On Lopez, Ibanez, Toronto, Atlanta and Truth University
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On Lopez, Ibanez, Toronto, Atlanta and Truth University
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
I can't remember the last time I had a chance to sit in my hotel room and put my feet up and put together an expansive, all-encompassing, and -- I'm sure to most -- mind-numbing blog entry for folks back in Philadelphia to digest during their lunch breaks (And by digest, I mean scour for grammatical errors and faulty logic and the rip the bejeezus out of me in the comments section). So here we go. . .
1) We're in Atlanta right now. I'm not a big fan of Atlanta, although it is home to my favorite college step team at Truth University. Rumor has it there are nice areas of Atlanta, but I can tell you two areas of Atlanta that aren't nice: the area by my hotel downtown, and the area by Turner Field. Granted, this is all a matter of perspective. If you are a big fan of fast food and 24-hour dry cleaning establishments, then downtown Atlanta is the place for you. But here is a quick travel tip that Brooke Burke and Dhani Jones will not give you: When walking down Peachtree St, wear a T-Shirt that says "No I do not have any spare change." It will save you a lot of time.
2) Take the exact opposite of my feeling for Atlanta, and you will have my feeling for Toronto. Turns out, those Vietnam draft-evaders were on to something. The place is beautiful. The streets are clean, the nightlife is outstanding, and the people are so friendly that you walk around wondering why people in America are so miserable. Places to check out? Start at Hemingway's in the Bloor-Yorkville section. I've been racking my brain to pinpoint exactly what it is about Toronto that I love, and three words keep popping into my brain: Lack of Pretense. People seem happy to exist, happy to talk, happy to meet people who did not grow up on their block. Maybe it is the national health care. Maybe it is the Molson. Who knows. I love America's Northeast because people act like the fastest way between two points is a straight line. People in Canada act the same way, except they act like they actually the journey on the line, and not just the destinations at either end. Does that make any sense?
3) I would not be surprised to see Rodrigo Lopez get the start on Friday. The 33-year-old former Oriole has allowed two earned runs in his last three starts, and Phils assistant GM Benny Looper said yesterday that experience is one factor that the Phillies are considering when deciding who will get the call. What do they have to lose? Worse case scenario, he gets the call-up, struggles for two starts, and forces the Phillies to re-evaluate things at the All-Star Break. All things being equal, Andrew Carpenter has pitched the best of the three candidates. And if they go with the player who most "deserves" the start, it will be him. But the Phils are at a point where they need to start thinking about alternate plans if they are unable to land a starter via trade. I would be very, very surprised if they do not add someone. But we are still a month away from the trading deadline, and it seems like everyone other than the Nationals is within three games of a playoff spot in the National League. Lopez had three solid seasons for the Orioles and at one point finished second in AL Rookie of the Year voting. This is the first time he has been healthy in two years, so why not give him a shot? Carlos Carrasco and Carpenter aren't going anywhere. Then again, I don't know how the talent evaluators have graded Lopez in these past few starts. All I know is the results.
4) The one hang-up about calling up Lopez: Once you promote him to the big league roster, he either must stick or you risk losing him on waivers. The Phils have already burnt an option on Carrasco and Carpenter this season, so they can move back and forth between the minors and majors at will. The only mitigating factor with Carrasco is that a promotion would start his service clock. At this point, though, the Phillies are in a position where performance is by far the No. 1 factor. I expect that we'll hear something today.
5) One thing I did not get into the paper last night was Charlie Manuel's explanation of why he chose to pinch-hit Chris Coste against Derek Lowe in the sixth and not Matt Stairs. There were two runners on at the time with two out. Stairs, a lefty, would have made sense. But Manuel said that the Braves had a lefty warming in the bullpen, and if he would have pinch-hit Stairs, the Braves would have called on that lefty. Manuel does not like using Stairs against a lefty. He is a career .238 hitter off of southpaws, not to mention 2-for-15 off of Lowe. Coste is a career .278 hitter off of righties, and was 1-for-4 with a home run in his career off of Lowe. So those are the numbers that Manuel was using when he made his decision. Either way, O'Flaherty was going to be in the game to start the seventh inning.
6) Jimmy Rollins is hitless in his last 24 at-bats and has not had a hit in 12 days.
7) Although Raul Ibanez is expected to make his first rehab start tonight, I would be surprised to see him in the Mets' series. I'd expect him to play tonight, take tomorrow off, play again on Friday and Saturday, and be ready to re-join the team on Sunday at the earliest. Again, that's me talking. Is there a chance he plays Wed., Thu., Fri. and is activated Saturday? Sure.
Drop Rollins in the batting order and then start thinking about moving him for some pitching. This guy is struggling, we'll never see the numbers of his MVP year, he is (or will be) 30 and the SS of the future is in the wings. People can say all they want about his leadership, but the team is falling apart and a shakeup like that could turn some heads (ala another Philly team this past year).— jonnyb0916- Well tonight they have Bako playing. Why not Lopez to round off incompetence? Rollins if.....Rollins. Cole is just another pitcher right now and unless the Phils rally, they will be almost out of first place by tonight. What an amazing collapse!— KGKoons
- WOW lopez was the opening day starter for the O's now am impressed!— phillybirds
- WOW lopez was the opening day starter for the O's now am impressed!— phillybirds
"Former" is the key word. Baseball like most pro sports, it's all about - what have you done for me lately? None of us knows if Jimmy will be anything close to his former self in the second half. Jimmy has openly stated in the past that he wants to play for Oakland. Plenty of fomer MVPs have been traded BTW. So how long do we wait? Last year he had an excuse, a sprained ankle.— RAS- Trade Jimmy? Former MVP Jimmy Rollins? That comment is the exact opposite of intelligent...— CaptAwesome
- Lopez is not a bad stop gap. He's a veteran who knows how to pitch. He was an opening day starter for the Orioles. Same his some will claim him if they try sending him back to the minors.— 76er
- Proofread Dave and we won't have to point out your grammatical errors and missing words. You write for a living.— bpiont
- I can tell you what they have to lose by bringing up Lopez... Friday's game, and any other game he starts. The Phils can't afford to give away many more games to abortive starts; they've done enough of that already. Sure, Carrasco and Carpenter are no sure things, but at least they're still prospects. Lopez is a washed up suspect that couldn't stick with the hapless O's. What does that tell you?— drbob1
- Stairs? We had the lead but Madsen failed to hold. He's rapidly moving up the list of issues...— Grazman
- There's no way they trade Rollins unless they slump real hard between now and the end of the month and decide to give up on the season, but it sounds like a good idea at this point. He's going to ask for way too much money when is contract is up anyway, and we could try to use Cairo everyday. He's hovering around .300 in LV, maybe he just needs to play everyday to be effective, like everyone else in our system except Matt Stairs and Greg Dobbs.— B in DC
- Jimmy stated in plain terms that he wanted to play for his hometown Oakland A's some day, not too long after he signed his $40MM contract extension in 2005. I thought it was a little inappropriate at the time, since the Phils had just provided for his lifetime financial security. Since then, Jimmy has won lifetime achievements in an MVP and the World Series with the Phils. The only thing left for him to achieve is the HOF which ain't gonna happen. So maybe Jimmy is trying to play himself out town. Any takers on the notion? In the meantime, he needs to grab a lighter bat if he's serious about repeating as a World Champ.— RAS
- NO MORE EAGLES COMMENTS ON A PHILLIES BLOG, TARD.— chase2kspc
- I'm a transplant now living in 770. Let me tell you this, how many times have you spent December 26th on the golf course in 215 or 610? It's great to get back home from time to time, but the move was the perfect situation for me. PS - Raising Phillies and Iggles phans in the Great Peach State.— Phandom
- I still think Jimmy will turn it around in the second half....just call me the one optimistic phillies fan. I was the guy who was pulling for Howard all last year, and he pull it out just in time to push us into the post season.— PhillySportsPhan007
- Rollins main problem is one that has hampered him his entire career, even when he was hitting great. That problem is his patience at the plate. He seems unwilling to walk, and usually doesn't make it past the third pitch in an at-bat. When you're in a slump you need to try to effect the game in other ways, and with his speed a walk then a stolen base is one of the best things a lead-off hitter can do.— PhillySportsPhan007
- Why is Jimmy still batting lead off? Drop him in the order and stop worrying about his ego.— wtphillies
- To answer a few questions. 1. The Phils used options on Carrasco and Carpenter to send them to the minors after spring training. 2. I enjoy getting heckled. It lets me know you are reading carefully, hanging on every word I write, rather than skimming.
- Theses fans are tough aren't they? The things they worry about! It is too bad they don't have idiot check never mind spell check.— pattymac3
- murph did ask to get heckled... murph use spell check. and if you have missing word check that would be even better.— WC-Jonesy
Comment removed.- Do you ever re-read these things to check for missing words?— joeyjoejoe
- Am I the only one who thinks its a little crazy to not see what Michael Taylor can do a few games a week in the bigs right now? He is putting together an unreal season in Reading. If he adjusts quick up here it gives us options. Play him 1-2 days per week for Werth, give Raul and Shane 1 day off each and the kid is playing almost regularly. Plus a good RH pinch hitter with pop off the bench. Also and I hate to even mention this bc its panic button material but if it would take Vic or Werth with a prospect to get a big time pitcher well then we know what Taylor can do for us. Not saying i would ever do that but if it gets desperate in the next few weeks might not be the craziest thing to package one of them in a trade to get us our #2 starter. I do believe Jimmy will get it going to some extent 2nd half and when Raul comes back we will click again.— philsfan in the atx
- Trade Jimmy now since he still has value. Get a starter, or a reliever and and a kid SS. But, he has to go now if they ever want like value in return. As of now, his value looks poor but teams know a change of venue might just get him moving again.— KGKoons
- The Braves have 3 lefties in the pen. So bringing Stairs would have made sense even if Cox countered with O'Flaherty. Not matter what, Stairs was going to stay on the bench all night. No way Cox would have let Stairs hit, unless it was against one of his lefties. Then I would've put Mayberry for Stairs instead of Coste. I like his power a lot better than Coste and he also is a lot faster in case of a slow roller or something. Maybe Cox would bring another reliever to face Mayberry.— EL Zorro
- Comment removed.
- I was in Atlanta a few years back and some begger asked for 25 cents. I gave him a dollar. He then asked me why I only gave him I dollar. So I took my dollar back and flipped a quarter to him and walked away. Maybe he didn't realize a dollar was worth more than 25 cents. After that, I didn't even bother to look at the other homeless folks begging for change.— dankil13
- Not very "inteligent" huh? Too bad they don't have spell check on these blog entries. I'd hold off comparing IQs with Jimmy for awhile.— Cheesedog
- The worst thing that ever happened to Jimmy Rollins is that 30 homer season. He still thinks he's a power hitter. Too many pop ups and too many swings at bad pitches. He plays with a lot of heart but very little brain. Unfortunately, Jimmy is not very inteligent.— Deacon101
- unclecharlie ... they wouldn't have burned their best lefty. They wouldn't have burned any lefty. They would have brought O'Flaherty in one batter earlier. He would have pitched to four batters instead in 1 1/3 innings instead of three in 1 inning. And the Phils would have wasted their best pinch hitter for no reason. The fact that Chollie never had the chance to get Stairs in later in the game is beside the point. You don't know that in the 6th inning. Abe ... I believe they burned an option on Carrasco when they put him on the 40-man roster.— GoPhilsGo
- So, they would have brought in a lefty, huh? So, why don't you bring up Stairs, have them being in their best lefty, and then sit Stairs and bring in Coste? At least then you've made them burn their best lefty, and you have a better match-up in Coste/lefty then Coste/Lowe. I expect him to say that he didn't want to 'burn' Stairs; however, we lost the game 5-4 and, as it were, Stairs never got off the bench. Aarrgh.— unclecharlie
- jimmy sucks— gulls3012
- Rollins needs to be put in his place; OUT OF BASEBALL!!!— maximusud
- "The Phils have already burnt an option on Carrasco" - when did that happen?— WDeptfordAbe
