ATLANTA -- OK, in the previous post, I wrote that I had some interesting news about Tom Gordon that I'd share with you in the $.50 edition of The News Journal. I could've opted to spill it on The Blog, but I didn't want to ruin the surprise.Well, the blog gods punished me.
Before batting practice today, I approached Gordon to ask about his 1-2-3 ninth inning Tuesday night, the first clean inning he has thrown this season. Gordon indicated that his shoulder wasn't feeling great and that he probably wouldn't be able to pitch as often as he wants until he begins feeling better. At that point, I asked if he was available to pitch tonight. He said he was going outside to play catch to test his shoulder. With that, I scurried to the press box to write about it for Thursday's paper.
A few hours later, after the Phillies lost 4-3, a team spokesman told the beat writers that Gordon will fly back to Philly to have his shoulder examined by team doctor Michael Ciccotti. And, just like that, my little scoop had become common knowledge. Oh well. Live and learn. That said, there are two big issues here.
1. How long will Gordon be out, and who will be the closer while he's sidelined? (I'd bet on a trip to the disabled list, and I would think it'll be recently appointed setup man Brett Myers, although Charlie Manuel insists that hasn't been decided yet).
2. Manuel said Gordon has been experiencing stiffness in his shoulder since spring training, which means GM Pat Gillick, assistant GM Ruben Amaro Jr., Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee misled everyone in mid-March when they all said Gordon's unusual visit to see Ciccotti was merely precautionary.
In a few hours, I've got to catch a plane for a cross-country flight. I'll check in with you from San Francisco. Meanwhile, weigh-in on the whole Gordon situation. I'd like to know what you think.
11 comments:
I think it's ashame that Gordon is going down now. It seemed like he might be finally coming out of his funk.
I'm still against Brett Myers being a lifetime bullpen/closer guy because I don't see the point in getting 70 IP/year out of a great pitcher instead of 200+ innings, but whatever. Maybe this organization has more confidence in JA Happ than expected, and who knows who will fill in for Garcia (or Eaton) next year if he keeps pitching like this. But if Gordon is going down now, we might as well make Myers the permanent closer. Gordon hasn't proven to us that he can handle it.
Or, move Gordon to set-up man to get his confidence back while he works on re-establishing his curve. Then, if necessary, move him back to the closer role. But if that happens, I have a feeling that Myers will have already adjusted to his new role.
Finally, the truth is out! We all knew it.
Did anyone else get the impression from watching Garcia last night that he just doesn't care? Even when he was pulled, he had such a ho-hum type attitude and expression on his face.
It was evident that Flash was having arm problems. I remember last year his big pitch was that really nasty breaking ball where the bottom just fell out of it. For the first few weeks of the season, he didn't throw one. Then last week he finally threw one but it didn't have half the bite it did last year. Then on Tuesday night he threw it again and it looked better than the previous week, but still nowhere near the absolutely filthy breaking ball he had last year. I agree with Scott that Flash is destined for the DL here as it is evident something is up with his shoulder. Hopefully, he has a quick recovery.
tough loss but hopefully he comes back from the 15 day DL on time and healthy.
what is mind boggling is that they knew he was injured in ST and they still trotted him out there and let him lose games when there was no need for that. this organization still blows my mind.
Who cares? It's the Phillies.
I can see why the Phils weren't forthcoming about Flash in Spring Training. They didn't want potential trading partners to sense their desperation.
But why run Gordon out there to blow saves when he was clearly hurting? And why not do more to solidify the pen than bringing in El Pulpo?
I've about had it with Gillick.
I guess we now know why they moved Myers to the bullpen. It makes you think they probably knew Gordon's arm was getting worse and worse and they wanted to get Myers ready as quickly as possible.
Better hope he's ready, Phillies fans.
Gillick said last year that we weren't going to compete until 2008, but should Gillick be around for 2008 if we keep playing like this? I think not. I put most of the blame on Gillick for hanging Manuel out to dry with the bench and bullpen. What did he expect to happen with those two areas severely lacking quality. The good news could be that Gillick has ties with A-Rod and Ichiro, maybe we'll get one of those guys because we know how Gillick likes to sign guys they know.
caught you on wip lsat night with startare...great job scott
Ruben "Liar, Liar" Amaro
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