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Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Half full or half empty?

Thoughts from tonight's 8-5 loss to the Braves.

Half-empty:

1) Brett Myers guaranteed tonight that his struggles won't continue for the rest of the season. Why won't that happen? "Because I'm not going to let it happen," he said. That said, the Phillies have some cause for concern until Myers regains the form that saw him become one of the more solid young pitchers in the league. He was hit often, and hit hard tonight by a team that entered hitting just .253 on the road. He gave up three home runs in his first 20 pitches. It's hard to believe a team can make it to the playoffs if it's Opening Day Starter finishes the year with an ERA at 5.93, which is Myers' mark after tonight's performance.

2) The Phillies struggled to get much offense for the first five innings off of Glavine, putting just one runner on base until their four-run sixth inning. They lead the league in come-from-behind wins with 13. But can they really continue to win like this all season?

Half-full:

1) Ryan Howard continues to put good swings on the ball. He hit a solo home run to the opposite field in the eighth inning and a long foul ball to the opposite field in his first at-bat. He wasn't doing those types of things when he was struggling. His hitting streak is now at six games, which was already a season-high.

2) Chase Utley extended his major-league leading home run total to 14.

3) Jimmy Rollins had a couple of RBI doubles, and Chris Coste went 4-for-4, the third time he's had four hits in a game in his career.

4) The bullpen once again performed well, pitching 4 1/3 scoreless innings.

Anyway. . .

There is no consensus in the clubhouse as to what ails Brett Myers. Chris Coste, who caught tonight, said he didn't think it was a matter of velocity. Charlie Manuel said it was more a matter of location, and said that perhaps Myers should be more aggressive and pitch inside more. All three home run pitchers were fastballs left over the big part of the plate. One thing pitcher, catcher and manager all agreed on is that the Braves seemed to crush anything that was in the zone.

Posted by David Murphy @ 11:14 PM  Permalink | 6 comments
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Comments
Posted by maximusud 11:54 PM, 05/14/2008
I don't think Myers is starting material. Physically, yes; mentally, no. He loved closing, he clearly wants to close, and his mentality seems better suited for it. Lidge has been lights out and should absolutely remain the closer, but if Myers can shut other teams down in the 7th/8th and Gordon and Romero keep pitching well, maybe the Phillies would be better off with Chad Durbin or J.A. Happ trying to stumble through 5 or 6 innings. Myers clearly doesn't have the composure of a starting pitcher.
Posted by Eddie D 12:17 AM, 05/15/2008
He's a fat slob who cries too much. Just go out there and do your job...you aren't the closer anymore, so get over it. In fact, the guy who is our closer now is much better than Myers ever was in the role, so he better figure it out, quick. I mean how do you throw a first pitch fast ball down the middle to a guy that's hitting .420? What did he think was going to happen? He really is killing them right now, and he can't expect the offense to bail him out every night...really, everyone not named Cole Hamels is putting an unfair burden on the lineup. The lineup has been solid, the bullpen has been awesome but the rotation is treading water and it's very frustrating to watch because I think the Phils are better than any other team in this division but the pitching is holding them back, big time.
Posted by meha 08:13 AM, 05/15/2008
Meyers should read Feinstein's book Living on the Black. Glavine and Mussina talk about pitching out of trouble and adversity throughout the book. They also talk about conditioning their bodies to help them pitch better. Meyers could learn from these two great pitchers experience.
Posted by davemarsh 08:40 AM, 05/15/2008
Hey Meha did Glavine reference his last few starts with the Mets when talking about pitching out of trouble and handling adversity? He did real well in those situations. The only thing MYERS should read is the davemarsh book titled, "How to Stop Yourself From Throwing First Pitch Meatballs." Great read.
Posted by Mark1npt 08:40 AM, 05/15/2008
You are right on again Max......why is it no one else can figure this out?...not only would he make the BP more formidable now, but in August when Gordon and Romero's arms are about to fall off from overuse, he would be a decent set up guy for Lidge.....and if the Phils don't pony up the money for Lidge and his multi year deal for big bucks, then we can always fall back on biker boy (who doesn't intimidate anybody) as our closer again next year!
Posted by tommy john 09:41 AM, 05/15/2008
What can anybody say cheese? Myers might posses some major league talent,but c'mon scale of 1-10 ,3.5.The best way for us fans to deal with him,is to never expect much.
6 comments
About David Murphy
David Murphy joined the Daily News as its Phillies beat writer in February of 2008. Born in Upper Merion and raised in the Poconos, he attended college at La Salle University before taking jobs with the Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Sun-News and the St. Petersburg ( Fla. ) Times.
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