Where Have You Been?

"Guess who's back, back again, Taylor's back, tell a friend." First and foremost, I apologize for not posting since April 26th, 2011, but finals, work, and other activities took over my life and I was unable to keep up with blogging. A lot has happened since Jered Weaver became 6-0, but I do not believe I cannot sum it all up in one blog. What should I blog about after being away for over a month? I'm not quite sure, so I'm going to blog about the one thing I know I always can talk about: The Phillies. The Phillies right now have the best record in the National League with a record of 34-22. And to look at the past week the past three series, they have played the Reds, the Mets, and the Nationals. Those series included a 19-inning stretch, which you probably know that Wilson Valdez got the win for. His hat was later sent to the Hall of Fame. I saw on Facebook the status of: "Jo-Jo Reyes 0-28, Wilson Valdez 1-0." Very amusing. The Phils have somewhat disappointed me because I was expecting this spectacular performance from both the offense and the defense. We all knew that Chase Utley's return would take awhile, and now that he is back for the most part, the Phillies are closer to what I call the "2010 Opening Day Lineup." That lineup goes as follows: Rollins, Polanco, Utley, Howard, Werth (Now Francisco/Brown), Ibanez, Victorino, Ruiz, Halladay. With Ruiz being shaky, Utley not playing everyday and Victorino now on the DL, the Phillies lineup fluctuates from the A-Team (minus Mr. T) and the B-Team. Any day I see Michael Martinez, Pete Orr, and Sardinha all playing, I say, "Oh it's one of those days." And by the way, do the Phillies REALLY need Michael Martinez that badly? Do they not want the Nationals to get him that badly that they have to keep his crappy bat on the roster? Right now, the Phillies are in a good position in the National League, and can maintain their spot atop the NL East. On a better note, I was happy to see Vance Worley return to the Phillies lineup, and was heartbroken to see him go. His outing against the Mets can be summed up by poor fielding by the Phillies as well as some questionable calls by the THREE umpires.