Phillies Nation

According to Rotoworld, the Phillies and Brewers have expressed interest in Royals starter Zach Greinke.

The 24-year-old Greinke is 7-4 with a 3.40 ERA this year. For his career the 2002 first round draft pick is 28-39 with a 4.40 ERA. From Rotoworld:

Greinke is a free agent after 2010 and figures to be a tough sign for Kansas City, but if he stays healthy, he’ll likely have at least as much trade value in a year as he does now. The Royals would have to be blown away to deal him. The Brewers, though, could tempt them if they’d offer Mat Gamel and either catcher Angel Salome or shortstop Alcides Escobar.

Yeah, the Phils would need to offer a heck of a lot to get Greinke, and frankly, I can’t believe they’d have enough.

Here’s some cool news: Four farmhands are going to play at the MLB Futures Game during All-Star weekend in the Bronx.

The U.S.A roster will include:

• OF Greg Golson (who is currently injured)
• C Lou Marson
• SS Jason Donald

The World roster will include:

• SP Carlos Carrasco

Antonio Bastardo was also named to the World roster but replaced because of injury. The five players means, at first glance, the Phils had the most representatives selected. A good sign the farm system has improved recently.

Yesterday it was reported Kris Benson has been promoted to AAA Lehigh Valley after a successful start in Clearwater.

Benson will start for the IronPigs Sunday against Syracuse.

I’d think if Benson excels in two to three starts he could see his way on the big league roster. My blind guess is July 11 against Arizona or July 18, the first game back from the All-Star break, in Florida. He’s lined up with Jamie Moyer, so don’t look for Benson to immediately be pushed into the rotation upon hopeful arrival.

It’s nice to have Benson as a possible contingency plan. Of course the Phils will still need that elusive No. 2 starter. But Benson could provide a boost to the back end (though we can’t really say Eaton, Kendrick and Moyer have been bad). Really, this is the best kind of rehab news you could have.

The Phillies lost another series — their fifth in a row — in a 5-0 loss to the Athletics. Rich Harden pitched an almost flawless eight innings, striking out 11 Phils and giving up just two hits. He walked one. He threw just 95 pitches.

In fact the only Phillie to hit Harden was Shane Victorino. That’s it. Jimmy Rollins struck out three times, as did Jayson Werth. Geoff Jenkins struck out twice. Everyone else just kind of stunk.

There’s not much more to say about the offense at this point. They were impatient and allowed Harden to rack up the Ks with ease. It seemed from the onset, with Harden striking out two in the first inning, there would be no shot for the Phils.

To his credit Adam Eaton didn’t pitch poorly, but gave the A’s an early lead with two first inning runs. He went seven innings, giving up six hits and three runs while striking out six and walking three. Tom Gordon was again useless out of the bullpen, letting the A’s score twice off a couple hits in the eighth.

Not that it would’ve mattered either way. The Phils offense is bad. Very, very bad. Somehow they remain in first place in the National League East. It’s a shame they’ve gone 4-11 and not even 6-9 in their last 15.

Maybe with the Phils heading to Arlington the offense will wake up. And maybe facing Kason Gabbard, Vicente Padilla and Eric Hurley will help. Then again, should we expect it?

Associated Press photo

I’d really like to break out one of the great movie quotes of all-time, thanks to a Mr. Lou Brown. But we first need a win today.

The Phillies and A’s finish up their Interleague three-gamer, and the Phils can possibly take the series in the getaway. They’ll have to do it via Adam Eaton, who hasn’t pitched that poorly this season. If he can get a bunch of innings and keep the score low, they’ll have a shot.

A shot because Rich Harden is pitching for the Elephants. The Canadian-born righty is 4-0 with a 2.44 ERA. He has only had one poor start of his 10 thus far, missing considerable time in April with a right shoulder strain. On June 8 against the Angels he struck out the first three batters on nine pitches.

Righties are horrendous against Harden (.179 AVG, .567 OPS), but lefties are doing considerably better at .245 and a .675 OPS. Needless to say it’ll be a tough go today.

Jimmy Rollins is back at leadoff, but Pat Burrell is in the three-hole. Geoff Jenkins is the DH.

Phillies: Adam Eaton (2-5) 4.94 ERA
Athletics: Rich Harden (4-0) 2.44 ERA

Gametime: 3:35 p.m. EST
Weather: 69, mostly sunny
Lineup: Rollins/Utley/Burrell/Howard/Dobbs/Victorino/Werth/Jenkins/Ruiz

MLB TV
MLB Gameday Audio
MLB Gameday

Your gameday beer: The Victory Brewery out of Pennsylvania has a witbier called Whirwind. It looks kind of fun judging by the label, though I don’t know if I’d like my foam to have a smiley face. Still, witbiers are good beers, and I recommend a summery dish with this — how about a grilled chicken salad?

Go Phillies!

Talk here has shifted to Brett Myers’ trade value, especially as a reliever. Many posters here at the Nation have been discussing Myers as a trade chip, and if teams would like him as a closer/setup man.

If the Phils market Myers as a closer/setup type he would be worth more, but how much? Remember, Myers is worth about another $9M after this season, which is on the higher side for setup men and closers, but certaintly not tops. Bottom line is teams would be interested in Myers as a closer, but the Phils would need to pop some prospects on top of him to make it a friendly deal.

My problem with marketing Myers as a relief pitcher is how long it’ll take to get him back into that mode. It’s not the easiest transition going from starter to closer, especially when you’ve done it once already. Would the Phils switch Myers to the bullpen to show him off before a trade? To me that’s a risky move that could damage your pen more than you think.

There’s also the issue of Tom Gordon, who is seemingly more injured than we’re being told. In fact, I wouldn’t doubt if Gordon sees considerable time on the DL very soon. That will reconfigure the bullpen, and it’s not cut and dry that Myers can drop into a setup role and contribute immediately. It’s more likely Myers would get phased into the front of the bullpen while Chad Durbin and Ryan Madson become more responsible for the later innings with JC Romero.

But that’s a recipe for potential disaster. If the Phils can market Myers without moving him to the ‘pen, that’s one thing. It’s another thing to “experiment” once more during a playoff run. Obviously the Phillies need another starting pitcher, but they’ll need ready relief help, as well. For now it should come from the farm system while getting Myers back on track as a pitcher first.

It turns out, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, a “Major League official” is saying the Phillies were stealing signs from the Red Sox last week during their series at Citizens Bank Park. The note says the Phillies have been investigated for it in the past.

If the Phils were stealing signs, I’d hope they would’ve done better than that. Or else they’re just bad at it. I mean, the offense has stunk lately.

It all came together tonight. Pitching was sharp. Hitting was clutch in spots. The superstar came back to life. Managing was aggressive and never let up. It added up to a 4-0 win over the Athletics, the Phils’ first in more than a week. They extended their lead in the National League East to two games over the Marlins with the win.

While the offense finally did their job, the story was Kyle Kendrick, who provided the best start of his career. The line: 8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 4 K, 1 BB. He had a no-hitter through four. He was mixing up pitches, throwing 71 strikes of a career-high 113 pitches (the ratio separated as the game wore on), keeping the A’s hitters baffled as to what was coming. Nothing dominating, but absolutely efficient against a bad no-homers offense.

And yeah, yeah, the offense finally came around a bit. Sure they left some runners on base (26 in fact), but they got on base, which is step one. Chase Utley looks like he’s back — he went 4-for-5 and missed a cycle by a home run (he would’ve had a natural cycle, too). He was hammering pitches with perfectly timed swings. Great to see. His average is back up to .297, a hit or so away from his regular domain.

Pedro Feliz and Chris Coste also had nice games with two hits each. Feliz knocked an RBI triple while Coste brought home two (Shane Victorino made a great baserunning play to score on one falling single). After Carlos Ruiz’s horrible double play Tuesday, Coste was a breath of fresh air.

Charlie Manuel and the coaching staff should be credited, as well, for the win. Manuel juggled the lineup completely, and while it didn’t work in some spots, the creativity should be applauded. You need to shake things up sometimes. Davy Lopes should get more recognition at the Nation. The Phils stole three bases, including a double steal that manufactured a run in the first inning. And while Steve Smith didn’t get it all right, he should be lauded for aggressively sending Chase Utley early in the game. The Phils had to be aggressive tonight — it helps get the fire out.

All is not cured, however. Jimmy Rollins left five on base in the three-hole, while Ryan Howard — batting fifth — went 0-for-5. But for tonight, put that aside, they got a win. Finally. Maybe the weight will be lifted a bit.

Associated Press photo

Please, please, please.

The Phillies have now lost six straight games and turn to Kyle Kendrick to get them back on track. He didn’t pitch well his last time out against Boston, but he’s normally good for 6 IP and 3 ER, you know, a Kendrickian start.

Sad thing is the Phils may not get the three runs to match it. Smith is a rookie hurler and hasn’t been too bad this season. Small preview tonight: My friends made a dynamite Thai bouillabaisse.

But I have to note that Charlie Manuel is breaking out a completely new lineup, the lineup he should’ve had out there for a while now. Jayson Werth leads off; Chase Utley is at the two-hole; Jimmy Rollins is hitting third; Pat Burrell and Ryan Howard (DH) swap power positions; Shane Victorino is in the seven-hole to provide speed for Chris Coste and nine-hole hitter Eric Bruntlett.

Phillies: Kyle Kendrick (6-3) 5.06 ERA
Athletics: Greg Smith (4-5) 3.51 ERA

Gametime: 10:05 p.m. EST
Weather: 62, sunny
Lineup: Werth, Utley, Rollins, Burrell, Howard, Feliz, Victorino, Coste, Bruntlett

MLB TV
MLB Gameday Audio
MLB Gameday

Your gamenight beer: Tonight we need something hearty and strong. Go with Stovepipe Porter by Otter Creek. It’s hard as hell but fills you up. This team needs to fill up with offense. Weird transition? Sure. Eat some ribs with this.

Go Phillies!

Todd Zolecki reports the Phils may still be seeking bullpen help, especially with Tom Gordon’s shoulder “situation.”

Asst. GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said Gordon has a “balky” shoulder, but was available for Tuesday night’s game against Oakland.

References to outlandish 1980s sitcom characters aside, this whole covering up by the Phils’ front office illustrates a definite need for bullpen reinforcements. Chad Durbin was warming up for the Phils last night before Emil Brown socked the three-run home run. He — not Gordon — was in line to bridge Jamie Moyer to Brad Lidge. Gordon is not an option right now.

It would make sense for the Phils to shuttle Clay Condrey to waivers and bring up an arm more suited to throwing the later innings. Maybe RJ Swindle (21.2 IP, 2.08 ERA, 27/5 K/BB) should get a shot? Or Josh Outman (56 IP, 3.70 ERA)?

Before hitting the panic button and trading a prospect or two for Brian Fuentes or whomever, why not try out the young guns?