Good work, Matt.

Is it time to start Wood now, or can he wait even longer??

When did Utley, Howard, et al, get their break?

I think if we can get Figgy back, we should. We don’t have another lead off option, and until we can find one (Aybar, Izturis, free agent), Figgy is a huge plus at 3rd. He leads off, steals, scores, and is great with the glove.

at least howard (and assuming utley, and rollins) played many games at once. I don’t know about the rest, except for ruiz, he was usually platooned with another catcher. jim thome was traded from the phillies to the chi sox so howard could start regularly. i don’t know how many games wood has played consecutively and not “every so often”. I want to see what wood is like if he plays every day, something Kendry Morales benefited from greatly this year.

I have wondered myself whether Woodsy is a bit old to be a prospect without having done the real research. This is really reassuring that Wood has to possibility of being a great contribution to the team.

We control Wood through his prime. That’s the beauty of what the Phillies did with their guys – keeping them arbitration eligible through the bulk of their primes. There’s no reason to rush things

What’s interesting to me is only 2 of the original 5 you mentioned were drafted by the Phils (Howard and Utley). Werth was drafted/developed by the Dodgers, and Ibanez was drafted/developed by the Mariners. Victorino is quite a story, having been a rule 5 draftee of the Padres and then a rule 5 draftee of the Phils after having been signed originally by the Dodgers.

It tells me the Phils have either;
1) Developed a keen eye for talent throughout their organization,
2) They have the ability to cultivate raw talent that other organizations somehow miss,
3) They have been really lucky with these players, or
4) Some combination of the above.

One way or the other, Brandon Wood has been given time to mature. I hope the time to mature has sharpened his focus and will pay dividends in his plate appearances.

By the time Mr. Scott Rolen turned 25, he had:
1,731 career AB’s,
479 hits,
115 doubles,
8 triples,
82 home runs,
scored 297 runs and drove in 297 runs,
and collected 406 walks.

Admittedly, he did strike out 420 times, but that averages out to 105 times a season. Morales KO’ d 117 times in 2009, Figgy 114 times, and Abreu 113 times. So it’s not as though Rolen suffered from any unacceptable strike out rate.

Yeah. Wood has some catching up to do with the Phillies’ third baseman.

and if all else fails, there’s Melvin Mora; solid defensively and offensively.

Every where he’s went he has produced and I don’t see it being any different at the MLB level. If he gets his 500 at bats and struggles that’ll suck but I think he will pull an Aybar with the 500 at bats. He’ll struggle at first but in the end he will have been productive

One game doesn’t make a season, or a career, and perhaps everyone on the field felt like they were assigned to absorb a loss while the t-shirts changed clothes and got pretty for the post-game rally… but I just can’t get over how he played out there. Was anyone else there? Did anyone else see what I saw?

Just needs consistent playing time. You’ll see. Just like K-MO.

I say we package HGH (eating $8Mill), Wood, O’Sullivan, & F. Rodriguez to the Reds for Scott Rolen and Bronson Arroyo.

Another argument in keeping Bobby Abreu is Wood getting some playing time at the MLB Level. Abreu mentoring Wood could really give him a shot in the arm and if he learns from Abreu maybe he could put up some stellar numbers.

In how many online polls does Matt Stairs ever get 100 votes…?

Go, Matt!

Okay back to the topic. I thought of Wood when watching the Phillies and a thought hit me. Pedro Feliz is a free agent.

Let’s trade Brandon Wood to the Phillies for Cole Hamels!

when I see the Phillies :)