Reports: Phillies sign John Lannan
The Phillies filled two holes Saturday, first with the addition of setup man Mike Adams, and then John Lannan as the fifth starter.
Reports: Phillies sign John Lannan
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Phillies filled two holes Saturday, first with the addition of setup man Mike Adams, and then John Lannan as the fifth starter.
Lannan agreed to a one-year, $2.5 million deal as reported by CSNPhilly.com and CBSSports.com. The 28-year-old is the favorite to slide into the rotation spot vacated by Vance Worley. At $2.5 million, the risk is small, and Lannan could shift to the bullpen as a long man if ineffective in the rotation.
The lefthander fits the description of a "low-risk, high-reward" starter Ruben Amaro Jr. said he was seeking. Marginalized in Washington, Lannan made only six starts in 2012. He has a career ERA of 4.01 in six seasons.
He is not a strikeout pitcher (4.7 per nine innings) and has struggled with control (3.4 walks per nine innings). His career numbers mirror that of a typical fifth starter, if not better. Lannan's fastball typically averages 88-89 m.p.h. and he relies on a change-up while also throwing a curveball and slider.
The Phillies usually crushed Lannan to the tune of a 5.53 ERA in 19 career starts. But remove his pitiful numbers against the Phillies and his career ERA drops from 4.01 to 3.80. He has a 6.49 ERA in eight career starts at Citizens Bank Park.
Lannan is perhaps best known among Phillies fans for breaking Chase Utley's hand with an errant pitch in his major-league debut five years ago. Eleven of his 30 career hit batters have been Phillies.
After being hit, Utley then said he did not think Lannan was throwing at him.
"I don't think he was trying to hit me," Utley said that day. "It kinda got away from him. He's a young guy. He hit two guys in a row. I don't think he was throwing at us."
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The Cardinals signed Wigginton? And for two years, yet! That's fantastic news. That's one stinker gone from last year's team. Until now I was afraid Rube would sign him again.— Edward L Norton- I wouldn't hold the Phils past experience against Lannan. They came ready to play most times they faced him because he broke Utley's wrist in his first game in the majors. Hitters get their revenge against pitchers on the field and quite a few Phils exacted some revenge against Lannan over the past few year. Lannan is primarily a ground ball pitcher. He should do well with the Phils, especially if the Phillie hitters decide to exact some revenge against opposing pitchers.— onthebucks
- Cloyd will win the job in spring.— NewMick314
- From 2008 to 2011, Lannan went 36-49 (.424) for a team with a .413 winning percentage. That's not bad. The Phillies will be better this year than anything the Nats put on the field in those seasons, so a 7-8 or 8-9 season wouldn't be out of the question for Lannan, which is a pretty good record to get from your fifth starter.— Bretzky
- Lannan is terrible.— maximusud
- This guy is as good or better the fat Joe. Problem is with your 4th starter. Kendricks stinks. Who takes his place?— Ssteve115
- more bargain basement specials? Monty and Giles just love to shop the trash bin for their little team. They're laughing all the way to their Cayman's Islands bank accounts, must be nice to work for the mob.— daystrum
- more bargain basement specials? Monty and Giles just love to shop the trash bin for their little team. They're laughing all the way to their Cayman's Islands bank accounts, must be nice to work for the mob.— daystrum
- more bargain basement specials? Monty and Giles just love to shop the trash bin for their little team. They're laughing all the way to their Cayman's Islands bank accounts, must be nice to work for the mob.— daystrum
Lannan is perfectly adequate as a fifth starter. The problem I see is that the Phils now have two fifth starters. I refuse to believe Kendrick is anything better than that. So the rotation is strong at the top (assuming Doc resumes pitching like Doc) and weak at the bottom.- Good signing. A change of scenery and being around all stars will help him.— Phillies2008WSChamps
- Never understood those Phillies - signing a pitcher they used to feast against. What are they thinking?— Aces high
- Sounds like the Phillies just purchased a guaranteed loss every 5 games. Great acquistion there, Junior.— TEDcGEGI
- This should work out okay. He'll be tougher being with us than he was being against us, and I'll bet he's glad to no longer be FACING the Phils. for now anyway. Things change so quickly within a season. The Nats were packed until Stras was sat down...a move they WILL regret. Yet Lannan did a good job in his place. Let's hope he's actually better than a 5 or long man. Just hope he can stay healthy, because I am not as confident of the over 30 pitchers we have now.
He will need a lot of offense behind him though, and let's hope we match up real well against OTHER #5s there. We need to beat more starters on other teams before they get into THEIR relieving corps.— ocpizza - boy, have you fellas who think adams/lannan be good deals ever lost your championship spirit. i guess 81-81 and 4-10 following all those good years for the p's and e's are numbers that'd dampen anybody's hopes and lower your resolve, and for sure that's happened in philly. is there anybody here (not on meds) who really believes we're gonna make the playoffs...when wasn't all that long ago we were shoo-ins to make the ws?— bubba church & granny hamner
