Series preview with Phils TBOH blogger Justin Klugh

I always love it when we play the Phillies. Not only do I get to see our All-Star former Astros players, I get to yuck it up with Fansided’s TBOH blogger Justin Klugh. This guy is a die-hard Phils fan and blogger extraordinaire. I ran a few questions by Justin about the upcoming series and here’s what he had to say.

Question: How happy are you guys to have Hunter Pence?

Justin: It’s my theory that it isn’t typically difficult to transform the Phillies fanbase into a chorus of giggling school girls, especially when you are a friendly, open, media-savvy player with a lot to contribute whose very presence in our lineup makes it better than it ever was with somebody like Ben Francisco or an empty dog food dish or whatever they stuck in RF before Hunter came along.  All you need to do is follow a bunch of Phils blogs, wait for Hunter to say/do something, and wait for the ZOMG-ing to commence.

Question: How many runs do you think Pence will drive in in the series? I put the over/under at 8

Justin: Eight is fair, but you have to take into account any runs he’ll give up by comically falling over while tracking a routine fly ball.  My endless comparisons of him to a deer only get better when you watch footage of him doing that next to footage of a deer being shot in the leg with a tranquilizer.

 Question: Is Brad Lidge going to take over the closer’s role any time soon?

Justin: I think this question is a joke, and if so, its a good one.  Seriously.  Nice work.

And if it isn’t a joke, then… look, just pretend it was.

Question: What about Oswalt’s health? Will he be in the rotation come playoff time?

Justin: Mmmmmmmmmbuh.  Yes.  I believe.

It would be a tall order for Vance Worley, a rookie, to shoulder the responsibility of a starting pitcher come playoff time.  Don’t get me wrong.  Dude’s a cold hearted killer but Oswalt has been there and has earned the spot.  A .500 pitcher in the minors, Worley, despite how well he’s done and how much my purchase of a pair of sports goggles to wear all the time was based on his look, is probably at this point just glad he’s involved at all.

 As you can see Justin has his finger on the pulse of this Phillies team, and he has a good time sharing his insights. For more on the Phillies and for my responses to Justin’s questions about the Astros, go to thatballsouttahere.com