Why did Charlie drop Cliff Lee's name?
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Why did Charlie drop Cliff Lee's name?
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- They scored. They stole bases. They won. Finally.
OK, there was one reason for Charlie Manuel not to celebrate after the Phillies' 3-2 victory over Florida on Friday night.
He was peeved at Kyle Kendrick -- not so much about the results, but the way his righthander pitched.
"Kendrick has to pick it up," Manuel said. "He has to get the flow of the game, the tempo and rhythm going. He picked it up a little bit there in the last two innings, but when he threw the ball, he was taking way too much time. He knows how many pitches he's got.
"Don't get me wrong: I want him to feel comfortable pitching. But at the same time, when he stands there and acts like he's afraid to throw the ball, a lot of things happen. Some mental stress sets in. You take the flow and energy out of the game."
Harsh words. And then, Manuel went there. He talked about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
"You know what one of Cliff Lee's biggest things is? He gets the ball, throws it and keeps you on your toes. The defense is always ready. He keeps the game on his flow, his tempo, his speed. [Jamie] Moyer can speed the game up and slow it down. But Kyle, he has to get rhythm and stuff going."
Manuel said he wasn't trying to send Kendrick a message; he told his pitcher the same things he told reporters.
Kendrick allowed two unearned runs in six innings against Florida. The two runs were of his doing, though, on a bad throwing error in the third inning. He easily fielded a comebacker off the bat of Hanley Ramirez with two runners on and two outs but threw wildly to first, allowing both runs to score.
But Kendrick, albeit at a slow and maddening pace, limited the Marlins. He allowed five hits and walked none.
And consider this: Ever since those disastrous first two starts against Washington that left Kendrick's ERA at 17.47, he has a 3.62 ERA in his last eight starts. In those games, the Phillies are 4-4. He's been very much what a team needs from its fifth starter.
He's done all of this with a painfully bad strikeout to walk ratio of 23 to 17. But that's always been a trademark of Kendrick: He doesn't miss very many bats. He pitches to contact and he will always need a degree of luck to be successful.
Manuel would like to see a more poised Kendrick.
"He's been keeping us in the game," Manuel said. "Don't get me wrong. But there's room for improvement. He can do it."
"Why did Charlie drop Cliff Lee's name?" Because he was trying to come up with the name of a pitcher that throws at a faster pace to give an example of the type of pace he'd like to see Kendrick use? Duhhhhh— JimG- wolf: I didn't realize "Opie Cunningham" was on the Phils' payroll? I mean, it would be great if we could get the Fonz to come in and pitch for us. Not so much, Potsy or Ralph.— JayDuce
- Kyle Kendrick and prospects for Cliff Lee. Get it done, Ruben.— Ballgame
- Cliff Lee on the mets = nightmare— fins
- Charlie is so much smarter than all of us it's scary. Kendrick pitches a great game and Charlie ain't gonna let him have his day. Charlie's keepin' KK on his toes and doesn't want his head to get too big after a decent start. I suspect the next time Kyle has a good start it'll be a pat on the back from good ole Charlie.— vafan
- yo, outofphilly - I like the way you think. I posted my comment before I read the others, as usual. Finally, someone else that reads more into it than what the press does.— vafan
- yo, PSU - thanks for the update. Keep 'em coming.— vafan
- "The Rube" gave away a Cy Young Award winning pitcher for nothing. That sound that you heard during that press conference was the sound of a World Series loss.— Bobphxville
- This is what I love about Charlie. He's not afraid to call his players out from J-Roll to Kendrick. He calls them out while encouraging them at the same time. "He's been keeping us in the game," Manuel said. "Don't get me wrong. But there's room for improvement. He can do it."— rawl
- paprep, how do you know if the deaft picks the Phillies might have gotten if they had kept Lee would have been any good? First off, they wouldn't have been ready to play in the bigs for probably 3-4 years. Second, aside from Utley, what #1 picks have been that great for the Phillies? Meyers? Drabeck? Savery? Howard was a third-round pick that they didn't think was going to be all that impressive because he couldn't field. Since them, other than Domonic Brown and Michael Taylor, what draftees would have been certain to be good players for the team? What have all those players they traded for Lee and Halladay done for their new teams? Those minor leaguers they got for Lee may not be great, but they give Amaro something other than Brown to deal with in case they have to add a pitcher or hitter down the stretch. With all the injuries this season, that wouldn't be a stretch.— mike l
- On a day the Flyers start the Stanley Cup Finals, this is the news that dominates the front page? Charlie mentions Jim Thome once a month, are we ranting against that trade too? Seriously people, I didn't agree w/ the Lee trade either, but it's been 6 months and we've got Halladay. Move along.— Phightin Phil
- Agree with JonKap; why should we get over one of the stupidest trades in modern Phillie's history, a top of the line, Cy Young winning, playoff dominating pitcher for the proverbial three bags of balls, a thank you gift for Pat Gillick. Pitching and defense win over the long haul and especially in interleague and playoffs. Offense comes and goes, as we have seen for several years now, but pitching and defense are steady.— chuckw
Comment removed.- hmmmmm first page on the site? seriously, what would it take to bring him back?— bingo
- Every team in baseball has the SAME PROBLEMS with their pitching that the Phillies do. Some have lousy bullpens, no closer, inconsistent starters, injuries, slumps. During a 162 game season ALL TEAMS will have problems with their pitching. Periods of good pitching and periods of bad pitching. Same with hitting. It just a matter of who came overcome this the best and end up on top.— Grapost
