Archive: April, 2011
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
UPDATED: I transposed a number in the Brewers K/9. Convinced I have mild dyslexia when it comes to numbers. Brewers are last in NL at 5.62 K/9. Phils second-to-last at 6.20.
A pretty obvious truth has emerged over the first couple weeks of this season, and you have to expect that that the Phillies will acknowledge it at some point in the near future.
Every team needs a Kyle Kendrick, or a David Herndon or a Danys Baez, a guy to eat up low-leverage innings during blowouts or after rain delays, a guy who is expected to throw strikes and let his defense do the work.
Paul Hagen
On July 24 the latest class of inductees, including former Phillies general manager Pat Gillick, will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. It’s an event that will be given saturation coverage as Gillick, Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven are formally welcomed into the exclusive club.
Less noticed is the orientation session each new Hall of Famer gets prior to the big day.
Gillick and his wife, Doris, went through that process earlier today. It was Gillick’s fifth trip to the Hall, but his most in-depth visit ever.
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
UPDATE: The Phillies have placed reliever J.C. Romero on the 15-day disabled list and recalled lefty Mike Zagurski from Lehigh Valley.
FROM EARLIER:
Assuming J.C. Romero hits the disabled list with a strained calf today, the Phillies appear to have three choices to fill the void in the bullpen.
Daily News staff
Saturday's rainout would have given the Phillies an opportunity to skip Joe Blanton in the rotation and still have everyone remain on their normal rest.
Instead, the Phillies will stay on rotation and push everyone back a day. Blanton will pitch Monday to open a three-game series against Milwaukee, followed by Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee.
Roy Oswalt is scheduled to pitch Thursday at San Diego in the opener of a six-game road trip, and indications are that he should be fine to do that.
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
I'll write more about this in my notebook tomorrow, but Charlie Manuel said today that it is probably time for him to start working guys like John Mayberry Jr. and Ross Gload into the line-up, both to keep them sharp and to give his regulars some rest. But Manuel has said things like that before. He also went on one of his usual rants about how the most important thing in his mind is to win that night's game, which makes it hard for him to put anything other than the best line-up on the field. I thought he might give Raul Ibanez a blow against lefty John Lannan yesterday, but that did not happen. The Phillies have match-ups against lefties Randy Wolf and Chris Narveson on Tuesday and Wednesday, so you have to think that Mayberry will get a start in one of those two games. The bigger problem might be finding a day to rest Placido Polanco. Wilson Valdez is really the only option at third base, so in order to rest Polanco, Manuel would have to be content with sending out a line-up that features both Valdez and one of either Michael Martinez or Pete Orr.
Anyway, here are the line-ups for tonight's game:
Phillies
- Shane Victorino CF
- Placido Polanco 3B
- Jimmy Rollins SS
- Ryan Howard 1B
- Ben Francisco RF
- Raul Ibanez LF
- Carlos Ruiz C
- Wilson Valdez 2B
- Cliff Lee LHP
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
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WARNING
This blog post will require you to employ critical thought, and avoid gut reaction. It will require you to step outside your own existence and into that of somebody else. It will require you to set aside the emotions you want to feel, and instead consider the reason you want to feel them. If any of this does not interest you, I would encourage you to stop reading. There are plenty of other areas of this web site that will appeal to you. If, however, you are interested in peeking beneath the surface of an uncomfortable situation, I would encourage you to continue. It might not alter your feelings. But at least it will not make you hate me.
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
The cool thing about Twitter is that it makes market research available to anybody. And if Charlie Manuel's use of John Mayberry Jr. were a pilot episode, there's a good chance it never would have made it onto the airwaves. Most people weighing in at Twitter.com/HighCheese felt the manager erred in tapping Mayberry to hit with the bases loaded in the seventh. And the ensuing strikeout gives their beef some merit.
Long story short, Manuel played a hunch. Ross Gload wasn't hurt. There wasn't a lefty warming in the bullpen. Manuel just wanted to use Mayberry.
According to the Official Managerial Handbook, the situation called for Gload, a veteran left-handed hitter who had faved the soft-tossing Livan Hernandez six times in his career (with a couple of singles to show). The bases were loaded and the Phillies were trailing 5-1 with the pitcher's spot in the order due up. So with righty Heranandez on the mound, the pinch-hitter-to-be represented the tying run. But there was only one out in the inning, and there were still two more frames to be played.
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
We talked to Jayson Werth in December after he signed a contract, and in March at spring training, and over the weekend in New York City. But, hell, it's April, and if you get bored of this you are more than welcome to cruise on over to the latest episode of That's Baseball.
Away we go. . .
(When Phillies signed Jim Thome a year before moving into Citizens Bank Park, it sent a message that the organization was ready to take the next step. Do you see your signing sending a similar message for the Nationals?)
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
No surprises here, although the weather does not look promising.
They always find windows.
- Shane Victorino CF
- Placido Polanco 3B
- Jimmy Rollins SS
- Ryan Howard 1B
- Ben Francisco RF
- Raul Ibanez LF
- Carlos Ruiz C
- Wilson Valdez 2B
- Joe Blanton RHP
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David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
We're back from Atlanta, which is always a good thing, but it remains to be seen if baseball will be played tonight in the nation's capital. High Cheese correspondent Matthew Hoffert just checked in from Fairfax, Va. to report that Kevin Costner is currently cruising around town looking to peddle his dirt. Yes, the mid-Atlantic states are under water. The forecast calls for thunderstorms all day with a 60 percent chance of rain running through 9 p.m. I'm sure they'll find a window, though.
A few things to get to...
1) One of our goals this season is to provide you with better coverage of the Phillies minor league system, since we realize there is a huge appetite for that amongst the fan base. Check out today's Daily News for the second installment of our weekly minor league page, "The System." Daily News staffers Joe Berkery and Ed Barkowitz will do the bulk of the heavy lifting, so feel free to give them a shout: berkerj@phillynews.com and barkowe@phillynews.com
