Phillies Notes: Roy Halladay's words have Erik Kratz answering questions

The cameras first surrounded Erik Kratz, who said he was "disappointed" when he arrived Monday at Citizens Bank Park and did not see his name in the lineup. Then the pack shuffled to the other side of the Phillies clubhouse to question Humberto Quintero.

All the while, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels stared as the two catchers were interviewed. Halladay, immersed in preparation for his start, raised his head from his notes and sneered. The players may have viewed it as a media concoction, but the melodrama Monday was set in motion by Halladay's words five days earlier.

Halladay said a pitch he threw to Atlanta's Justin Upton was "halfhearted." He insinuated that Kratz failed to do his part.

"We talked about going away to him," Halladay said. "If we were going in, we were going to stand him up. We went in with a low target, which isn't what we wanted to do. You're not going to get him out there. What I wanted to do wasn't executed."

Both manager Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee said Monday that Halladay had not voiced any displeasure to them. Kratz was unaware of the comments until a reporter relayed them. Nonetheless, Kratz was on the bench for the second time in three days.

Halladay - and any pitcher, for that matter - always has the option of shaking off his catcher.

"They've got the ball in their hand last time I looked," Dubee said of his pitchers.

"I don't think it has anything to do with the catchers," Halladay said. "I think it has to do with us as a pitching staff being able to make quality pitches. You put a piece of cardboard back there and a good pitcher should be able to get through a game. We have two quality catchers who are smart. They do a good job. I'll take either of them on any day."

The staff undoubtedly misses Carlos Ruiz, once labeled "The Ace Receiver" on a Sports Illustrated cover. Ruiz is suspended for the first 25 games for stimulant use. He can return April 28. The Phillies lugged a major-league-worst 7.10 ERA into Monday's game with the Mets.

Kratz shouldered the blame.

"There's one thing that's consistent back there, and that's me," Kratz said. "So I have to look at myself and look at how we're doing back there. If I can't help the team improve, they put [Quintero] in there. I have to do a better job, for sure."

Kratz, 32, was a career minor-league player until 2012. Quintero, 33, has spent parts of 11 seasons as a backup. Before Halladay pitches, he meets with Dubee and the day's catcher for an extensive scouting report. Halladay does much of the talking. He spent extra time alone with Kratz at Turner Field before his first start.

"Are we on the same page? I hope so," Kratz said. "We didn't do well last time, so maybe we weren't."

Manuel said Kratz would catch Lee on Tuesday.

Neither Freddy Galvis nor Kevin Frandsen earned a start in the season's first seven games. "Sooner or later he definitely has to play some," Manuel said of Galvis. The manager talked in spring training of regular rest for his aging infield. . . . The Phillies and Mets entered Monday as the National League leaders in stolen bases (seven apiece).