Cliff Lee is the Phillies best pitcher right now. You don't need to look much further than his three-hit, complete game shutout last night against the Marlins. But there is an argument to be made that Kyle Kendrick has been the Phillies best pitcher this season.

The Phillies will hold their annual Alumni Weekend the first weekend in August and this year is definitely not one to miss. During Alumni Weekend, former All-Star closer Brad Lidge will officially retire as a member of the Phillies and former All-Star pitcher Curt Schilling will be enshrined on the Phillies Wall of Fame.

Lidge, 36, will officially retire as a Phillie and throw out the first pitch on Thursday, August 1st. He retired this offseason but spent four seasons (2008-11) in Philadelphia. During his time with the Phillies, he was 3-11 with a 3.73 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP while saving exactly 100 games.

His most memorable season in Philadelphia came during his first year, 2008, when he went a perfect 41-for-41 in save opportunities in the regular season while going 2-0 with a 1.95 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. He then went 7-for-7 in save opportunities in the playoffs, including the final out of Game 5 of the World Series to clinch the title for the Phillies.

Schilling, 46, will be enshrined on the Wall of Fame on Friday, August 2nd. He spent part of nine seasons in Philadelphia going 101-78 with a 3.35 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. He won the 1993 National League Championship Series MVP award. Schilling's time in Philadelphia is often clouded by the events that led to his departure and the perceived "whining" he did to get out of Philadelphia.

Schilling ultimately was traded at the July 2000 trade deadline to the Arizona Diamondbacks. He won w World Series in Arizona before winning two World Series in Boston. He then later bankrupted a video game company he started and set the Rhode Island taxpayers back $75 million but that's neither here nor there.

-Steve Dolan
Follow Steve on Twitter @SDolan3
Follow Whiz Wit on Twitter @WhizWitSports

Cliff Lee
4-2, 2.83 ERA, 1.08 WHIP

Lee has really found his niche recently and pitched well on Friday night against the Cincinnati Reds. He battled for seven innings while allowing two runs on six hits while striking out seven. The Phillies would go on to win the game 5-3 with a strong eighth inning. The Phillies are 5-4 in Lee's nine starts. In eight career starts against the Marlins, Lee is 3-1 with a 2.68 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. However in two starts at Marlins Park, Lee is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP.

Kevin Slowey
1-4, 3.44 ERA, 1.44 WHIP

Slowey is coming off of his two worst starts of the year. He lasted just three innings allowing six runs on seven hits to the Diamondbacks on Friday night. In his prior start, he lasted just 4.2 innings allowing five runs on 11 hits in a 7-1 loss to the Dodgers. These two starts coming on the heels of his dazzling start against the Phillies as he didn't allow a run on just two hits on seven innings in a 14-2 embarrassment at Citizens Bank Park. Earlier this year he went 5.1 innings allowing one run on nine hits to the Phillies. The Marlins would go on to lose 2-1. In three career starts against the Phillies, Slowey is 1-0 with a 5.14 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP.

Phillies Week Preview can be found here.

-Steve Dolan
Follow Steve on Twitter @SDolan3
Follow Whiz Wit on Twitter @WhizWitSports

The Phillies success going forward rests heavily on the shoulders of former No. 1 prospect Domonic Brown. For the first time in the 25 year old outfielder's career, he is getting the opportunity to play everyday at the Major League level. He has been one of the better power hitters for the Phillies this year but his numbers reveal a lot more.

Tyler Cloyd
0-0, 2.84 ERA, 0.79 WHIP

In his only Major League start of the year, Cloyd went 6.1 innings allowing two runs on two hits against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 10th. Cloyd left with the lead but the bullpen allowing their inherited runner to score. Mike Adams would later give up an eighth inning home run to Miguel Montero and the Phillies would go on to lose 3-2. Cloyd has never faced the Miami Marlins.

Jose Fernandez
2-2, 3.48 ERA, 1.16 WHIP

The 20 year old Fernandez is coming off a solid outing against Cincinnati last Thursday when he went seven innings allowing just two runs on five hits. Despite the good start, the Marlins would go on to lose 5-3. Fernandez has faced the Phillies twice this year and as been brilliant. On April 13th, he didn't allow a run and only surrendered two hits over six innings and the marlins would win 2-1. On May 4th Fernandez was even better as he, again, didn't allow a run while only giving up one hit in seven innings and he only needed 82 pitches. He would earn his first Major League win that night.

Phillies Week Preview can be found here.

-Steve Dolan
Follow Steve on Twitter @SDolan3
Follow Whiz Wit on Twitter @WhizWitSports

Cole Hamels
1-6, 4.61 ERA, 1.29 WHIP

Hamels was hit hard in his last start on Wednesday against Cleveland. He allowed five runs on six hits while throwing 106 pitches over five innings to earn the loss. The loss moves him to 0-3 in three starts in May with a 4.26 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Overall the Phillies are 1-8 in Hamels nine starts this season with the lone win coming on April 28th against the Mets.

Alex Sanabia
2-6, 5.00 ERA, 1.76 WHIP

Sanabia had a rough outing last Wednesday against the Reds. He allowed four runs on nine hits in six innings of work. He has gotten the loss in each of his last five starts. In three May starts, Sanabia is 0-3 with a 5.28 ERA and an astonishing 2.02 WHIP. The Phillies hit Sanabia on May 2nd when they scored four runs on six hits in his five innings of work en route to a 7-2 Philadelphia victory. In two career starts vs. the Phillies, Sanabia is 0-1 with a 2.45 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP.

Phillies Week Preview can be found here.

-Steve Dolan
Follow Steve on Twitter @SDolan3
Follow Whiz Wit on Twitter @WhizWitSports

Monday: @ Marlins (7:10 pm - Hamels)
Tuesday: @ Marlins (7:10 pm - Cloyd)
Wednesday: @ Marlins (7:10 pm - Lee)
Thursday: OFF
Friday: @ Nationals (7:05 pm - Kendrick)
Saturday: @ Nationals (7:15 pm - Pettibone)
Sunday: @ Nationals (1:35 pm - Hamels)

The Marlins enter the series with the Phillies struggling mightily. They have lost 10 of their last 12 games and are currently tied with the Houston Astros for the worst record in Major League Baseball at 12-32. They ranked dead-last in MLB in batting average (.220), runs (117), on-base percentage (.282), and slugging percentage (.317).

Player to Watch: Justin Ruggiano - Ruggiano is only hitting .206 but leads the Marlins in seemingly every other offensive category. Ruggiano leads the Marlins in homeruns (seven), RBI (16), runs (18), and OPS (.688). He is a career .278 hitter against the Phillies with four homeruns and 11 RBI in 16 starts.

The Washington Nationals won 98 games last year but have not gotten out to the kind of start they had hoped for. The Nationals are just 23-21 and have not shown the offensive power many expected. They are 27th out of 30 teams in runs (155), 28th in slugging percentage (.373), and 29th in both batting average (.230) and on-base percentage (.282). They come in having lost four of their last six and six of their last nine games.

Player to Watch: Bryce Harper - The reigning National League Rookie of the Year has proven that he is, in fact, the real deal. He lead the Nationals in pretty much every single major offensive category: batting average (.297), homeruns (11), RBI (22), runs (26), and OPS (1.011). In his career against the Phillies, Harper is hitting .313 with two homeruns and eight RBI in 17 starts.

The Phillies have issues in their pitching staff and in their lineup. They are not getting the kind of clutch hitting they are going to need to be considered a legitimate threat. As of May 14th, they are hitting just .241 with runners in scoring position compared to the NL average of .250. The Phillies are hitting just .155 with two strikes which falls below the .172 NL mark. It is not a crazy difference but a difference nonetheless. 

The most shocking numbers come from the Phillies slash line (batting average/ on-base percentage/ slugging percentage) in a 3-1 count: .286/.583/657. Those numbers are not bad but, remember, this is the ultimate hitter’s count. The National League average sits at: .352/.686/.700 which is significantly more productive than the Phillies’ line.

When broken down by position, it gets interesting. For the Phillies, only second base (.272/.325/.464) and third base (.317/.400/.400) have batting averages higher than .258. Catcher (.201/.250/.284) and right field (.205/.299/.307) bring up the rear for the eight every day positions (pitcher excluded).

They have been dealt two blows to their pitching staff this week. Roy Halladay will be out for the next few months but did have successful shoulder surgery on Wednesday in Los Angeles. In addition to Halladay's surgery, reliever Mike Adams has been suffering from back spasms and a trip to the disabled list is not out of the question as he had a setback earlier this week.

-Steve Dolan
Follow Steve on Twitter @SDolan3
Follow Whiz Wit on Twitter @WhizWitSports

Tony Cingrani
2-0, 2.89 ERA, 0.96 WHIP

In his last start, Cingrani went four innings allowing two runs on five hits while striking out four batters in Cincinnati's 4-3 win over the Brewers last Friday. Cingrani only threw 85 pitches last week. He has not won in the month of May and, after only allowing three runs in three starts in April, he has allowed six runs in two starts in May. The Reds are 4-1 in Cingrani's five starts.

Cliff Lee
4-2, 2.86 ERA, 1.08 WHIP

Cliff Lee has been, arguably, the Phillies best pitcher this season. In Saturday's 3-1 victory over the Diamondbacks, Lee went seven innings  allowing no runs on just six hits. Lee went on to get his fourth win of the year. it was the second time this season that Lee had no allowed a run in a start of seven innings or more. lee is 2-1 in the month of May. The Phillies are 4-4 in Lee's eight starts this season.

Phillies Week Preview can be found here.

-Steve Dolan
Follow Steve on Twitter @SDolan3
Follow Whiz Wit on Twitter @WhizWitSports

The Phillies finally got a bit of good news regarding pitcher Roy Halladay today. The team announced today that Halladay underwent successful shoulder surgery yesterday in Los Angeles. The surgery was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who was named a "Super  Surgeon" by Baseball Prospectus.

The Phillies released a statement via Director of Medical Services, Dr. Michael Ciccotti.

"Roy had successful shoulder surgery yesterday. He had an arthroscopic evaluation and underwent debridement of his labrum and rotator cuff as well as removal of an inflamed bursa.

 He'll begin a progressive rehabilitation program and if all goes well, he may possibly begin a throwing program in 6-8 weeks."

The fact that there is a chance that Halladay could begin throwing by July is fantastic. before he went on the disabled list, Halladay was 2-4 with an 8.65 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP in seven starts this season with the Phillies.

-Steve Dolan
Follow Steve on Twitter @SDolan3
Follow Whiz Wit on Twitter @WhizWitSports

It was a peculiar situation in last night's Phillies game as Charlie Manuel came out to the mound with two outs in the seventh inning to take starter Jonathan Pettibone out of the game. There were no runners on, Pettibone had started to settle in, and had thrown only 92 pitches up until that point.

What made it more questionable was the fact that he did not have the services of typical eighth inning reliever Mike Adams last night.

Adams, who had shoulder surgery in the offseason to repair Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, was sidelined due to discomfort in his back.

Following the Phillies 10-4 loss to the Indians this afternoon, Adams stated that he suffered a setback yesterday while throwing before the game. He required an injection in his back and said that he felt better today than he did yesterday.

This is certainly a situation that Phillies fans want to monitor closely. On the year, Adams is 1-3 with four holds and 19 strikeouts with a 3.00 ERA in 17 games for the Phillies.

-Steve Dolan
Follow Steve on Twitter @SDolan3
Follow Whiz Wit on Twitter @WhizWitSports