Amaro: We’re Done Looking For Pitching
Posted by Tim Malcolm, Tue, February 17, 2009 02:27 PM | Comments: 29
News, Posts
Todd Zolecki reports the Phillies are not seeking Will Ohman, Joe Beimel or any other reliever at the moment.
Ruben Amaro Jr. told Zolecki “at some point you have to call off the jam and go with the people that you have.”
That would mean the current bullpen includes Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson, Chad Durbin, Scott Eyre and Clay Condrey. The final two spots might be filled through a combination of JA Happ, Chan Ho Park, Kyle Kendrick, Adam Eaton, Carlos Carrasco, Antonio Basatrdo and Gary Majewski. A few other candidates are also in the pot.
Posts: 0 PhillyFriar
A vote here for Bastardo as the second lefty.
Usually I like leaving prospects in the rotation until they prove they can’t hack it there, but given Bastardo’s platoon splits (1.40 WHIP against RHB, 0.80 WHIP against LHB in 2008) and his strong flyball tendencies (53.9% FB), I think he winds up as a LOOGY in the long run anyway. IF he proves he can make it there now, go ahead and give him his shot.
The Phils NEED a second lefty in the pen until Romero returns — Durbin, Condrey and Park are all terrible at retiring LHB.
Posted: 02:52 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 dan
beimel would be nice but these guys can hold it up. jc leaves a bit of a hole, but eyre and durbin will step up. then you have park, most likely, to go when we need one or two innings, and condrey and whoever else to mop up
Posted: 02:52 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 Grrrumpy Miner
When it comes to the game of baseball……you can NEVER have enough pitching.Beimel and Olman are still out there….maybe Omar can go out there and have an easier time getting one out of the two.
Posted: 02:56 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 Justin
There’s always jake woods thats on the non roster invitee list. Plus if he impresses during spring training, sergio escalona, he’s a lefty reliever that may deserve a shot pending how he holds up in camp.
Posted: 02:57 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 Justin
he won’t do it, they’re not dominican
Posted: 02:57 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 Chuck P
In my opinion, Happ will be the second lefty in the pen to start the season and will the be the first man to vie for a spot in the rotation if someone gets hurt. I think that Park/Kendrick will fill out the rotation and Happ spends time in the pen at least until Romero returns. Once Romero returns, the situation becomes very sticky. At that point, I think that either Park or Kendrick will be ready for demotion and we’ll have a better idea of what this team needs. Right now, our pen is fine.
Posted: 03:08 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 No Complaints Here, Just “Concerns” | Heard in the Cheap Seats
[...] am hoping this situation doesn’t come back to bite the Phils down the road. At the moment, the Phils really only have Scott Eyre as a lefty coming out of the pen. Eyre did a pretty good job for the Phillies last year, but with the loss of Romero for the first [...]
Posted: 03:13 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 Evan
Tim, is it necessary to mention Eaton as a possiblity to pitch in the bullpen next season? Its a possibility an asteroid will come and wipe us all out before the season starts too, but you didn’t mention that.
Posted: 03:14 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 Gary B
Evan, you took the words right out of my mouth. I was just about to say…do we even need to mention his name on this blog anymore? I vote for a no E***n policy when discussing future Philly news and moves.
Anyway, I thought he was traded for a bag of baseballs and some bats.
Posted: 03:18 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 Geoff
I dont like Happ out of the bullpen. Aside from his one world series shot i didnt like any of his other bullpen work I saw. Hes a starter. Theyre going to eventually need more pitching, but right now theres no one, either starter or reliever, attainable that Id really be excited about. If they move Coste or Jenkins or Stairs theyll get some kind of pitching for that, probably a B prospect or something. Id let Bastardo try it.
They CANNOT continue to bounce Happ around. Theyve already screwed with him way too much. Using him out of the pen would further delay his development. Durbin and Kendrick cant get left handed hitters out, so they still need someone. Internally, if Bastardo cant do it then you really have to look elsewhere because I cant think of anyone else…
Posted: 03:19 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 Geoff
Someone will take E**** for 1M eventually during spring training. He needs to go somewhere else. He might be able to come otu of the pen – for a bad team like colorado or pittsburgh – if he really focused on it.
Posted: 03:21 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 Geoff
Kendrick has no chance to make this rotation unless hes LEGITIMATLEY turned the corner. Carrasco has a better shot than he does.
Posted: 03:22 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 1650 Tim Malcolm
Bottom line is Amaro recognized Eaton is in the fifth starter battle, though he has little chance. If he’s in that battle, he has to be at least mentioned for the bullpen.
Posted: 03:35 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 Chuck P
Where did you see that E***n (I like the no E***n policy) is in the battle for the 5th starter? There’s no way that he can pitch here ever again. He has about 900 extra pounds on his shoulders here and he won’t prove himself in the minors so he’s going to rot away. He wasn’t invited to the celebration or the parade and was basically shunned by everyone. Can you imagine what would happen if he came out an pitched poorly? Anything less than fantastic would command boos.
Posted: 03:49 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 Tyler
geoff, for some reason i think dubee said the spot was kendrick’s to lose, but i’m not sure… tim, did u hear anything bout it… and i like the new policy… NO MORE E***N!!!!
Posted: 04:09 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 Kev
Tyler, your right, Dubee said in the Daily News Monday that it is indeed Kendricks job to lose, but he also said that he has his eyes open to all of the players competeing for the 5th starter spot
Posted: 04:19 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 Geoff
I cant believe theyd throw Kendrick out there again…do we know that he has improved speed and command of his slider? do we know hes improved his sinkers speed and movement arc? has he developed a changeup that batters will swing AND miss at?
Posted: 04:25 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 NJ
Maybe the coaches are confident Zagurski will be healthy enough to be servicable through Romero’s suspension.
Posted: 04:25 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 PhillyGirlinMichigan
I’m hoping Bazardo gets a shot (at least at some point during the season). I didn’t look at his splits, but he was pretty good in 2007 overall for the Tigs and may do well in middle/long relief. Hopefully all the outside factors that held him back in 2008 have passed.
Posted: 04:53 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 Links of the Day 2.17.09 « We’re the Team to Beat
[...] to Phillies Nation, the Phillies are not interested in adding another reliever. The Phillies had been previously linked to Will Ohman and Joe Beimel. You have to wonder if [...]
Posted: 06:42 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 J cole
I think Zagurski is out at least the beginning of the season still. I could be completely wrong, but I thought I read that a while back. And I think a Kendrick / Coste package trade would be fine. Sure Kendrick can rebound, but I’d take my chances with Happ over Kendrick. And Coste, well, his story is finished. The 33 year old rookie has his ring, now can we send him back to the minors?
Posted: 07:27 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 Joel
I’m fine with the pitching staff as it is currently. We can win with it and that is fine with me!
Posted: 07:30 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 Doug D
I think Dubee’s vote of confidence for Kendrick is big! The pitching coach knows the staff better than anybody else. It safe to say that he has seen Kendrick’s progression with his change-up. Everyone seems to forget that Kendrick did pretty well for a long stretch over two seasons with basically one pitch. He knows how to work out of trouble. Granted he has gotten himself into enough of it, so it’s become a survival skill. He’s shown the ability to pitch to contact…once again, with basically one pitch. If he has developed an effective change-up that he is not afraid to throw for strikes, Kendrick will emrge as the #5 starter. If this happens, Happ will end up starting (and staying sharp) down on the farm, because the Phils have options on him, and they view him as a starter, which Happ’s performance has bared out. Park may of had a shot at the #5 spot when he signed, but that was before JC’s suspension. Chan Ho will start the season in the pen…As far as the other lefty out there, remember that Charlie only had JC last year until late in the season…If you look at the scouting reports in the Phillies Insider, the Phils view Bastardo as a potential situational reliever. Of course, he’s left-handed and that’s ALWAYS a possibility for a southpaw. From the same scouting reports, it doesn’t seem that Escalona is ready to make the jump to the big club.
Posted: 09:30 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 some mets fan (why is he even on here...??)
wow, omar would never say that hes done looking for pitching. anytime he is asked about a possible transaction he always answers: “well, pitching is our first priority” or “well, you can never have enough pitching and there is always room for a little more depth”. its pretty annoying. just throwin that out there in case someone was wondering…
Posted: 10:05 PM on February 17, 2009
Posts: 0 Brooks
I think Eyre certainly does not need to be overused, looking for trouble there. I bet Park would make an excellent right handed addition to the bull pen, if he could handle it.
Tim, we are very anxious to hear your pitching lineup for the defending champs this year.
Posted: 09:53 AM on February 18, 2009
Posts: 0 From Section 113
E***n won’t be on the 25 man roster and won’t be traded. He’s goning to be released and the Phills will pray someone will pick him up and save them $400K. That’s all that will happen.
Happ deserves the rotation spot and will win it. I don’t understand why we cannot get Ohman, especially if Nomar is not an option. We need to shed Stairs’ salary and nab Ohman. pitchin gis what led us through the playoffs, and it’s the key to repeating. I have said it before and I will continue to be skeptical of Durbon. He’s never performed that well and never gave anyone any indication he could do it once let alone twice.
While Lidge/Madson/Eyre have all had their success, Durbin has done nothing to show me he can pitch like that again. I think Ohman would not take Romero’s spot at all. I think he’d eventually take over for Durbin.
Posted: 10:02 AM on February 18, 2009
Posts: 0 Chuck P
Right on, Doug D… that is probably the best situation that we could hope for. If Kendrick pitches well, everything sets up nicely.
Posted: 10:04 AM on February 18, 2009
Posts: 0 NJ
I agree the vote of confidence for Kendrick is big and there’s no reason to think he won’t be on the opening day roster but especially with the reliever situation I doubt we see Happ much in AAA. He’s gone as far as he can there and there’s nothing for the team to gain with him in AAA so I have a feeling we’ll see some kind of moderate shake-up IF Kendrick wins out in the rotation.
As for being done adding pitching that’s just posturing, if the price drops on Ohman or Beimel of course the Phils will jump in but for now we have to be content to see them sign elsewhere for a higher figure than Amaro’s happy going to. As demostrated by the Dunn deal, some guys can and will still get pretty decent deals and expect more minor league deals because not all of these guys have the luxury of sitting out until the draft.
Bottom line is getting excited, so much is being made about the Phils being lesser than the championship winning team like it’s black and white with addition vs subtraction on the free agent market.
Posted: 11:06 AM on February 18, 2009
Posts: 0 JC
“at some point you have to call off the jam and go with the people that you have.”
+1 for the roller derby reference
Posted: 12:45 PM on February 18, 2009