Phillies vs. Giants

10:05 PM EST at AT&T Park

Ryan Howard received a package from the Phillies via UPS today. This was what was inside.

In a desperate attempt to draw the attention away from how badly the Phils match up against the Giants tonight (except Roy Halladay), they signed Ryan Howard to a redonkulous deal. Keystone of franchise? Check. Biggest sports star in Philadelphia? Check. All-Star production for the next six years? Uh..let us hope.

Back to a more important matter, however, is that Howard will get a chance to blow some of that cash in San Francisco as the Phillies open a three game series against the Giants. The Phillies are like, awkwardly bad in this stadium, losing the last five of six. The only win came off of the gem that Cliff Lee (remember him?) twirled. I attended two of them, they lost both. I’m still bitter.

The good news is that it is Halladay season in the Bay City, the bad news is that recent history suggests this may be the first loss for our stud. Doc has two career starts in San Fran, in which he’s racked up a 0-1 record with a 7.71 ERA. This season is a different story though, as he is possibly the best pitcher in NL so far. His competeition? Tim Lincecum, but we’ll save that story for game three.

Remember that no-name guy who threw that no-hitter last year for the Giants? Jonathan Sanchez is really a hit or miss type of pitcher. When he’s on, he can deal. In fact, in his last start he threw seven innings of one hit baseball (he was still the tough luck loser). A good, young, hot left handed pitcher is everything the Phillies don’t need right now. The lineup obviously hasn’t been released yet, but I would assume Shane and Placido’s right handed bats will be reinserted.

It’s one thing to talk about lefty on lefty match ups, but when it comes to the Phillies and Sanchez they’ve lived up to the hype. Howard is 3 – 12 with six strike outs. Utley is 1 – 8. And our right handers don’t fare much better. Jayson Werth is 0 -7, while VictoRINO (like that? get it?…like a Rinosaurus) is 2 – 9.

Fun Phact – With his new deal, Ryan Howard could replace all of the home run balls he’s hit in his MLB career (The MLB charges $170.25 per case of ten balls?!). He would still have $124,996,118.75 left over.

The Phillies have yet to name a replacement for injured starting pitcher Antonio Bastardo, who was recently placed on the 15-day disabled list.

The team has scoured the trade market to no avail. Thus, it appears the Phillies will make a roster decision within the organization.

For now, J.A. Happ has been moved up a day to fill Bastardo’s schedule spot in the rotation Thursday night in the series finale against the Braves.

However, the Phils will need a fifth starter ASAP. Chances are it will be either Andrew Carpenter, who was up for a cup of coffee last month, or top prospect Carlos Carrasco, both of whom are pitching for Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

While the Phils are high on Carpenter’s potential, Carrasco is the sexier pick to fill the void in the rotation. After a sluggish start, the hard-throwing right-hander has excelled in recent outings.

Nevertheless, the Phillies will continue to look for a trade partner leading up to the July 31 trade deadline. And starting pitching remains top priority.