Cliff Lee to make Phillies debut tomorrow; Who goes?
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Cliff Lee to make Phillies debut tomorrow; Who goes?
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Cliff Lee will make his Phillies debut tomorrow against the Giants.
More from the newly-acquired lefty shortly.
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The first two roster moves to come as a result of the Cliff Lee/Ben Francisco trade are not a surprise. Steven Register, who allowed one run on three hits in two innings of his only appearance, was sent back to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. John Mayberry Jr., who is 10-for-53 with four home runs, eight RBI and 22 strikeouts in 35 games, was also sent down. Mayberry has had four at-bats since the All-Star Break.
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The more interesting transactions should come with Chad Durbin, Clay Condrey and J.C. Romero return from the disabled list. Durbin and Condrey are eligible to return Aug. 7. J.C. Romero is eligible to return Aug. 4.
Here is a look at the non-regular players currently on the Phillies roster:
Pitchers: Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ, Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson, Scott Eyre, Chan Ho Park, Jamie Moyer, Kyle Kendrick, Rodrigo Lopez, Tyler Walker
Bench players: Greg Dobbs, Matt Stairs, Paul Bako, Ben Francisco, Eric Bruntlett
Kendrick and Walker are the two obvious demotions once the first two relievers return. Beyond that, there is no clear answer to who the third will be. And assuming Pedro Martinez is ready within the next week to 10 days, there will have to be another roster spot cleared.
Here are your options. Remember, two of the following players will have to be off of the roster once Martinez arrives:
Rodrigo Lopez, RHP: Lopez makes his fifth start of the season tonight. He has been steady in his first four. It is obvious that he won't have a spot in the rotation. But he has pitched before as a reliever. In 26 career relief appearances, he has posted a 2.95 ERA and held batters to a .209 average. But the Phillies don't have much invested of him. They could designate him for assignment, hoping that he would clear waivers and accept a demotion to the minor leagues. If another team claimed him, or if he became a free agent, they would owe him nothing.
Eric Bruntlett, INF: It doesn't seem likely that the Phillies would go with four players on the bench for the rest of their season. While Bruntlett is hitting just .125 this season, he is the only option off the bench should Jimmy Rollins or Chase Utley need a blow.
Clay Condrey, RHP: When healthy, Condrey has pitched well this season. And he is relatively cheap. If the Phillies designated him for assignment, there is a good chance he'd be picked up by another team. The Phillies need all the bullpen depth they can get.
Chad Durbin, RHP: Durbin is on a one-year deal, so he could also be designated for assignment. Seeing as though he is making $2 million, he isn't a likely candidate to be claimed. He would then have to accept a demotion and maintain his salary, or become a free agent and forfeit it. He's been solid for the Phils the last two years, and again, they need all the arms they can get.
Jamie Moyer, LHP: The most interesting piece to the puzzle. If the Phillies want to keep J.A. Happ in the rotation, where it appears he belongs, then Moyer seems to be without a role, unless the club goes to a six-man rotation. Moyer is not an ideal bullpen piece. But while it may not always look pretty, he is 6-1 with a 3.51 ERA in his last seven starts.
Lopez and Durbin. Lopez because, as David Murphy stated, the Phillies don't have much invested in him. That and the fact that he was merely viewed as a stopgap measure. And Durbin because he punched his ticket by not admitting to being hurt. My gut tells me the organization may hold that against him to justify a roster move.— PhightinPhil- Can't we trade some of that excess pitching (Kendrick?, Lopez?) for another bat off the bench so we can finally dump Bruntlett? Anyone. A guy hitting .200 would be a .075 improvement.— josh124
If Ruben is smart ( and I think he is ) he will trade Lopez.
are people simply being ageist with Moyer? his shaky times seem to linger far longer in fan's memories than the mostly great work he has done since being a phillie...he's gonna lead the team this year in wins, following the same feat during their World Series run last year. the guy wins 6 of 7, and we simply roll our eyes waiting for the other shoe to drop!— theJOJ
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lost in all this hoopla is the fact that the Mets have reeled off 5 wins a row….don’t forget people, they have had some pretty big trades & huge FA acquisitions the last couple of years too. this NL East race isn’t over, the Mets could very well…bah ha ha ha ha! I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I just can’t say that and keep a straight face…it just sounds funny - the Mets. Bah ha ha ha ha!— bboybeballin- What a great set of problems to have!— L1Monte
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- I can also bat below .150. I may not be able to break .100, but I can also give Rollins and Utley a break here and there. Maybe the Phillies should look into signing me.— catnameddomino
- Look for the 5th spot in the rotation as Moyers for now, and if Pedro gets past rehab he is going in the pen...— TexasYankee
- haha bboybeballin you had me there for a few seconds...good one.— djsaitta
- O.K. O.K. I’ll be serious now…I think as far as Moyer goes, you can’t go by the number of wins alone(as funny as that sounds). you have to consider his other statistics, which overall, are not that strong. I say leave him in the rotation until the end of the regular season, unless he implodes. at the end of the regular season, evaluate how he is pitching and than make the decision whether or not to put him in the playoff rotation…as far as the 5th spot, dude that’s a tough one. if you put Happ in the pen, than you basically have to leave him there even through the playoffs. I don’t think it would be wise to yo-yo a young pitcher between the rotation and BP, and expect him to be consistently effective. Cholly is gonna have to earn his pay w/ these decisions…with the Mets playing well, the Phils have little room for error. The Mets could very well sneak up & win the div…BAH HA HA HA! Mets. Win. I am just too funny today. someone please stop me…— bboybeballin
- Dave, why is Pedro not an option in the bullpen? There are incentives built into his contract for this exact situation. Since it's clear that Moyer is not a viable option out of the pen, the most likely starting scenario would have to be Hamels, Lee, Blanton, Happ, and Moyer. Pedro can come out of the pen and Lopez can be a long man until condrey/romero/durbin return.— robm0202
they can ship bruntlett to the minors and i m sure they can pick up a better infielder than bruntlett with hitting power in triple A,,— hardball- Mr. Injury says, "Hi, don't forget a place in the discussion for me." There is no team in baseball without guys on DL and there probably is no team in baseball, especially a team withou financial resources like the Phils, that have not parked players on the DL while they sort out their roster. I expect the Phils to go that road. This is not a young team nor an injury-free team so they might not even have to use subterfuge. By my account, they have 15 pitchers to have to contend with if you take away the injury factor: Hamels, Lee, Blanton, Happ, Moyer, Lopez, Martinez, Myers, Lidge, Madson, Park, Durbin, Condrey, Romero and Eyre. To me that is the reason they will not go after another arm for the pen before the July 31 deadline. They don't know how to stash all the ones they have but there is some depth for the real injuries that come along.— Claudio Vernight
