Big day for injury news
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Big day for injury news
Andy Martino
Some fairly meaningful rehab news just came in regarding three pitchers who have progressed far more slowly than originally anticipated. Clay Condrey (oblique), who the Phils were afraid at one point could be lost for the season, will throw a bullpen session tomorrow, as will J.C. Romero (left forearm strain). Antonio Bastardo (left shoulder strain) will finally appear in a rehab game tomorrow, pitching for the GCL Phillies. All of these guys have experienced unexpected setbacks, so the Phils have to be relieved to get them on a mound again.
Also, the Phillies earlier today placed Greg Dobbs (right calf strain) on the 15-day DL, an recalled INF Miguel Cairo to replace him. Cairo has been the subject of many reader email this season, as in WHY DON'T THEY CALL UP CAIRO TO REPLACE BRUNTLETT!!!!???!!, but the organization always preferred Bruntlett's ability to fill in at shortstop. Now Cairo will get another shot to impress and perhaps hang around for September.
The Dobbs injury is one of those little things that's actually kind of a pain for the Phils. Just when their bench finally looked impressive, with Dobbs and Matt Stairs from the left side and Ben Francisco from the right, the Phillies lose Dobbs. With Stairs slumping a bit, it is a bad time for the team to lose depth on the bench. Not a crisis, but not a good thing, either.
Really? We are worried about losing Dobbs? Are you kidding me? He has been awful, as has Bruntlett. Pay attention Andy.— ChahlieM- Hey Chahlie M: maybe you should keep up. We need bench strength. Are you glad Dobbs is hurt? Maybe that's why he hasn't hit as well as last year. And Bruntlett's having a pretty good day today.— CenterCityPhan
- Forget bats off the bench. They have a .153 pinch hitting team avg. Dead last on average as a team in the NL but first with 8 pinch hit homers. Guess they watch Stairs in batting practice swing for the MacDonalds sign all the time and its all or nothing when they pinch hit. Compare that to the Rockies who are leading the NL in pinch hitting with a .305 avg. but have only 3 homers. As long as Stairs produces as he did last post season, the Front Office does not seem to worry about effective bats off the bench during the regular season.— Dull
BRUNTLETT UNASSISTED TRIPLE PLAY!!— 1980
Comment removed.- God news: Bruntlett unassisted triple play. Bad news: Bruntlett unassisted triple play. Now Charlie will keep playing him. 2 errors before the play and with 3 hits he is still batting .154.
- ChahlieM: Agreed, you're a moron. Just because he's been slumping a bit this season, that doesn't mean he's awful, nor Bruntlett. These are important bench guys for us...— Philth
- Dull-"the front office does not seem to worry about effective bats off the bench during the regular season"??? If that is the case, then why did they trade for Stairs at the deadline last year and get Francisco with Lee? That bats may not be hitting the way they want, but that isn't for a lack of effort by the boys in the front office. Interesting point: anyone on the DL as of September 1 is eligible for the post-season roster, so the Phils can choose between Cairo and Bruntlett-I think Dobbs is a definite as a lefty bat. And, all the pitchers on the DL (Romero, Condrey and Myers) have a shot, too.— KMG
- Wow, good news about Condrey and Bastardo...the bullpen should get a major boost down the stretch with Myers, Romero, Condrey and Bastardo all coming back...I'm assuming Bastardo will be pitching out of the pen with the expanded rosters. With Pedro likely out of the playoff rotation and possibly in the pen, there should be some fierce competition the last month of the season to see who will make the playoff roster in the pen.— JimG
- Well Pedro gave up another 4 runs. Moyer could do that. Flande could do that. Kendrick and Bastardo could do that and so could Lopez. It depends on the emotional mentality of Ruben and Charlie as to whether they will go with the best pitchers , ERA et al or go with salary fillers. Frankly, I do not think Pedro has done the job he thought he would.— KGKoons
I will still give Pedro a pass on this one. He had to be pumped. That first run probably would have scored anyway, but I didn't think he was that bad. I feel like I am coping out by pullng the old he's-too-amped-up excuse, but I think his stuff looks much better than some of the other guy's stuff. Pedro needs to spot his fastball better on the inside to righties, fo sure. I just think him hitting 93 mph on the gun in the fifth will enable him to be good once he controls his breaking pitches more. Thought he would use his curve a bit more tonight. Maybe he doesn't have confidence in it yet, which could be good if he can gain faith in it.- Congrats to The Brunt, welcome to Migey. Utility infielders rule (for a day or so).— mick314
- How about bringing up Taylor and let him see what he can do. We intend to keep him so who cares about the business side of it. Maybe this kid can help down the stretch, cause pinch hitting is awful this yera for the Phils and Dobbs doesn't help.— rockinrob
- It looks like we have a few Little League All Stars, who never played or coached a meaningfull game of baseball. Anyone with experience knows Brundlett and Dobbs are important parts of the TEAM— Wheel
The REAL problem is...WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH RAUL???????? We may be witnessing the beginning of the end of his career.
