Kendrick angry after 5-inning start
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Kendrick angry after 5-inning start
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- In the end, Charlie Manuel played a hunch and it did not work right. The Phillies manager follows his gut when making in-game decisions and on this night, it told him Kyle Kendrick was done after five innings.
It's hard to jump on that decision -- only when permitted the advantage of second-guessing. Kendrick was passable for six innings in his last start against Toronto and Manuel allowed a longer leash. He pitched the seventh and allowed two more runs.
Maybe that's what stuck in Manuel's mind Wednesday. Kendrick had thrown 81 pitches and allowed three runs (one earned) against Florida. He was the first to admit a lack of dominance. "It wasn't pretty," he said.
Kendrick added: "But I still had zeroes."
Manuel had a plan and that was for David Herndon to pitch the middle innings. When Herndon allowed three of five batters he faced to reach base, it was clear the strategy backfired. Enter Andrew Carpenter, a pitcher who was designated for assignment less than week into spring training and now pitching the seventh inning of a one-run game in July.
Manuel said after the game that he is staying away from using Michael Stutes for more than one inning. He could have gotten four outs, maybe, but that wouldn't help in the sixth and beginning of the seventh.
Afterward, Kendrick was peeved. He was asked if he could have lasted longer.
"Yeah," he said. He paused for a few seconds. "Yeah. I threw 80 pitches."
Standing in front of his locker, he held back what he really wanted to say.
"It's not my decision," Kendrick said. "Was I happy? No."
Then, when asked another question about the quick hook, Kendrick posed two of his own.
"What did he say? Did you ask him?"
"He" would be Manuel, who did not offer much.
"I took him out didn't I?" Manuel said brusquely.
Of course, the bullpen was not all to blame. Two Domonic Brown miscues cost three runs. The Phillies offense, which battered Anibal Sanchez, went quiet in the middle innings against a taxed Florida bullpen.
But Kendrick boarded the team's charter plane with a sour taste in his mouth, just as many Phillies fans did as they went to sleep.
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Pattymac, you can't compare INF and OF while discussing defense. The SS, in this case Sterling Castro, has way more chances than a RF. And for the total of errors, Jimmy Rollins avg. more than 20 errors a game in the minors, including 26 in one season. Castro, at age 20, made 27 last year, but that is expected for a young infielder. Robbie Alomar, to me the greatest defensive 2b of all time, if not the best overall, had 16 and 28 errors his 1st two seasons. But Alomar and Castro, both starting in the bigs at the very young age of 20, proved to be ready for the big show. Sterling hit .300 last year and is hitting .307 this year. Alomar hit .295 his second season with 42 SB after hitting .266 his rookie season with 6 triples, 9 HR and 24 SB, not bad for a second baseman back in '88. Two year later he made his first of many AS appearances in a row. At age 23, Brown is not even close to this two guys, or J-Roll for that matter, in terms of readiness, although the kid has athleticsm, but so did Jeff Stone.— EL Zorro
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- Is there any word on Joe Blanton?— cahris
- Count me among the confused. With an off day Thursday and a big weekend series coming...it made more sense to let KK go 7 if at all possible...KK was right to be upset. The move defied all logic.— Grazman
i don't think kk is very good pitcher . he is allowed to be mad in this case since he wasn't pitching badly and had plenty of pitches left. the bigger issue for me is brown and his clumsiness. he slid and missed home plate the other day. possibly missed 2nd base yesterday. and missed a ground ball yesterday also. does he look like a polished player? I'm not too sure. go phillies.- Kendrick and Herdon should both count their lucky stars to be collecting major league paychecks.— Boru
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- Wait, when did Oswalt complain about the way he was handled? They basically let him go home for a week without any problem. He hurt his back during this time off, then came back and tried to pitch through it, always being the first one to say if he can pitch to try to help the team, he would do so. Stop trying to light fires that aren't there Zorro. Brown is 23 years old he is raw he's not going to be Carl Crawford overnight. You say you can't compare INF and OF while discussing defense, but you do so comparing offense? That makes no sense. Brown will be a solid major league outfielder. Stop trying to run him out of town. I never liked Kyle Kendrick and I never will. 2 million dollars this guy steals from the team. Incredible— seaonasdad
- Herndon and Baez are on the team because Madson, Contreras and (maybe) Lidge are not. Stutes, as usual, pitched great. And Charlie needs to keep Bastardo for save situations right now. Frankly, I don't fault Manuel at all. Kendrick was very hittable again and we were all over Manuel for leaving KK in an extra inning during his last start. Boiled down, our bullpen is weakened by injuries and KK is our worst starter. It adds up to a disappointing loss in a game where we hit pretty well and Mayberry was served some nice fastballs.— eman
- can anyone explain to me why herndon is still on this roster?— raynesrock
- When are they gonna get rid of these rule 5 GEMS such as herndon and martinez. Herndon has a sinker that does not sink and Martinez is hitting .175, I can hit that. Not every 5 can be a Werth or Victorino so LET THEM GO— Trot
- Whenever I see Baez,Carpenter,Herndon or Mathieson in the game, my first thought is bad things are going to happen.— zeke128
- This team will not win the East. Atlanta is too strong, pitching is the best in MLB, and with Minor go 6 deep with starters. Jurrjins and Hanson are unhittable, Beachy is dominant strikeout pitcher, Hudson, is ACE, and Lowe is fifth starter, not too shabby. Their bullpen is second to none. Atlanta will win the East with at least 105 games, yes they are that good, and will win the World Series this year. Note that I am a Phils fan amd hope that I am wrong with my assessment but with their pitching (5 deep, all equal to the Phils 3 starters), and their hitting just starting to heat up, they are currently on a roll that should last all year unless hit by injuries. But even if they are hit ny injuries, they have the depth to overcome them, not the likes of AAA players line Martinez and Valdez, and they don't likes of a Baez, Herndon, or Romero on their team. Just like Romero, if the Phils were to release Herndon and Baez, no team would take them on their 25 man roster. Sad statement of affairs for the Phils. By Sunday night, the Phils win be in 2nd place, never to see the light of first place again for years to come, until this team is re-tooled.— jeff007
