So who is this year’s Butler?  Ironically enough, their first round opponent is being pre-dubbed just that.  Old Dominion has the talent to give a good run into this weekend and possibly next weekend as well.  Analysts are already talking about how the Monarchs match up against Pittsburgh; hinting that #16 UNC-Asheville doesn’t stand a chance Thursday.

But let’s not get a head of ourselves here.  The first task at hand is the #8 Bulldogs out of Butler.  Given a #9 seed although Old Dominion seemed poised to grab a #7 seed and the highest ranking of a CAA team since David Robinson lead Navy into the dance.  That’s in the past.  It is a favorable match up for ODU seeing how their conference counterpart George Mason snagged a #8 and a meeting with Villanova in the East Region.

The Monarchs are coming in riding a nine game win streak, a feat that Butler also boasts, on the heels of winning the CAA title over tough rival Virginia Commonwealth.  ODU has four starters returning from last year’s team who beat Notre Dame and made it to the second round of the tournament.

One of the big reasons to ODU’s success is their work on the boards.  Big man Frank Hassell is averaging over nine rebounds a game and the team overall is seventh in the country at over 40 boards a game.  The Monarchs also have five guys with at least four rebounds a game.

Butler sits all the way down at #177 in rebounds at just under 35 a game.  The lonely Radford Highlanders even averaged more boards a game.  Shout out to Moffat Quad!  The Bulldogs middle man Matt Howard managed to pull down just under eight boards a game but look for the man-child Hassell to have his way under the basket.

ODU’s pressing zone defense should frustrate Butler’s shooting game.  Not allowing Butler to shoot from outside the arc will be crucial for ODU to keep the game close.  Butler has two guys shooting over 40% from three point range, one being the mentioned Howard.  This will play an interesting part in the game having Kent Bazemore or Darius James guarding him up top.  It will be a total team effort.  A team that only allowed 58.3 points a game this season; good for fourth fewest in the nation.

Bazemore, or Baze as the student section knows him as, is an electric player from nowheresville North Carolina and probably has the most realistic NBA prospect status as anyone in the mid-major conferences.  If Bazemore is on, Butler is out.  Blessed with a plus 40 inch veritcal and a wing span mirroring a teradactyl, the Baze always seems to be in the right place at the right time.  Named the CAA Defensive Player of the Year, he is averaging over 12 points a game.

Prediction? Blood.  Ok, not really.  This will be a tough match up for Old Dominion, but not an impossible one.  Old Dominion squeeks by Butler 71-65.

As for second base, Rizzo has to try and find a veteran to come in or will have to ride it out with Gonzalez and Espinosa.  Now the reason I am calling out Marrero for first base and not someone like Mike Morse is because Rizzo has already said Morse is not being considered for the starting first baseman role.

Nyger Morgan 8

Ian Desmond  6

Ryan Zimmerman 5

Jayson Werth 9

Josh Willingham 7

Ivan Rodriguez 2

Chris Marrero 3

Alberto Gonzalez 4

I am not even going to touch on starting pitching right now.  The rotation could see a major overhaul here in the next couple weeks.  Rizzo did say the signing of Jayson started Phase 2 of the Nationals plan.  Apparently Phase 1 was building a system and drafting the right guys.  Phase 2 is all about winning games and eventually championships.

Oh, I know a lot of you guys don’t like the idea of Morgan in center field. But at this point Rizzo says they are going into Spring Training with Morgan as the starter.

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Dubbed the most attractive free agent not named Cliff Lee, Jayson Werth was coming out of Philadelphia finally living up to his 5-tool projections.

The Nationals will give Werth $126 million over seven years.  When his contract is finally up, Werth will be 38 years old.  Amazing any team would give a 31 year-old a seven year deal.

The thing to remember here is Werth is not the savior.  This Nationals are still at least two years away from winning with Stephen Strasburg missing next year and Bryce Harper probably not ready until 2012/13.  But when you combine Werth with Ryan Zimmerman, Josh Willingham, Mike Morse and company they will have a good core group for years to come.  Willingham could become disposable with Harper coming up and Roger Bernadina able to play outfield.  And play it well.

The Werth signing does not make the Nationals a playoff team, not even close.  But it does take a lot of the pressure off Zimmerman, who I am sure has been feeling it when Adam Dunn was not resigned.

Rizzo says right now they have Werth penciled in to hit middle of the order and play right field.  He hinted to the fact it was still early in the offseason so things could change.  Are the Nationals really looking at another signing?  Highly unlikely.

However, I do agree, it is still early.  Things could a lot more exciting from here on out.

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However, playing against such a potent offense like the Reds you would think a sweep means the Phillies were back to their normal ways of smashing the ball and putting up crooked numbers.  Not the case.  Except for the ninth inning Friday night, every inning the Phillies have scored in this series has only been the one run.  It did work don’t get me wrong.  But nothing is fixed.  The starting pitchers, minus Kentucky Fried Blanton, really stepped it up.  The trio of Kyle Kendrick, Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels threw a combined 23.1 innings and allowed only 14 hits and one earned run.  It was exactly what the Phillies offense needed only supporting their efforts with six runs over those three games.

The one good thing about the offense is they are putting the ball in play only striking out four times in this game.  Jayson Werth and Carlos Ruiz each had a walk and a hit while Jimmy Rollins contributed the other two hits including an RBI single in the third inning scoring Ruiz for the only run of the game.

That was all Hamels would need.  He didn’t allow a run for the first time in his 18 starts this season.  This does not mean he is back to his ’08 form yet but he is getting there.  He worked out a bases loaded with no outs jam in the fourth.  Hamels only struck out three but was able to trust the defense with balls in play.  He also had three walk throwing 112 pitches.

After escaping a jam in last night’s game, Brad Lidge came in for the ninth to record the final two outs for his sixth save of the season.  He needed only five pitches to end the game.

Worth noting: The Mets beat the Braves 3-0 which puts the Phillies 4 1/2 games behind the Braves and only a 1/2 game behind the Mets.

Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino and Ben Francisco each had three hits apiece for the Phils who have been on a scoring tear for the past four series.  They are averaging almost six runs a game while playing the Yankees, Twins, Indians and now Toronto winning 8 of 12.  They scored all their runs today without help from the long ball, which should be a good sign their offense is clicking.

Jaime Moyer broke Phillies Hall of Famer Robin Roberts’ record of home runs allowed in a career.  Moyer gave up number 506 to Vernon Wells in the third inning but by then it was already too late.  Philly bats chased Toronto’s starter Brett Cecil in the fifth inning after he allowed seven runs and threw 97 pitches.  Phillies starters were showing patience at the plate, seeing almost four pitches per at bat.  Another sign they are seeing the ball really well.

Record breaking jitters aside, it was business as usual for Moyer.  Other than the homer to Wells, Moyer only allowed five hits and struck out seven before finishing out the seventh inning.  He is now tied for the team lead in wins with Roy Halladay at nine.  Over his last three starts, Moyer has thrown 23 innings and only allowed five earned runs while striking out 17.  The Phillies, not surprisingly, are 3-0 in those games.

The Phillies were without Placido Polanco for a second straight game after he said he aggravated his elbow making a play in Friday’s game.  He is scheduled to receive another cortisone shot today which will likely keep him out until Tuesday at the earliest.

The only Phils starters without a hit were Jayson Werth and Wilson Valdez.  They both went 0-5.

Worth mentioning: Rollins, Francisco and catcher Dane Sardinha each had two RBIs.  I know all of you started him in fantasy.  Right?

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There is another story here.  The one I see is the third and final game of this series.  This game will feature two of the four active pitchers to have at least 11 wins in 10 or more seasons.  The other two being Tim Hudson of the Braves and Tim Wakefield from Boston.

Veteran lefties Jamie Moyer and Andy Pettitte are tops on that list with 15 and 14, respectively, 11-win seasons.  Moyer has won at least 15 games five times while Pettitte has eight seasons of 15 or more wins.  These two pitchers have 40 years of Major League experience between them.  Thats 501 wins and only 337 losses.  Combined Pettitte and Moyer have pitched in 1,159 games for nine different teams.  Over 1,000 games started and 68 in relief.

The numbers here are astounding.  These two have seen over 7,000 hits, 759 home runs, 58 complete games, over 2,500 K’s and 2,075 BB’s.

This season has taken these pitchers on opposite paths.  While Pettitte is still acting like the ace of the rotation going 8-1, 2.46 ERA, Moyer has struggled at times going 6-6, 5.03 ERA.  The Yankees are 17 games over .500 and tied for first place.  The Phillies who have spent most the last two seasons in first place are only three games over and sitting in third.

I am not offering up any predictions for this game or the series for that matter.  I will, however give Andy Pettitte the edge.  Between the two veterans and 40 years of MLB service he has one HR.  And that is one more than Jamie Moyer.  Of course playing in an AL ballpark, this stat will not matter.

I will predict a huge aroma of Icy Hot and Baby Powder.

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Now, for me, on this Memorial Day I will be remembering something else along with the brave souls in uniforms.  I remember a day when crooked numbers were plentiful and joyous fans by the handful would pour out of Citizens Bank Park onto Broad Street.  I remember the Philadelphia Phillies as one of the most offensively scary teams in all of baseball.

This is something the town of Philadelphia has not seen in awhile.  The Phillies have lost six of their last eight and have only scored seven runs in those eight games.  They have been shut out of five times including three in a row to division rivals the New York Mets.  Now the good news is they Phillies had a big enough lead to where there are still sitting (barely) on top of the division by half a game.

That half game lead over the Braves makes this series, which starts today, very important.  The Phillies have grown accustomed to sitting on top of the division this year and most of last season.  But unless the bats wake up they might be looking up to their rivals instead of down.

The Phillies are hitting .186 since May 22 and have not hit a home run in 54 innings.  They have not scored a run in 69 of the last 74 innings.  The normally dangerous 3-4-5 hitters of the Phils Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth are a combined 11 for their last 84.  Werth went 0-4 last night with four strikeouts.  And for you beard fanatics counting at home thats 0-17 since he shaved the beard.  Bring it back Jayson, bring it back.

The Phillies are playing the Braves for three games, then after a four game set with San Diego they will welcome back Florida for three games.  If the bats don’t get to work, the Phillies could be bottom of the barrel after those 10 games.

Let’s hope it doesn’t come to this.

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But with Lidge back and the possibility of him closing out the game tonight, I can not help but wonder if he might be closing out Kendrick’s season as well.  Kendrick was battling Jamie Moyer all Spring Training for the final rotation spot.  And while pitching in all ‘A’ games and pitching well, he took a back seat to Moyer who struggled in mostly ‘B’ games.  But 8 million sitting in the bullpen looks a lot different from 400k rounding out the pitching staff.  I guess when it counts Moyer has pitched well this season going 2-2 with an ERA just above five.

Joe Blanton, despite getting rocked a bit in his last rehab start, says he is ready to return to the big league club.  And soon behind him will be JA Happ and Jimmy Rollins.  Now we all know once Rollins comes back it will be Wilson Valdez on waivers.  He is all out of options so will have to get passed up by the rest of the league before going back to Lehigh Valley.  And with the injury bug biting a lot of teams already this year, that seems unlikely.

Antonio Bastardo has been optioned to Lehigh to make room for Lidge.  Phillies GM Ruben Amaro brought in former Mets pitcher Nelson Figueroa to help out in the pen.  J.C. Romero is back, and bullpen residents Chad Durbin and Ryan Madson are not going anywhere.  So who leaves once Blanton and Happ come back?  Who are the odd men out?  My list is Kendrick, Danys Baez, Figgy, or David Herndon.

Herndon was a Rule 5 pick from the Angels and would have to be returned to LA if removed from the 25 man roster.  While he pitched great in Spring Training earning him a spot in the pen, he has struggled in relief in 8.2 IP with a +6 ERA.  Another option to leave would be Figueroa.  I know Rube thought he would be a good mid-game inning eater but Durbin and Jose Contreras if needed they can throw two or three innings.

Kendrick will be a good 4th or 5th starter some day but it is hard to see when he fits in here.  Unless he can get steady work he will continue to be unable to locate pitches.  He has as many walks as he does strikeouts this season (9).  Ultimately I think Kendrick moves to the bullpen once Blanton returns and Herndon is released.  As for Happ’s return I think this will cause Rube to release Figgy.  I only say this because Baez is set to make 2.5 million so the Phillies must have a lot of confidence in his abilities.  As for the Philly Phaithful, the jury is still out.

With the Phillies playing well enough to only spend their, now, third day out of first place since May 2009, the return of Blanton and Happ will be huge.  I am all for letting the Mets ‘peak’ this early in the season and see them run out of steam come the All Star break.

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