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JD Durbin And Clay Condrey Are Last Men Standing

Big doings today, as reported by David Murphy and Todd Zolecki :

Travis Blackley was sent to waivers — a failed Rule V experiment. He started strong this spring, but ran out of steam as last cuts approached. His last appearance came with a plunk of Curtis Granderson — sending him to the 15-day DL — and a walk.

Vic Darensbourg and Gary Knotts were reassigned to AAA Lehigh Valley.

That means meet the new boss … same as the old boss: Clay Condrey, last year’s long man, is this year’s sixth inning guy. And JD Durbin, who did everything he could not to win a spot, is the mop-up guy.

How is this possible? Is there that much hope in JD Durbin? Did they really need to hold onto a right-handed pitcher? Durbin threw away his shot at the 25-man roster yesterday, if he didn’t already last week when his ERA inflated. Durbin isn’t necessarily a lost cause, but right now, he’s not the man for the job — not on a World Series contending club.

Maybe Pat Gillick is firing up the old burner to grab a righty for Wes Helms. I’ll believe it when I see it. I don’t have a problem with Condrey — he’s settled into a groove this spring and has been relatively effective. But Durbin? Come on. Contenders shouldn’t need mop-up pitchers.

Meanwhile, Blackley is bye-bye, and that’s a shame, as he was still workable, unlike Durbin. Darensbourg will likely get a taste of Philadelphia sooner than later as a left-handed specialist.

As it stands, Condrey and Durbin will make the team, as they can’t go into Opening Day with four or five relievers. An 11-man staff means a 14-man bench, which means Chris Snelling, Wes Helms and Rey Olmedo (lest I forget) are challenging for the final spot. If Helms is dealt, Snelling wins. If Helms isn’t dealt, he’s on the roster. Simple as that.

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Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.

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