Maybe I was wrong about Matt Stairs. Despite the fact that he is not a suitable option for the outfield, Matt Stairs proved again today why he is a valuable member of this team with a 9th inning, 2 run homer that propelled the Phils to a second win in a row against the Rockies at Coors Field that brought them back to .500.

The emergence of the Phillies offense is a welcomed sight, but the starters have yet to join in on the success. Brett Myers was better on Saturday night than he was on opening night, but he still gave up too many long balls. Chan Ho Park did not build on his outstanding spring successes, instead struggling mightily in the first inning of yesterday’s 7-5 win.

The Phillies head to Washington to face the winless Nationals. With 6 April games against the Nats and 3 against the Padres, this is a month where the Phils would do well to stockpile some wins against inferior competition. Jamie Moyer gets his second start in 2009, and he’ll need to miss more bats in DC in order for the Phils to see the good side of .500.

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I thought I’d try a less than scientific approach to determining who the Phillies MVP should be by year’s end. Here’s how I’m going to do it:

1. After each series (1 game makeups etc. won’t count), I will choose 3 Phillies who had the most impact on helping the Phillies win games during that series. Whether or not the Phillies won ANY games in that series is irrelevant. It could be one big hit, one big start, a reliever that got out of a huge jam to save a game etc. Or it could be a position player who knocked the cover off the ball all series long and carried the team.
2. Those 3 players will be ranked in order of impact from 1-3. By the end of the 2009 regular season, the player with the most points (after tallying up the results of all 52 series) will win the inaugural Bennett Award, named in honor of former Phillies pitcher Dennis Bennett, who is my Dad’s favorite player from the 1964 team.

In the Atlanta Braves series: The following players received votes:

1 – Brad Lidge – 1 SV
2 – Chase Utley – .364 BA, .916 OPS
3 – Raul Ibanez – 1.021 OPS, 3 RBI, 1 HR

In the Rockies series:

1 – Chase Utley – .600 BA, 1.592 OPS, 3 RBI
2 – Ryan Howard – .417 BA, 1.045 OPS, 3 RBI
3 – Jayson Werth – .583 BA, 1.782 OPS, 5 RBI

Year To Date:

Jayson Werth – 3
Raul Ibanez – 3
Chase Utley – 3
Ryan Howard – 2
Brad Lidge – 1