Romero activated, Herndon optioned
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Romero activated, Herndon optioned
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Phillies have activated J.C. Romero from the 15-day disabled list and optioned righthander David Herndon in the process, clearing a roster spot.
Needing a third catcher for at least the next two days, the Phillies must stick with 11 pitchers for now. Herndon was the odd man out.
That should come as little surprise given Herndon's recent performances. In 11 outings (10 2/3 innings), Herndon has a 9.28 ERA. Throwing strikes was an issue (7 BB to 3 K) and Herndon had lost confidence in his best pitch -- the sinker -- while attempting to throw his secondary pitches more often.
It's the first time since the Phillies acquired Herndon in the Rule 5 draft two winters ago that the righthander will not be on the team's active roster. Herndon has never pitched in triple A, having skipped the level to go to the majors.
Romero pitched in a rehab game for single-A Lakewood Tuesday and allowed one walk but picked the runner off. More interesting will be to see how the lefthander is used with the emergence of Antonio Bastardo.
Manager Charlie Manuel said Bastardo will remain in his current role and Romero will be used more as a situational lefty.
Bastardo has allowed one run in 11innings and has the best swinging strike percentage (19.4%) in all of baseball. Lefties are 1 for 16 against him with eight strikeouts.
Romero was signed to a one year, $1.35 million deal in the offseason to be the primary lefty. But Bastardo has arguably passed him.
Read Thursday's Inquirer for more.
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- Right now they're only carrying 11 pitchers. So I think when Contreras is ready, it more or less lines up with Ruiz coming back and Sardinha being sent back to AAA.
Martinez makes the Brown decision tougher since he's a Rule 5. Martinez hasn't shown a lot but I think they'll still want to hang onto him so my guess is that Orr goes down when Brown comes up. But, as you note, the Martinez issue will be forced when Chase is ready. They'll keep Gload and Mayberry in my opinion.
Also of interest is who goes down when Lidge is ready.— s - I think Herdon has the stuff to be a great setup guy. His slider is terrific. His sinking fastball is hard an moves great. He simply needs to learn to not be wild in the strike zone.
I like JC romero. He is a gritty survivor. We could not have had the comeback in '07 nor the WS in '08 without him.
On ESPN on Sunday night on commentator stated after Bastardo threw a nasty Carlton like slider, "closer of the future."
We have a train of relievers in AA and AAA. Our bullpen will be solid for years to come.— bluejfk - actually romero has looked pretty solid this year...easily the best he's been since 2008. Bastardo clearly has more potential but romero adds much needed depth to this bullpen. the people who say we were better with him on the DL are living in the past. he looked effective early and did well in his rehab assignment. the phils are a better team with romero on the active rost and herndon in the minors.— dreinterests
- Right now Bastardo looks like he can be more than a situational lefty.— PhillyfaninMD
- Chewing gum sales in the Lehigh Valley will now skyrocket.— dasher
- Bin Laden blew things up but Herndon just blows.— dasher
Bastardo is our setup guy for now and Romero will be nothing more than a situational lefty - Romero better learn to throw strikes because if he come in for one batter and walks him his name will quickly be followed by DFA.— bird11- The Herdon-Osama quote might be the best of the year. Now if we could get an OF that was consist. and our catcher back. BTW, Kratz is having a way better year than Dane did. I think Dane is nearing Raul's once frustration level. O hits. Good for Raul getting two last night. If he continues...but I do not think he will. Wishing though.— Koons
- Right now the Phillies back up catcher's job is to not upset the starting pitchers. Dane did a great job Saturday catching Halladay I wouldn't be surprised if he started tomorrows game with Halladay pitching. — bird11
- Romero? Really? Geeze Louise...how many lives does this guy have? Is there not anyone else in the world that is available? When he pitches, I change the channel. Can't stomach this guy.
Jason Worthless? Booooooooooo.............— Flyerfan666 - People have either short memories and/or don't know much baseball. Romero has been a good reliever most of the time here. People forget that he won the other two games Hamels didn't win in the WS and that he has being hurt the last two seasons. In 2008 and 2010 he didn't allow a run in the playoffs (7.1 inn.) Stick to the facts or shut up. When Romero is healthy he produces. In 5 years with the Phillies he has a 2.64 ERA.— EL Zorro
- Herndon needs to spend some time in triple A. Good move. Wecome back
JC. Hope your healthy. Without a doubt, the #1 lefthander out of the pen is Bastardo with his nasty stuff. He's come through every time.
Antonio has a very bright future and is only going to get better.— mdcasino - goodbye dave please dont come back— jodya2
- I don't like the idea of a situational lefty, but we're probably stuck with it. The problem I see here is that neither Bastardo nor Romero seem suited to the role, and both are capable of getting righthanders out. What I suspect we'll see for now is Bastardo continuing to get more meaningful innings while they see again what Romero's got. Stutes will also keep getting looks. Then as Contreras and Lidge come back the decisions will be made on how guys have pitched. Stutes still could end up going down, though, if for no other reason than to ensure that he pitches rather than sits.
— Joe Light - Bastardo really came through when he was needed. Here's hoping he can keep on doing it. AND I say give Romero a couple of situational chances, and see if he has rounded out his game any. It'd be GREAT to have two Lefty options in the pen wouldn't it? While a lot of people soured on Lidge two years ago, I think he showed last year that he rebounded QUITE well. I would like to see him get a few chances in re-habs (When he's ready...if ever.) I hate giving up on a guy that was instrumental in us winning the World Series in '08. Just look at how formidable our whole staff (Except for Baez of course) has been this year, and how much better it could still be if Lidge, Romero, et al can be solid contributors down the stretch. And when you consider our offense this year, we will need every pitching asset we can muster, mister!— TBear
