Think back, for a moment, to November. When the Phillies traded for Brad Lidge and returned Brett Myers to the rotation, they asserted that they had acquired a top-of-the-line closer and a front-of-the-rotation starter. They insisted that Myers was a better starting pitcher than anyone they could find on a weak free-agent market, and personally, I agreed with them.I still do.
Myers always has had ace potential, but he's never been an ace. And, chances are, he never will be. He's almost certainly a better reliever (closer or setup man) than a starter. His high-strung personality is more suited for one-inning duty in the eighth or ninth inning than for trying to navigate his way through seven or eight innings, and it's entirely possible that Myers returns to a relief role in the future.
That said, even after his latest clunker last night aganst the Braves, it's hard to say the Phillies would've been better off with any of the free-agent alternatives. Here's a look at how some of the more "attractive" pitchers on the free-agent market last winter have started the season:
Carlos Silva (four-year, $48 million with Seattle): 3-2, 4.17
Kyle Lohse (one-year, $4.25 million with St. Louis): 3-2, 4.91
Hiroki Kuroda (three-year, $35.3 million with LA Dodgers): 1-2, 3.59
Randy Wolf (one-year, $4.75 million with San Diego): 2-3, 5.16
Tom Glavine (one-year, $8 million with Atlanta): 1-1, 4.41
Odalis Perez (minor-league deal with Washington): 1-3, 3.71
Curt Schilling (one-year, $8 million with Boston): Injured, has not pitched
Livan Hernandez (one-year, $5 million with Minnesota): 6-1, 3.90
Josh Fogg (one-year, $1 million with Cincinnati): 1-2, 9.27
Thus far, Hernandez is the steal of the winter. The Phillies pursued Wolf (he didn't want to pitch in the Bank) and Kuroda (he preferred the West Coast). Lohse turned down a better offer from the Phillies than he ultimately got from the Cardinals. And although all of these pitchers have a better ERA today than Myers, the really alarming part is that Myers can't figure out what the heck is wrong. For as poorly as he has pitched, it's more concerning that neither Myers nor Charlie Manuel nor pitching coach Rich Dubee nor catcher Chris Coste has the first clue about how to fix him. For now, blind faith seems to be the approach.
"He'll be the guy on the mound for the seventh game of the World Series," Coste told me last night, "and we'll laugh about this."
But will Myers be starting that game or setting up for Lidge?
4 comments:
If you want to know what's wrong with Myers, visit
http://beerleaguer.typepad.com/
and read the "Beerleaguer For Breakfast" post. There's three or four solid opinions on what Myers needs to do, including scrapping the cutter he throws and a DL stint if he's hurt.
Rob: That's a great post. Jason does an excellent job over at beerleaguer.
But I can tell you that Myers has thrown fewer cutters over his last three starts since he clashed with Dubee in Pittsburgh. Also, Myers insists he isn't injured, so a DL stint is not being considered.
Do you remember last year, Scott, when Myers said his command suffered during the games he started (this was before moving to the bullpen) due to his arm slot or arm angle? Maybe that has something to do with it.
To me, Myers never looked comfortable out there, last night especially. His heart doesn't seem to be in it. Everybody that follows the team (media-wise) says that his heart's in starting and he's not sabotaging the season by tanking it and stinking it up, but you can't deny that even if he's trying his hardest, his hardest isn't good enough right now. He's hurting the team almost as bad this year as Adam Eaton did last year. Maybe he should do what Kendrick did - ask around the league for advice. Has Jamie Moyer mentioned anything to Myers? Has ANYBODY outside the organization mentioned anything to Myers?
Let's face it, he hasn't looked good as a starter since probably 2006. Something's missing.
And why not have Myers get an MRI or shoulder x-rays? It obviously can't hurt if there's nothing wrong, and surely he'd agree to it if he felt that he would be vindicated by their results.
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