Everybody loves Chooch

The other day, Todd Zolecki noted what a great year that our beloved Carlos Ruiz is having:

Ruiz is hitting .298 with a .395 OBP and a .443 SLG this season, all of which are career bests. Ruiz has been a regular since 2006. He hit a career-high .259 in 2007. He set career-highs with a .355 OBP and .425 SLG last season.

If Ruiz had enough plate appearances to qualify, he would rank fifth in the National League in OBP and 13th in batting.

As if that weren't heady enough, today the Daily News and Inquirer upped the ante by taking a multifaceted look at whether Carlos Ruiz is the MVP of the 2010 Phillies:

Playing on a team filled with accomplished all-stars, an argument could be made that Ruiz has been the Phillies' most valuable player through the first four months of the season. His five home runs and 27 RBIs cannot compare with the statistics of most of his fellow position players, but Ruiz's manager, teammates and coaches understand the hidden value of what their catcher does.

"He gets the tempo of the game moving the right way," leftfielder Raul Ibanez said. "He stands up back there and you see him punch his fist into his mitt and he's barking and showing his intensity. He's the guy who is facing us. We're all looking at him. A lot of times if a guy is dead back there, it's human nature to imitate what you see. But when you see all that intensity back there, I think it rubs off on the rest of us in a positive way."

There's lots of love for Chooch from Rich Dubee, Cole Hamels, Kyle Kendrick and, especially, Jamie Moyer, the Chooch Whisperer, who was credited for Ruiz's development:

"I don't want to take credit and I don't think I can," the 47-year-old said. "But when he first came here, I would talk to him about some basic things I saw in catchers when I was a younger player. I know the game has changed a little bit from that time to now. But, for me, the catching part hasn't."

Too bad the MVP couldn't help Kendrick tonight. Kendrick was so bad that Chooch was double-switched out of the game in the 4th inning. In the 9th, Dodgers 15, Phillies 7. ... Red Sox catcher Victor Martinez couldn't keep Daisuke Matzusaka's recent magic going. Dice-K was knocked around a bit, but the Sox hung in there and beat the Blue Jays 7-5.