Dubee skeptical of Blanton's 'mechanical' problem
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Dubee skeptical of Blanton's 'mechanical' problem
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
WASHINGTON -- Following Tuesday's 7-4 loss to the Nationals, Joe Blanton was convinced he had figured out the main cause of his 10.45 ERA to begin 2011.
Pitching coach Rich Dubee isn't so sure Blanton is right.
In the clubhouse after the game, Blanton referenced an issue he had pitching from the stretch in 2009, when he noticed his feet were too close to each other. He said he believed that was his problem in the first two starts of this season.
"It's kind of obvious," said Blanton, who allowed five runs in six innings. "I've given up a lot of hits with runners on. I need to make an adjustment there. It's not mind-set or anything. It's the physical execution of being in the stretch."
Blanton, who said he planned to watch video Wednesday to confirm his feeling, was unavailable for comment. Dubee said he watched some film and could not agree with Blanton's assessment.
"I didn't see anything," Dubee said. "If he thinks that's the problem, I'll have to talk to him about it."
So what is the problem?
"He just alllowed innings to snowball," Dubee said.
Dubee cited two pitches he thought were especially egregious -- an 0-1 slider to Jayson Werth over the heart of the plate that was hit for a double to lead off the fourth and an 0-1 sinker to Jerry Hairston that was also down the middle and hit for a run-scoring single.
"Those are bad mistakes," Dubee said. "He's not executing."
Dubee said they will be addressed during Blanton's bullpen session Thursday.
With runners on base, opposing hitters are 9 for 18 (.500) against Blanton with three walks and three strikeouts. With the bases empty, hitters are 8 for 27 (.296) with no walks and seven strikeouts.
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My TV remote control has a mechanical problem. I can't throw it at the TV fast enough whenever Blanton pitches.— Rick Wise Guy- What pitcher has Rich Dubee ever developed? He's one of those bottom feeder pitching coaches that stays in his position by not rocking the bait and toeing the company line. There's nothing wrong with Joe Blanton that a real major league pitching coach couldn't straighten out. Dave Duncan would turn him into a 15 game winner. Hell, I could be the pitching coach for Halladay, Oswalt, and Lee.— IBCeer
- What pitcher has Rich Dubee ever developed? He's one of those bottom feeder pitching coaches that stays in his position by not rocking the bait and toeing the company line. There's nothing wrong with Joe Blanton that a real major league pitching coach couldn't straighten out. Dave Duncan would turn him into a 15 game winner. Hell, I could be the pitching coach for Halladay, Oswalt, and Lee.— IBCeer
Pray for Joe it is tugh to be overshadowedby greatness— Kevinmac
Comment removed.- So 162 games, 5 pitchers, each pitcher will then start 32 games.
So Joe has 32 of the losses, that leaves just 30 losses if they want to get to 100 wins.
That means the other 4 pitchers have to go 25-7 to get to 100 wins.
If the Phillies are just running Blanton out there to take the loss, I'll do it for 1/2 his salary.— fmMD - lol fmMD you are either 12 years old or really stupid, if you think it would ever get as bad as Blanton going 0-32 could not would not happen its an impossibility.— southernmostfan
- Hopefully, Blanton is on a very short leash because losses now mean as much as losses in July and August. Right now, Blanton's good for about 3 innings and after that, he is not putting his team in a position where it can win. He's just not and all the "He's the best fifth starter in the game" guys out there can keep saying that, but I see a pitcher who's been really hittable for 2-3 straight years -- and no, you can't divide the years by months or halves. His ERA last year was 4.82. 4.00 to 5.00 is considered average -- for all MLB pitchers. 4.82 is on the weaker side of that and yes, we're talking Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Seattle starters and relievers, young and old. A guy making $8 million a year on a World Series-caliber team can't be below average and hold down a starting spot. So far this year, Blanton is far below average.— eman
- Send the 8 million dollar a year fat man to AAA so he can work on his mechanics down there. He is a joke.— Philly-sophical
- The Phillies should have traded Blanton while they still could have gotten something for him. He keeps pitching like this, he'll become the next coming of Adam Eaton.
— SteveS11 - I learn more about the people who are writing these messages than I do anything about baseball. Pretty ludicrous to hear the voice of some fan who's accomplished zilch in life saying that any major league player "sucks." At least having these boards may cut down on
domestic violence.— retzlaff - Get off of Joe after two starts guys. We all know Joe's stats by now. We know his ERA is in the 4.'s...so should we expect anything different? So what are our option:Either let him pitch an work on things, send an $8 million/ year pitcher down to AAA to work on stuff after two starts,(not the best of things for confidence, or trade value), or try and trade him, which we probably aren't going to get much for him. IT's not like we have a stud pitcher waiting to take his place...Kendrick gets lit up, Worley is an unknown...So what do you say we just let him pitch and work through his struggles...— PhilliefaninAZ
- I hope Blanton will figure out what he's doing wrong, in spite of RIch Dubee's "help." What a sourpuss the latter is. When a pitcher starts to get down, he can count on Dubee to pile on with public criticism. Consider the case of Gavin Floyd, who turned into a decent major league pitcher once he got out from under Dubee's withering presence. The conventional wisdom was that the Phillies lost patience with Floyd. What that means is that the easily annoyed Dubee lost patience with Floyd. He now appears to be losing patience with Blanton. Does that help?— Dave Clemens
- Joe usually improves and pitches decently after the ASB. So if the Phils can just hang on until Joe's mojo kicks in, Chase's knee is healed somehow, and Lidge's shoulder regenerates, the division could be won.
Seriously, Joe will get better, he has to, doesn't he? If not, it does put pressure on the other 4, as in, who's not gonna pick up Joe this series.— Eephus - Don't you think Dubee is actually painting the picture for Joe not being part of the team past the July trading deadline? Instead of Charlie or RAJ making the comments, they leave it to the pitching coach who seldom makes comments to the media.— sonnybuoy01
