Comments on: Removing Lidge Would Cause Great Concern

By: mikemike

mikemike — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:47:48 +0000

One thing about pitchers they scare me. Coming out of college Prior was just unhittable. I think he had a record for wins, look at his career, same thing with Wood his stuff was electric. never could stay healthy.

By: Griffin

Griffin — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:01:36 +0000

yeah, Strasburg is the real deal. He will be a superstar. The Nationals have the first overall pick thanks to having the worst record in baseball last year. They can thank the Phillies for sweeping them and the Mariners for sweeping a meaningless series against the A’s at the end of the season, thus giving the Mariners one extra win than the Nats.

By: mikemike

mikemike — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:54:56 +0000

you might see it after this upcoming draft, what I mean is a pitcher going to the majors with little minor league time. This kid Strasberg is considerd the best draft prospect ever, I never saw him but they say he is far and away the best pitching prospect they ever saw.

By: lm

lm — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:48:14 +0000

lets just get this out there – Madson is greatness!!

By: Woodman

Woodman — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:41:54 +0000

Putz (isn’t that a great name for a MUTS reliver?) just coughed the lead in the eight inning…… seems like old times!

By: Griffin

Griffin — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:49:34 +0000

The “speedsters” Fernando Tatis and Daniel Murphy have stolen bases off of Paulino so far today. Paulino is hitting well, but it’s a small sample size.

By: christopher

christopher — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:43:27 +0000

nah i still don’t want paulino, coste isn’t off to a good start but i’m glad he’s there to work with marson in this situation. marson has said in the past that he looks up to coste and tries to learn as much as possible from him when he gets the chance to be around him.

By: Don M

Don M — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:38:14 +0000

Jason Knapp??… he’d probably have the same success against Major League hitters as he does against the guys that Lakewood plays…

People are nuts

By: Manny

Manny — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:18:02 +0000

I’d rather have Koplove or Majewski, as well. No need to call the younger guys yet.

By: Justin

Justin — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:13:56 +0000

off topic but does anyone else wish we kept paulino and traded coste? paulino’s battin .333 with a homer and 5 rbis, coste is hitting .189 with zero hrs and 5 rbis.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:12:32 +0000

The slower you throw, the more you have to know how to “pitch” and locate your spots and setup hitters. Thats where Moyer is proficient despite all the things I dislike about him.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:10:31 +0000

Obviously not…location is key. But If merely doing one or the other was acceptable anyone could be a pitcher in professional baseball. Moyer is a soft tosser for sure, but he can still throw 82mph and change speeds. You HAVE to be able to change speeds. Still, he throws all garbage with ONE really good pitch (changeup).

But If there are guys in the majors that throw 72 mph fastballs and 52 mph breaking stuff (RJ Swindle) then I should just go and head and try out for the Riversharks or the Trenton Thunder next week!

By: Doug D.

Doug D. — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:59:27 +0000

If Lidge goes on the DL, there’s no reason to bring up Jason Knapp at all. Why would the Phils want to start his “service time” clock? Bring Majewski and Koplove (if Hamels has to go n the DL, too.) That’s why the Phils acquired these two relievers and signed them to Minor League contracts — as insurance policies for injuries, overuse, and/or ineffectiveness…As far as Madson closing, I think he will be just fine. Sure the Mets have seen him, but he didn’t start throwing 96-97 mph until late last year. Mad Dog didn’t throw that much against the Mets late last year. Also, he knows how to pitch up in the zone (and of course, a little above the zone) with heat. The Mets don’t have anyone who can handle high cheese like his. In fact, there are only a handful of hitters in all of baseball that can.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:35:46 +0000

With Geoff, anything below 90 mph is considered “junk” for a pitcher. Velocity matters more than location it seems. (chuckles)

I’m more concern about Hamels’ situation. The rotation is already out of order and as one poster here stated, the early struggles of the starters is “taxing” the bullpen. The team have an N.L.-high 5.72 ERA and have allowed a homer in all but one of their 19 games (the one that Moyer was outstanding). I read that at their current rate, the Phillies would allow 341 homers this season. The major league record for homers allowed in a season is 241, by the 1996 Detroit Tigers. The Phillies are fortunate they have a winning record thanks to NINE “comeback” wins of the eleven they have. Needless to say that is not the usual way of winning. During the course of the season, the offense is not always going to be there. The peaks and valleys with inevitable offensive slumps will require solid pitching of both starters and bullpen. That’s why I am concern that Hamels and Lidge get healthy as soon as possible and minimize potential problems with other pitchers.

By: Griffin

Griffin — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:31:25 +0000

mikemike, if you’re talking about Drabek, I’m with you. He is tearing up A ball and the Phils are just waiting until the weather gets better to bring him to Reading. Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus said that if he had a re-do of his preseason prospect rankings, Drabek would definitely be in the top 100, maybe even top 50. That is high praise.

By: mikemike

mikemike — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:26:30 +0000

The one thing I can tell you is he is heading to reading as soon as the weather changes, barring injuries or some other pitching setback. They want him in warmer weather. And I may be way off base on him being here in september, but he has all the tools to be something special and they will challenge him. Where as with other prospect Knapp it going to be slow. Knapp has a delievery they are trying to change for fear of injury a lot of people think because of his delivery his future is as a reliver, This year they did something they don’t normal do and that was fast track, Stutes and Worley and Worley I believe is twenty,I think they have change the way there farm system runs, a lot of the coaches in double aa and triple aa were changed.

By: Sam D.

Sam D. — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:22:04 +0000

We have quite a few options down in the minors because all of the minor league free agents that the phillies signed in the offseason

By: Griffin

Griffin — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:19:50 +0000

Marlins score 2 off of Johan in the first.

By: Brooks

Brooks — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:10:02 +0000

This could be this years story line – pitcher pulled in to fill key starting role on Phils squad – I say it wont be too long before we see a visit from Carrasco and more innings from Happ.
Joe B, Scott Eyre and Myers have to figure out why the ball is jumping out on them.
Is Cole upset because he should have been able to sustain a pic on his ankle? Is that something we see Chase Utley do on a very frequent basis. No doubt, he is quite upset at himself.
So much power this year, so refreshing to see the Phils own another winning percentage in the month of April – the last time they came out and had a winning April? Last year. The WS champions are looking good. And this is pretty much all offense so far

By: Don M

Don M — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:05:52 +0000

They both did well.. and they are both continuing to pitch well in AAA

Either would be a nice addition if somebody had to spend some time on the DL

Neither will win the Cy Young this year, but as fill-in relievers, they look like they would be pretty good.

You don’t want to bring up “young relievers” because most times, they are overwhelmed by tough competition.. which is why so many relievers stay in the game for a long time.. guys that might pitch awesome with 3,000 fans watching them in a Double-A stadium, all of a sudden can’t find the strikezone with 43,000 people watching..