Leading off March 4th: Willis, Qualls get mulligans
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Leading off March 4th: Willis, Qualls get mulligans
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Rich Dubee always says that he gives pitchers a mulligan on their first outing of the spring. That is good news for two veterans who are hoping to gain Dubee's trust this spring. Dontrelle Willis and Chad Qualls combined to allow six base runners and four runs in the sixth and seventh innings of the Phillies' 8-5 loss to the Yankees yesterday. Qualls retired the first two batters he faced, then allowed a double to Chris Dickerson, a triple to Dewayne Wise and a homer to Cole Garner before finally getting Justin Maxwell to fly out to end the inning. Qualls looked to have trouble keeping his sinker down in the zone. Keep in mind that the veteran righty had a 5.05 ERA in the 38 appearances he made away from the spacious confines of Petco Park. Also important to note: lefties hit .320/.381/.500 against Qualls, while righties hit (.218/.255/.282). Dickerson and Wise are lefties. Garner is a righty.
Willis, meanwhile, allowed a double to Garner, a single to Jorge Vazquez and a walk to Russell Martin. He got wise to ground out, Ibanez to pop out, and Ramiro Pena to ground out. But remember, Willis is in camp to be a lefty specialist, and there is a reason for that: lefties went 0-for-2 with a walk against him yesterday; righties went 2-for-3.
It is hard to view Willis and Qualls as anything other than match-up options at this point. Willis has held lefties to a .200/.274/.288 line in his career, but has allowed righties to hit .282/.358/.430. If Jose Contreras can make it through the season healthy, the Phillies shouldn't need either Qualls or Willis to contribute in the final couple of innings. That being said, they'd love to see both players recapture some of their younger glory. They'll get plenty of chances to do that this spring.
Your morning Phillies reads. . .
--Charlie Manuel wants to see a Yankees-Phillies World Series. So does Nick Swisher, at least according to this story by David Waldstein of the New York Times. Can you imagine the plot lines? Yankees of the AL vs. the Yankees of the NL. Re-match of the 2009 World Series. Roy Halladay looking for his first World Series against the AL East rival he cut his teeth against. Cliff Lee with his third attempt at the World Series, this one against the team that vaulted him into playoff mythology in 2009. Raul Ibanez looking to wrap up his career with a World Series victory against the team that opted against re-signing him this offseason. Jonathan Papelbon against his old foe. Anyway, you get the point.
Swisher: “This is exactly the World Series that everyone wants to see. I know it’s the World Series I want to see. They’re the Yankees of the National League and I feel it’s the two best teams in baseball.”
--Dontrelle Willis and Juan Pierre talk to the Miami Herald's Manny Navarro about their time in Florida and their new positions with the Phillies. Willis: "I was explaining to somebody the other day how I never got a chance to go to college. So the Marlins were kind of my frat, kind of like when somebody gets a chance to go to UM or FIU where they always have a special place for them in their heart."
--Bob Brookover takes a look at the best double-play combination in Phillies history, and points out that Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley have played a total of only 120 games together over the last two seasons.
--Mike Stutes was watching old home movies when he found a mechanical glitch in his delivery, he tells the Inquirer's Matt Gelb.
--CBS Sports' Danny Knobler checks in with his impressions of the Phillies as they head into the 2012 season. He also says Citizens Bank Park has one of the best atmospheres in baseball. Just another case of the national media trying to hold the Philadelphia fan down. Anyway, not much new here. Can they hit? Can they stay healthy? Etc.
I always looked forward to Qualls coming in to a game. Now that he is part of the Phillies I dread his appearance. Why am I having a Baez kind of feeling?— johnny eagle- I have the same feeling about Qualls. There are some pitchers who the Phillies would regularly light up when they came into a game. Qualls was one of them. Why would they think he'll be any different against the rest of the league? — SteveS11
- Willis has made 205 pitching appearances in the major leagues, only three of them were in relief. He might need a few more mulligans to adjust.— Dull
- Willis threw a ton of pitches. Like Sarge said, it looked like he was aiming the ball.— EL Zorro
- Disappointing in Waldstein's article that he took a swipe at Philly fans and Ibanez fed into it a bit. I am certain he can tell the difference between "Raaauuulll" and "Boo". He heard both of them often enough and knew which one to acknowledge.— calm weather
- a lot of mulligans will be necessary for clueless rube's latest cheap useless bullpen additions --he wastes his whole budget on a closer and then fills his bullpen and roster with garbage— warbiscuit
- Frankly, I'd much rather see the plethora of young promising arms who performed admirably in AAA last year have the opportunity to create "glory", rather than these two retreads RE-CREATING it...Willis, who clearly has had command issues in the past, is purely an experiment as a reliever...Qualls, to me, is not an upgrade. I believe he'll press (in this pressure chamber) as much as any one of the youngsters would....TBD.— bearsfriend
Comment removed.- Last time I checked Dave, runs allowed in the middle of the game count the same as runs allowed at the end of the game.— bobcitydoc
- I'm not optimistic about Qualls. At least his deal is only for a year. Willis is a guy I'd like to see succeed but I don't know if I'd take those odds either. Need to see a full spring of both guys to really judge though. It's looking like Contreras will definitely be back. The back of the pen should be good.— s
- Please check Willis' numbers against lefties the last few years and realize the Phils are only using him in that role. Think back in the playoffs the last few years and realize if we had a guy who could come in 7th or 8th and get out a lefty....— BuddyBall92
- I feel like Diekman or Savery could hold their own in that sort of role and maybe even do better than Willis. Both guys had good years in AAA as LH relievers. For Willis it's a new role. We'll see as spring training progresses since all three are getting a look. I was not impressed with Willis' first outing but he has time to show somethime. I like DW -- I just wonder if this sort of role is one he can excel at.
— s - I'm concerned about Stutes. Yesterday he didn't appear to have solved any glitch he found. I'm concerned how he and Bastardo ran out of gas last year. The new acquisitions (Qualls, Willis) are underwhelming. The Big Truck is anybody's guess. I'm hoping at least one of the young arms (Aumont, Savery, DeFratus, Diekman) or maybe even Brian Sanches steps up.— dasher
- I think the Phillies middle relief pitching is the worst its been in a while. I don't believe they couldn't have done better than Qualls and Willis. I think one or more of the prospects is going to have to step up and excel this year or we're going to see a lot of leads evaporate in the 6th, 7th and 8th innings.— SteveS11
- Nix is a poor man's version of Wigginton who is a poor man's imitation a major leaguer benchwarmer— warbiscuit
- Funny stuff guys. Fasten your seat belts it's going to be a bumpy ride.Warbiscuit why do I think the same as you about those two guys?— tobyjoe
