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.

With Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson and Jose Contreras on the D.L., the Phillies have turned to 25-year old lefty reliever Antonio Bastardo to close and he’s off to a good start in his new role. Bastardo has pitched in 33 games (0 starts) for the Phillies so far this year and he is 3-0 with 4 saves, a 0.90 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP. He has only given up 11 hits in his first 30 innings this year while he has whiffed 34 batters which shows just how nasty he has been this year. Bastardo has really grown up as a pitcher as his first two years were kind of rough. In Bastardo’s first two years with the Phillies, he worked in 31 games (0 starts) in which he was 4-3 with a 5.53 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. The Phillies need Bastardo to stay on his game as he has been electric for them so far this year.

32-year old lefty starting pitcher Cliff Lee has been on fire for the Phillies so far this month. Lee has started 3 games for the Phillies so far in June and he is 3-0 with a 0.38 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. Lee has only allowed 13 hits in his first 24 innings this month. Lee has now started 15 games for the Phillies so far this year and he is 7-5 with a 3.12 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Lee has already walked 24 batters this year in 104 innings, which is 6 more batters than he walked in all of 2010 in 212 1/3 innings) but his control has still be excellent. Lee has also whiffed 111 batters in 104 innings as he is turning into a strikeout pitcher.