Phillies second baseman Chase Utley is having quite the World Series. The perennial All-Star is hitting .333 with five home runs, eight RBI and a disgusting 1.651 OPS. Needless to say, he's as locked in as anyone in the series. Four of those round-trippers came in the two Phillies victories (two in each), which illustrates the point that it is paramount for the Yankees to stop him in order to win Game 6.
In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.
Unless you are a fan with a rooting interest in this World Series, it's nearly impossible to not appreciate how good of a matchup this World Series is. Both the Phillies and Yankees have dominant aces they can rely on, sluggers that pound the ball with the best of them, and tenacious hitters who seem to make every at-bat an epic battle.
In such an even matchup, it's difficult to find glaring edges for either club, and that is where advanced scouting can come into play. Knowing how to pitch a certain dangerous hitter in order to neutralize him or what to look for against a particular pitcher could be what wins or loses a potentially tight series such as this. So, where are those holes each team can exploit and what will it take for them to come out on top?
Let's start by looking at two stat lines. Some of you have probably already guessed where I'm going with this, but bear with me.
Player A: .319/.395/.691, 1 HR/11.56 plate appearances Player B: .207/.298/.356, 1 HR/37 plate appearances
If you haven't already figured it out, both of those players are Ryan Howard. "Player A" is Howard against righties in 2009 and "Player B" is Howard against lefties in 2009. To simplify, Ryan Howard is Albert Pujols against righties and David Eckstein against lefties. So why does no one question Jim Tracy's decision to leave right-hander Huston Street in the game to face Howard with the Rockies' season on the line?
Back in July, when the Phillies' Ryan Howard hit his 200th career home run, it was noteworthy because he achieved the milestone in fewer games than anyone in major league history.
And now it's noteworthy for another reason: 12-year-old Jennifer Valdivia, who ended up with the historic ball, was ushered to the Phillies clubhouse after the game to exchange it for an autographed one. Her mother sued the organization and now Jennifer has Howard's 200th home run ball back in her possession.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That Ryan Howard is trying to challenge Albert Pujols for National League MVP.
Howard homered twice, doubled and drove in three runs Friday in the Phillies' 4-2 defeat of the Braves. Philadelphia now has an eight-game lead in the NL East.
"It makes you feel good when he starts hitting," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "He's amazing. He'll take two swings and not look too good, then all of a sudden he stays on a pitch and smokes it out of the yard. He's a tremendous hitter."
If one theme has emerged during the first half of the 2009 season in the National League, it's that it's Albert Pujols' world and we're all just living in it. After nine superb seasons in which he's only finished out of the top four in MVP voting once, he's somehow on pace for his best season yet.
With this year's Home Run Derby in St. Louis and Pujols making a point to perform in front of the home crowd, it's essentially him against the field Monday night. Do Adrian Gonzalez, Carlos Pena, Prince Fielder, Ryan Howard, Joe Mauer, Nelson Cruz, or Brandon Inge stand any sort of chance of spoiling Pujols' parade?
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That Ichiro Suzuki has another hitting streak going. Suzuki singled in his first at-bat on Saturday and ran his hitting streak to 23 consecutive games. Since Ichiro got to the big leagues in 2001, this is his seventh hitting streak of at least 20 games.
In that time, no one else in the majors has had more than two streaks of that length.
"It's not a fluke that a guy like that has consistency in his game," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. "He's so strong mentally that you see the exact same approach day in and day out with him. Even if he does struggle a little bit, he seems to find a way to get either an infield hit, hit the ball the other way or pull the ball. So he has a lot of weapons, and obviously the ability to still run at his age allows him to do that."
Here's what's weird though. Although Ichiro has gotten to 20 seven times, he's never gotten past 25, the franchise record he set in 2007. Fifteen players have had hitting streaks of 26 games or more during that time.
From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.
I think we can all agree that it's far too early to start voting upon who the best 2009 players are when it's only the middle of May. That being said, there are certainly some shining stars at this point who deserve some props. Plus, Major League Baseball recently released their All-Star ballots for our voting pleasure -- we vote on who will start the All-Star Game. If that's not important, I don't know what is. Let's take a gander.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Matt Garza is one of those talented pitchers that novice owners probably lost patience with quickly. And if they did, they were watching Thursday's spectacular performance kicking themselves. Garza, who had struggled with his command through his first four starts, took a perfect game bid into the seventh inning against the Red Sox and finished with a line worthy of adulation: 7 2/3 innings, 10 strikeouts, 1 hit, 1 walk, no runs. Has he turned the corner that quickly?
Phillies second baseman Chase Utley is having quite the World Series. The perennial All-Star is hitting .333 with five home runs, eight RBI and a disgusting 1.651 OPS. Needless to say, he's as locked in as anyone in the series. Four of those round-trippers came in the two Phillies victories (two in each), which illustrates the point that it is paramount for the Yankees to stop him in order to win Game 6. 
In 
PHILADELPHIA -- So far this postseason, 
Let's start by looking at two stat lines. Some of you have probably already guessed where I'm going with this, but bear with me. 
Back in July, when the Phillies' 
If one theme has emerged during the first half of the 2009 season in the National League, it's that it's 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
