Game 97: Don't evaporate, Vance
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Game 97: Don't evaporate, Vance
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CHICAGO -- So it's hot. Really hot. On my walk to the L, a bank sign read 95 degrees. And it was 10:24 a.m. The heat index is supposed to feel somewhere around 115 degrees during the height of the afternoon, and it just so happens Vance Worley will be on the mound then.
Worley deals in self-deprecating humor and I joked with him Tuesday that he'd at least be able to lose a few pounds during his outing. "But I'll just put it all back on," he said. "Bad genes."
Then he laughed. But hydrating is no laughing matter, of course, especially after what happened with Roy Halladay on Monday. Worley sweats a lot when he pitches. He said he began hydrating Monday and the athletic training staff has kept tabs on his fluid levels ever since.
(As an aside, Halladay actually just finished a bullpen session in the heat. Looked fine.)
Here's today's lineup in the 2:20 p.m. finale:
1. Jimmy Rollins 6
2. Michael Martinez 5
3. Chase Utley 4
4. Ryan Howard 3
5. Shane Victorino 8
6. Raul Ibanez 7
7. Domonic Brown 9
8. Brian Schneider 2
9. Vance Worley 1
***
Righthander Jason Grilli has exercised his out clause and will sign a major-league deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Grilli's situation was much like Brian Gordon's. He had a clause that called for his release if another team was interested in immediately promoting him to the majors. The Phillies had a chance to match that but declined.
Grilli, 34, had a 1.93 ERA in 32 2/3 innings for triple-A Lehigh Valley this season. He has not pitched in the majors since 2009.
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don't know much about Grilli, but considering that Carpenter, Herndon and Baez have absolutley no current or future value in MLB, and any of the 3 could have been DFA, Amaro once again looks like he has no clue -- fyi, Ryan Howard's one dimension is now a non-dimension --his HR total (on pace for about 30) is about same as Ricky Weeks, Aramis Ramirez, Michael Morse, Dan Uggla, Danny Espinosa and Kelly Johnson, among others -- the so-called "slugger" has a slugging pctge ranked 59th in baseball -behind such renowned sluggers like Mark Trumbo, Alex Gordon, Logan Morrison, Ben Zobrist, Dustin Pedroia, Ryan Roberts, etc. --what great foresight Ruben had in locking this guy up for another 6 yrs at only $150 million --sure had he waited until end of 2011 when free agents like Pujols and Fielder would be available there would have been a long line for the great 'slugger' --thx Ruben for such brilliant signings like Blanton, Ibanez, Baez, Contreras, Polanco, etc ... then didn't have a couple of million available for spare right handed bat like Francoeur or Melky Cabrera (whose slugging pctge is about same as Howard's)?— warbiscuit- Yeah, what a terrible player Howard is. He only leads the league in go-ahead RBIs and hits .318 with runners on-base and he does it with no protection in the 5 hole. He also carries the team every single year in the 2nd half while Chase Utley fades. But what good is an NL and NLCS MVP, we should have kept Jayson "Mendoza line" Werth. Or better yet, we should have traded him back in '05 for Kip Wells like a certain AM morning show host wanted. — TimO
- Yeah, what a terrible player Howard is. He only leads the league in go-ahead RBIs and hits .318 with runners on-base and he does it with no protection in the 5 hole. He also carries the team every single year in the 2nd half while Chase Utley fades. But what good is an NL and NLCS MVP, we should have kept Jayson "Mendoza line" Werth. Or better yet, we should have traded him back in '05 for Kip Wells like a certain AM morning show host wanted. — TimO
- I am surprised Mayberry is again sitting. The dude was red hot!— stanbro
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- Domonic is getting the consistent playing time so he better start improving— shawnmac
- bisuit, I don't agree with you on anything, except Ryan Howard the "Big Overpaid Piece".— Mark1npt
- We fans don't often get all the info on a player, just the stats....the brass know enough to not go by stats alone, that's why Gordon is now playing in Korea instaed of Yankee Stadium. Vogelsong is an abberation. Grilli may have some other liability (inability to pitch in back to back games, or a drinking problem) that made him less than desired by the brass at this time. Good luck to him on the Pirates.— Mark1npt
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- agree completely with Philly_Mike and warbiscuit - once again, the Phils defaulted to making decisions based on not hurting any of the incumbents' feelings. Grilli did well enough to take a chance on him up with the big club but that would have meant having to finally face up to what a stupid move it was to sign Baez and keep Herndon around this long because he was Rube's Rule 5 pick-up last year.
Everything this team does in personnel decisions comes down to the same thing - never hurt the main guys' feelings. This is why Mayberry is yo-yo'd up and down while Francisco and Brown consistently fail but are never threatened with a demotion. It is why Romero came north out of spring training with Baez and Herndon but Stutes did not, and why Kendrick kept his job but Worley was sent down, three times now. Baez and Herndon's jobs are as secure as Halladay's and Lee's with this bunch. RAJ and Charlie simply can not step up to the task of making hard decisions, so it's ALWAYS the kids that go back or are sent out. Grilli deserved a shot at Herndon's and/or Baez's jobs, just as Mayberry deserves to stay with the big club now. But it won't happen.— advantasux - We are really getting this worked up over who the 12th pitcher on our team is? Given the griping I am hearing from folks, if we only had Grilli, Vogelsong and Gordon on the team we would have the best record in baseball and the second largest lead in our division! Oh wait, we already do. I guess we just need something to complain about. I for one am enjoying watching this team play. Everything else will work itself out. — kdavis2172
- nope, not getting worked up over who the 12th guy on the staff is, but absolutely getting worked up over the ridiculous policy they have of retaining guys who clearly under-perform week after week after week. If they have a chance to upgrade three or four spots on this squad, why don't they? They are scared to death to call on either Herndon or Baez in anything but a game that's already a blowout, so why even keep them? Same with Brown or Francisco always being kept in favor of Mayberry. What is the ridiculous loyalty they have to these guys and to those two stanky pitchers? Keep the best 25. Give the manager more options than he has. We'll need the best 25 come October. — advantasux
- Another day game not the top of lineup...— M60tanker
- What dimension do RBI fall into? The ignore it so I can rant and use pretend stats dimension? You want to use stats, don't ignore the most important one for a CLEANUP hitter.— chuck49
