24-year old righty starting pitcher Vance Worley will be moving to the bullpen for the playoffs for the Phillies. He has pitched in 24 games (21 starts) for the Phillies so far this year and he is 11-3 with a 3.03 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Worley has now pitched in 29 games (23 starts) in his first two years in the majors and he is 12-4 with a 2.88 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. Worley has been a huge asset to the Phillies this year as he really stepped up when Roy Oswalt and Joe Blanton went down to injury. I have a feeling that he is going to really help the Phillies out of the pen.

33-year old lefty starting pitcher Cliff Lee is saving his best for last. Since August 1st, Lee has started 8 games in which he is 6-0 with a 0.56 ERA and a 0.76 WHIP. He has only given up 39 hits and walked 10 batters while whiffing 64 batters in his last 64 2/3 innings! He appears well tuned for the playoffs and the Phillies hope he keeps up the good work. Lee has now pitched in 31 games (all starts) for the Phillies this year and he is 16-8 with a 2.38 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. The Phillies’ front office looks like they made a super decision in bringing Lee back into the fold last winter.

32-year old lefty starting pitcher Cliff Lee has started 2 games so far in August and he is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.77 WHIP. He has been a tad hot and cold so far this year for the Phillies. In his seven starts in June & August this season, Lee is 7-0 with a 0.15 ERA and a 0.71 WHIP! In his other 17 starts this year, Lee is 5-7 with a 4.22 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. Of course when you put the numbers togehter as a whole, they are still quite impressive. Lee has started 24 games for the Phillies so far this year and he is 12-7 with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He has only given up 153 hits and he has walked 34 batters in his first 172 innings so far this year. But the most impressive stat for Lee so far this year is his 177 whiffs. He has turned into a strikeout pitcher and he will easily set a new career high in strikeouts as his current high is 185 of them. The bottom line is that Lee has been great this year for the Phillies.

26-year old righty starter/reliever Kyle Kendrick is pitching the best baseball of his major league career right now. Kendrick has pitched in 23 games (8 starts) for the Phillies so far this year and he is 5-4 with a 3.34 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. He has filled in for whatever role the Phillies have needed him to and he has looked good in all of them so far this year. Kendrick has pitched in 116 games (91 starts) in his first five years with the Phillies and he is 40-28 with a 4.52 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP.

The Philadelphia Phillies will be sending a quartet of players to the All-Star Game next week. 35-year old righty swinging 3B Placido Polanco was elected by the fans, so he’s going to be the starting 3B. Polanco has played in 83 games for the Phillies so far this year and he is 88 for 321 (.274 avg, .676 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 4 homers, 39 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He was the best of a very weak crop of 3B in the N.L. this year. 34-year old righty starting pitcher Roy Halladay will be making the trip to the All-Star Game. He has started 18 games for the Phillies so far this year and he is 11-3 with a 2.44 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. 32-year old lefty Cliff Lee will be heading out west next week too. Lee has started 18 games for the Phillies so far this year and he is 9-6 with a 2.92 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. 27-year old Cole Hamels rounds out the Phillies’ contingent heading to the All-Star Game as he is having by far the best year of his career. Hamels has started 18 games for the Phillies so far this year and he is 10-4 with a 2.40 ERA and a 0.95 WHIP. I’m surprised that Ryan Howard didn’t get picked but the Phillies will still be represented well at the All-Star Game.