So, amid all the talk of how difficult it will be for the Phillies to deal for pitching help before Tuesday's nonwaiver deadline, this thought occurred to me this morning during my 20-minute drive to the ballpark:Adam Eaton and Jamie Moyer may be the most integral pieces to any Phillies playoff run.
Allow me to explain. We know the Phillies' offense is going to produce runs. Lots of runs. And, by now, we know Cole Hamels is going to provide quality start after quality start. Kyle Kendrick and J.D. Durbin? Well, being rookie pitchers, they'll exhibit a certain amount of inconsistency. Thus far, they've been good more often than bad. And with Brett Myers about to rejoin the bullpen (pushing Antonio Alfonseca back into a setup role), the late innings should be less stressful.
So, if the Phillies are unable to beef up their starting rotation (and, really, it's debatable how much getting someone like Kyle Lohse or Josh Towers would really improve matters), it seems to me that Eaton and Moyer, the only veterans left in the rotation, will need to be better than they have been. Eaton, who is going for his 10th win today, entered the game with a 5.84 ERA. Moyer, after starting the season with four wins and a 3.00 ERA in his first seven starts, has four wins and a 6.26 ERA in his last 13.
That's not good enough.
But if the Phillies get more quality starts from Eaton and Moyer, they should be in good shape. As we've said before, the Mets (losing 6-2 right now to the Pirates) and Braves aren't running away with anything.
Agree? Disagree?
Eaton had a rocky first inning today, allowing two runs on four hits, including RBI singles by Dmitri Young and Austin Kearns. But the Phillies just went ahead 3-2 on Ryan Howard's two-run homer (his 29th, one behind Prince Fielder for the NL lead) in the third.
(Update, 2:38 p.m.): Well, that was interesting. Young John Lannan, the rookie lefty making his major-league debut for the Nats today, was ejected in the fifth inning for hitting Chase Utley on the right knuckles and Howard on the shoulder. Home-plate ump Hunter Wendelstedt tossed him immediately. Lannan kind of shrugged as he walked off the mound toward the dugout. Personally, I can't believe a 22-year-old in his first career start would intentionally throw at Utley and Howard. Seems odd, right? We'll find out more after the game. Naturally, Utley and Howard scored on a two-run single by Pat Burrell. 5-2 Phillies, heading to the sixth.
(Update, 3:19 p.m.): Eaton's day is done. After that first inning, he cruised through the next five, retiring 13 straight batters and 14 of 16. Two on, one out in the seventh, and lefty J.C. Romero is in. Still 5-2 Phillies.
(Update, 3:26 p.m.): Romero gave up a two-out, two-run single to Felipe Lopez. 5-4, Phillies. Jose Mesa in for career appearance No. 1,000. Mesa's the 11th pitcher in history to reach 1,000 games. Kent Tekulve and Dan Plesac also reached their 1,000th game with the Phils.
(Update, 4 p.m.): The Phillies bullpen strikes again. Mesa, with assistance from an error by third baseman Wes Helms (not sure why he was still in the game), put two runners on base before Mike Zagurski served up a three-run homer to Jesus Flores. 7-5, Nats. Going to the 8th.
4 comments:
You shouldn't assume that Wendelstedt ran Lannan because he thought he was intentionally throwing at Utley or Howard.
If the umpire believes that the pitcher is endangering hitters - that he's uncontrollably wild - he can eject the pitcher regardless of the pitcher's intent, and without need for a "warning."
This almost never happens. Then again, rookies in their first game don't often hit two MVP candidates back to back...especially after said MVP candidates had been hitting them hard.
Scott, do you think it's over now that Utley is out for at least, you would have to think, three weeks?
Bye bye playoffs.
Not only do we lose our every day second-baseman, we lose our best hitter, the team (if not NL) MVP, the best second-baseman in baseball, and one of the team leaders.
There is absolutely no chance in hell the Phils make the playoffs with Nunez as the starting second-baseman.
Maybe this changes everything. Maybe the Phillies will sell at the deadline instead of buy. This couldn't have happened at a worse time.
this happened at the best time if you thought the phillies should be selling anyway and had zero shot of the playoffs. Pat Gillick has no choice at all but to sell off some pieces of the team now. there is no concieveable way that he can still believe that this team with its pitching can win the amount of games it needed to win while missing one of the best hitters in the game.
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