 18 over a stretch that saw them get swept in 3 different series to the likes of Toronto, Baltimore and Atlanta. Their lead in the NL East had shrunk to 1 game and it appeared panic was setting in for the defending world champs.

One thing that the 2008 season taught us though about the Fightin Phils is that this was a super resilient bunch of guys.  Well, they still are. They returned home to face their rivals, the New York Mets who were riding a hot pitcher in Livan Hernandez to face a Major League "has-been" in Rodrigo Lopez.  Lopez beat the Mets that night 7-2 and the Phils are now 19-3 since the Atlanta sweep and have a commanding 7 game lead in the NL East over the Florida Marlins.

Not only have the Phillies been winning ball games but they have been doing it primarily with ease.  Over the 22 game stretch they have outscored the opposition 143-69 for an average score of 6.5-3.1. Here are some other facts from the 22-game stretch.

* The Phillies are 13-0 when Cole Hamels, Joe Blanton or Cole Hamels starts. They were 1-8 in the previous 22 games when they made a start.

* They have hit 33 HR's. Jayson Werth (6), Ryan Howard (6), Chase Utley (5), Raul Ibanez (4), Jimmy Rollins (4), Shane Victorino (3), Carlos Ruiz (2), Greg Dobbs (1), Matt Stairs (1), Pedro Feliz (1)

* In 13 of the 22 games, the Phillies have allowed 2 runs or less.

Here is the usual lineup with their July stats:

1. Jimmy Rollins....... .320-4-19 with 21 runs and 8 steals to go along with a .393 OBP

2. Shane Victorino...... 392-3-14 with 22 runs and 5 steals to go along with a .461 OBP

3. Chase Utley........ .308-5-17 with 19 runs and a .402 OBP

4. Ryan Howard........ .293-6-17 with 18 runs and a .412 OBP

5. Raul Ibanez.......  .269-4-15 with 11 runs and a .345 OBP

6. Jayson Werth...... .260-6-20 with 17 runs and a .438 OBP

7. Pedro Feliz......... .293-1-13 with 13 runs and a .350 OBP

8. Paul Bako/Carlos Ruiz..... .191-2-10 with 10 runs scored

Also, don't dismiss the acquisition of OF Ben Francisco in the Cliff Lee deal.  Francisco has power (10 HR's) and speed (13 SB's) and most importantly swings from the right side.  John Mayberry and Eric Bruntlett...in July are a combined 2 for 28 as the RH hitters off the bench.

The rotation has been stellar as well:

Cole Hamels..........  3-1 with a 4.38 ERA

Joe Blanton..........  3-0 with a 1.21 ERA

Jamie Moyer.........  4-1 with a 3.30 ERA

J.A. Happ.............  2-1 with a 2.91 ERA

Rodrigo Lopez.........  3-0 with a 3.09 ERA

Combined the Phils rotation in July is 15-3 with a 3.09 ERA.

So sure, scream and shout in excitement over last year's American League Cy Young award winner Cliff Lee from Cleveland. However, enjoy this run of dominant baseball. This is a great time to be a Phillies fan with so many everyday players in the primes of their career and a pitching staff that has turned it around.