With Blanton down, thin pitching staff faces questions
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
With Blanton down, thin pitching staff faces questions
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
A pitching staff is a lot like a stack of Jenga blocks. Remove a piece, and often you can replace it without causing much disruption. Remove more pieces, and the stack becomes more unstable. Remove the wrong piece -- or fail to replace it properly -- and the entire game comes crashing down.
The metaphor is one the Phillies will consider carefully over the next few days, as front office and coaching staff attempt to fill the void left when Joe Blanton learned this morning that he could be sidelined until mid-May with an oblique strain. In a perfect world, Kyle Kendrick slides into Blanton's spot in the rotation and causes barely a ripple. The young righthander spent most of spring as one of the most impressive pitchers in camp, showing good command of his off-speed pitches while allowing just four earned runs in 21.2 innings. Were it not for the presence of veteran lefty Jamie Moyer, Kendrick might already have a spot in the rotation. In this aforementioned perfect world, Blanton returns from the disabled list at some point during the three-to-six week window that team doctor Michael Ciccotti has outlined, by which time Kendrick and Moyer will have enjoyed plenty of time to prove which one of them deserves to remain in the starting five.
But baseball, as any general manager can attest, is not a perfect world, particularly when it comes to strained muscles in a player's core. Last season, Phillies reliever Clay Condrey spent close to three months on the disabled list battling an oblique strain that never seemed to fully recover. He left the team in mid-June, returned in mid-July, and made just three appearances before heading back to the disabled list, where he remained until mid-September.
Ciccotti said yesterday that Blanton's oblique strain is less severe than the one Condrey suffered. But even if the normally-durable righthander, who has never before spent time on the disabled list, has a normal recovery, his absence highlights the perilous lack of pitching depth in the Phillies' organization. Were the Phillies to suffer another injury, it is unclear where they would turn. Lefthander Joe Savery and righthander Andrew Carpenter are likely the top options at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, but they have started a combined one game in the majors. Righthander Ryan Vogelsong, a former starter with the Pirates, spent the last three years in Japan and struggled with his command at times in spring training. Righthander Josh Fogg, recently signed to a minor league deal, started 179 games and posted a 4.93 ERA for the Pirates and the Rockies from 2002-07, but spent most of last season as a reliever in Colorado.
It is hard to imagine the Phillies dealing for a starting pitcher, since they traded away Cliff Lee for prospects in the offseason, and the deal did not include a return policy.
Which leaves the Phillies exactly where they knew they would be: Playing with the players they've got. And, as long as they stay reasonably healthy, they have plenty. Problem is, injuries have a trickle-down effect. Losing Blanton from the rotation means losing Kendrick from the bullpen. Which leaves a hole and no obvious replacement. Young lefthander Sergio Escalona was called up six different times last season, but he struggled this spring and is scheduled to start the season at Double-A Reading. Righthanders B.J. Rosenberg and newly-converted-starter Mike Stutes have potential, and will make the trip north with the Phillies for their two exhibition games against the Pirates at Citizens Bank Park, but neither one is even on the 40-man roster.
Suddenly, the Phillies will enter the regular season with a disabled list that features two relievers and one starter worth a combined $24 million. Suddenly, getting some production out of Rule 5 pick David Herndon won't just be a luxury, but a necessity. Suddenly, a rotation that was supposed to pitch deep into games and take pressure off a thin bullpen will feature both Moyer and Kendrick. In a perfect world, both players will pitch as well as they did this spring. But remember what we said about baseball and utopia.
Losing Joe Blanton for a month or a month-and-a-half won't kill any title dreams, assuming the problem with the notoriously fickle muscle on the left side of his abodomen does not linger. But it will move them one injury, or set-back, closer to a real problem, whether it is in the bullpen or in the rotation or both.
The tower is still standing. But there is a hole.
You said "a hole".— looneyj3- Is there every a good time for an injury? Phillies bats have been cool of late. This might be time for Charlie Manuel to make changes. As of early this morning it had appeared Jimmy Rollins' two-for-three performance with the bat Wednesday had inflamed more tension within the Phillies clubhouse than it had dispelled. Sources within the organization have disclosed that at least one of the more National League-minded coaches has been pushing Charlie Manuel to bat Shane Victorino at the top of the line-up and Rollins second, as twin lead-off hitters. Manuel had planned to announce following Wednesday's game with the Blue Jays that he agreed to give it a try beginning with todays game. However after Rollins performance vs the Blue Jays and after the game Manuel was observed in the clubhouse sticking his index finger out at one particular coach who had been pushing the most for this change and shaking his head as if to say "well now, that settles that." With Joe Blanton going on the DL for several weeks now there is a heightened urgency for Phillies offense to score runs.— Bluster_Gammenthal
- bluster- the season hasn't started yet.— bitlrc
- Call Pedro's agent STAT!— F. Harry Stowe
- when the phils got the green light on the halladay deal, i recall reading reports that they first tried to move blanton for prospects.. and had no takers. so just trying to discern amaros thought process at that point: "it follows logically then that you sign blanton, a pitcher for whom no one wants to give prospects, to a big multiyear contract and then trade cliff lee for prospects, right? because starting pitching was our strong suit last year and we went into the offseason with way more depth in the rotation than we had in offensive firepower. this offense would surely crumble like a stack of jenga blocks if we took just one of our starting 8 and dealt him for the prospects we need.. anyway fans can come to the ballpark to see homeruns and rbis every night, but they can only see a great pitcher pitch once every 5 days, so it makes sense financially to move a pitcher and not a position player.."— zwarte piet
Comment removed.- "Ring Ring" Hey Pedro, what you been up to these days.....— ntantaros
- Comment removed.
- Yeah, I don't get why Pedro wasn't invited to camp in the first place. He did a good job last season. I wonder if he has been staying in shape.— socalphillyguy
- Do you know what you get when you play a c&w song backwards? You get all your stuff back: your pickup, dog, girlfriend. Hey Ruben, put on a Tim McGraw album and play it backwards. Maybe Cliff Lee will show up at the ball park! And read Curt Schilling's comments about the trade. You are stupid, stupid, stupid for making it.— brinkmang
- I'm not sure what anyone sees in Pedro Martinez. Both he and Moyer pitched crappy half seasons equaling a crappy whole season. And Pedro got lit up in the WS.— mundiff
- Again I ask...What is the big deal....with 3 off days early in the schedule the Phils dont need a 5th started until late April anyway. Everyone just calm down— crkreg
god, let lee GO! if we kept him and traded blanton, then we'd be screwed the same as lee is hurting too! every team has issues if a starter goes down, like todd pratt says....at least we have a few options if necessary....and pedro, please, he was ok to good for 1/2 a season, NO WAY can he keep it up for a full 30 starts...- Cliff Lee = soo much more value the Fat Joe, damn you Ruben!!— angrycitizen
- Mundiff, Pedro wasn't crappy at all. He was 5-1 with a 3.63 era. Then he shut out Dodgers in the playoffs, pitched a pretty good game 2 of the World Series and then the last game was bad. He had 1 bad game. We are only talking a #5 pitcher here. He was anything but crappy !— craig kendro
- What are we talking about? 3 starts? We'll be fine.— maine_mariner
Oh no! We have a winning team for once, but we still can't get away from bashing our own teams because we're so used to it and it's too easy to do it!!!! the sky is falling!!! 162 games, peeps. To say it's a marathon isn't even close to doing it justice. No guarantees in baseball. Atlanta went 1 for 15 in the 90s & early 2000s, if you break that down in batting avg. terms: .066 - ouch. Folks, in baseball it's easy to predict failure and then look like a champ who said "I told you so"....do you all really want to look like Howard Eskin?? Really? Really???- Bluster_Gammenthal has been watching so much ESPN that he now thinks he works for them.— Hemingway
- In the off-season Ruben and the suits were more concerned about beefing up the offense and bench, less so about defense and pitching, so we have to hope the Phils will pummel other teams to death until the pitching staff gets healthy. That seemed like the front office strategy all along.— ijj
- Any true Phillies fan that uses Curt Schilling the man who demanded out of town as their source is well....if I say what i want to the comment will be removed. Not the end of the world injuries happen to every team in the major leagues. This too shall pass.— Phillyphan26
- Anyone who didn't watch the Phils in spring training this year may not fully realize just how thin the entire Phils pitching staff is at the moment. Had they seen the Phils, they would have realized that Blanton's rollercoaster had small peaks and deep valleys, Moyer was hit harder than his numbers indicated, Hamels looked more like 2009 than 2008, Bastardo was still a work in progress, Madson was tentative and Contreras showed his age. Of course, this could all change when the regular season starts - but then it might not. "We'll see," sayeth the Zen Master. No less a pitching authority than Curt Schilling has publicly joined the "Lee didn't have to be traded" camp, and as more Phillie pitchers joing the club's DL, even the most diehard Phillie fans are starting to wonder if a team like the Phils, that is prone to hitting lapses and pitching fatalities, can ever have enough good pitching. The answer is an unequivocal, "No." Forget about Lee for the moment. Baseball may one day view his trade as among the worst in the game's history. But for now, the question becomes what to do to the Phils pitching staff to restore it to the luster it may have had if Lee had not been traded. There actually is a solution. Zach Duke of the Pirates is a 27 year old all-star with terrible numbers because his team only gets him 2 runs or less every time he starts a game. Having seen him pitch up close and personal, he appears to have the potential of becoming another Cliff Lee. Duke is affordable and available for prospects. The Phils should trade for Duke and move Moyer to the bullpen. The pen needs more lefties, as well as long relievers. Moyer has shown he can be both. Moyer will only be a Phil for one more season. Duke could join the staff and provide one of the most formidable pitching rotations in baseball for many years to come. Amaro can't bring back Lee - but he can do the next best thing. Fortunately, the next best thing may be enough.
- Added two vet arms to the bullpen picked up a nice rule five pick to supliment that so far has worked out signed # 3 starter traded for the best pitcher in the game. Upgraded 3rd base (i'll take the argument that palonco is a push at third but only a push) and by the way this team was 2nd in overall defense last year. Tell me again what amaro focused on? oie vee.— Phillyphan26
- Blanton hurts so bad he can't laugh all the way to the bank— baeboo
- Blanton had an ERA over 4 and won 12 games last year. He won 9 the year before that. And 9 the year before that. He's never been a legit No. 3 starter. He eats innings but is overrated. I think Kendrick is comparable, I really do. The unfortunate part is we all know that Moyer won't get too deep into the season without getting hurt as well. I guess for now we start thinking Contreras could be our No. 5 if/when Moyer goes down. If we lose Halladay or Hamels, we're doomed.— eman
- ruben and Lee's agent was playing no limit hold em poker--Lee's agent bluffed by saying they want to test the free market to induce a fair extension and ruben folded his pocket aces. if they were playing limit hold em , we might still have Lee. dont know how Lee got hurt, but im guessing it was that collision at the plate with Snyder.— Pepe LePew
- Don't need a fifth starter until April 30th homestand anyway. The Phils have 4 scheduled days off in April. Relax, Phils Phans!— Phront_Runner
Everyone clammering for Pedro does realize he has not been in a big league camp the past month, right? If you signed Pedro today he probably wouldn't be ready until about the time Blanton is scheduled to come off the DL.— bird11
Looks like it will be Carpenter aka The Hammer Man http://phuturephillies.com/2010/04/01/organizational-releases/- Two things would rectify this situation... bring back Pedro Martinez, and ban the word "Lee" from philly.com message boards. I'm more sick of hearing about that guy than I was of O.J. Simpson 15 years ago. THE SEASON STARTS ON MONDAY AND WE GOT THE BEST PITCHER IN BASEBALL!!!— JesseH
