Werth Hits Third, More on Hamels
Jayson Werth is hitting third tonight against the Nationals at Nationals Park.
Werth Hits Third, More on Hamels
Todd Zolecki
Charlie Manuel is praying for more offense, and he hopes Jayson Werth helps provide it.
He's having Werth hit third tonight against Nationals lefthander John Lannan.
Werth is hitting .313 with 15 homers and 33 RBIs in 128 at-bats this season against lefthanders. His 15 homers against lefthanders are the most in baseball. St. Louis' Ryan Ludwick has 13 homers against lefthanders. Baltimore's Melvin Mora, Chicago's Carlos Quentin and Chase Utley have 12. Tonight's lineup: 1) Jimmy Rollins, SS; 2) Chase Utley, 2B; 3) Jayson Werth, RF; 4) Ryan Howard, 1B; 5) Pat Burrell, LF; 6) Shane Victorino, CF; 7) Pedro Feliz, 3B; 8) Carlos Ruiz, C; 9) Cole Hamels, P.
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So you're probably wondering why the Phillies don't just have Hamels pitch Sunday. He would be pitching on normal rest after all, right?
"He could be pitching on four days rest the rest of the year," pitching coach Rich Dubee said. "That's something he hasn't done for five starts in a row all damn year. You've got to take into consideration, if we go every fifth day for the next five starts, I don't think he's had a stretch all season where he's pitched five starts in a row on his regular rest. And he's also sitting on 195 innings right now."
Hamels has pitched on four days rest (normal rest) 15 times this season. He has pitched on five days rest (an extra day of rest) 11 times. He has pitched on six days of rest once. He made a season-high three consecutive starts on four days rest July 3-13. He went 1-1 with a 1.99 ERA in those three starts, but in the three starts after that, which included extra rest because of the all-star break, he went 0-1 with a 5.09 ERA.
That said, Sunday's starter in New York is officially listed as TBA. That means if it's not Hamels, it could be J.A. Happ instead of Kyle Kendrick.
Come on, this is a no-brainer. It's time to do what it takes to get into the playoffs, not what 'could' happen. I swear sometimes I think this organization is afraid to win.— bobby- That was supposed to be "not worry about what 'could' happen". Ugh.— bobby
win now worry about the arm later. man up cole we need you.— davemarsh
Apparently Hamels does call his own shots.... "He said he had enough, so what can you do?" Dubee said. "I'm not going to send a guy out there that says he's done. He had seven quality innings and he had enough. He had enough." So if Hamels doesn't want to pitch on four days rest, then it will be Happ.— RAS- More Dubee quotes on Hamels: "I don't know that it's as much Kyle as it is Cole," Dubee said. "This is regular protocol, pitching every five days. It's what starters do. But this is new territory for the kid. When you get the luxury of having that sixth day, you take advantage of it, especially early in the season." How about in September, against your closest rival, with a division title at stake? "Sure, it weighs heavier when it can be a two-game swing," Dubee said. "Again, we'll have to see where he's at. [Tonight] will tell us more."— RAS
- Great effort by Cole tonight; my issue with the team right now is Pat Burrell. He's back to his 2006/1st half of 2007 mode of taking too many pitches. Step it up big boy! We need you bad.— Brian F.
- Right on Brian F.!!! The Pat can be the most inconsistant hitter sometimes. He`is worse than a roller coaster— Clinton, NJ
- Great effort by Cole tonight, great play by Victorino in the 2nd doubling off that runner (and thank you to whatever Nat that was, I can't remember, for that boneheaded running play). Brewers have tied the Mets, lets hope we are a game out come tomorrow. if anyone other than Hamels starts that game on Sunday then the inmates are running the asylum. The Mets will have their ace out there, I agree with davemarsh, Hamels has to demand he get the chance to start. That is what an ace does.— KMG
- A little follow up from the last thread- compare these #'s: Pitcher #1 2008 stats- 107 IP, 131H, 44BB, 57K, 5 games pitched more than 6 innings, WHIP of approx. 1.7. Pitcher #2 2008 stats- 149 IP, 183 H, 55BB, 66K, 6 games pitched of more than 6 innings, WHIP of about 1.6. Pitcher #1 is Adam Eaton, pitcher #2 is Kyle Kendrick. Not much difference, eh? Kyle Kendrick has Jamie Moyer stuff but he can't hit spots like Moyer does. The only reason he's won this year is because this team scored billions of runs for him early in the year. We've killed Eaton, rightfully so, for a slightly worse year than Kendrick. Kendrick is a #6 pitcher, the guy who you call up from the minors to fill in when one of your starters goes down. Hopefully next year he will be in that role.— KMG
- for the mets series they need to give ja happ the ball instead of moyer and have hamels pitch instead of kendrick. That gives them myers, happ and hamels for that series and I'd take that in a heartbeat. Finally, manuel made a good decision - batting werth in the 3 hole. Now get victorino behind howard instead of burrell and we've got something to work with. (heck, at this point, maybe put the catchers in front of burrell - every righty the rest of the way should result in dobbs or stairs in right field)— diehardphan
- I like Kendrick, he HAS pitched well for this team. He just needs to throw strikes more often and put guys away when he has the down in the count. He can be effective, he just has to go after guys more and not pitch around them. I also like Happ alot too!!— Clinton, NJ
- It won't matter who's pitching if this silly offense manages just 4 measley hits against all these HOF staffs we're facing......what a joke. The only thing wrong with Kendrick is he's watching the same offense we are....he's seeing his buddy Hamels and his Pappy, Moyer having to be near perfect to have a chance to win a game and he's pressing too much. Unbelievable how this club can ruin a fine, young pitcher. Need I REMIND EVERYONE HIS LIFETIME STATS OVER 1+ season 21-13 and in his starts for this team something like 30-15...not too shabby and on par with Cole's lifetime stats. Nice effort by Cole and Jimmy tonight.....now that we've outed Truth as Jroll, which one is RollinsWasRight? Is it his buddy Howard or perhaps Pat Burrell? If it's Pat, I suggest he lay off the internet and watch more video of his back leg dipping and his head dropping...no wonder he's not seeing the ball well and striking out on a pace even he's never seen before, only Howard had experience with 50% of his outs being K's.........— Mark1npt
- Well, Charlie FINALLY listened to me and put Werth between Chase and Howard. Not that it was very effective tonight. LOL! That collision at the plate between Chase and Flores sure added drama. But at least we got the win!— Norma
- You can't throw Happ into the heat of a pennant race against the Mets or wreck the psyche of one of your better young pitchers by skipping him, either.....we're creating another Gavin Floyd here, who we'll totally confuse, destroy his confidence and run him off to another team one day where he'll win 15-20 games a year and make us look like an idiot organization in the eyes of learned baseball people and players....AGAIN......leave him alone and let him pitch....forget any new pitches the rest of the year and just let him pound the zone down.....— Mark1npt
- That's stupid. After Sunday, start Happ another day and bounce everyone back if you're that worried about Hamels. If he can't win Sunday's game the season could be over.— frankatlasalle
