Double-A Reading righthander Kyle Drabek, generally regarded as the Phillies' best pitching prospect, will not be called up after roster limits are expanded Tuesday.

In fact, the team announced Sunday that he has been shut down for the remainder of the season.

The announcement stressed that Drabek is not injured but that this was instead a “proactive” move to protect a 21-year-old who has already thrown 158 innings between Class A Clearwater and Reading this season (61.2 at Clearwater and 96.1 at Reading).

He has been placed on the temporary inactive list.

Drabek is not scheduled to participate in the Arizona Fall League or Forida Instructional League this offseason.
 

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Righthander Clay Condrey could make a rehab start as early as Sunday and Greg Dobbs is looking to resume baseball activities as soon as this week.

Condrey (strained oblique muscle) threw long toss Saturday morning in preparation for a rehab appearence.
"I'm possibly pitching one inning tomorrow (Sunday) if the Gulf Coast League team plays its suspenned game," said Condrey, "If not I will pitch one inning on Monday in the GCL."

The GCL Phillies need to win Saturday's game to stay in the hunt for the league's Northern Division Crown.

As to being anxious to get back in a game Condrey has a more straightforward goal, "I'm anxious to get out of here."

On the 15-day disabled list with a strained calf since Aug. 23, two days after leaving a game against the Mets, Dobbs feels he is on the right track.

"I've felt I have made improvements already in the three days I have been here," said Dobbs, "It's one of those frustrating things you go through as a player when you get injuried."

As to the stepping up the workout schedule Dobbs said, "We'll probably start pushing it tomorrow or the next day with Tuesday or Wednesday being the days I can resume some baseball activities."

Dobbs already has a target day in mind when he will rejoin the Phillies.

"I'm elligibe to come off the DL on Sept. 5 if I wrote the numbers down right," Dobbs said Saturday. "In talking will all the staff here and what we went over it yesterday, hopefully that is all it's going to take."

Condrey is 6-2 with a 3.41 era this season while Dobbs is hitting .257 with five homers and 18 RBI.

Also rehabing in Clearwater is prospect Michael Taylor (right strained oblique).

"I hope I am playing in a game next week," said Taylor, "I took BP yesterday."

Taylor made the jump from Class A Clearwater in 2008 to Triple-A Lehigh Valley this season after being the Phillies' fifth-round pick in the June 2007draft.

He is hitting .282 with five homers and 19 RBI at Triple A.
 

Our Paul Hagen is covering Brett Myers today in Reading.

Here is a transcript of Myers' session with the media:

Myers: “I’m not coming back to take anybody’s job. I’m just coming back to help. Whatever the situation is. If somebody needs a day off or whatever. Just make it to where they have confidence in the guys in the back of the bullpen, to where we can win games. It’s all about winning. It doesn’t matter how we do it. I just want to win.”

 (But if they needed you to close. . .)

 “Yeah. If Lidge threw four days in a row and he felt like he needed a blow then, yeah, I could do it. (Ryan) Madson could do it. Hopefully (lefthander) J.C. (Romero) comes back and the match-up works out and he can do it. There are a lot of guys in there can do it. Just because they haven’t doesn’t mean they can’t.

 “They put a lot of emphasis on that ninth inning. And they should, because it’s probably the three biggest outs in the game. But guys just have to think of it like another inning. I think they should be just fine about that.”
(But you do have to understand the concern. . .)

 “I know that the fans and everybody else – I’m not sure the organization is too concerned about it with the lead we have and everything – you never know. Who knows? Maybe we make it to the playoffs and (Lidge) comes out and he goes 6-for-6 or whatever. You just never know what’s going to happen and that’s the beauty of the game.

“I’ll just come back. And if they need me to close the game or if Brad needs a blow or whatever just to take a day then, yeah, we can do that. They can pick who they want to put in that situation. But am I prepared to do anything they ask? Yeah, I’ll be ready. I’ve closed before. It’s nothing new for me to go out and do it.

 “But, like I said, I’m not coming back to take anybody’s job. I just want to come back and help. The main thing for me right now is just to get back and be part of the team. Because they’re doing all this without me and it (stinks) for me. Because I’m wanting them to win every night and not being there to be a part of what’s going on is tough.”

(How do you keep up?)

 “The greatest thing ever. It’s called the Sling Box. . .I can watch it on my computer.”

(So you don’t sense that they’re concerned about Lidge?)

“Dude, I’m not there. I couldn’t really tell you. . .I don’t know what’s going on.”

(Believe us, they’re concerned)

“If that’s how you feel, if they’re concerned about it, I don’t know what to tell you. There’s nothing I can do until I finish up here. I’m just trying to pitch here and get my arm strength back and be healthy enough to contribute any way they need me to.”

 (Command?)

 “I think it’s pretty good. I’ve been throwing for two months. It’s been 2 ½ weeks since I’ve been able to get on a mound. The first week or so of throwing felt weird. But tehn you get past that and you start playing catch and then all of a sudden it starts coming together.

 “I threw four or five bullpens in Clearwater. I threw four simulated games. So I had like nine chances to be on the mound (before starting the rehab assignment) to get my stuff ready. So it’s fine.”

 (Why multiple innings? So you can do that out of the bullpen?)

“Possibly. I mean, when I was closing I’d throw two innings sometimes. I’d come in in the eighth and I’d throw the ninth, too. I was doing that. That’s fine. I mean, a normal inning, a good clean inning, should honestly be no more than 15 pitches. If you get in trouble, it could be up around 25 pitches. So if I threw two innings that way it would be 50 pitches.

“Personally, I don’t think I need to throw so many innings (to get ready). I know they want to get me up to 50 pitches, but I think I can throw 50 pitches any day of the week. That’s just me. That’s just how I feel about it. That’s not their plan would be for me. Their concern is they don’t want me to get up there and I have to go two, three innings and hurt myself.”

    (Do you think your coming back will put any pressure on Brad Lidge?)

 “I would hope not. I would hope it would make him better. I’d hope it would not put any pressure on him, maybe that it would lock him in. Hopefully I’ll get up there and he’ll shut them down and we won’t have to discuss this anymore because you obviously see it and you hear it and you see it and everything.

 “As I said, I’m not there to take anybody’s job. I’m not there to do that. I don’t want to start any turmoil in any part of the team. I don’t want to be anything like that. I just want to help. I want to go pitch. I don’t want any controversy or, ‘Oh, we want him in there’ and start stirring up stuff. That’s not what I plan on doing.

 “I just want to go back, get an inning in here and there, help the team out if possible. Maybe throw to one hitter or something like that in certain situations. I just want to participate.”

 (Feel the hip anymore?)

“No. Knock on wood I don’t feel anything, pitching, running, whatever.”

   (Find it hard to believe you pitched with it so long?)

 “No, because I’ve always been the kind of guy who was going to go until it fell off. At a certain point, I got to where I was throwing with it and it just got worse. I felt it last year but not as bad as I felt it this year.

 “In ’07 I didn’t feel it as much maybe. It didn’t bother me as much. And then last year it was bad. Like every year I was having hip problems. It would be tight. I felt like it was just from standing around and that’s why it was doing it.

 “Honestly, going into the doc I didn’t feel like I was going to need surgery. I didn’t know what it was. I did everything I could to keep pitching this year. And I wanted to keep pitching. I was ice-tubbing every day so, if there was inflammation, I could get it out.

“Against the Yankees I threw a pitch to Johnny Damon and he grounded out to first. My brain and my body and everything was telling me to get over to first but for some reason I couldn’t move. I got over there late but Howard had tagged the bag, so I got lucky. I told the trainer, ‘It just locked up. I don’t know what happened.’

“It would do it every time I’d really try to get after a pitch. When guys get in trouble, they try to throw harder. And I’m that type of guy. I’m trying to throw harder and harder. I was getting into a little bit of trouble and the harder I’d try to throw, the worse my location was, the worse my velocity was and the more pain I was in.

 “At that point I was like, ‘It’s not that bad. It should be fine tomorrow.’ Then they checked it and said I had a torn labrum.”


 (What’s your approach when activated?)

 “I’ve only been part of two postseason rosters. I guess they’re just going to go with the hot hand, whoever’s going good. I feel like I have to make the team. Honestly, you know? Period. I don’t expect to be given anything if somebody is throwing better. There are no guarantees in this game, no guarantees I can go back out there and do anything sufficient. Hopefully I can. Hopefully I get enough work here and feel comfortable going back there.”

Let me start by saying that I like cherries. I value them. They are one of my favorite fruit. But while an ice cream sundae may not taste its best without one, it is still an ice cream sundae.

I say all this because I am about to talk about closers, which to me are baseball's equivalent of a cherry. This topic of discussion arises from last night's melt-down in Pittsburgh, where Brad Lidge blew his ninth save of the season and gave fresh fodder to the we're-doomed-if-this-continues crowd.

Again, let me re-iterate. I value cherries, and I value closers. There is no question Lidge was one of the key factors for the Phillies' World Series title last season. Without him on the mound pitching at his best, do they win Game 5? Maybe. Maybe not.

Would a dominant Lidge greatly enhance the Phillies' chances of repeating this year? Absolutely.

But is a dominant Lidge absolutely necesarry? History suggests no.

In today's game, the closer has taken on an almost mythical status. And rightly so. One need only look at the Red Sox's Jonathon Papelbon, the Yankees' Mariano Riveira, and the Angels' Francisco Rodriguez to see the value in having one player who can shorten every game by one inning.

But I also think our perspective is clouded by the fact that those three players have competed for five of the last 10 World Series champions.

EDIT: As a couple of you have pointed out, Papelbon was not on the '04 team, as originally stated. Instead, the equally-dominant Keith Foulke was. High Cheese regrets the error, although the over-riding point remains the same.

In an ideal world, at least in the one inhabited by the Phillies, Lidge would be included in those ranks. But right now, it is painfully evident that he isn't. Last night, both Charlie Manuel and Lidge seemed at a loss for words following the Phillies' 6-4 loss to the Pirates. For the first time in any of Lidge's nine blown saves, both men seemed to be searching. Their voices were far away when the talked. Their minds were somewhere else. Say this about both men - when they talked on prior occasions, you really felt like they believed that Lidge would turn it around. Last night, however, that conviction was missing in their voices. Lidge talked softly about the difficulty of pitching four days straight, even though he recorded saves in four straight games earlier this season while throwing more pitches over that stretch than he did in this most recent one. He has pitched in four straight games on two other occasions over the last two years, and never with the results of last night.

So yes, the Phillies have a problem.

But it is not an irreversible one, particularly with the influx of arms they could soon receive in the bullpen.

First, let's take a look back at recent history. While five of the 10 World Series Champions from 1998-2007 featured either Papelbon, Rivera, or Rodriguez at closer, five of them  did not. And in four of those situations, the closer situation was just as tenuous as it is right now for the Phillies:

1) 2003 Marlins: During the regular season, closer Braden Looper blew six saves. In late September, the Marlins replaced him with righthander Ugueth Urbina, whom the team acquired from Texas in early July. Urbina went on to save four games during the playoffs, posting a 3.46 ERA, including two in the World Series. Looper pitched in three games in the World Series, allowing four runs on six hits with two home runs in 3 2/3 innings.

2) 2006 Cardinals: During the regular season, closer Jason Isringhausen blew 10 saves, then went on the disabled list in September with a hip injury. He was replaced by Adam Wainwright, who had a 3.12 ERA during the regular season, then went on to save four games in the playoffs, pitching a total of 9 2/3 scoreless innings during St. Louis' title run.

3) 2005 White Sox: Chicago had a lights-out closer in Dustin Hermanson, who saved 34 games and posted a 2.04 ERA during the regular season. But in September, Hermanson went on the disabled list with a back injury and was replaced by mid-season call-up Bobby Jenks, who saved four games during the playoffs, including two in the World Series.

4) 2001 Diamondbacks: Byung Hyun Kim saved 19 games and posted a 2.94 ERA during the regular season, then saved three games in 6 1/3 scoreless innings in the NLDS and NLCS. But in the World Series, he blew both of his save opportunities, allowing five runs between them. The Diamondbacks went on to win in seven games.

So how does all of this relate to the 2009 Phillies?

First and foremost, it gives an indication that a closer is an important part of a dynasty. Again -- remember the cherries -- I am not down-playing that. None of the aforementioned four title winners won more than once in the given 10-year span. The Red Sox, with Jonathon Papelbon, won twice. The Yankees, with Rivera, won three times.

But it also gives an indication that if a baseball team is a Lizard, then a closer is the Lizard's tail. If you chop off the tail, a new one will grow. It might take awhile, and it might be painful, and if the Lizard had its druthers then he certainly would have elected to keep the original, but he'd much rather lose his tail than his head.

While the Phillies bullpen has been marred by injuries and inconsistency this season, it also has the possibility of possessing unprecedented depth during September and October.

If the three key performers currently on the disabled list -- lefthander J.C. Romero and righthanders Clay Condrey and Brett Myers -- return during September (a big if, I admit), the team will have plenty of options to sort through in the final weeks of the regular season.

*Brett Myers: He has closed before, reports say his velocity is up over where it was before his injury, and he has the ability to pitch either multiple innings or in the back of the bull-pen.

*Chan Ho Park: Like Myers, he has back-of-the-bullpen stuff as well as an ability to pitch multiple innings.

*Ryan Madson: He struggled in his brief stint as closer when Lidge was on the disabled list, but there is no questioning his stuff.

*Scott Eyre: Manuel used him to retire two left-handed batters in the ninth inning earlier this month in Atlanta before sending Lidge in for the one-out save.

*J.C. Romero: When he signed a three-year extension prior to last season, it was with the assumption that he would give the Phillies a left-handed option for the back of the bullpen.

Right there you have five players not named Lidge who have the type of repetoire it takes to succeed in the ninth inning. Last year, the Rays made it to the World Series using a closer-by-committee approach, using parts far less capable than the ones the Phillies currently possess.

Am I suggesting the Phillies go with a committee approach? No. I'm just suggesting that they have options. And while none of them makes them as strong of a team as they are when Lidge is shutting down the ninth inning, I do think that Lidge's struggles are surmountable.

I also think that Manuel does not need to be in a rush to evaluate his other options. That time is coming, but it is not here yet. Urbina did not replace Looper until the final week of September. The Phillies still need to find away to straighten Lidge out, and with every passing game, there is less and less evidence that they will succeed. But with a seven-game division lead, is there much harm in running him out there until Myers and Romero return, hoping that something might finally click? And, if something does not click, in using the final two or three weeks of the season to implement the back-up plan?

Again, back to the cherries. I am not down-playing their importance. Believe me, there is nothing more frustrating then heaping hot fudge, caramel and whipped cream onto vanilla ice cream and then realizing that you do not have the cherry. There is no guarantee that you can run out to the store, buy a jar, and return before your dessert turns into a puddle.

But it has been done before.

Poll: Who should be the Phillies' closer? (7552 votes)

A beautiful day here in Pittsburgh. Cloudless sky, low humidity, low 80's. Several Phillies fans on my flight this morning to Pittsburgh, which could be why a fellow beat writer was unable to find a direct flight. The only thing more depressing than going to Pittsburgh is having to connect through another city while doing so. Actually, I kid -- this is an underrated town, or, as one member of the Phils put it this afternoon, a "sleeper" city. The ballpark is beautiful, located right along the river (I'm too lazy to look up which one of the three), and in the midst of some restaurants and bars. The hotel is within walking distance. The weather is nice. All that is missing is the people. But hey, you don't have to wait long at the concession stands.

Lots to get to today:

1) Hot outfield prospect Michael Taylor might have seen his season come to a premature end when he was placed on the disabled list yesterday. Taylor's injury is a strained oblique, which is a pretty finnicky ailment, so it is unclear if he will return this year. Lehigh Valley finishes its season on Sept. 7. The Phillies are hopeful that he'll be back in time to squeeze in some more at-bats, but right now there is no reliable prognosis on his recovery. The injury comes at a bad time -- Taylor was really heating up after getting off to a slow start at Triple-A. He was hitting .350 with two home runs and eight RBI in his last 10 games and is hitting .282 with five home runs and 19 RBI in 30 games since his promotion.

2) I'm told Brett Myers is scheduled to pitch for Double-A Reading tomorrow, but the Phillies have not yet said anything official about the appearance.

3) Top outfield prospect Domonic Brown will participate in the Arizona Fall League. Taylor is not on an AFL roster, but he is expected to play somewhere, perhaps in Mexico. Other Phillies in the AFL: LHP Mike Zagurski, RHP Scott Mathieson, RHP Mike Cisco, INF Troy Hanzawa, OF Steve Susdorf, C Tuffy Gosewisch and RHP Michael Schwimer. All will play for the Scottsdale Scorpions. Play begins Oct. 13

4) Matt Stairs gets the start tonight in right field, while Jayson Werth gets the day off.

5) It seems like it is Chase Utley's turn to get hot. The second baseman is hitting .429 with two home runs in his last six games, and just missed crushing a couple of balls yesterday against the Mets. I wouldn't be surprised to see him be the one who catches fire for the last month-and-a-half, a la Ryan Howard a year ago.

Brett Myers faced four batters, striking out one and walking one, in his one inning rehab start for the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws on Monday night.

Myers' first pitch of the night was 93 mph, a dramatic improvement from the 88-90 that he threw when was with the Phillies before the surgery.

"[The hip injury ] definitely was a factor in the back of my mind. I knew if I let one go, I might have had one of those symptoms where it would lock up or be painful," Myers said. "I haven't felt anything [since the surgery], luckily enough. The doctor did a very good job, my velocity is definitely a lot better than it was when I was hurt. That's not in the back of my mind anymore."

Lake County leadoff batter Delvi Cid grounded the first pitch to second base on a fastball. Myers went on to throw a called third strike past Bo Greenwell on an 80-mph breaking ball. He walked Nate Recknagel before cleanup batter Chris Nash lined a ball to center. It was handled by Lakewood 19-year-old speedster Anthony Gose, and Myers' evening had concluded.

Myers said he did not know when he pitch again, but remained optimistic about rejoining the Phillies in September.

Relievers J.C. Romero and Clay Condrey both threw successful 35-pitch bullpen sessions at the Phillies’ Brighthouse Networks Field on Monday morning.

Romero, sidelined with a strained left forearm, said he is looking to rejoin the Phillies before the end of the season.

Of his session, Romero said: “I’m OK with it. I am a work in progress.”

Suspened for the first 50 games this season after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance, Romero has made a rehab appearence for Class A Clearwater against Dunedin on Aug. 7. The appearence lasted just 10 pitches. He returned to Philadelphia and was re-examined.

“It was tight so I shut it down,” said Romero who could have come off the 15-day DL on Aug. 4.

This is Condrey’s second stint on the DL for a left oblique strain; first on June 19 and this time July 25.

“I’m taking it a bit easier this time,” he said.

Condrey said that he will throw another session on Thursday, while Romero wasn’t sure when he would throw off a mound next.

Condrey is 6-2 with a 3.41 era over 36-games while Romero is 0-0 with a 2.87 in 20 games this season.

Also, Phillies rightfielder Jayson Werth was named the National League Player of the Week for the first time in his career

In six games, Werth hit .440 (11-for-25), led the NL with a 1.160 slugging percentage and tied for the N.L.’s top mark with nine RBI while also collecting seven runs scored, three doubles and a .481 on-base percentage. He also had five multi-hit games and four multi-RBI games.

Good morning. I ducked out of New York City a day early. Marcus Hayes will be filling in on the beat today as I prepare to fly to Pittsburgh. Here's what's percolating this morning:

1) While yesterday's game-ending triple play was really just a confluence of bizarre circumstances that happened to result in one of the rarest moments in the game of baseball, it was also a reminder of how much went right for Brad Lidge last season when he saved all 41 of his opportunities during the regular season. Don't get me wrong - it would be a huge mistake to credit the success of last season to luck and the struggles of this season to misfortune, but it is important to keep in mind how much went right last year. Remember Shane Victorino's throw-out at home to save a save in Atlanta? And Jimmy Rollins' diving stop/double play to clinch the division. Lidge suggested yesterday that the karmic balance of his universe might be correcting itself. We'll see. . .

2) Paul Bako, who has caught each one of Cliff Lee's four starts this season, appeared on Daily News Live last week. During the interview, I asked him to name the pitcher that Lee reminded him most of. Bako has caught some great ones in his time. He was on the Braves with Greg Maddux, and last season caught the Reds' two young stars, Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto. But Bako answered with a pitcher whom he has never caught before.

"He reminds me of a left-handed Roy Halladay," Bako said.

It was an interesting comparison, given the Phillies' immense pre-trade-deadline interest in the Blue Jays ace. But it fits. Lee does not look like your typical lefty. He pounds the strike zone, throws effectively to both sides of the plate, and brings to the mound the attitude of a right-handed power pitcher. He is also a bona fide ace, which the Phillies have not had since perhaps Curt Schilling. As good as Cole Hamels was last season, let me ask you this question -- did you ever feel the way prior to Hamels' start that you do on a day like today when Lee is scheduled to take the mound against the Mets?

3) That last question I wrote is unfair to Hamels. But only because the expectations that fans and media placed on him may have been a tad unrealistic. I won't say the expectations were unfair, because when a guy wins the World Series MVP and then signs a multi-year contract, they come with expectations. But as I wrote in my game story on Friday night, Hamels is still just 25 years old, and he is still maturing into the type of no-doubt-about-it, top-of-the-rotation pitcher that Lee has become over the past two years.

Some perspective:

In 2005, at the age of 26, anothing young lefty had what looked to be a break-out season. He went 18-5 with a 3.79 ERA, striking out 143 and walking 52 in a career-high 202.0 innings of work. The next year, he posted a 4.40 ERA and his opposing batting average rose from .251 to .278. Then in 2007, his ERA jumped to 6.29, his BAA to .284, and he found himself relegated to the minor leagues.

That lefty was Cliff Lee.

4) Brett Myers is scheduled to throw his second rehab outing today in Lakewood. Yesterday's was rained out.

5) The Mets are now 15.5 games out of the National League East lead.

6) Charlie Manuel has admitted over the past couple seasons that it sometimes feels as if someone else has to pry Chase Utley out of his cold, dead hands to get him out of the line-up. But Manuel knows how to pick his spots. Eric Bruntlett was 6-for-11 off of Oliver Perez heading into yesterday's game, while Utley had struggled. I'd say it worked out.

7) The Phillies enter today's action one game behind the Dodgers for the best record in the National League. While that would be significant if the two teams met in the NLCS, it could be irrelevant in deciding the first round playoff pairings. Currently, the Rockies lead the Wild Card race. Because the Rockies and Dodgers both play in the NL West, they can not meet in the first round. So if the Wild Card does come out of the West, the Dodgers will end up playing the Cardinals regardless, assuming St. Louis holds on for the NL Central crown. For what it's worth, the Dodgers are 2-5 against the Cardinals this season, while the Phillies are 4-2 against the Rockies.

UPDATED: Brett Myers' rehab start at Lakewood was rained out today.

Myers is now scheduled to pitch the first game of a doubleheader Monday against Kane County (5:05 p.m. start).

He remains expected to throw one inning.

He declined to talk to reporters today.

**

Third baseman Greg Dobbs has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained calf that he suffered while running the bases in the Phillies' 4-2 loss to the Mets Friday night.

Miguel Cairo, the veteran infielder who started the season on the Phillies' active roster, has been recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

To make room for Cairo on the 40-man roster, lefthander Antonio Bastardo has been moved from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list.