That's a Relief
Brett Myers pitched well last night against the Nationals. The Phillies badly needed to see that.
That's a Relief
Todd Zolecki
Whew.
The Phillies badly needed Brett Myers to pitch well last night against the Nationals at Nationals Park. Ruben Amaro Jr. said Monday that Myers is "going to have to perform well. We're trying to win our division, so we're going to try to put the best starters out there we can to win. We're not locking ourselves in with anything. We believe he'll stay in the rotation, but we have to keep our options open, and we will." Charlie Manuel said yesterday afternoon that "right now I feel like we've got to give Brett a few more starts to see where he's at."
Myers allowed one unearned run in seven-plus innings in a 2-1 victory over the Nationals.
It's a step in the right direction.
There's no question the Nationals are a bad team. In fact, they have the worst offense in the National League. But Myers did exactly what he is supposed to do against the worst offensive team in the National League: he dominated them and won. The Phillies hope it's something to build on before his next start Sunday against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Phillies still believe Myers can be the No. 2 starter in their rotation to compliment Cole Hamels. Last night was an important step toward getting there, but he's not in the clear yet.
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In the Phillies Notebook: J.A. Happ is in the bulllpen (for the moment), Ron Mahay could be headed to the Phillies, Pedro Feliz is on the DL and Chase Utley's sore right hip looked OK.
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We get the question all the time: whatever happened to Julio Mateo? It appears he's been hanging out with the Fratellis, who had a nice little counterfeit operation going in Astoria, Ore.
cg: all of the OFers you mention are there for their hitting not their defence. Why do we think this kid is that great a hitter?? If your looking for an OF in our Farm system there is Golson whose hitting .288 (.308 with Runners on base)with 19 HR 45 RBI 19 SB in AA. why put a square peg in a round hole??— jeff gross- Pierre was a CF until this year.— jeff gross
- cg, Carrasco is 20 and in his first full year of AA, he is not going to master it as fast as you may like. Check the scouting reports on him anywhere, they will all say he is our best pitching prospect. And most of those numbers you quoted from Outman were from his STARTS at Reading. As far as Cardenas goes, if you want to deal Howard for a pitcher you can do that in a few years, then shift Utley over to 1st and you could of had Cardenas at 2b and not blocked. At the very least, since you say everyone thought he was a savior, don't you think he could've gotten a better return than Joe Blanton?— CyHamels
Snelling is done for the year with a bum knee.— RAS- Did I say we couldn't have gotten better than Blanton? How can "most" of the numbers I quoted be from starts if he only started 5 out of 33 games played for Reading? You're talking about "potential" now and that's the problem, prospects are just that. Look at the amount of career minor leaguers that had the "potential" to be great but didn't. Take a look around sports, it happens in every sport, there are high (potential filled) draft picks that don't pan out and low ones that do.— cg
- As I look at our minors, I realize that we have a few decent to good pitchers coming up. I would like to see them get chances in Sept once teh roster expands but we'll be in teh heat of a race and cant take the chance. Our big problem is our scouts suck and we can't rely on their opinion. Look who they suggested we trade for the past few years (Moyer excluded) Watch out for Carpenter, Castro and Carrasco. and of course Happ— jeff gross
- BTW, since teh trade Outman has given up 5 Ers in 3.2 innings. Not quite burning up the league is he??— jeff gross
- For what it's worth, here's the latest bit of intelligence from Jayson Stark on the trade rumors: On the Phillies' radar: John Grabow, Will Ohman, Arthur Rhodes, and Jack Taschner.— bski
- Jeff, you're contradicting yourself now. First you said that you need an arm to play the corner outfield positions and now your telling me that some of the players that we consider to be All-Stars (past and present) or All-Star caliber are only there because they can hit and not for their defense? What happened to needing an arm to be a corner outfielder? So, what you are trying to say is that the OF of most MLB teams have liabilities because they can't throw a guy out? What about their ability to field, does that not count for anything? By saying you need an arm to not be a liability you are saying Burrell is a top defensive OF because he's 2nd in assists.— cg
- No, I'm saying that generally MLB teams look for offence. If you're not awful with a glove they will play you. However, if we are taling about taking an infielder and making him an outfielder he needs to be either a great bat, or a great glove/arm--this guy is neither. He is a good SS. We have better OF prospects then him and he was worth trading-though I'm not quite sure what we traded him for. In general I would trade any prospect (non pitcher) for a MLB proven pitcher. I think we've exausted teh subject though. One last comment, Can anyone name a OF who is there purely for his defence? We all know of catchers and SS who can't hit but are great in teh field, is there such a thing in the OF???— jeff gross
- 25 IP as a SP and 44 as a RP so a good chunk of that 3.20 ERA was due to his 3.16 ERA as a starter. And who is talking about "potential"? I asked if you would trade Carrasco and Cardenas to Oakland instead of Outman and Cardenas and you said you would... why would you have done that given the actual trade that happened? If you are willing to trade Carrasco in a package because you are not sold on his "potential", than shouldn't you save him for a greater return than a trade for Outman could get you? Surely you cannot argue that Carrasco is more coveted by other teams than Outman.— CyHamels
- Traditionally speaking, cg is right. RF is the OF position where you want your strongest arm. A good arm in center is a bonus. However, it is not a prerequisite of a LF that he must have a strong arm. In fact, LF is typically the position where you put someone who cannot play anywhere else defensively, regardless of arm strength, ala Adam Dunn, Pat Burrell, and Manny Ramirez.— acerulli
- Last sentence should read "Surely you cannot argue that OUTMAN is more coveted by other teams than CARRASCO."— CyHamels
- Hammels is HURT?????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!— Beef69
- Thank you jeff for clearing that up. I'm sure I can find one outfielder better at defense than offense...isn't that Eric Byrnes?
Cy, I guess we just differ on opinion with Carrasco and Outman. Outman was one of our top prospects also but being a top prospect in a poor farm system isn't something to be that proud of anyway.— cg
