Phillies Nation

11 Responses to “Odds And Ends: Victorino, Benson, Rollins”

1. Geoff Says:
   April 25th, 2008 at 10:24 am

   Victorino shouldnt start when he returns to the phillies. the best way to get his head right would be to work him into the lineup steadily. jayson werth has been playing well for the most part and taking that sort of on base percentage out of the everyday lineup at this point of the season isnt a good idea. victorino was hurting the team at the plate before he got hurt and he needs to be eased back into the lineup. benson will be a good boost to this staff if he can come back healthy and meet his career averages hell replace either moyer or kendrick in the rotation, whoever falters most by the time he is ready. although, i would prefer keeping them around on the roster rather than sending them down. kendrick may need to go to AAA and develop a curveball though. that would be a good idea.

2. Don M Says:
   April 25th, 2008 at 10:36 am

   Victorino just needs to stop hitting pop-ups all the time… he’s fast enough that he should be able to lay down bunts for base hits. He needs to start though, he’s the best defensive outfielder on the team.

   Kendrick was successful because he has a good sinker.. but his trouble this year seems to be location, location, location. leaving the ball up in the zone through 19 innings this year, has lead to a WHIP of 1.81 …. almost 2 baserunners per inning is not going to get it done. I think Kendrick may have been a surprise last year, but now teams have the book on him and can make adjustments to him, easier than he can to them… He might be done as a major-leauger soon, or nothing more than a 5th starter. I think they were planning on Benson in the rotation all along, but probably replacing Eaton rather than Kendrick… the way things are going now, you would almost have to Hamels, Myers, Moyer, Eaton, Benson as your rotation

   There were A LOT of knocks on Moyer yesterday, but he is what he is… an effective pitcher who you would rather have pitching for you than against you… CY YOUNG winner he ain’t… but he can do the job anywhere 3-4-5 in your rotation. Someone gave him props for the final game last year. Who would have thought that Glavine would get SHELLED by the Marlins last year, but Moyer would take care of business for the fightin’s !!!

3. Geoff Says:
   April 25th, 2008 at 10:54 am

   He pitched well in the playoffs too, keeping them in game 3. i think hes done but it hasnt completely manifested itself yet. but that he wont be in the rotation at the end of the year. i do know they shouldnt rely on him as heavily as they do, so having benson in there is good. kendrick is a sinkerballer, yes. but he has no outpitch and he needs to develop one in AAA. probably one of the easier out-type pitches to develop quickly is a curveball. not like myers’ of course but a good curve with a break to it. he shouldnt done that in the offseason and spring training, but i think theyll have to tweak his pitch selection and his location a bit in AAA. he should come back up and take someone elses spot in the rotation when hes more polished. i think he should go get some starts in AAA when benson comes up and come back refreshed and refined in july or august when moyer runs out of gas

4. MS Says:
   April 25th, 2008 at 11:28 am

   doesn’t sound like rollin’s ankle is broken. get him healthy- sooner the better.

5. Don M Says:
   April 25th, 2008 at 12:08 pm

   Im not sure how it works, but does a demotion to AAA make him available to other teams… is that based on how long someone has been up in the Majors… or does each player get a certain number of times they can be sent down? I remember hearing many times before about how such-and-such player was “out of options”.. and would have to clear waivers to stay with their organization, but I don’t know what those rules are. If you were going to send Kendrick down to AAA to work on pitches, by the time you brought him back up, why wouldn’t you just bring up Carrasco, or Outman, or someone that actually rates as a “top prospect”

   Kendrick wasn’t even on the radar screen last year, but they brought him up because he was throwing strikes… he got aided last year by Rollins’ Gold Glove defense behind him, but really, Kendrick was never projected to be an effective Major League pitcher… so you get what you can from him, and then probably let him ride off into the sunset as a guy who helped you win the NL EAST one magical year. I see Kendrick as a career 5.00ish ERA pitcher, maybe a long-reliever for somebody in the future.

   Anyone know, Is HOWARD definitely sitting again tonight??

6. Bruce Says:
   April 25th, 2008 at 12:08 pm

   I get the impression from a few here that Benson is an automatic for the rotation once he’s done rehabing. I don’t think the Phillies’ front office/manager would share that view. Benson, once returned, will most likely be relegated to the bullpen at least temporally. His role probably will be long relief/emergency starter. If Benson PROVES to be consistently effective with that assignment and should one of the starters (Kendrick or Eaton) falters or is injured (DL), he will get his opportunity to be part of the rotation.

7. Geoff Says:
   April 25th, 2008 at 12:13 pm

   im ok with benson being a long man at first. ive been calling for one more guy in the pen to go with durbin who can start if needed. you need 7 guys on your roster who are starters or who can be starers if its required of them.

8. Don M Says:
   April 25th, 2008 at 12:40 pm

   Benson out of the bullpen wouldn’t really help that much because I dont think he’s ever done that role before… It shouldn’t matter, right… but a guy like Leiber couldn’t do that, and most guys can’t flip-flop roles like that. really, im not sure why… just throw strikes…

   but talent wise… Benson would definitely get the nod of Kendrick.. and Gillick knows what he’s doing. Eaton sucked overall so far, but has looked great a few times vs. the Mets..and looked pretty damn good so far this year…

9. The Big Irish Says:
   April 27th, 2008 at 10:44 am

   Setback for Benson on Saturday with a strained groin. Could I get a drummer-rimshot from somewhere if I throw in the tongue-in-cheek comment that “Hey, if my wife were Anna Benson, I would be getting plenty of strained groins……”?

   Okay, okay, a bit low-class. But don’t tell me that you red-blooded guys on this board haven’t thought exactly the same thing…

   http://www.kuklaskorner.com/images/uploads/abenson.jpg

10. Joe DiMaggio Says:
    April 27th, 2008 at 11:34 am

    I continually marvel at the postings of Moyer’s demise. He is probably the most effective pitcher on the staff over the course of a season. He is nowhere near finished and he will be the last man standing come playoff time.

11. Mike T. Says:
    April 27th, 2008 at 11:54 am

    Ryan Howard’s strikeouts this season: 37
    Joe DiMaggio’s most strikeouts in one season: 39

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