Greetings from Washington.Eventful afternoon here at RFK Stadium. Charlie Manuel was sitting in the dugout, talking with reporters, expressing no regret over his flare-up last night with a local radio talk-show host, when he casually dropped this bombshell: The Phillies are moving opening-day starter Brett Myers (left) to the bullpen to be a setup man and putting Jon Lieber (right) back into the starting rotation.
On the surface, it sounds like a desperate move by a desperate team. And, ultimately, that's what it may be. But Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee said they've been considering putting Myers in the bullpen since spring training. Myers has the electric stuff and the hard-nosed mentality to excel as a late-inning reliever. Lieber, meanwhile, didn't embrace the idea of pitching in relief. As a pitcher who relies on his rhythm and tempo on the mound and a rigid between-starts schedule, he's ill-suited to a relief role.
I'll have more on this move, and plenty of other odds and ends, after the game. In the meantime, let me know what you think about the Myers-Lieber flip-flop.
4 comments:
If I was Brettyboys wife, I'd be looking for a motel. He's probably angry. Since she's 5'3" she's likely looking to be a punching bag again. Break out that eye makeeup
I think this move improves Lieber's attitude and Myers has been quoted as saying he would voluntarily move to the pen if needed. This is an upgrade for Lieber, but I'm feeling its a downgrade for Myers. Manuel should consider shuffling the batting order now to capitalize on who's slumping and who's not.
yet another screw up in a long line of them this year.
you're going to take your opening day starter and potentially number 1 starter on the team and make him your closer because your team needs a shakeup? completely ridiculous. you change your lineup around, you fire your manager, but you DON'T do that. i now have zero faith in this team this year.
This is absolutely the worst move I can remember in my years as a Phillies fan. You take your #1 starter and put him in the pen as a setup guy? Not even closing games? Pitching maybe 80 innings a year instead of 200+? This is absolutely stupid. If he replaced Gordon, it would be less stupid, but look at the Braves. They had Smoltz closing games in dominating fashion and made him a starter again because it was a better use of his skills.
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