John Smoltz is a great admirer of Brett Myers.Last May, after the Phillies moved Myers to the bullpen, Smoltz told me and a few other reporters that he couldn't understand their logic. "To me, he's an upper-echelon pitcher with A to A-plus stuff," Smoltz said at the time. "You can take the elite pitchers and make them closers. But I'm a believer that you've got to have those guys as front-line starters. ... [As an opponent], I'd just as soon see him in the eighth or ninth inning than for seven innings as a starter."
So, with Myers back in the Phils' rotation and struggling as badly as ever in his career, I figured it was time to chat with Smoltz, one of the few pitchers who have made a successful transition from front-line starter to dominant closer and back to front-line starter. Before last night's game, I spent a few minutes in the Braves' clubhouse talking to Smoltz, whose confidence in Myers hasn't waned. He even gave Myers a few words of encouragement yesterday while the Phillies took batting practice.
"The thing I can say is my track record, just like his track record, was pretty good before the change," Smoltz told me. "I'm pretty sure they'll be pretty good afterwards. There's a big adjustment to be made, and he'll make it. It's not like you're talking about someone who hasn't had success. ... I'm not going to mind-read. I just know that he will get it, and when he gets it, it'll be just like it was yesterday. You've got to make adjustments. All of a sudden, you're facing Chipper Jones three and four times instead of just once. Mentally and physically, you have to deal with something you haven't done in a while. But he's going to be fine. I'm telling you."
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This just in: Cole Hamels is good. Very, very good.
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Also within today's notebook: -As expected, Scott Mathieson had an ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction (Tommy John surgery) yesterday.
-Kris Benson is scheduled to throw a simulated game May 26 in Clearwater, Fla. GM Pat Gillick said the Phils remain hopeful that Benson will be ready to pitch in the majors at some point between June 15 and July 15.
-Gillick said he probably wouldn't have given Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun -- or any pre-arbitration-eligible player, for that matter -- an eight-year contract. We'll expound on this in Sunday's paper, so keep an eye out for that.
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Here's a preview of the inter-league series that opens tonight at the Bank:
BLUE JAYS (21-22) at PHILLIES (23-19)
Tonight, 7:05: LHP David Purcey (0-0, 2.08) vs. LHP Jamie Moyer (2-3, 5.02)
Saturday, 7:05: RHP A.J. Burnett (3-4, 4.94) vs. RHP Adam Eaton (0-1, 5.40)
Sunday, 1:35: RHP Shaun Marcum (4-2, 2.22) vs. RHP Kyle Kendrick (3-2, 4.87)
Hot: Blue Jays 3B Scott Rolen has at least one hit in 14 of his 19 games this season; Blue Jays 2B Aaron Hill has six hits in his last 15 at-bats; Phillies 1B Ryan Howard has a seven-game hitting streak (8-for-28, three homers, six RBIs); Phillies 3B Pedro Feliz is 14-for-42 (.333) with three home runs and eight RBIs in his last 12 games.
Not: Blue Jays CF Alex Rios has one hit in his last 20 at-bats and nine hits in his last 62 at-bats; Blue Jays LF Kevin Mench is 3-for-16 since being traded to Toronto last Friday; Phillies LF Pat Burrell is 5-for-28 with one RBI in his last nine games; Phillies RF Geoff Jenkins has two hits in his last 12 at-bats.
2 comments:
Does anybody know what exactly happens when you need to have a second TJ operation? Did the ligament come "loose" at the attachment site or what?
hanka: From the explanation we received last weekend from Phils athletic trainer Scott Sheridan, it can be any number of things. There's a chance the first operation wasn't performed right. There's a chance the rehab wasn't conducted properly. There's a chance the new ligament just didn't "take." But, according to Sheridan, there's really no way of knowing for certain what went wrong. He said Tommy John surgeries are roughly 90 percent effective. But, some people have to fall into the other 10 percent. Mathieson falls into that category, as Eric Gagne once did. Several other pitchers have had TJ surgery more than once. Jose Rijo had it three times. So, it happens. It's just not particularly common.
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