And Chase prepares to clean his house...

Today brings the first series preview piece of the 2010 season here at PLD. We plan on making this a regular feature so please give any relevant feedback. And before anyone points out the typo in the title (it’s pronounced like ‘Brahms’), it was an intentional allusion to our friends and frequent visitors at the ProSportsDaily Phillies forum.

After recovering from a heartbreaking loss to the Braves on Tuesday night, the Phillies regrouped around Field General Roy Halladay and took the series while stifling the Braves offense. Now they take their two game win streak to Arizona where the hitting friendly confines of Chase Field await along with an even friendlier array of re-tread pitching.

Friday Night: 9:40 PM

Cole Hamels vs. Kris Benson

Cole Hamels represents the lone “good” starting pitcher of the series. However, we know he can be a little prone to the long ball and Chase Field can only make matters worse. The Phillies and their fans will be hoping that Cole brings the stuff he used to shutdown the Braves. It’s tough to predict how the Diamondbacks will fare against Hamels. They have plenty of power in the lineup, but they also feature several players led by long ball threat Mark Reynolds who are among the league leaders at the swing and miss. If Hamels can stay aggressive, he might have a lot of success against this lineup, but don’t be surprised if things suddenly get ugly.

The Phillies for their part should massacre Kris Benson. Despite a seemingly solid start against the Padres, Benson struck out only 1 while allowing 6 hits (including a home run) and walking 4. Scouts lambasted his outing, calling his stuff mediocre at best. Internet pundits are wondering aloud when Billy Buckner will take Benson’s turn in the rotation. The Phillies stable of patient and powerful hitters should be able to outlast Benson’s mediocre stuff and pile on oodles of runs. If Benson can get through 5 IP without surrendering 6 or more runs, I’ll be absolutely amazed.

Saturday Night: 9:10 PM

Nelson Figueroa vs Ian Kennedy

Last week, I suggested the Phillies try Figueroa in Kendrick’s spot in the rotation. An injury to JA Happ took that idea off the table (and a no run, 8 IP effort from KK bought him another game’s worth of breathing room). Now the guy Chris Coste called the second best starter at Mets Spring Training gets his turn in the Phillies rotation. It’s tough to figure what Figgy will bring to the table, but he seems to be pitching well with his mediocre stuff. This one has the potential to get real ugly folks but Nelson has a decent enough chance to skate through 5-6 adequate innings.

After my predicted trouncing of Benson in game 1, the Phillies face a pitcher who’s better than his numbers indicate. Ian Kennedy has decent enough stuff to pitch in the middle of an NL rotation and occasionally silence good lineups. He’s going to have a lot of problems with Utley, Howard, Werth, Ibanez, but the rest of the lineup is banged up enough that he might be able to pitch around those guys and squeeze through a quality start. A couple mistakes to the wrong players and his night could get real short, real fast. After my predicted slaughter of Benson, the DBacks are going to be leaning heavily on Kennedy to get them at least through the 7th. This should work in the Phillies advantage and could manifest in another slug-fest.

Sunday Night: 5:10 PM      (Yes I call 5:10 ‘night time’)

Kyle Kendrick vs Rodrigo Lopez

I mentioned the Saturday night game could get ugly right? This one’s bound to be a mess. Kendrick and his inability to miss bats matches up terribly with a team that’s all power when they happen to run into the ball. I’m not sure what else there is to say about it. The Diamondbacks offense looks much better than the anemic Braves unit, so we could see a repeat of Kendrick’s two outings against the Nationals. Thankfully…

We could see a repeat of Kendrick’s two outings against the Nationals. Rodrigo Lopez is yet another baaaad pitcher. This year he’s throwing way fewer fastballs than last, but all four of his offerings are worse than mediocre. Again, I expect to see the Phillies patiently out wait the inferior pitcher and tee off on mistakes. However, if anyone is going to pull a Tim Reading (or more recently Nate Robertson) and shut down the Phillies offense with bad stuff, it’s going to be Lopez.

This should be an entertaining, if not potentially frustrating, series to watch.

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On the injury front, Jimmy is taking BP left handed and continuing to recover quickly. It appears like he’ll be set to return about a week after he’s eligible to come off the DL, which is a week before the super optimistic timetable suggested. At this point, I’m wondering if the strain really was a grade 2 because he should not be this far along yet.

JA Happ’s injury (a strained forearm), is considered very minor. He’s expected to be activated from the DL as soon as he’s eligible. This has a chance to linger all season so let’s hope it heals up nice and clean now. If it lingers, it’s something he’ll probably work through with occasional skipped starts.

Joe Blanton makes his second rehab appearance today. I’m sure Phillies.com will have something available on the outcome. The important thing is that he doesn’t feel his oblique.

UPDATE:

It sounds as though the injury to JA Happ might be more serious than originally supposed. This from injury expert Will Carroll:

The Phillies don’t think that Happ will be out that long, but Ruben Amaro Jr.’s quote of “weeks, not months” leaves a lot of wiggle room. The quotes that David Murphy got in this notebook show that this is more than just a simple strain or at least the Phillies are treating it that way. Happ’s elbow is at risk here, so he will go through a full strengthening program over the next couple weeks, which makes it unlikely we’ll see him on a rehab assignment until the middle of next month. Missing weeks instead of months is certainly preferable, and catching the problem here, prior to having the stress transferred to the ligaments, is also a good sign. There’s a reason the Phillies took home the Dick Martin trophy last year. Nelson Figueroawill make a spot start in place of Happ, but with Joe Blanton close to a return, it shouldn’t affect the pen too much.

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