Phillies Nation

112 Responses to “Despite Best Efforts, Phils Fall Short”

1. Mike Says:
   August 12th, 2008 at 9:16 am

   Thats it for Kendrick…send him to the Iron Pigs…bring up Happ.

2. Geoff Says:
   August 12th, 2008 at 9:27 am

   Seriuosly?

   last 10 starts:

   BOS 3IP 6R
   OAK 8IP 0R
   ATL 6IP 3R
   NYM 6IP 1R
   ARI 6.1IP 4R
   FLA 4.1IP 7R
   ATL 6IP 1R
   WSH 6.2IP 2R
   FLA 6IP 0R
   LAD 3.1 IP 7R

   10-7 5.01 ERA

   could he be better? absolutely. the two 7 run games and the 6 run game are unacceptable and are the reasons why his ERA is still high.

   If youre going to replace someone, replace brett myers and make him the setupman. they need bullpen help, still, anyway. Kendrick usually gives up less than 4 runs. since hes your 5th starter, tahts really not that bad.

   you guys know how hard i am on pitching, but i just dont think hes really that much of a problem, if hes a problem at all.

3. ped Says:
   August 12th, 2008 at 9:28 am

   i don’t agree with you on that one, Mike. He is one of our wins leaders.

4. AP Says:
   August 12th, 2008 at 9:28 am

   As a resident of Pasadena, CA (originally from Philly for the first 20 years of my life) – the outside world considers me living in Los Angeles..just like the outside world thinks Anaheim is a section of LA.

   Due to those ridiculous facts (Pasadena is only 5 minutes from LA but a world of difference) – I apologize for the lameness and fucktardity of Dodger fans.

   LA fans are the worst sports fans in the world. It could be a no-hitter in the 7th inning for their precious Dodgers and you’ll see fans walking out of the game so they can “beat traffic”. Don’t even get me started on the parking lot at Dodgers stadium. If you want a spray-painted Virgin Mary t-shirt, this is the place to go.

   Also, pssssssssssssst to most of the Dodgers Mexican fan base – Manny Ramirez? He’s not Mexican. Sorry to burst your bubble.

   Let’s hope the Phillies come back tonight…Hamels vs Kershaw is gonna be very different than Kendrick vs. Lowe.

   Go Fightin’s.

   - AP
   http://www.proctorformayor.com

5. Dennis Says:
   August 12th, 2008 at 9:36 am

   I agree with Mike. Kendrick is very hard to watch, all he does is flirt with danger all game. You can’t pitch like that, eventually it will bite you in the ass. He has been just ok, living on very good run support for the most part. In my opinion he has been way overrated by the media and the fans in this town.

6. Geoff Says:
   August 12th, 2008 at 9:42 am

   hes a 5th starter. for a 5th starter, hes not that bad. if anyone needs to pitck it up, its darling cole hamels. if the offense isnt scoring any runs for you, and youre the ace, then done give up any runs.
   go look at all of the other “5th starters” in the NL, hse probably better than a lot of them.

   What about the 20 games that the offense has cost them this year when Kendrick, moyer, hamels, blanton, even eaton, myers have all pitched well only to get NO run support. theyve been SHUTOUT 6 TIMES AT HOME!!!!!!!!!

7. NJ Says:
   August 12th, 2008 at 10:03 am

   Kendricks one of the better number 5 men in the game and you can’t judge him on ERA like you can’t Moyer or a guy like Tim Wakefield. He’s hittable and at times you’ll have to throw in your middle relef early, but when he’s on he’ll grind out innings and when you consider most teams struggle so badly with there 5 spot the Phils are in very good shape, Last night wasn’t a bad game, he team played hard and they made the Dodger pay to take the win which is a massive contrast to the Florida series.

   As for the bullpen come on! Lidge, Romero, Madson and Durbin are all pitching very well and Condrey is having what could be a breakout year. Eyre could contribute and a ‘premier’ set-up man just reduces the role of the trio of set-up men that are pitching effectively. Myers would not be a great addition to the bullpen with the time it would take for him to acclimatise himself plus the hole left in the rotation. Maybe Kendrick isn’t the answer long-term but he’s pitched well enough to hold his spot and have to say I hate it that the next bad start Myers makes will call for his immediately demotion to the bullpen. Happ keeps getting mentioned but he doesn’t have the stuff to be a front-line pitcher and the back of our rotation’s set very nicely, teams don’t like going up against well prepared starters like Moyer and Kendrick and that’s what you want from your back-end.

8. Mike Says:
   August 12th, 2008 at 10:15 am

   I wasn’t serious when I sent Kendrick should be sent to the Iron Pigs.. I was making a joke b/c we alread sent 2 starters down.

   I think Kendrick is painful to watch and I would like to see Happ in the rotation. He’s been pitching well.

   I imagine Happ will be up shortly once Hamels gets his annual DL assignment

9. Phil Says:
   August 12th, 2008 at 10:28 am

   The only reason Kendrick should be sent down is to work on an out pitch. When he gets ahead of a hitter he can’t strike them out. A lot of people get hits on him with an 0-2 count. Maybe if he had an out pitch we wouldn’t be worrying about it.

10. Dennis Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:29 am

    How can anyone sit here and trash Cole Hamels? I’m sorry Geoff but we don’t act like he is our 5th starter. All I hear is he is the number 3 on the team. Bottom line, I am looking at his ERA and his his is at 5, thats Adam Eaton numbers.

11. Paul Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:35 am

    Kendrick was really up in the zone last night, and he paid for it. When he keeps his pitches down, he can be very effective.

12. Phil Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:35 am

    I agree Dennis. I’m sick of the Hamels bashing too.

13. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:38 am

    right but hes the 5th starter, obviously hes not a 3. he MIGHT be at some point in his career if he devlops more. hes a 5.

    dude, youre a douchebag. adam eaton is HORRIBLE.

    most teams go through a new 5th starter every week. the fact that kendrick, once a 4, now a 5 because of blanton, is a 5 now, is a sign that the rotation has improved and stabilized somewhat.

    hes going to get pounded sometimes.

    its a much better idea to worry about the offense than to worry about games like last night. the offense shouldnt have WASTED all those other good performances, now should they?

14. NJ Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:40 am

    His ERA is a 5 because he has such a short leash, Kendrick does need to develop an out pitch in the off-season but you take him off the roster now and he’s done for the year. Happ will get another shot somewhere down the stretch but I can’t see his upside over Kendrick, he was decent in his starts but Kendrick’s been decent with some very good performances for 2 years.

15. Phil Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:45 am

    Happ has better stuff than Kendrick. It really is just as simple as that.

16. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:45 am

    hamels is not an ace YET, get over it.

17. Phil Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:45 am

    I agree with that Geoff. He’s a 1.5, but I’m still sick of everyone bashing him.

18. bull Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:47 am

    Anyone against adding Bonds to this team (on the phils terms) if there is not this gm agreement to keep him out of the league. I don’t care if he is left handed or not he hits anyone and gets on base all the time something the phils lack.

19. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:48 am

    until hamels is reayd to be the man, you need someone like a ben sheets out there. thats how this works. you usually see that with a lot of good rotations. an ace is someone in their PRIME who goes out there and holds it down and gets knoecked around once or twice all year. hamels has been knocked around way too much already.

20. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:49 am

    im pretty sure theyve agreed to keep him out of the league. just like they agreed to NOT gie a-rod a better contract and force him to come crawling back to the yankees begging to take him back.

21. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:50 am

    by the way, phil, i started reading the watchmen. quality piece of work there.

22. NJ Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:50 am

    Hamels is as much of an ace as a guy like Beckett/Verlander/Kazmir/Zambrano and his win total would reflect ace numbers if the run support had been better. When an ace’s win totals are down suddenly he’s a soft ace then not quite an ace at under .500, it’s very contradictory. The win totals not everything but it seems to massively influence who the aces are.

23. christopher Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:54 am

    dennis what in the world are you talking about? he’s hyped by the fans and the media? i’ll admit i’ve been living outside of philly for much of this season so i guess i’ve missed a bunch of daily news covers with kendrick’s face plastered on them? kendrick gets treated like what he is by the fans and the media- a decent young pitcher who has done a good job in his 2 seasons with the team so far. he is 20-10 as a phillie so far. i’m sorry, but you can’t credit that all to run support.

    he does need another pitch, and has been working on his changeup all year. in fact he was studying webb’s when they were playing arizona to try to emulate it. i didn’t notice him throwing it much at all yesterday, but when he has thrown it lately it’s been much improved. not an out pitch, which i’m not sure he’ll ever develop (he’s just not a strikeout pitcher), but something that could be effective to get batters off his sinker.

    it was a rough game for him but he’ll bounce back. the commentators were saying that it looked like the dodgers were figuring out ways to read ruiz’s signs too and tip off the batters, which wouldn’t surprise me with how back kendrick got rocked. the good news was we had broxton running hagard and i’m not sure if we’ll see him again at least until the last game of this series. if the phils can at least split this one i’ll be happy, if they could win it i’ll be thrilled. the dodgers are a good team despite only having a 500 record.

    has happ had any starts in the minors since being sent down? if so how’d he do?

24. NJ Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:55 am

    Cole is as good as Sheets. Not to be rude here but a lot of you guys have unrealistic expectation of where this teams payroll should be and who should be on it. Sure we need a frontline compliment to Cole but stop trashing what we have, Brett Myers may regain his status, CC might be a frontline pitcher… We do not have a good record in the FA market and someone’s going to overpay for a guy like Sheets and it shouldn’t be us.

25. Rick Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:58 am

    I only saw the 2nd and top of the 3rd innings last night before crashing.

    I did notice that Lowe was getting a more generous strike zone. The Jayson Werth K in the 2nd was a perfect example of that. The called third strike was at least 2-3 inches outside.

26. bull Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 10:58 am

    From yesterday’s conversation, i think it was wheels but they talked for a good bit about how moyer works with kendrick and the other pitchers. He was at the top of the dugout talking to charlie when he went on his spiel

27. Rick Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 11:03 am

    Also, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Kendrick was tipping his pitches too. I noticed something he was doing. If I pick up something, you can sure as hell count on opposing hitters picking it up.

    Happ started either yesterday or the day before. Someone posted the numbers in another blog article yesterday.

28. Rick Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 11:05 am

    # nate Says:
    August 11th, 2008 at 8:04 am

    happ watch: 6 IP, 0 ER, 2 hits allowed, 10ks

29. Mike Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 11:06 am

    Hamels has the 4th best WHIP in all of baseball. 1.07

    Not bad company

    1 Justin Duchscherer 0.99
    2 Dan Haren 1.03
    3 Roy Halladay 1.05
    4 Cole Hamels 1.07
    5 Cliff Lee CLE 1.08

30. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 11:11 am

    I think someone like sheets, if healthy would be ideal for this team. to protect hamels in the rotation until head ready to be the man. then you can turn around and trade brett myers for other assets because behind hamels you have blanton kendrick moyer happ carrasco to fill 3 spots…then all of a sudden you have a pretty deep rotation situation.

31. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 11:12 am

    unrealistic expectations? 39 sellouts this year. 13 consecutive sellouts. theyre raking money in down there…time to invest it back into the team and reward the fans for their devotion. thats PROPER protocol.

32. Dennis Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 11:19 am

    Geoff, I’m a douchebag? Typical fan were your agrument is trash so you have to come at me with that garbage. You’re a typical “everything I say is right and what you say is wrong fan.” No point in agruing with you cause you just don’t get it.

33. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 11:25 am

    really dennis? why dont you stop being lazy and look at the rest of the 5th starters in baseball…some real garbage.

34. Don M Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 11:27 am

    Here is the line on Carrasco so far at AAA

    2 starts, 12.2 Innings Pitched. 5 Runs, 0 Earned Runs

    14 hits, 14 Ks, 2 BB

    Opponents hitting .259 off him.. so a 0.00 ERA, 1.26 WHIP

    I don’t think we see him anytime soon with him giving up a hit per inning at AAA.. They’ll want to see that come down before they move Kendrick out, who has a WHIP of 1.54!! Like i’ve said before, Kendrick’s inconsistency is what bothers me the most.. all pitchers get rocked from time to time, but his stats are a like a wave, up-even-down-even-up-even-down (you know what i mean)

35. Don M Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 11:27 am

    Why does everyone get in cyber-fights the day after we lose.. EVERYTIME… and its always Geoff and somebody

36. Rick Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 11:34 am

    Don M. – You’re never a culprit either huh? Oh wait, it’s usually you arguing with Geoff!

    Hamels has to get a W tonight! That loss last night (after a L by both the M&Ms) hurt. Tonight has to be better!

37. Bruce Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 11:38 am

    Reality check:

    Phillies management regards Hamels as their no 1 pitcher in rotation and therefore entitled as “ace” regardless of comparisons (by “fans”) to other teams’ ace. And Hamel’s stats are not too shabby for an “ace”. Now if only he can get run support….

    I read an interesting perspective by Dodger’s Jeff Kent regarding Howard and team’s manufacturing runs:

    “He’s a great hitter and he can drive in runs—and he’s still a pup, too,” Kent said. “But if he’s going to roll it over to the right side, sure, you play as many guys over there as you can. But they do such a great job of manufacturing runs, you can hit .240 and still drive in 100. That’s telling you that their team is operating well.”

    Of course, it helps that Howard is the best clutch hitter on the team with RISP.

38. Don M Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 11:38 am

    Its usually me and Geoff because Geoff is trying to get everyone to jump off the bridge with him..

    99% of the time when I disagree with anyone on here, its because they are bashing something about this team, insteaf of enjoying the fact that we’re in 1st place and 10-games over .500….

    we scored 6 runs last night, and our offense is showing signs of coming back around.. but we’re instead talking about Kendrick and how the team doesn’t spend enough money and stuff

39. Don M Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 11:39 am

    I HATE JEFF KENT… one of the biggest crybabies in baseball… constantly fights with teammates and thinks he’s the man

40. Dennis Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 11:48 am

    GEOFF! HE’S NOT OUR FIFTH STARTER! He may be a 5th starter in this league but on this team he is considered our number 3!

41. Kennedy Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 11:54 am

    Kendrick is such a difficult case, they win a lot of his starts, and it seems foolish to mess with a good thing. On the other hand, Happ and Benson are both pitching well in AAA. Benson really seems to have his control back, issuing very few walks in his last few starts. Happ just had a nice start, despite all the inactivity in the majors. At least we are definitely solid if we have any injuries on the rotation.

42. Phil Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:02 pm

    Dennis who is our #2, #4, and #5 then? Kendrick is indeed our 5th starter. Going into season he was our #4.

    Myers
    Hamels
    Moyer
    Kendrick
    Eaton

    Then in the beginning Kendrick was pitching poorly and Eaton was pitching adequate and they bumped him back to #5. Right now our rotation is this.

    Hamels
    Blanton
    Myers
    Moyer
    Kendrick

43. Don M Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:06 pm

    The website has it listed as Hamels, Blanton, Moyer, Kendrick, Myers … but two weeks ago, they didn’t even have Myers listed on there.

    And now, it sets up as:

    Hamels
    Blanton
    Myers
    Moyer
    Kendrick

    if you follow the order their acutal starts go..

44. Phil Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:10 pm

    Agreed Don M. In all reality Myers is our #2. If he continues to pitch the way he has in his last 3 outings he’s definitely our #2 and that would be a good #2 at that. I still say send Kendrick down to work on an out pitch. In that case bring up Happ who has been lights out in AAA. Let him come up here and be lights out.

45. Kennedy Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:14 pm

    I would bet if they went into a playoff series right now, they would throw Hamels, Myers, and then Blanton or Moyer. Who really cares who is officially the 3rd or 5th starter, Kendrick would probably never be called upon to pitch in a playoff game.

46. KM Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:15 pm

    I see that a lot of you people are upset with Kendrick. Well, last night he didn’t pitch his finest game against an anemic offense, but he is the 5th starter, and has more good days than bad.

    I agree with what geoff said a while ago, Cole needs to pick it up, because he is the ace. And the offense needs to do something. I am glad they manufactured a few runs last night, but they are fundamentally flawed, and way too dependent on the longball. They need an infusion of some young talent with some speed to shake up the lineup. Wouldn’t mind seeing Golson come up in September. He has had his injury problems, but he is having a decent season in AA, and deserves a callup before a stiff like cervenak.

    Speaking of cervanek, what is the Phillies deal with these 30+ year old rookies? I’d rather have the younger guys up here where they can learn the ropes in a backup role then guys like AAA trash, cervanek and walron stinking it up in their limited roles.

47. Phil Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:18 pm

    KM, it’s better to let the kids continue to play and get better down there then to come up here and ride the bench. They’ll get rusty doing that.

48. Don M Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:22 pm

    Cole was pretty damn good in his last outing… EVERY pitcher in baseball has a few bad outings.. Cole had two in a row, but looked good against the Marlins last week, we just didn’t hit for him (as usual).. he should have about 15 wins right now, but again with Kendrick having more WINS that Hamels, it shows you how thats not an accurate way to judge pitchers

49. Matt Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:24 pm

    KM – Golson is a strikeout machine with limited power. He’s Reggie Taylor all over again.

50. Rick Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:26 pm

    Yeah it seems like an area we were so weak in past has become a place where we have some depth finally. Although, many of us still aren’t sold that we have a solid 1-2 punch every 5th day.

    Lets give Brett a start against a strengthened Dodgers lineup to see where he really stands.

    He did well against a tough Cardinals lineup granted Ankiel did not start. Even without Ankiel in the lineup though, Brett still faced Pujols and Ludwick (who are hands-down the two best Cardinals hitters IMO) multiple times. Ludwick will win the NL ROY in a landslide. I think even if he got hurt right now he would win it.

    Dennis – Don’t take this as an attack in any way, but I don’t think most people would agree that Kendrick is our #3. I think the Phillies and most people on here believe he is the #5. Blanton right now is the #2 or #3 and Myers is the other. Moyer is #4 just because he’s going to give you a consistent start 8-9 times out of every 10. That said, “The Kid” does know how to get himself out of trouble and that is a true talent. He’s level-headed and doesn’t typically allow himself to be his own worst enemy mentally (i.e. – Myers).

51. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:26 pm

    dennis, if you think kendrick is our third starter and that hes treated like it, then to borrow a phrase from brett myers: “youre a fu’ing retard and you dont know sh!t about f’ing baseball.”

    the way this team IS setup is:

    hamels
    blanton
    myers
    moyer
    kendrick

    they are considered, by the team, exactly where they line up. balnton is the 2 fot eh playoffs. he should really be a 3 or 4 on a world series team but tahts an argument for another time.

    kendricks numbers indicate hes a 5th starter and hes a good 5th starter, compared to the trash taht is out there. denny bautista, jorge de la rosa, horacio ramirez, that type of trash has all been 5th starters at some poitn this season.

52. Matt Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:27 pm

    Geoff – What the hell do you do all day that allows you to post on here nonstop?

53. Bruce Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:28 pm

    Tim~”.. Howard is now at 100 RBI on the season — in jest, I don’t know if I can really recall 60 of them.”

    If Howard had only 40 meaningful RBIs, can you “recall” everyone of them? If you do, would consider donating your brain to science? (chuckle)

54. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:35 pm

    database administrator, got like 30 windows open at any given time on a screen. nobody notices

55. Phil Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:35 pm

    “Ludwick will win the NL ROY in a landslide. I think even if he got hurt right now he would win it.”

    He would win it if he was a rookie. Jurrjens or Soto will win ROY. I would give it to Jurrjens though, but Soto will win because he’s a Cub.

56. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:36 pm

    geovanny soto is the rookie of the year. hands down.

57. Phil Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:38 pm

    Geoff, have you looked at Jurrjens numbers?

58. Matt Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:41 pm

    Jurrjens has great numbers, but a breakout rookie catcher is normally going to win over a rookie pitcher with really good number.

59. Doug Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:42 pm

    I really don’t think anyone needs to go anywhere from this rotation. It’s nice to have options like Happ and Carrasco, but they’re both young, and we don’t have any affirmation that they’d perform better than our five current starters.

    Blanton looked rough when he got here, Myers has had his struggles this year, Moyer is old but pretty damned good at eating up innings, and Kendrick has been Moyer-ish in that way but just a bit inconsistent. Of those four, they’ve all gotten their acts together and aren’t bad by any standards, ESPECIALLY Phillies’ pitching standards. We’ve had some rough years of pitching, and by contrast, these 5 are pretty damn good.

    Giving up 5 runs per 9 should yield a .500 record or better with our offensive personnel. When the back end of your rotation goes .500, you’re on the right track. Now, let’s shift this conversation to how we manufacture some more runs. It’ll happen…the offense is coming around.

60. Phil Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:42 pm

    Eh, Soto will win because he’s a Cub not because he’s a catcher.

61. Matt Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:45 pm

    That helps too Phil.

62. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:47 pm

    i agree phil, because espn broadcasts the cubs twice a week minimum

63. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:47 pm

    jurrgens is good, they cant score on him either.

64. AP Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:47 pm

    Now I kind of wish Kendrick really did get traded to Japan.

65. Rick Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:51 pm

    Woops! My mistake. I could have sworn he was considered a rookie this year! Thanks for the correction.

    I just checked out his career stats. He’s older than I realized, and just by looking at his stats you have to wonder if this guy is a one-hit wonder? Dare I say hgh????

66. Eli Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:51 pm

    this will be a wierd week. we will see how many games the phillies will win if the mets and marlins also win. same as if the marlins/mets lose.

67. Ryan Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:54 pm

    I cant stand reading 99% of these comments that make no sens eand make you look stupid..First…Cole doesnt get an annual DL Assignment…He has’nt hit the DL yet as a Phil…5 ERA doesnt mean Adam Eaton Numbers….Kendrick wins..The Phillies are 29-15 in Kendrick’s 44 Career Starts…He may not be pretty or lights out..But WE WIN IN his starts..He plays…to WIN…Ultimately stats mean nothing when a stat like that is here..IF they win….that often in his starts…then he is a solid option…he is our 5th starter..Blanton is our 3rd (this is skill wise) and Moyer is our 4th…COle Hamels does need to work out the kinks..and BRETT (I REPEAT) BRETT SHOULD NOT GO TO THE BULLPEN…He was a Starter before..then a Bullpen guy…now a starter who just got the mentality back of a Starter and you want him to go back to our Pen that has the best ERA and fewest Blown saves? Brett would struggle in the Pen…People need to think before you post..

68. Rick Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:55 pm

    Yeah Soto definitely gets it over Fukudome too! I think Fukudome was a bit over-hyped in the offseason.

69. Rick Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 12:57 pm

    Ryan is your return key broken?

70. lilgartrn Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 1:01 pm

    I agree that Happ should be brought up, but you can’t keep having your best pitchers (Moyer, Hamels) be required to maintain the offense and defense. Get some hitting consistency, bench Howard and reteach how to swing, and earn the freaking playoff spot, not just wait around for the rest of your division to implode.

71. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 1:11 pm

    the bullpen needs another arm in there STILL. gordon is not coming back, they were banking on that, he was important for a stretch of this season, and now you need an extra reliable arm in there to add to the mix. maybe les walrond can add to the performance he had last night, which was actually quite good. he can chew up some innings, and he had some nice strikeouts.

    do you want to rely on him?

    do you want to bring in someone else from the waiver-wire?

    do you want to move myers to setup and bring up happ?

    they have to do something. you cant leave the bullpen hangin out there with no additional help. scott eyre is only to be used to get one or two guys, or 3 if the other team is dumb enough to send 3 lefties out there. eyre isnt going to be any good at all against righties. walronds breaking ball is more effective against righties than eyre would be.

72. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 1:13 pm

    good point, there..its almost as if they know someone is going to implode (the mets) and hand them the division while the marlins are good but just not quite there yet. they probably will get handed the division again. ill bet they blow this lead, then the mets or marlins blow their lead and we get it back and keep it. hardly impressing anyone and getting unceremoniously humiliated again in the postseason.

73. Don M Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 1:13 pm

    Is this right???

    Kendrick… opponents batting average against = .296 !!!

    I don’t know that Happ is seriously going to help this team anytime soon. His numbers at AAA look great…and that’s great.. but his numbers with the Phillies aren’t so hot.

    13 Innings.. 12 hits, 10 walks, 9 Ks, 8 earned runs..

    5.54 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, opponents batting avg. = .245

    When Kendrick is on (about 50% of his starts) he can be a very effective pitcher.. you still need to ride him over Happ

74. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 1:14 pm

    its so much more about the offense right now. when the offense puts up 6 runs night in and night out then you can complain about the ptiching again.

75. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 1:15 pm

    until then…im going to keep thinking of ways to unload rollins and myers in the offseason. as well as eaton and jenkins.

76. Don M Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 1:17 pm

    If they are healthy, they have Lidge, Durbin, Madson, Condrey from the right (all having nice years so far)

    Romero, Walrond?, Eyre? (jury is still out on the last two.. )

    I dont know what is out there that the Phillies could go get, there problem is on the nights scoring 6 runs on a night the other team score 8.. and 0 when the other team scores 3… I would love to see this offense get to its steady 5-runs per game, and let the pitchers know what they need to do every night. Look at the number of quality starts by this team recently, and they’ve lost quite a few of them.

77. Don M Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 1:20 pm

    Geoff,

    the Phillies called and said they are working on “secret trades” to unload Rollins, Myers, Eaton, and Jenkins in the offseason.. and that your open suggestions to the value of those players, may actually hurt the possibility of a hefty return.

    They have requested that you make no further ridiculous trade requests and proposals in the near future.

78. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 1:30 pm

    So, Jimmy Rollins and Brett Myers for Stephen Drew, Conor Jackson, Max Scherzer, Yusmeiro Petit and Billy Buckner isnt a good proposal? you wouldnt take that?

79. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 1:32 pm

    maybe, brett myers to the cleveland indians for aaron laffey, jeremy sowers, and jenson lewis/rafael perez?

80. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 1:33 pm

    Brett Myers to the detroit tigers for matt joyce, armando gallaraga, and a few other filler guys?

81. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 1:34 pm

    jimmy rollins to the royals for luke hochevar, david dejesus, and, just for kicks, ross gload?

82. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 1:37 pm

    brett myers and jimmy rollins to the white sox for orlando cabrera, alexei ramirez, gavin floyd, and filler

83. Eli Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 1:41 pm

    way to many posts in a row

84. Don M Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 1:42 pm

    You left our Jimmy Rollins and Brett Myers to whichever team wins the World Series, for that team’s 4 best player, and their 2 best prospects

    Hey it could be worse, we could be Cubs fans..
    http://www.princesskatherine.net/gocubs.html

85. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 1:49 pm

    brett myers and jimmy rollins to the boston red sox for their whole team and their whole farm system, YEAH

86. Rick Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 1:58 pm

    How about Brett Myers to the California Penal League for Rick Vaughn?

87. Eli Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 2:31 pm

    LMAO at that cubs song!

88. Pete Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 2:33 pm

    DonM – Don’t Happ’s #s look a whole lot better if you throw out his relief appearance against the Marlins? He got hit hard in that one, but then again, he’s NOT A RELIEVER, and he’d been rotting in the bullpen for about 10 days with no work, so I’ll take it with a grain of salt.

    I actually agree with those that say Kendrick is a solid #5 guy, but I think Happ would be a BETTER #5 guy. I can’t imagine the Phils sending KK down for Happ absent an injury though.

89. lilgartrn Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 2:48 pm

    You can’t count out Kendrick just yet. I thought he dealt w/ the pseudo-balk fairly well, but we have to improve our offense. Too many guys that are at the top of the order not contributing – and if Rollins doesn’t step up his game as the former MVP, we can look forward to a nice quick trip through the post-season, if we even get there. I was at last Thursday’s game and could have choke him for at least not making an attempt to go for a grounder that probably would have never been a playmaker, but at least earn your keep for the day!!!!

90. Don M Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 3:07 pm

    Yea Happ’s numbers would look better.. but he was still on the mound pitching.. so he still gets the blame for what happens with him on the mound. His walks scare me more than anything.. I just don’t think that down the stretch using Happ with no experience is better than using Kendrick … At times, Kendrick has been awesome this season.

    I didn’t see ANY of the game last night.. does anyone have a video link to that balk call against him? They didn’t score on it, but i’ve seen it mentioned in everything I read on the game.

    What ball did Rollins not make an attempt for last Thursday? There was a play that had him going for the runner instead of the 2nd base bag last Thursday… that I didn’t get to see on replay, and had me scratching me head.. anyone know what I’m talking about?

91. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 3:10 pm

    don..kendrick got squeezed hard last night, then the balk call, and he felt like he had to put it over into the middle of the plate to get a strike called. with his stuff, when that happens…look out. lowe was getting balls called for strikes at the shin of werth, who is a tall bastard to begin with.

92. lilgartrn Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 3:22 pm

    Rollins had a hit just to his left between him and 3rd (want to say it was 4th or 5th?) that he didn’t barely get out of a squatting position for. I had murder in my heart. Geoff is right about the calls… the umps definitely had money on LA last night, it was obnoxious.

93. Don M Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 3:28 pm

    ehhh.. that happens in baseball though.. There are times when Moyer gets 4 inches off the plate.. and there are times when pitches-away on the black aren’t good enough for some umpires.

    I was down there, and I don’t remember that play.. BUT.. overall I’m so glad that we have Rollins on our team, since he is one of the best defensive shortstops in baseball… he’s been doing a great job overall this past week too, and I’d like to see him and Victorino keep it up! (THATs what she said..)

94. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 3:38 pm

    rollins ricky watters’ed a ruiz throw to second. whats even worse is it was on a ball 4! ruiz threw it like it mattered that he was trying to steal! so what happened?

    throw to second, j-roll short arms it “for who, for what,” and it goes off into centerfield, runner to 3rd, bases load up, mannny drives 2 runs in.

95. Don M Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 3:44 pm

    Two things.. #1.. you steadily knock Jimmy Rollins, so I can’t take much from your blaming him for the play.

    #2… the Error was credited to Ruiz, not Rollins.. and the home team scorer is the offical scorer for the game, I think. So if it was clearly an error on Rollins, not Ruiz, they would have given him the error…

96. Geoff Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 4:10 pm

    ruiz was an idiot too. dont get me wrong. rollins was probably shocked by the throw. but you still have to be aware of the risk of that throw and catch it. he clearly short-armed it to teach ruiz a lesson, but no.

97. Rick Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 4:25 pm

    Doesn’t Rollins have the best SS fielding percentage in the NL right now?

98. Rick Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 4:33 pm

    http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/fielding?groupId=8&season=2008&seasonType=2&split=82&sortOrder=true&sortColumn=fieldingPct

99. lilgartrn Says:
    August 12th, 2008 at 5:44 pm

    Ok, so then what’s our problem, besides some minor pitching inconsistencies and bad offense. I believe the stats your posting, but you can’t honestly believe we’re going to make it to the post with the current standard of play.

100. Bruce Says:
     August 12th, 2008 at 5:58 pm

     Sorry for interupting the baseball fantasy trade proposals by Geoff with this little bit of news. Red Sox gets Paul “Frasier” Byrd from the Indians for cash or a player to be named later. Also the Tigers signed Freddie “no physical” Garcia to a minor league contract.

101. Pete Says:
     August 12th, 2008 at 6:58 pm

     Tigers also placed Sheffield on waivers…owed $14MM next year and has a bum shoulder, but really wants to play OF everyday. Sounds like our kind of guy.

102. Fran Says:
     August 12th, 2008 at 7:05 pm

     I think we should take a good look at sheff

103. Derek Says:
     August 12th, 2008 at 7:47 pm

     I was just watching the Marlins Cardinals game and i thought about 2 things…..1) I’m really glad that we didn’t keep Kyle Lohse and 2) why can’t we go to Puerto Rico and find a Molina brother to catch for us…..there has to be more of them somewhere

104. Pete Says:
     August 12th, 2008 at 7:53 pm

     If the Phils think about Sheff, they need to get a doctor to look verrrrry closely at his shoulder.

105. Phil Says:
     August 12th, 2008 at 8:10 pm

     I would never ever want Sheffield on this team. I’d rather So Taguchi start than Gary Sheffield.

106. Geoff Says:
     August 12th, 2008 at 8:38 pm

     What is gary sheffield going to do here? he cant play in the field anymore…waste. way too much for someone who isnt even worth a quarter of that anymore…be ready to pounce when the giants move winn. hell fill in nicely and do, yknow, what geoff jenkins was supposed to do. not a big score but serviceable considering whats out there.

107. KM Says:
     August 12th, 2008 at 8:51 pm

     some food for thought, myers wants to be a closer, there will be plenty of teams looking for a closer in the offseason. in a small closer free agent class, teams might be interested in a different name other than k-rod and wood. so let’s make him available in the offseason.

     i hope myers has a great end of the year to drive up his price, and we can shop him to teams like the braves, tigers, dodgers, cardinals, brewers, indians, giants, reds, rangers, nationals, pirates, rays and possibly the angels is they lose k-rod, cubs if they lose wood and don’t trust marmol, padres if they lose hoffman, blue jays if they give up on ryan, rockies if they lose fientes, or the orioles if they don’t trust sherill. all those teams either could use an upgrade at closer, or will need a closer if they lose their closer to free agency.

     honestly, i wouldn’t take myers and all his faults, but some teams might be desperate enough to try him out in the bullpen next year.

108. Geoff Says:
     August 12th, 2008 at 8:54 pm

     half of baseball needs a closer like every other year. so few of them last long in one place. its a good year to shop a closer to people.

109. Phil Says:
     August 12th, 2008 at 8:58 pm

     I’m down with shopping Myers just to be a salary dump. Salary dumping him could help us sign Sheets or Sabathia. I’d prefer Sabathia honestly. He is mowing down the NL like there is no tomorrow. I still say sign both and try and trade for Halladay with a contract extension and try to have the most shut down rotation in baseball history. Then you have Happ/Carrasco/Moyer/Blanton/Kendrick as the 5th pitcher or use 2 of them and have a 6 man rotation. I’m sure if you trade for Halladay Carrasco would have to be in the trade. That’s fine if you’re getting Halladay.

110. Geoff Says:
     August 12th, 2008 at 9:00 pm

     im sure don m will be angry that you proposed a trade that would benefit the phillies

111. Phil Says:
     August 12th, 2008 at 9:09 pm

     hahahahahaha probably.

112. Phil Says:
     August 12th, 2008 at 9:18 pm

     Fuck yeah! Nats just tied it up!!!

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