What Utley's addition means for rest of roster
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
What Utley's addition means for rest of roster
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
By now you know: Chase Utley has been activated from the 15-day disabled list and will play second base Tuesday. That will be the talk before the game, but the corresponding roster move is of interest too.
Greg Dobbs was designated for assignment to make room for Utley. Now that shouldn't come as great surprise: Dobbs has been simply awful this season. He is 2 for his last 25 and hitting .191 this season with a .569 OPS. As a pinch hitter, he was even worse, batting .119 with a .434 OPS.
That's bad.
Wilson Valdez, who started at second while Utley was out, will become the primary backup infielder. He can play second, short and third and will be valuable as a reserve because of his versatility.
But in Dobbs' departure, rookie Domonic Brown remains. The Phillies made it no secret last week they would prefer Brown in the minors until Sept. 1 so he can have regular at-bats. In the last four games, Brown has two at-bats. He pinch hit Sunday night only to be pinch-hit for by Ben Francisco when the Mets brought in a lefthander.
Perhaps Brown is staying because Ross Gload (right groin strain) isn't ready to play yet. Assistant GM Scott Proefrock said Sunday the team wasn't considering the disabled list for Gload and they expected him to be fully available Tuesday.
Or maybe the Phillies changed their stance and decided Brown should stay and can add value to the bench while staying sharp enough.
Still, when/if Gload is ready, will Brown still stay? The Phillies carried 13 pitchers for two days last week when Los Angeles was in town. Yes, it leaves Charlie Manuel's bench short, but the way the pitching staff is constructed, it almost begs the Phils to carry 13.
Let's be real: The staff consists 10 pitchers -- David Herndon and Danys Baez don't count. Both pitchers aren't trusted by Manuel and are at the back of the bullpen. Both will remain on the roster for a multitude of reasons, though. So to add a second lefthander in the bullpen, the Phillies would have to go to 13 pitchers.
When September comes and the rosters expand, this will be easier. In the next two weeks, the Phillies may have to be creative to make it work.
Come September, Dobbs could be back, too. He cleared waivers the last time he was designated for assignment in June. If he does that again this time, he would probably accept a minor-league assignment with the hopes of being recalled when rosters expand.
Buy Phillies tickets 
Good to know that Charlie and the fans are on the same page with Baez and Herndon. Can't wait to see Mathieson get in games once the rosters expand in a couple weeks.— jpk
Herndon I understand, but why is Baez still here?— swash1- Send Brown down until Sept 1 so he can get more at-bats.— P Even
- Baez is still there because Ruben gave him a 2 year contract for millions. What a waste of limited payroll!— Eagles1st
- From what the writers in Lehigh say, Mathieson hasn't been pitching too well the 2nd half of the season. Makes sense- otherwise the Phils would have brought him up by now. No AAA relief pitcher who throws high 90s on a relief starved team gets left at AAA unless the team has serious misgivings about his ability. He still hasn't learned to throw an effective 2nd pitch yet.— jas157
- Brown will be sent down when Howard comes back and then he'll be back in Sept.— parrothead
- We could have kept Figgy, who was pitching very well but that would have meant owning up to what a mistake it was signing Baez. Eat the salary like you did with Eaton and unload Baez; he sucks.— jimmydugan
- Agree Jas157. I don't think he is the best option. Give Vance Worley a go.....and Zagurski come September 1st. Mathieson is a terrific story, but velocity alone will not make you successful. You need a complimentary pitch you can throw with plus placement and movement consistently. Mathieson seems to groove his fastball and hitters will catch up to it.— Nigel#1
Comment removed.- I posted "why?" when the Phillies signed Baez from the 35 games behind Orioles. My question is still, "why"?
- Sending Dobbs down was a no-brainer. At this point he's an automatic out.— PhillyTru
- I get all the moves, non-moves except Herndon. Why does a team with all these disabled players waste a roster spot on a Rule-5 player? these guys are defending Nat'l League Champs (last two years) and every spot on this roster is precious. This guy better turn out to be the SECOND COMING OF FERGUSON JENKINS.— garcia7
- Swash1- Big money contract for a reliever.— davekrieg
- The Herndon situation is kind of perplexing. I would understand keeping him if this was a rebuilding team, or if he was especially effective in one-out match-up situations. I'm ok with Baez if he is used as the long-man or mop-up guy; someone has to do the grunt work.— smel4727
- garcia7 - There main reason they are keeping Herndon is because next year he will likely be a 7th inning set up guy, because in 2011 the Phils will be without Romero, Durbin and most likely Contreras. That's 3/5ths of their current "back of the bullpen" (only Madson and Lidge remain next year). Yes, Baez will probably be there next year too, but only because of $$, and he will retain the same role he's in now - mop up man or the last guy you go to in an extra-inning game. Herndon's not great, but he's got the makings of a decent 7th inning guy (he throws hard and keeps the ball down). When you consider that next year's bullpen will likely include 3 of the following players - Zagurski, Bastardo, Matheison and/or Worley - you can see why they're keeping Herdon around.— erformc1
