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.
Trade Lopez to Minnesota. They need pitching. Get Joe Mauer for Lopez and Kendrick. Juuuust kidding.....sort of. Nah seriously, Twins are hurting for pitching, they would take the stopgap.— UncleEddie- Great post by "bboybeballin". :)— flyerdup
- Option Bruntlett - and bring up INF Cervenak from the Iron Pigs - drove in 5 runs this past week.....— M60tanker
- win/loss record is a horrible stat....it's overly affected by your team's offense, their defense in the field, the other team's defense, etc. etc. etc...win/loss is a team statistic, and it means little for a pitcher. era, whip, and various other stats are more useful. a guy can go out and pitch 8 innings, give up one run, and lose cause his team got shut out. another guy can pitch 5 innings, give up 6 runs, but win cause his team put up an 8 spot along the way. despite his wins, moyer has CLEARLY been the worst starter on the staff...he gives up a ton of runs, but gets bailed out often, by dumb luck, by the team's offense. you have to be an IDIOT not to think moyer is the one who should be dropped from the rotation...if he pitches in october it's bad news....remember how awful he was against milwaukee and la last october? he struggles greatly against good hitting teams that are patient enough to deal with his "stuff". he's got to go.— valentine
- Oops - Cervenak is mostly 1st base; Brad Harman is better choice - actually on their 40 man roster.... Either way Bruntlett has to go!!!!— M60tanker
- If Happ is here, he has to be in the rotation, he has an ERA under 3.00. If you can deal him and others for Halladay, do it.— citizenkane
- Too much pitching - This is a problem I would like to have more often.— BurtonT
- What a stupid question. Should you be writing?— rich_gelman
Comment removed.- We don't know how long of a rehab Durbin will need. He has pitched over a month hurt. I am sure Condrey will need extended rehab assignment.Maybe the time they are ready it will be september 1 when the roster can expand to 40— jmagee1202
- What about Miguel Cairo? He is batting almost 300 in AAA and has plenty of major league experience! He has to be an improvement over Bruntlett.— IgglesSBNow
- Bruntlett is sh*t in spikes. Fire his *ss.— andrewfrombrooklyn
- zwarte piet -- Rosenthal tonight gave an interview to Leslie G and the best I could tell he seemed to be saying he though there was a strong possibility of another trade for the Phils by the dead line. The words Relief Pitching and another bat for the bench were used so maybe just maybe the pitching surplus will be taken care of by then.— Wally 24
- Why this need for Bruntlett (.125). Cairo can play for a game or bring somebody from the minors. Bruntlett and Baco are anchors bring the teams to ZERO options after the 5ht inning.— tulsaphil
- why is it assumed Pedro is in the rotation? His contract has incentivies for relief appearances, and it seems the bullpen needs more fresh arms than the starters do. Besides, Pedro hasn't been able to consistently go 5+ innings in years, no reason to believe he can do it now. Hamels, Lee, Blanton, Moyer, Happ. That should be the starting 5, with Lopez and Pedro in the BP. Durbin and Condrey can go. Bruntlett has to stay, because even though he can't hit to save his life, he's not all that bad at defense, and noone else can do it anyway.— cnova000
