"Lilly Watch 2010," plus Joey Hates Us; He Really, Really Hates Us!

UPDATE:

Phillies (47-41) @ Cubs (40-50)

Phillies lineup v. Ted Lilly (3-8, 4.08; 1-4, 6.43 all-time v. Phillies)
Rollins 6, Victorino 8, Werth 9, Howard 3, Francisco 7, Ransom 5, Ruiz 2, Valdez 4, Blanton 1

Cubs lineup v. Joe Blanton (3-5, 6.41; 0-0, 2.75 all-time v. Cubs)
Theriot 4, Colvin 9, Lee 3, Ramirez 5, Byrd 8, Soriano 7, Castro 6, Soto 2, Lilly 1

— According to Bruce Levine, Carlos Zambrano had a 25-pitch throwing session in Mesa, following the completion of his anger-management counseling. Zambrano and the Cubs are supposed to decide next week where Zambrano will be headed for his rehab stint.

— Paul Sullivan wrote that Jim Hendry and Ted Lilly got together before last night's game to discuss Lilly's future. Lilly, who will start this afternoon's game against the Phillies' Joe Blanton, was awful in his last two starts before the break, against the Reds and Dodgers—5 homers, 18 hits and 14 ER allowed in just 10 1/3 innings.

The Mets are getting lots of mentions as a potential suitor for Lilly, and Sullivan also mentioned the Twins, who were supposedly hot on the trail of Cliff Lee, before the Yankees and eventually the Rangers closed in on him. The Twins' pitching staff obviously needs something or someone right now; maybe it's Lilly.

— Turns out Joey Votto has something in common with White Sox fans everywhere: he hates the Cubs, too.

When I first came upon this, my thought was, "What a jerk." But after thinking about it, I arrived at the same point of view that Mully and Hanley expressed on WSCR this morning--good for Joey Votto and good for baseball. In a day when players switch uniforms so routinely and develop loyalties with each other because of past associations, sharing an agent, sharing a sponsor, etc., it's refreshing to hear one guy express pure, competitive contempt for another guy just because he's wearing a different hat. 

— Speaking of Byrd, he showed up in John Dewan's latest "Stat of the Week." The Cub All-Star leads all Major League centerfielders in Defensive Runs Saved with 12. He is joined among the outfield leaders by Carl Crawford (13 runs saved in LF) and Ichiro (11 runs saved in RF). Pretty good company. According to Dewan, Byrd's previous season-high was 8 runs saved back in 2006 for Washington.

— Finally, loved this tweet from former Major League pitcher C.J. Nitkowski (@CJNitkowski) commenting on Jamie Moyer's horrendous outing last night:

Jamie Moyer hit 2 batters in an inning for the first time in his career. Amateur.