Moyer makes an adjustment, trade updates
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Moyer makes an adjustment, trade updates
Andy Martino
The final version of my game story, where Jamie Moyer talks about an adjustment that he made before the fourth inning that reversed his night, is below. The game ended too late to get his quotes in the paper. For the previous blog post on Cliff Lee and other plan B options, click here. We'll keep plugging away at trade deadline stories and updates tomorrow.
Summary of the current status:
--Phillies and Jays are still actively talking, despite some reports that negotiations are breaking down. That's according to a person with direct knowledge of the process.
--Cleveland is scouting the Reading Phils, with a particular interest in Vance Worley.
--The Phillies have a long history of acquiring the Jayson Werth, the Shane Victorino, the Joe Blanton, the...Cliff Lee?
--The Phillies have acquired pitcher Roy Halladay for a package of J.A. Happ, Kyle Drabek and Dominic Brown.
--That above item is inaccurate.
By Andy Martino
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
PHOENIX— A summary of Jamie Moyer’s performance last night sounds like an assessment of his season to date, if not his career: after an ominous beginning, he steadied. Then, somehow, despite his age and dawdling fastball, he collected yet another win.
Moyer shut down the Arizona Diamondbacks through 6 2/3 innings in a 6-2win last night at Chase Field. He become the first Phils pitcher to reach 10 wins this season, and perhaps the most unlikely man to ever record 256 major league victories.
“Because he changes speeds,” was Charlie Manuel’s explanation of why Moyer succeeds in particular against young teams like Arizona and Florida. Of last night’s game, Manuel said: “He was in trouble the first few innings because he got behind the hitters. He made some pitches and was able to get out of it without being hurt.”
While the Phillies have tried to bolster their rotation via trade and the recent signing of Pedro Martinez, Moyer has quietly returned to a reasonable facsimile of his 2008 self, when he was a mere 45 years old and won 16 games. Just like last year, Moyer has dominated free-swinging teams like the Florida Marlins of late, and received generous run support in most of the games in which he pitched poorly.
Before yesterday, Moyer had been credited with a victory in five of six starts, and his 3.68 earned run average was nearly identical to last season’s 3.71 season mark. Last night was a signature performance; the line between disaster and success seemed thin early, but he ended up fooling a young team and emerging with an impressive line.
After walking two but stranding the runners in the first, Moyer allowed three consecutive singles to begin the second. He struck out pitcher Jon Garland for the first out, then got Stephen Drew to ground sharply to second. A well-positioned Chase Utley began a double play, ending an inning that moments before had seemed to promise trouble, if not disaster, for Moyer.
“It is a game of not even inches,” Moyer said of that play. “If he gets under that ball and drives it, they probably score two or three runs…it is amazing how little things like that can make a difference.”
The Diamondbacks immediately resumed their assault of baserunners in the third, and Moyer again countered by stranding them all. Ryan Roberts led off the inning with a hit and Moyer, seeing his pitch count climb well into the 50s, walked Justin Upton. He then struck out cleanup hitter Mark Reynolds. Minutes later, courtesy of two popups, he again strode toward the dugout with the game tied at zero. In the first three innings, seven Diamondbacks reached base, and none scored.
Warming up before the fourth inning, Moyer made a mechanical adjustment, changing the angle of his front leg during the windup. “My mechanics were horrible the first few innings,” he said. “(Before the fourth), I picked up my leg a little differently and I said, ‘that’s it.’”
The Phils offense chose the same inning to awaken. Utley reached on a one-out single, and Ryan Howard followed with a 410-foot blast to left-center, giving his team a 2-0 lead. From there, Moyer switched from shaky to dominant.
The Phillies scored their third run in the fifth, which Pedro Feliz led off with a single. He went to third when Garland fired a pickoff throw into right field, and scored on Jimmy Rollins’ two-out double.
Moyer allowed a two-out double to Upton in the fifth, but pitched around it by getting Reynolds to pop up.
The Phillies steadily added to their lead. Utley walked to begin the sixth and went to third when Howard reached on an error. Raul Ibanez, who batted .192 during the homestand while still healing from a groin injury, drove in Utley with a single.
The Phils made use of sloppy defense to add two unearned runs in the inning, and survived an eighth-inning scare when Ryan Madson allowed two runs but stranded two.
Comments (23)
Comment removed.
- Let me see if I can close that strikethrough that somebody forgot to... LoL. I had to do a double take.— drog
- — drog
- OK, I'll turn it off for you. Did that work?— fafafooey
- I thought lifting a leg in public pertained to puppies and fire Hydrants.— mick314
- Smooth move unfletch.— B in DC
- I see Moyer winning between 14 and 16 games this year. Who pitches during the W.S. has yet to be determined but Jamie was there last year so who's to say.— Wally 24
- "It depends on if you want to try to win the World Series the next two years because that's what he's going to be here for," "Winning the World Series or at least attempting to win the World Series the next two years will please us, please the organization and please the fans. You can't really complain about that. I think it would be a step in a good direction." -Cole Hamels on Halladay
- Yea, of course our players want Halladay. They know this team is going to be dramatically different in 4 years, and there's just as much a chance we go another 28 years with a ring. And that is all depending on whether we think Drabek is worth giving up or not. I firmly believe J.P. will allow us to keep Happ in the deal. Drabek is our golden ticket. People keep saying they don't want to mortgage the future, but what they don't realize is that they may be mortgaging a very very dry future even if Drabek pans out. And if he does pan out, and we're not winning, he may be going anyway. How come everyone thinks it's so easy to even get to the big name just cause we won one? How many more seasons out of the next 100 will we be in this position? Hek, if it weren't for the W.S. we wouldnt even be his favorite...Borrowing for the future is ok, when it drectly impacts your future in a positive way. Becoming a dynasty will change this organization in a way any Philly doesn't know. Halladay-Hamels-Blanton-Happ\Moyer-Lopez\Martinez - We will have the best rotation in the NL, that coupled with the best offense...the only goal there will be keeping everything in tact until our stars can't shine anymore, and then we tapp the farm for players, or more trades...— MFPhils
- Our goal right now should be to keep winning with what we have. Putting together a team like we have right now is so rare that most teams cant keep it going for more than one year. The chances of our farming panning out the exact same way it did to give us our current club, are probably more rare than us winning the next 4 W.S...I don't care how much talent you got, you need a team that works as a team. That's what we have...It is ultra-rare. I am not willing to risk the ultimate team (in my eyes) for our future.— MFPhils
- Moyer was awful in the post season last year, starting in 2 of our losses in the post season.— fan_in_jerusalem
- I hope they keep Moyer around as a coach after he retires. He'll be a top of the line pitching coach someday.— B in DC
- Moyer could teach his slop to every pitcher and with his change up , change up, change up at about 50 MPH, he could change the face of the staff here forever. A great pitching coach to be sure.— KGKoons
- Moyer's stuff is NOT slop (or junk). That's just prejudice from ignorants who think the only good pitching is hyper-speed fastballs. His smart pitches have movement and tremendous placement and he's been using them for 20+ years. Other experienced players even come to him for advice about his changeup. It's called "doing the best with what you got" and he deserves more respect.— betsy72
- Why is no one talking about Myers being in the rotation again? All of these projections, and no Myers. Am I missing something here?— dolcefarniente
- Personally, I think Myers has started his last game for the Phillies. He remains inconsistent and is never going to be a #1, #2, or even a #3. If the Phillies do keep him and put him in the rotation possibly next year, he should be the #4 man, meaning the Phillies need to add one pretty decent starter between now and then. The main mistake made by the Phillies in regard to Myers was believing he was a top-of-the-rotation type of pitcher. If the team and the fans are content with him being a #4, then he can be productive. At this point, however, it is important for the Phillies to consider many different options.— MrPhillie
- Cole Hamels needs a publicist to help him with what to say. "It depends on if you want to try to win the World Series the next two years..." makes no sense. Last season, the Phils had Hamels, Myers, Blanton and Moyer in the playoff rotation. This season, swap Happ for Myers and that would be the four today. Myers had reverted to his early season self by the end of September and he did not pitch well in the post season. At this point, if Hamels is Hamels in October, the rotation will be better than last year. So he should worry more about getting back to what he was. Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE Halladay in the rotation. This notion that not getting him means that the Phils management doesn't "want to win the World Series" is senseless. They could lose it with RH or win it without RH and both scenarios depend primarily on what comes out of Cole's hand rather than what comes out of his mouth.— NMPartners
- What Cole would like is someone to take the heat off him. Its that simple. I think the golden boy needs to get his mind right, perform like the "ACE" he was touted as being over the last 2 yrs now and maybe we will win back to back W.S.— Wally 24
- Jamie Moyer pitched 2 games away in the playoffs last year and lost. The third game he pitched at home and got a no decision if memory serves me correctly.— Wally 24
- betzy72 --- Please take this the right way, not defensively, ok? In baseball Slop or Junk is just slang used by players too describe anything but a fastball. Normally the use of such a phrase in connection with a pitcher does not me anything derogatory. In fact in Jamies case it could me he uses his command of numerous pitches to the highest degreeto deceive the hitter into making a mistake. Hope this helps.— Wally 24
- Moyer was terrible last post-season and it has carried into this season. Look at the statistics, he is the recipient of enormous run-support. He shut down no one last night. The D-backs had people on base the entire time he was in the game. Even when he left the game, he left it to Chan Ho with 2 people one base. His WHIP is terrible. He has won 10 games with an ERA over 6. He has not been good at all, I hope they get Halladay and yank Moyer out of the rotation mid season.— kozykoz26
- I am glad to have found this post as its such an interesting one! I am always on the lookout for quality posts and articles so i suppose I am lucky to have found this! I hope you will be adding more in the future...
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