Opening Day!!

With the first regular season game right around the corner spring training has been a lot of fun to watch, looking out for the further players to come up and see who will be called up in the middle and end of the season to shin best. Now it’s time to get down to business with the first game on April 4, 2010 it will be the defending World Series Champions New York Yankees taken on their big rival the Boston Red Soxs. This should be a fun pitching match up to watch, pitching for the Yankees will be their left handed ace C.C. Sabathia who in 2009 put up some pretty good number and also won his first World Series last year over a strong Phillies lineup, with an ERA - 3.37, 19 wins, 8 losses, and 197 strikeouts. For the Red Soxs they will send out their right handed ace Josh Beckett who 2009 was probably their best pitcher on their team and getting his club to the ALDS last year but coming up short to the Angles, Beckett season came to an early end. His ERA was 3.86, 17 wins, 6 losses, 199 strikeouts in 2009. The Yankees still do not have a set line up but after coming off a 103 win season in 2009 I'm sure they will be back for an encore to make another run to defend their crown. For the Red Soxs some say they might have the best pitching staff in the American League having a 1,2,3 punch with Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, and John Lackey. The 3 J'S they call them, but then you add Daisuke Matsuzaka as their number 4 starter, Boof Bonser and Clay Buchholz as their number 5 starter is still up for grabs. This should be a fun season to watch and see who will take the American League East Championship this year.


We now move over to April 5, 2010 and we already know that almost everyone will be watching the Phillies take on the Nationals, but why watch that game? Well maybe because the Phillies have one of the best pitchers in the game on their team. Yes most people will be watching to see how Roy Halladay will do in his first outing with his new team the Philadelphia Phillies. As everyone knows the Phillies made one of the biggest buck buster trades in baseball, trading away their ace in the World Series Cliff Lee for another ace Roy Halladay. Now it’s time to see how this trade will pen out for the Phils. In 2009 Roy Halladay's numbers were probably one of his best with an ERA of 2.79, 17 wins, 10 losses, and 208 strikeouts. Halladay with the Phillies everyone has picked them to win the NL East, the NL Division for the third straight year, and possible win the World Series for the second time in 3 years. We already know the Phillies have a strong lineup adding new and former third baseman Placido Polanco. The best part about this deal is that Polanco can play second as well and you can put Greg Dobbs at third to give Chase Utley a day off. Also you have a great number 2 hitter in the lineup not saying that Shane Victorino didn't fill the roll good but Victorino will get more chances to drive in more RIB's hitting in the 7th hole behind Howard, Werth, and Ibanez. The pitching staff and bull pen are the biggest worries.


We start with the pitching staff, we already know what were getting out of Halladay but the biggest issue still is will Cole Hamels have a bounce back year? Phillies pitching Coach Rich Dubee said "that Cole looks the best he has ever looked in his short career and I think he'll be back to have a better year and will fill in his roll pretty well." So let’s hope he's right. Now we move over to Joe Blanton who before Cliff Lee came over to our team last year was probably our most consisted pitcher on our team and has always put up good numbers. Blanton is also an inning eater and he can go about 6 or 7 innings deep into the game. Just his problem is he always has a rough first half of the season, but there should be no worries with the pitching staff and bull pen he will have this year. Now with Happ coming oh so close to winning NL Rookie of the Year, who knows what he will do. I think Happ will have a good year, not as good as 2009 but who knows he might surprise you again like he did in 2009. Now to the number 5 starters that's still up for grabs with Jamie Moyer and Kyle Kendrick. If you were to ask me I would say put Moyer in the pen only because if J.C. Romero isn't ready for the first month of the season we will need to have that left handed pitcher we need in the pen and Moyer can go an inning or two.


Now with our two new guys in the pen Danys Baez and Jose Contreras these guys could definitely fill in the closer or the other set up man in the pen. With Brad Lidge coming back from his sugary he will not be ready for the first month so one of these guys will have to fill in that roll. Pitching Coach Rich Dubee said that "Lidge looks very strong and who knows he might be ready but were still not sure if we want to have him start for a month only because we wanna make sure he's 100% ready to go". So the defending National League Champions have some odds and ends of their own, but in the end I still think this is still the team to beat in the NL and in the MLB. So get ready to rock out with your "DOC" out and hang on to your seat because it’s going to be a roller coaster season in 2010.

This is beyond a new beginning, this is Beyond Baseball.

Philis 3 - Yanks 2 in the Spring Training Opener!

Well it seemed today as if things picked up just where they left off with both of these teams, after just playing each other 4 months ago in the 2009 World Series both teams met again on Thursday March 4th, in Clearwater FL for the first 2010 spring training opener for both clubs. Only this time on the mound for the Phillies wasn't the left hander Cliff Lee it was the right hander Roy "Doc" Halladay. Halladay would square off against which some people might say you might see this match up again this October the Yankees ace and left hander C.C. Sabathia. But all eyes were on Roy Halladay as in 2 innings of work he had 3 strikeouts, threw 24 pitches, and 21 out of 24 were all strikes! This has to be a good sign for the players and the fans. Even though Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez were not in the lineup Halladay said he still had a great time. "Halladay is going to like pitching in the NL against the 7, 8, 9 batters. The kind of pitcher he is, I expect him be even better with the Phillies than he was with the Blue Jays" said Yankees ace C.C. Sabthia.

The Phillies beat the Yankees by a score of 3-2 and at one point of the game it seemed like things haven't changed for both these teams giving you the goose bumps in the top and bottom of the 9th inning. The Phillies will be playing the Blue Jays Halladay former team in their second spring training game tomorrow afternoon at 1:05.

This is beyond the start of unfinished business, this is Beyond Babseball.