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."
Watched Phillippe Aumont pitch last night for Reading. This kid has control issues. He has a pretty good arm, but not good if he keeps walking and hitting guys.— PSU DEJA BLUE- amaro made a big mistake trading cliff lee and also signing ron howard for 25 mil a year so far he's on a pace of one million $$ per homerun also this raises the price on jason worth and the rest of the team..GO FLYERS 2010-SC..wolf.— wolf 4
- the horse is mummified and they're still beating it. Give it up, he's gone.— seaonasdad
- I'm surprised Charlie didn't use Halladay as an example - he and Lee are similar in how they get the ball and throw it - something I'm sure the fielders appreciate.— jimyd0315
- Cliff Lee, Cliff Lee, Cliff Lee......why oh why did Reuben choke and good old boy David knucle under to the old ladies.....All the chances gone and when the Mets get him and he beats our brains in.....Reuben will get another year of hearing how he choked.......— nuggett
- round the world tickets (HTML deleted)— roundtheworld
- Actually no one should get over the Cliff Lee thing. Had they put the money into keeping Lee with Halladay instead of giving it to Ryan Howard they would most likely win another World Series and get to a 4th. Thats 2 rings and 4 trips to the Series with this group. As it is they will be lucky to ever get back to a Series again and they certainly will not win another one.— JonKap
- I thought Moyer was the 5th starter. Maybe Charlie forgot Lee is in Seattle and he now has Halladay. It was just a "Freudian slip"....— scootch
- I think Bill Clinton approached Cholly and offered him a job in the front office if he didn't mention Lee's name all season....but Cholly refused.— scootch
- Does anybody stop to think that KK is ALREADY doing all he can...and changes such as mentioned by Charlie would HURT his (already limited) effectiveness? Take the win and be grateful KK didn't throw THAT away as well.— TBear
Comment removed.- Obviously Charlie is upset the Phillies got rid of Cliff Lee and replaced him with a guy who at his is 2 years older, and at his very best, will equal what Lee did last year. Lee won 2 games vs Yankees in the world series, and apparently that wasn't good enough. Amaro is such a clown.— Leron
- Comment removed.
- I don't care how much time KK spends on the mound between pitches. All I care about is if he gets the batters out. All he did was pitch 6 innings and give up zero earned runs. What more can you ask for???— foreclosure11
- spbilly...he may be gone but he may be back either at the deadline or in free agency. werth will not be resigned, i have accepted this. but i will only hope that ben francisco will be the same kind of player to take his place— crohnkiller
