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Phillies roster set for Opening Day
Baseball officially begins tonight with the Yankees taking on the Red Sox on ESPN as the schedule makers have done their best to make sure fans will be sick of the rivalry by mid-June.
As for Philadelphia baseball — well that’s about to take off as well.
The Phillies open up the season Monday afternoon with a 1:05 start against the Washington Nationals.
The Phillies will begin their quest for a second World Series title in three years a little short-handed as Joe Blanton, Brad Lidge and J.C. Romero will start the regular season on the DL. The position players have remained healthy though, so expect plenty of runs to be scored in this opening three-gams set with the Nats.
Bellow is the 2010 Phillies roster, which was finalized this weekend.
Pitchers: Righthanders Danys Baez, Andrew Carpenter, Jose Contreras, Chad Durbin, Roy Halladay, David Herndon, Kyle Kendrick and Ryan Madson, and lefthanders Antonio Bastardo, Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ and Jamie Moyer.
Infielders: Juan Castro, Greg Dobbs, Ryan Howard, Placido Polanco, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley.
Catchers: Carlos Ruiz and Brian Schneider.
Outfielders: Ben Francisco, Ross Gload, Raul Ibañez, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth.
Phillies name Jamie Moyer #5 starter
The old man gets the nod.
The Phillies officially named Jamie Moyer the team’s fifth starter today.
Bellow is an excerpt from philly.com
“We think it’s the right way to go,” (pitching coach Rich) Dubee said. “Jamie proved that he’s healthy. That was the biggest question coming into spring training, how he’d come back from the surgeries. He’s throwing the ball well. He’s functioning well. And again, this guy has a tremendous track record of being a winning pitcher.”
Dubee looked at the situation in a different perspective for Kendrick.
“He won a job,” Dubee said. “He didn’t lose the starting job. In my mind, it was going to be a tough thing to do if Jamie was healthy to win that job from Jamie Moyer. Kyle won a job on our roster.”
Given the fact that Brad Lidge and J.C. Romero will begin the season on the disabled list and the way Jose Contreras and Antonio Bastardo have struggled this spring, Kendrick’s role in the bullpen could be significant. Moyer, 47, isn’t able to bounce back as quickly as Kendrick can after a relief outing.
You can read the whole article here.
This is not surprising news to Phillies fans. When the Phillies gave Moyer a 2-year deal at the end of the 2008 season, it was viewed as a reward for helping the team win the World Series. A man of his word, Charlie Manuel will give Moyer a chance to finish his career in the starting lineup.
Now it’s time for the veteran to make his coach look good.
Did the Phillies improve their roster?
With Pitchers and catchers having reported to Clearwater, Fla., Spring Training is officially underway.
The Phillies, who are coming off of consecutive trips to the World Series, return much of the same core from the previous two years with newcomers, Roy Halladay, Placido Polanco and Danys Baez now on as additional reinforcements. There will be plenty of debate about how the team’s offseason will affect the team this season. The biggest question is did the team improve?
The Philadelphia Daily News’ Paul Hagen took a stab at answering that question today and the result was a mild yes. Hagen points to the rotation, bench and catcher position as upgrades, with the bullpen a downgraded and the infield and outfield remaining the same.
In regards to the bullpen Hagen writes: “On one hand, Lidge almost has to be better than the guy who was a mirror image of the perfect closer of 2008, blowing a major-league high 11 saves with a 7.21 earned run average. On the other, he is coming off knee and elbow surgery. On one hand, the Phillies should benefit from having Romero for the entire season after he missed the first 50 games of ‘08 while suspended for violating baseball’s performance-enhancing substances policy. On the other, when he did come back he experienced elbow problems, missed the postseason and required surgery. On one hand, veterans Baez and Contreras were signed as free agents. On the other, the dependable Condrey and the occasionally electric Park are gone. It appears that the Antonio Bastardo, Mike Zagurski and Sergio Escalona will compete for the second lefthander’s spot. Keep an eye on RHP Scott Mathieson, coming back after double Tommy John surgery.”
Had the Phillies brough back Park I think they would have gotten a thumbs up here. Baez was a solid addition but there is still inexperience at the end of the pen. However, if Lidge can rebound no one will be talking about whoever it is who lands the final spot in the rotation.
You can read Hagen’s entire report here.
Let the baseball debating begin.
Phillies pitchers and catchers report
Roy Halladay is there.So is Cole Hamels.
J.A. Happ? Check
Brad Lidge? Check.
The pitchers and catchers have arrived at Clearwater, Fla., one day earlier than tomorrow’s mandatory date.
According to philly.com every pitcher has reported except for Jamie Moyer and Jose Contreras. (There’s an old persons joke just begging to be inserted with that).
So good news baseball fans; despite the snow that appeared outside our windows today, baseball is ready to get going again.
The only real news of the day is that J.C Romero said he expects to break camp with the team, implying that he will be completely recovered from his elbow surgery and ready to pitch at full strength by Opening Day.
That’s good news for the Phillies, as Romero is the only lefthander in the bullpen that has succeeded at the Major League level.
News will be pouring in over the next few weeks about every player and the Phillies roster. Hope springs eternal for every team this time of year.
For the Phils that hope is real.
It may be snowing outside, but baseball is back.
Phillies purchase Lidge insurance
He isn’t Placido Palonco and he certainly isn’t Roy Halladay. Maybe that’s why the Philadelphia Phillies signing of Danys Baez has gone so under the radar. We’ll that and the whole “Eagles-Cowboys thing.”
Despite the lack of recognition of the move, it was just what the Phillies needed.
While he is not coming off one of his best years – a 4-6 record with a 4.02 ERA with the Orioles – Baez comes with a truck-load of closing experience.
The Phillies found out just how valuable that can be last year when Brad Lidge struggled and Charlie Manuel could not find anyone else to do the job. Ryan Madson had his moments, while Chan Ho Park and Scott Eyre failed in limited samplings in that role.
We don’t know if we will get the 2008 or 2009 version of Lidge this season, so having Baez as an option provides an insurance policy that was previously lacking.
For his career Baez has 114 saves, with his best years coming from 2003-2006 when he saved 96 games with the Indians and Rays. He will make a nice chunk of change over the next two years as the Phillies inked him for $5.25 million.
If all goes well for the Phils, they will have acquired another set-up man to complement Madson and J.C. Romero, who will get the ball to a Lights-Out Lidge. Or if Lidge falters, the Phillies have a guy who can step in and get the job done.
Either way this move will prove much bigger than it currently seems.
Post Party Blues
The past two nights the Phillies are looking like a team that gave it’s all to clinch the division and are not all that concerned about home field advantage for the championship series. With the exception of another towering homerun by Howard in the bottom of the first (his 44th) the Phillies offense was flat. Joe Blanton looked equally flat as he allowed 5 runs in 6 plus innings and never seemed to be on top of his delivery.
Charlie Manuel rested Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino took over the leadoff spot for the night and went 1 for four. Tracy got his 4th pinch hit in the 7th inning, but was stranded on base as were all the Phillies that reached base after that one blast from Howard. The real story was the bullpen auditions that occurred after Blanton handed it over and took a seat.
All the writers on this blog have commented time and time again about the dire situation looming in the Phillies bullpen that will almost certainly factor into whether this team can repeat as world champions this year. We know they can hit, and we know there are at least four quality starters, and we know they are an experienced, good fielding team.
One also can not help but notice that the relief pitchers loaded the bases two innings in a row, and gave up 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk. If not for several good fielding plays, this game would have been a rout. As it was the 7-2 final score hardly made the Phillies appear to be a 92 win team poised to go to the playoffs.
The bullpen has had a revolving door on it this year, after being one of the primary reasons for the Phillies success last year. The only reason they were able to clinch the division was due to the strength of the offense.
Tonight the Phillies utilized Eyre, Condrey, and new call up Escalona, and finally Durbin, once the game was out of reach, even for our hard hitting Phillies. None of them were particularly effective in doing their job. It is hard to say who can provide middle relief and who can close for this team at this point. I do know the combination of a slow offensive start with a weak bullpen as was evidenced the past two nights can only spell disaster for the Phillies playoff hopes.
Tomorrow I will be reviewing all the remaining ptichers statistically, how they match up against right and left handers, and give you my vote for middle reliever and closer. I must say, with the loss of Moyer and Romero in the past week, the pickings will be slim. It is almost a sure thing that Happ will have to play some sort of role in the post season, and it is possible that his move back to the bullpen, if it happens, could prove to be the action that propels him to a possible MVP with a Phillies series victory.
When was the last time a rookie won MVP ? Has it ever happened ? Wouldn’t that be the follow up to last years championship run, to do it again with the help of a young, untested rookie pitcher who steps in at the last minute to carry the closer load on his shoulders ? I have to admit, although I have been lobbying for Happ to get his chance starting in the post season, I would be equally interested in seeing him back in the bullpen, but in a closer role. He has certainly proven himself to me this year, and I believe he has earned the right to show the team if he can hold down a larger role now that the overall roster depth has so drastically changed.
Well, one thing is for sure, no matter if we play the Rockies or the Dodgers, we are going to be in for one wild ride. I am just glad that for a change, we can actually sit here in October and talk about this and that, instead of the usual “what if”, or “if onlys” that I am used to from most of my late season Phillies watching days ! Let us give credit to this team, for all they have been through, they are one of only four teams in the National League still standing, and who knows how far they can go ? That is why we play all these games ! I will be rooting from the front row, every chance I get !
J.C. Romero to miss postseason
If there was any question of whether or not J.A. Happ would pitch out of the bullpen in the postseason, today’s news should erase it.
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel announced that left-hander J.C. Romero has not recovered from his strained forearm injury and will need another month until he is fit to pitch.
That means the Phillies will enter the postseason without one of its biggest bullpen pieces last year, and most consistent left-hander.
Romero was huge in the 2008 postseason, including winning two games in the World Series.
With Romero no longer an option, the Phillies will likely turn to Happ and Scott Eyre to get out left-handed hitters in the late innings. It also means an already shaky bullpen is in that much more disarray.
The other option the Phillies have is to use September call up Sergio Escalona, but that seems unlikely as Escalona has just 11 appearances under his belt.
Romero returned to the Philies last week, but after an outing on Monday he reported soreness in the same forearm. This certainly was not Romero’s year. He started the season having to sit out the team’s first 50 games due to a suspension. A little more than a month after his return the forearm injury surfaced.
The Phillies have done a nice job surviving Romero’s absence, but it will only get harder from here.
Hopefully Happ an Eyre will be up to the task.
Wagner Anyone?
I was listening to Jody MacDonald and Rob Dibble on XM this afternoon, and the subject of closers came up. The name Billy Wagner was brought up because he is due to be activated by the Mets this weekend after not pitching since late last season. Their point was that although his salary is $10.5 million, most of the season is gone and the Mets would probably pick up most of what was left just to get something for him. Wagner has a club option for next season, so any club that acquired him could have him for next year or if not simply use the buy out clause.
Given the Phillies problems with Lidge and the fact that Romero is injured, I think it would be well worth it to bring Wagner back to Philly. He’s pitched in this ballpark successfully for the current manager so there is not much in the way of getting acclimated that would need to be done. He said some stupid things when he left the Phillies, but that was three years ago and the target – Pat Burrell, is also gone.
If healthy, Billy Wagner would give the Phillies a heck of a lefty setup guy not to mention someone who actually has closer on his resume should Lidge continue to falter. It would also address the one thing the Phillies were unable to do at the deadline and that’s get another bullpen arm here. They were in the mix for George Sherrill of the Orioles, however, he ended up in Los Angeles with the Dodgers – a move that could come back to bite the Phillies come playoff time should the two teams meet.
We’ll see what happens with Wagner, but I wish the Phillies would take him off the Mets hands for the rest of the year.
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