Can Chase Utley and the Phillies hold off the surging Marlins and solidify their grasp on first place?

As we enter Week 11 of the baseball season, most teams have played about 62 games, leaving about 100 games to go. It’s hard to believe that we are so close to the midpoint of the season and the All Star break. Most good fantasy players will tell you that this is the time of year to be making your moves. If you see deficiencies in your team, this is when you want to make trades to correct them. If trading is a problem for whatever reason, then you need to mine every possible nugget off the waiver wire. If you’re behind in some of the pitching stats, as I am in strikeouts, then you might consider “streaming” some pitchers. Some folks like to call it a “pitch and ditch’ strategy. No matter which way you choose to improve your team, you want to avoid waiting until your league’s trade deadline to make deals. If you do, you can be assured that your trading partner will soak you and goad you into over paying for the player(s) you want.

The other item you should be aware of now is the MLB trade deadline, which is coming up at the end of July. Those of you playing in mono-leagues should pay close attention to what is happening with your players. Are they potential trade bait for their respective teams? Would it be better for you to unload them now, lest they be traded to the other league? Just a few of the players mentioned as potentially being on the trading block are Matt Holliday, Garrett Atkins, and Ken Griffey Jr., all of whom could potentially change leagues.  The last thing any mono-league fantasy manager wants is to get stuck with a player whose been traded to the other league.

OK, that’s enough preachin’ for this scorching Sunday (it’s 92 degrees here already), let’s take a look at this week’s Series of the Week.

Series of the Week – Florida Marlins vs. Philadelphia Phillies – Tuesday –Thursday

Last season the Phillies and Marlins faced each other in 18 games, and split the season series down the middle. Oddly enough, in each of the six three-game series, the home team won two and lost one. This season has started the same way; when the teams met in Philadelphia at the end of May, the Phillies won two of the games and lost one to the Marlins. All three games were relatively high scoring affairs, with the Phillies beating up the Marlins pitchers for 22 runs on 21 hits, including 6 home runs in the three game set. The Marlins were no slouches against the Phillies either, scoring 15 runs on 24 hits, including 5 home runs in the series.

The pitchers scheduled for this three game set are Brett Myers vs. Ricky Nolasco in the opener on Tuesday, Cole Hamels vs. Andrew Miller on Wednesday, and Jamie Moyer vs. Scott Olsen in the series finale on Thursday. Myers won his first start against the Marlins back in May, striking out 11 batters in a dominating performance. He pitched 8 innings, giving up three runs on six hits, with three walks. He’ll be up against Nolasco, who registered the only win for the Marlins in the first series. Hamels took the only loss for the Phillies in the first series, and will get a chance to redeem himself this time against rookie Miller, who started the final game of the first series, but did not figure in the decision. Miller had a bit of a rough outing then, walking four batters, but leaving the game with the lead, only to see the bullpen let it slip away. Moyer was the winner in that game, even though he gave up a pair of home runs to Mike Jacobs in the game. Olsen did not pitch in the first series, and has not won a game since May 6^th against Milwaukee. In the six starts since then, he is 0-1 with a 5.29 ERA and he has given up 8 home runs, with batters hitting .279 off of him.

The hot hitters for the Phillies entering this series begin with Chase Utley, who has been on an absolute tear. Over the last two weeks he is batting .367, with 7 home runs and 23 RBI in 13 games. Pat Burrell batted .300 over the last two weeks, with 3 home runs, 7 RBI and 10 walks, giving him an OBP of .440. Geoff Jenkins is also hot right now, batting .343 with 4 home runs in his last nine games. Other hot hitters for the Phillies include, Chris Coste, Shane Victorino, and Greg Dobbs.

The batters on the Marlins who are swinging a hot stick right now include Jorge Cantu who batted .339 with 6 home runs and 14 RBI in his last 13 games. Luis Gonzales, who is playing full-time with Josh Willingham unavailable, batted .319 with 2 home runs and 12 RBI over the last two weeks. Cody Ross is also on fire, batting .333 with 6 home runs and 13 RBI over his last 10 games. Other hot hitters for the Marlins include Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla.

Marlins batters who have hit well against the Phillies this season are, Gonzales (.571), Ramirez (.417), Ross (.375) and Jacobs (.286)

Phillies batters who have hit well against the Marlins this season are, Utley (.364), Victorino (.308), and Burrell (.333)