The New York Mets come into Philadelphia this
evening with a renewed hope of putting their laughable struggles of the
past few seasons behind them. It's Cole Hamels job to take the first
step in squashing that hope, and demonstrating the Phillies are, once
again, the team to beat the the NL East.
The Mets have made some changes in their decision makers, but the
core of their team remains very similar to the team of the past few
seasons. That said, the Phillies are not looking past the Mets this
season. Charlie Manuel even thinks they're going to surprise some
people.
"When I look at their team, their starting pitching usually pitches
pretty good against us, especially three or four of their starters. They
still have Rodriguez at the back of their bullpen," Manuel said. "If
you look at their lineup, they've got a pretty good lineup. They're
going to win more games than people think they are."
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The Mets will throw their fourth starter this evening, the tall Chris
Young. That's pretty much the most noteworthy thing about Young, that
he's 6 feet, 10 inches tall.
"He's Big," Charlie Manuel said of Young. "He looks like he's
standing right up on top of you. He's not throwing the ball real hard.
But his fastball is sneaky. Sometimes he's kind of wild enough to be
real good."
He'll face the same Phillies lineup that started opening day, with
Shane Victorino back in the leadoff spot and playing center field after
getting the beginning to Sunday's game off.
The Phillies will counter the Mets fourth starter with one Colbert
Hamels. Asked if it has hit him until now that Cole Hamels is his fourth
starter, Manuel had this to say, "It's going to hit me tonight when I
get to see him."
News
Should finally hit the rest of us too.
7:05 scheduled start time from chilly CBP this evening.
*
Utley Jog Watch
After reports this morning that Utley will be able to start jogging any day now, Ruben Amaro Jr. says Utley is, in fact, not close to jogging.
"He is not close to jogging. If he was close to jogginghe’d be
jogging, I guess. He has taken some ground balls. He’s done okaywith
that so far. But it’s still baby steps."
So that's neat.
Charlie was asked about Chase's progress before the game as well.
"He's
slowly coming around. I watched him the last couple of days. He's
starting to move a little farther each day," Manuel said of Utley
taking more grounders prior to each game over the weekend.