Lack of Bullpen Confidence Leaves Worley Out Too Long
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Lack of Bullpen Confidence Leaves Worley Out Too Long
Marc Narducci
Before Friday’s 7-2 loss against the San Francisco Giants, Charlie Manuel said that bolstering the bullpen was his No. 1 wish for the trade deadline.
And then during the game the Phillies manager showed what little confidence he has in his relievers.
The Phillies trailed 2-1 in the sixth with the bases loaded and one out. Starter Vance Worley was tiring, but Manuel left the right-hander in the game. And Worley served up a no-doubt-about-it grand slam to shortstop Brandon Crawford.
Worley would throw a career-high 119 pitches.
Afterwards, Manuel and Worley both said they felt the pitcher had enough left in the tank to get batters out.
Manuel also said that it would have been a difficult situation to bring young relievers such as Michael Schwimer and Jeremy Horst into a bases loaded, one-out situation.
Yet that is what a bullpen is for, to replace a tiring starter.
To his credit Worley wouldn’t take the bait when asked if he felt he was being squeezed by home plate umpire Laz Diaz in the sixth inning.
“No,” he answered. “I guess I was just missing around the plate.”
Worley didn’t make the statement with conviction, but he still took the blame for throwing sinkers that didn’t sink.
Who knows if the bullpen would have fared any better in that situation, but they couldn’t have been worse.
And we also know that the manager was gun-shy about using his relievers.
Who can blame him?
Entering the game the Phillies bullpen ERA was 4.87, the second worst in Major League Baseball.
The bullpen has been far from the only problem. Yet the bullpen, especially with the recent struggles of closer Jonathan Papelbon, has not been carrying its collective weight.
When the manager doesn’t signal for help when his starter is noticeably wearing down, it shows a lack of confidence in a unit that hasn’t inspired any for quite some time.
Fools gold against the Rockies and Dodgers. Like the Eagles finishing last year 4-0. Reality can be cruel to take.— cxl72- A lack of confidence in the GM and Manager could apply. Manuel set his lineup by seniority and every player has their place.— tulsaphil
- The bullpen has been a problem since April....four months now without redress other than exchanging relievers with Reading. A little late now. It's not as if we're in a pennant race.— DameB
- Huh I was there tonight. The place was half empty by the sixth inning. There were about 35000 thousand in the stands. No one cares anymore.— dmn
- " Lack of confidence in the Bullpen " . Are you joking ?
We are desperate for wins and you are worrying about your bullpen. How can you win if you don't have a bullpen ? Don't you think somebody should have worried about the bullpen before tonight ? It is not like the problem just surfaced.
You do everything and anything to win games in the position the Phillies find themselves in and let the chips fall where they may.
The greatest horse manure excuse I have heard this nasty year.— candidly - Why do the Phillies bullpen guys even have names? They should just go by "Right-Handed Manure Heap #1", " Right-Handed Manure Heap #2", "Left-Handed Manure Heap #1" and so on.— AreaMan
- Very good! How about you add to that General Manager Manure Heap #1 ? — erniebanks14
- Worely wasn't the same after Hunter Pence turned a routine fly ball into a game tying double. He is without a doubt, the worst outfielder in the history of baseball. He has no clue out there. Ray Charles was a better outfielder then Pence. The only difference is Pence isn't blind. Plant a cactus out in right field, you will get the same results it that you get from Pence.— Pinchy
- This is exactly the right analysis: We have to add games like this to the 15-20 leads already blown by the leaky bullpen in order to measure the true impact of the catastrophe. It's not just the blown leads. It's not just failing to keep tie games or close games close, where we might have the chance to pull out wins. It's not even turning to the bullpen, like this game, and leaving the starter in too long to get shelled. A $170 million payroll and the whole season has fallen apart because no one thought of acquiring a couple of $3 million middle relief pitchers. This is truly a shocking debacle. And it was completely avoidable....— Xplorer
- The headline should read, "Weak minded manager keeps Worley in too long" !— erniebanks14
Heartless and lifeless team led by an illiterate and incompetent manager and a smug GM— shawnmac- Worley blows— Jay Grace 69
- Hunter Pence makes Dave Kingman look like a Gold Glover. And the headline should read "67yo bubble gum hillbilly hangs Worley out to dry."— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
- The silly, old fool in his post game love fest with the compliant press said "I thought Worley still had good stuff." After walking the bases loaded twice. Complete silence and on to the next question.— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
