- Pedro's dream season with Phillies falls short
- Bullpen not nearly as mighty as Phillies needed it to be
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Happ was put in a tough spot. I wonder how the series - and how our whole pitching rotation - would have looked if Romero was healthy. Happ, one would think, would've been slotted in as the #3 starter...but that's all water under he bridge.
I agree, losing Romero was huge. It doesn't seem fair...their 'roid guys are driving in runs and pitching great...ours just get hurt.
Let's state the obvious: Phillies seriously need to rebuild the bullpen. Phils are stuck with Lidge as no one wants a head-case pitcher with a $12 million salary, 11 blown saves, and 7.71 ERA.
IN MY MIND NOT A SUCCESSFUL SEASON--Our Phil's have too many sluggers and not enough hitters--and their pitching is woe full --starting and relief--WHERE WOULD WE BE WITHOUT CLIFF....what happened tothe rotation it was screwed up buy Gumby...and all the offense we had was Chase---the team is a bunch of lefties TOO MANY-- IT NEEDS TO BE CORRECTED IN THE OFF SEASON..AND the bullpen Durbin go back to the minors..and alL the other Durbin's out there too--Ruben you signed Pedro very late in the season as a hope and he winds up pitching two games that also shows how deep we are in starting rotation... SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED--RUBEN had a whole year to correct that...A SAD ENDING... to much promise and not ENOUGH performance!!!!
HAPP DESERVED A START AT LEAST ONE TIME --OUR PHILS WOULD NOT HAVE GOTTEN HERE WITHOUT HIS CONTRIBUTIONS!!THANKS GUMBY!!! THE PEDRO EXPRESS DID HIM IN!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dumba** Charlie should've given the kid a start, probably Game 3. Let Cole be the bullpen guy, he hasn't gotten anyone out since July, and is nothing but a pouting prima-donna. JA has been lights out all season long, how the heck do you NOT use him?!
more than disappointing. in general, too many of the big guys didn't come thru. pitching staff needs enhancement (starting and bullpen) for next year. keep feliz.
Somebody please help me to understand. How do you take a guy who is your steadiest and most predictable pitcher during the regular season and exile him to spot work out of the bullpen in the post season? Crybaby Cole is the guy who should've gone to the 'pen. I see 2 more wins if Happ starts. One could argue the same for Joe Blanton.
I don't think Happ is the second coming that everyone else thinks he is. That great string of starts he had ended a while ago and he was spotty at best since then and looked every bit the 4th or 5th starter he was projected as. That being said I thought he could have started at least 1 game this series. I guess we will find out next year when the novelty is gone and teams get to know him better. Theres just too many 1 hit wonders that come up, have some success as a new major league pitcher a couple times through, then they tail off into oblivion. Remember the days where Myers was going to be an ace? Happ is cheap so the phillies are going to give him every opportunity. I just think even at his best he's not the difference maker that will enable the phillies to overcome the Yankees or the Redsox in October. You need 2 studs at the top and a good # 3.
I tcouldn't disagree more with ashemenat99. I think Happ is already the most versatile and unflappable pitcher on the Phillies' fine staff. He is an unusual rookie in that respect. He is as far as it comes from being a one-hit wonder. He has a very nice arsenal of pitches, is improving each of them, even though he throws nothing that is particularly overpowering. He has the type of command and even-tempered disposition that has kept Jamie Moyer in the game so long. Hideki Matsui hit a double off of him that scored two critical runs last night, and he calmly stuck out the next two batters. He performed in like manner all year. Mark my words, as Ruben Amaro prepares to enter the Hall of Fame as the most successful GM in the history of the game, some will say that the smartest decision he ever made was to decline to trade J A Happ for Doc Holliday. Happ will then have been a steady, reliable, top tier pitcher for the Phillies over a 15 - 20 year career, headed to the Hall of Fame himself, and he will have brought joy to the heart of every manager and pitching coach who has dealt with him, not to mention thousands and thousands of Phillies fans (and their young kids, for whom he will be a worthy role model).
Bottom line. Cole needs to get his head out of you know where and realize he can be the best pitcher in the game, just act like it. Same goes for Lidge. As for the rest of the bullpen, Madson needs to find himself again, Romero needs to be what he was last year, and Phils need to resign Park.
This sounds weird, but I think putting Pedro in game 2 screwed up the chemistry of the team's run. It gave the NY fans a lot of energy. I think we should have kept Hamels 2 and Pedro at home game 3. It may have turned out much different.
I feel sorry for J. Happ. I hope he leaves the Phillies before the idiot running the show ruins him like he's done to every other pitcher he's managed for more than one season (Hamels, Lidge, Myers, etc). This hillbilly is brutal on pitchers. Just go back to the record book and see whAt he did to Cleveland.
If I were Happ, I would ask to be traded. We watched Brad Lidge lose game after important game all season while Cholly maintained his loyalty to him at the cost of the rest of the other players. Hamels too for that matter. This kid Happ has a great rookie season and Cholly could not come up with more ways not use him, showing him zero loyalty for his great performance. If I was Happ, Cholly would not be someone I respect, and I would ask to be traded to a team with a coach who would appreciate the kind of numbers he had.
I'm glad the front office makes decisions, and not the posters on these boards.
