Time For Blanton To Prove His Worth
Posted by Tim Malcolm, Fri, September 26, 2008 02:07 PM | Comments: 28
Posts
It’s possible Adrian Cardenas becomes the next very good infielder in the Oakland canon of very good infielders. And it’s very possible Josh Outman has a standout rookie season next year, guiding the Athletics to a playoff berth with solid and sometimes dominant numbers.
Joe Blanton, for all we know, could flame out as quickly as Adam Eaton next year. The prize in the Phillies’ big trade deadline move has been satisfactory, to give a word, so far this season. He hasn’t shown indications that he can be a bonafide No. 3 starter for next year’s Phils. But next year is next year, and for all intents, the Phillies acquired Blanton for this year.
To be short, the Phillies acquired Joe Blanton for this game.
Tonight marks Blanton’s final 2008 start as a Phille. Currently he is 3-0 with a 4.45 ERA, 47 strikeouts and 30 walks in 64.2 innings as a pinstripe. The walk numbers are way off line from his career norms, likely contributing highly to his very standard ERA (his 101 ERA+ makes him, as I said, satisfactory).
Not the sexiest acquisition, Blanton has provided the Phils with pitching depth. While CC Sabathia has been an absolute ace for the Brewers, and Rich Harden has turned the Cubs rotation into something out of the late 1960s, Blanton has been another cog, someone to start and keep the offense somewhat in the game.
Tonight, however, he needs to prove his worth. Tonight is why the Phils got him.
I’ve seen Blanton as his best, mixing his fastball with a nice curveball, a solid changeup and at times, a devastating slider. When he’s mixing well, players can’t indicate what’s coming, and they hit into easy outs. So it’s a very simple goal for Blanton — throw everything, including the kitchen sink. Be aggressive, be all over the place, be wily.
This is the biggest start of Blanton’s Phillie career (and maybe the biggest of his entire career). It’s time for him to pony up and show why he was so prized.
Posts: 0 KM
Blanton is worth nothing, and that is the beauty of the title. We overpaid for a glorified Adam Eaton. The only differences between Blanton and Eaton are that Eaton would give up big power hits, like homers and doubles, whille Blanton walks a ton of runners and gives up singles and doubles.
Did we get a good deal for the minor league talent we gave up? I would say, no. He is a slight upgrade to Eaton, in that he allows the team to stay in the game, given that they can put up 5+ runs a game, while eaton gave us no shot to win at all, if we scored less than 8.
Posted: 02:23 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Georgie
Jeez, Tim, when you put it that way you’re making me even MORE nervous. Now I’m having premature hand sweating.
Posted: 02:26 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Manny
I hope that he pitches well enough so that our offense can win this one. The weather’s chance of precipitation at 7pm has been lowered from 80 to 60%… Let’s hope there’s a game tonight and that we win it!
Posted: 02:27 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Manny
Yesterday I had a dream (nightmare!) And it was lidge blowing up his first save… I’m saying this just to keep it from happening
Posted: 02:32 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Joephilly
id be lying if i said i wasnt worried about blanton geting the start tonight. although we are playing the nats and weve handled them pretty well this year. i think if blanton goes like 6 innings 4 runs that should be enough to get us the “W” and with a mets loss we can just about pop open the champagne. biggest game of the season tonight. GO PHILS!!!!
Posted: 02:33 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Don M
Perfectly stated…”To be short, the Phillies acquired Joe Blanton for this game.”
It could be Kendrick going tonight.. I have every bit of confidence in Blanton cause i’ve seen him go against the Cubs (HARDEN).. and out-pitch him, and I’ve seen him shut down the Cards when they we’re in the Wild Card lead.. Dude can pitch, lets hope he’s on tonight!!!
Posted: 02:35 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Georgie
Manny, if you have any more dreams like that please keep them to yourself, holy crap I’m a bundle of nerves as it is.
Posted: 02:45 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 KM
Blanton seems to only pitch well against good competition, hopefully he can step up his game for the worst team in MLB.
I hope Charlie has a short leash on Blanton if he starts to go bad tonight, as he did last year with Eaton during the home stretch last season. We can not afford to allow Blanton to straighten himself out during the game.
Posted: 02:45 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 1650 Tim Malcolm
KM, Blanton had a great start against Pittsburgh.
And I assume they’ll get this game in, though it’ll be tsunami-quality all night.
Posted: 02:50 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 bull
just dont give up any first inning runs so the fans can stay crazy from the start…
Posted: 02:59 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Gary B
For the past few days on gamenight you keep going to the pitcher and saying they have to pitch their best and this game they have to do it. Don’t forget about our offense who has only put up 6 runs in the past two games. We need offense just as much as a solid outing by Blanton.
Posted: 03:00 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Richie Allen
I would rather not have even thought with one braincell about tonight at all….The best way to approch this is dough-brained…
I get really nervous..
Gotta Go..no more talk..Lets Go PHILS
Posted: 03:09 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Tim Malcolm
Gary: I have been looking at the starting pitchers before games a lot recently. But I feel they’re the tone-setters. They determine how far you can go on a given night, most times. And for Blanton, he has to absolutely pitch a great game.
I won’t, and I’m not, forgetting the offense. They were very inconsistent against the Braves. Look for some O talk soon.
Posted: 03:19 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Gary B
Tim: Thanks for the response, I agree they are the tone setters. I also agree he has to pitch a great game. I just hated watching this offense the last two games against the Braves, Ultey looking at the first two only to whiff at a breaking ball for a k, Werth missing everything, and not getting the situational hitting. Combine that with Myers outing, it feels like a replay of this team a few months ago, and that is scary.
Posted: 03:26 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Fred
It appears to me the Phils play better from behind as opposed to when they are leading the division. Let’s hope they play aggressive and Blanton keeps them in the game.
Posted: 03:37 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Manny
I agree with Gary and bull. We need strong pitching (especially in the first inning to keep us fans cheering) and good offense obviously (much better than 6 runs in the past 2 games)
Posted: 04:11 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 And I approve this message
This is why people are fed up with politics:
CNN) – The time between the final answer in any presidential debate and the campaign press release declaring victory can usually best be measured in milliseconds. But John McCain’s campaign – which has been downplaying his performance at Friday’s faceoff, offering praise for opponent Barack Obama’s “eloquence” and debating skill – seems to have decided it’s never too soon to start spinning the outcome.
The Washington Post reported Friday that the campaign was running an online ad featuring the headline: “McCain Wins Debate!” and a photo of a smiling McCain and an American flag background. Another featured a quote from McCain campaign manager Rick Davis: “McCain won the debate — hands down.”
The Obama campaign quickly circulated the report – which came moments before McCain’s team confirmed he would take part in the evening debate after all.
Posted: 04:36 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 J-Man
Did anyone hear Pat Gillick might be coming back next year?
Posted: 05:08 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Griffin
for those REALLY pessimistic fans:
a 3 team parlay of Nationals, Mets and Brewers tonight, 50 bucks nets you $440.90
So the worse case scenario is quite a longshot tonight. Still….
Posted: 05:10 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Rob Cowie
Dude, I’m having 25 people over my house for the phillies game and then to watch Obama whoop McCain’s ass.
Posted: 05:22 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 NJ
Yep and the possibility of more Gillick isn’t thrilling…
Posted: 05:24 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Don M
If they make the playoffs this year, thats only 2-of-3 years with Gillick at the helm that we’ll have made the postseason… that sure aint good enough for us Phillies fans!! We want it to be like 11-out-of-3 years.. with handful of World Series titles in that span..
Im not even anti-McCain.. or pro-Obama, so much as I am anti-Republican right now.
Posted: 05:37 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Jim
BamBam Blanton needs to eat those innings tonight
Posted: 05:42 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 kyle
Again, how’s the weather there?
Posted: 05:51 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Griffin
I’m not sure how the weather in Philly is, but in NY, it’s not raining and hasn’t rained since around 1. So they should get that game in at Shea.
Posted: 05:56 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Rob Cowie
The weather is cold, damp and windy. So a basic October-esque day in Philadelphia.
Posted: 06:02 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 Georgie
I think the Palin-Biden debate may be a hoot!
Posted: 06:25 PM on September 26, 2008
Posts: 0 christopher
if anyone seriously thinks josh outman is going to be a better pitcher than joe blanton then you are kidding yourself. josh outman will be a loogy at very best, more likely than not he’ll spend his career in the minors. blanton will have a good game tonight and a good career as a phillie. the haters can shove it up their negative asses.
Posted: 06:28 PM on September 26, 2008