Missing Jimmy
The Phillies sure seemed to miss Jimmy Rollins in last night's 8-2 loss to the Mets.
Missing Jimmy
Todd Zolecki
It's unlikely Jimmy Rollins could have saved the Phillies from a brutal 8-2 loss last night to the Mets, but you have to wonder anyway.
Eric Bruntlett committed two errors in the Mets' six-run third inning.
Rollins definitely could have made a difference there.
But he certainly couldn't have helped Kyle Kendrick, who walked three batters in the first inning and three batters in the second inning before getting knocked around and pulled from the game in the third. Jim Salisbury writes about the concerns the Phillies have had about Kendrick since the 2007 season ended. Kendrick is 1-1 with a 6.14 ERA in two starts this season. In 7 1/3 innings, he has allowed 12 hits, 11 runs (five earned runs) and eight walks. He has struck out just one. Opponents have hit .353 against him.
Kendrick battled with his confidence in spring training, so an effort like last night's against the Mets could have him wondering.
"You've got to give him a chance," Charlie Manuel said. "Just because he pitches bad a few times, it doesn't mean you start panicking and not having faith in him. He was 10-4 for us last year. He's earned the right to be out there for a while. I want to get him straightened out. I don't want to destroy him."
Kris Benson isn't expected to join the Phillies anytime soon, but it's not out of the question that if Adam Eaton pitches more effectively than Kendrick that Benson eventually could replace Kendrick in the rotation. But anything close to that decision seems to be at least a month away. Kendrick has plenty of time to get back on track, but he better hurry.
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In the Phillies Notebook, Rollins doesn't think his sprained left ankle will force him to miss too much time, but he wasn't sure if he would play in tonight's series finale. Ryan Madson also has been battling some shoulder soreness, but said he feels better.
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The Mets were happy to snap their nine-game losing streak against the Phillies.
"You know, the games that we lost that you guys were talking about, the eight or nine in a row, those games could have went either way," Willie Randolph said. "At least four or five of those games we could have won very easily - fortunate bloops, little bouncers, rollers, an umpire's call. ... We never felt there was any dominance against us. ... There's nothing in our heads as a team that they're better than we are or that they have our number."
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Man was that ugly. Thank goodness the Sixers were on so I could split screen the games. My wife had so many negative comments, I thought TRUTH had moved in.— jimmymack- JM, do you have an ETA on when Howard is gonna show up? And Feliz? Maybe shipping Kendrick off to Japan wasn't such a bad idea, after all...— John in LA
- Todd, you're doing it again...stop the censoring already.....— Mark1npt
- Not worth writing about.— Mark1npt
- Pretty sure it's not Todd doing the censoring.— Norma
- I told you Howard is the next Lindros, big baby.— Matt
- Believe me, I'm not censoring anything. There's some sort of bug that we're trying to fix. Hopefully we do because I'm more annoyed than anybody.
- You know for not being in their heads, the mets sure do like to talk about that subject a lot.— timm
- Sorry it's such a drag, Todd. Love the blog, love the insight. Keep up the good work!— John in LA
- Howard is a bum ... strikes out way too much. Let's trade him now.— wcgiles
- Hang in there, Todd. We've talked about this before, but is it content, or length of message that is the problem?— Norma
- It must be length, I wrote a long (4 lines)post about a conversation with the site admin, who explained the issues and it didn't get thru.— jimmymack
- Per admin, they are stretched between new format, tech issues and approval (7x24). Promised to fix, I beleived him, seemed sincere.— jimmymack
- Who still thinks Howard is more valuable than J-Roll???— Casey
- I've found a problem with a few of the comment sections, not just this blog. Last night's game was just one of those games that you have to live with once and a while. Feliz is really starting to bother me.— Gary Varsho
- Feliz was this stud glove that we got with a streaky bat. What a great concept. So why doesn't he catch a errant Ruiz throw that still hits him in the glove, although well off line. Wes Helms could have missed it. It's a shame we never get anybody good coming thru here like Placido Polanco who we can sign to a long term deal to play 3rd.— phillybob
- There is no doubt that Jimmy is the MVP of this team now....and he could have helped Kyle out. In addition to EB's two errors there was a ball that JRoll would have gotten to as well, and another that he may have gotten to. And no way Howard is more important...especially when he strikes out 40% of the time. When is he gonna fix that swing?
- Please. Don't get me started about Howard. The fact that he's gone through 3 (?) agents in the last 2 years should tell you something about what he thinks he's worth. Again. For the last time. Someone who can do one thing exceptionally well is nowhere near as valuable as a guy/gal who can do all 5. A-Rod, Cabrera, Pujols. Unfortunately, Howard and Bill Conlin can't grasp that. So the Phils should - and will - go thru arbitration for as much longer as they have him, and then trade him for a stud pitcher.— John in LA
- My short comments written at 12:56 didn't show up on the web page here in FL til 4 pm...the longer comment I wrote prior to that still hasn't shown up....— Mark1npt
- As my good frien Tim McCarver always said "keep throwing it til they prove to you they can hit it".... Kendrick should have been left alone to throw his 2 pitches at the knees just like last year but no.....he has to have 3 pitches and now he can't locate any of them on a regular basis and his hits allowed is way up.....who's brainy idea was this?— Mark1npt
