Murphy: I am going to write something positive about the Phillies bullpen

Believe it or not -- and I do not blame anybody who chooses the latter -- there was at least one reason for optimism amidst a second straight meltdown of the Phillies bullpen on Wednesday night in Cincinnati. Before Dalier Hinojosa blew a 2-1 lead in the ninth inning, set-up man David Hernandez preserved it with a scoreless eighth inning. More than the end result, the encouragement came in Hernandez's process. Specifically, his fastball.

On Opening Day, when Hernandez allowed all three batters he faced to reach base to saddle himself with the weight of an ERA of infinity (just think about the implications of such a thing), his fastball looked nothing like the weapon the Phillies hoped they were acquiring when they signed the 30-year-old to a one-year deal this offseason. He threw 10 of them, five for balls, with an average velocity of 92.0 MPH, per the pitchFx database at BrooksBaseball.net. T

On Wednesday, the results were much better. Hernandez threw eight fastballs that averaged 95.1 MPH and topped out at 96.5. Only two of them went for balls, and four of which went for strikes not in play (include one swing-and-miss). A few years ago, when Hernandez was one of the top set-up men in the NL, his fastball looked much like it did last night. There was a 13 MPH split in velocity on his fastball and slider, and he threw strikes with each. For the Phillies bullpen to have any shot at stabilizing itself, Hernandez will need to be a reliable option in either the eighth or ninth inning. He did not pitch much in spring training, so perhaps the difference between Monday and Wednesday was simply a natural step in the building of arm strength. Whatever the case, a second straight outing of subpar velocity and command would have warranted some concern. Now, at the very least, we can inch away from the panic button for another day.