Phillies Nation

Amen….. get Happ in there NOW!

the question is who do you drop?

i think moyer and myers are safe just because they have shown bright spots and solid outings (save a few terrible ones).

park i would have said for sure, but he was next to perfect the other night. and then blanton is hit or miss.

i 100% agree he should be in there, but who do you drop?

I don’t think you need to worry about Happ being worked into the rotation- with four problematic rotation spots, a glaring opportunity is going to present itself quite shortly if Happ continues to pitch well. Surplus starting pitching NEVER lasts. It always works itself out.

Here’s an outside the box solution for now, how about a 6 man rotation for the next run through the staff? It gives the other 5 an extra day of preparation/rest and we get Happ the start the he truly deserves. After you evaluate who goes to the pen in long relief.

Yeah its Happs time to get a chance. Myers hasnt bottomed out so they wont pull him. Park and Blanton just came off good outings so they wont be pulled…everyones looking at Moyer here I think.

Id like to see the old guy get win 250 at least before he retires…

The solution is simple: once Park gets blown up by his former team on Tuesday, demote him and put Happ in the rotation.

The question is will Carrasco be ready to contribute to the rotation in the 2nd half of the season?

is Anyone able to get video of Moyer’s 1st inning yesterday?

I agree that someone is getting dropped here soon, but that someone will NOT be Jamie Moyer.

My money is on Park unless he is close to lights out for a while.

you have a LHP pitching to a lineup STACKED with RH bats last night.. and he’s not getting the calls.. even on pitches that are actually strikes.. if ANY part of the baseball crosses the plate, it is a strike..

Last night it seemed like if the ENTIRE baseball wasn’t over the plate, it wasn’t going to happen.. so you have an 80mph fastball that all of a sudden needs to be belt-high in the middle of the plate to be a “strike” .. of course they are going to get hammered..

And the calls weren’t the same as Pelfrey is a RHP, and the angle is completely different for the umpire.. I umpire baseball.. and the “imaginary” strike zone can never be a definite thing.. it changes hitter to hitter, it should be called the same for both pitchers however..

Moyer needed to be more effective last night.. but not “getting the calls” on pitches that are USUALLY called Strikes, that’s a bad situation for ANY pitcher to be in, especially one that throws to spots, not for speed.

I agree that Happ has been pitching great out of the pen, but has anyone considered that part of the reason is because there’s no real pressure on him when he comes into these games? Last night the phils were down 7-1 when Happ came in. If Happ gives up a run the phils still need a sizeable comeback to win the game. I want to see Happ start too, I’m just wondering if he will have more problems mentally once the pressure IS on him to be the starter, not mop up after the starter blew the game.

Hamels pitches, then Happ, no more waitnig to see who goes belly-up next. worry about who to drop after the next f-up.

If you would have told me that Blanton and Park would combine for 12 Innings Pitched, 5 Hits, 1 Earned Run, 4 Walks, 8 Strikeouts going against the Cardinals and Mets

…..
And that Myers and Moyer would combine for 7.2 Innings Pitched, 16 Hits, 12 Earned Runs, 2 Walks, 5 Strikeouts, 5 Home Runs against the Cardinals and Mets..

I would have told you that you were the craziest person of all time.

The Good:
Blanton (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 Ks)
Park (6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 Ks)

The Bad & The Ugly:
Myers (5.1 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 2 Ks, 2 HR)
Moyer (2.1 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 3 HR)

If you really think about it. Its totally insane that JA Happ isnt already in teh rotation. This guy is tearing it up!

Moyer’s outing yesterday was horrible. Couldn’t get the outs! Happ needs to start games asap… We could give him a spot start early next week (Mon or Tues) since there’ll be a double-header on Saturday…

My only comment on the umpires strike zone issue is this…yes you have to worry about umpires strike zones and adjust. Thats a given with any pitcher….if you get a wide zone its better for the pitcher..BUT we need pitchers that can adjust and have the STUFF to adjust to a tight strike zone. You can’t expect every umpire to give a Greg Maddux zone…

Time and Time again we see it with Moyer and sometimes with Park…your not getting the close calls they dont’ have the stuff to bring it in a bit.

Happ did just fine with the same strike zone as Moyer…

Don hit it right on the nail in regards to Moyer not “getting the calls on pitches that are USUALLY called strikes.” Sure, every umpire will have their version of a strike zone but to make blatantly bad judgment on calls that are so obvious for all to see does have a hugh effect on a pitcher that lives or die on the corners of the plate (Glavine, Maddux, etc). Moyer also had command issues that compound his problems last night. It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last time in his long and productive career. The crafty veteran knows his mistakes and as he done so many, many times he readily adjust and bounce back with another quality start.

When I read an earlier blog by Tim and his criticism on Moyer and followed that with heaping praise for Happ, I knew what was coming in his next blog. ;-) Allow me to repeat a comment I made in another thread…

“With nearly five months of basball to be played (136 games left), Charlie Manual with Rich Dubee are not going to make rash decisions regarding the rotation. I’m sure they will give every opportunity to their troubled starters in making the necessary adjustments. Their patience were rewarded with Park by his outstanding effort against the Mets. Blanton had a quality start his last time out. Myers is a veteran whose experience suggests that he can find a necessary solution for himself. Needless to say, the crafty Moyer has bounced back a zillion times in his long and productive career.”

I also mentioned that the most important key for any success with the rotation is for Hamels to be fully healthy and regain his form and rhythm. With Hamels back in rotation it would stabilize it and give a hugh lift to rest of the starters.

Finally, Happ is doing just fine as long relief and gaining confidence and experience. He may one day be needed in the rotation (due to injury or ineffectiveness of a starter) but for now he is needed in the bullpen.

Myers is owe nothing, he is around 88 miles a hour with bad location. His best fit now is bullpen where he can get away with breaking balls and occasional fastballs and changeup for one inning. Happ must get a chance to show if he belongs. How many years in a row do you think the mets will collapse, right now they are not playing great but there closers have more saves than last year at this time. I believe as the season goes on and we see more of Rodiquez we will hit him. so will other teams.

OK I have a suggestion that could be looked at as completely idiotic. I have no idea why I think this but here goes.
With all of the somewhat injuries we seem to be having, why not throw Happ in as a 6th man in a 6-man rotation until we see who is completely screwing the pooch.
That is it! My rediculous comment of the month.
But Happ needs at least a shot more than long relief.
Long relief is a tough spot, because you just might not be ready because you have not thrown in a while.

Here is my problem; and my ONLY problem, with putting him in the rotation. Who is n the bullpen to stop the bleeding IF the starters give up a huge lead? Perhaps Durbin, I know, but I am not against it, I just have questions…

A Championship Caliber performance on most nights..

we were 14-10 going against one of, if not THE best pitcher in baseball in Santana.. we had our 5th starter (who most people wanted deported) give us a solid outing, and we lost 1-0..

Last night was bad.. so we’re 14-12 with the worst ERA in Baseball..

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly who the problem is.. I’d say its every single one of the starters.. None of them have been good this year.. but its too early to pull the plug on them because we’re still winning games somehow..

Moyer has the longest proven track record.. so are we going to dump him over two bad starts vs the Mets?

Park and Blanton both looked awesome in their last two starts.. against dangerous lineups. ..

I think a 6-man rotation is the way to go.. at least to get us a good chance at an extra win when Happ goes more than to banish one of the others..

It’s a tough call, but I have confidence Amaro, Charlie, and Dubee know what they’re doing.. lets wait and see

I say “most nights” because it is impossible to be at that level every night. Our starters haven’t given us many semblances of even of a good start. Just makes me more optismtic to be where we are right now.

But I agree with everything you just said, Don

It’s no longer a question of if Happ will be one of our starters this year, but when and for who…

Hamels looked like his old self (barring injuries) in his last two starts. The rest of the rotation has been really shaky. It hurts but I think you have to say that whoever has the next bad outing between Moyer, Blanton & Park is going to find themselves replaced.

Park & Blanton are the easiest to replace since they would both fit in well I think as long men out of the bullpen. Moyer is the problem, I think we’ve found ourselves in a similar situation to what the Mets have going on with Oliver Perez, (granted ours is a hell of a lot cheaper).

The one thing that really worries me on this team is not that Happ will be replacing someone, it’s that Happ can’t replace 4 someones… Kendrick’s numbers have looked solid in AAA, but I don’t know whether he’s fixed the issues that cost him the job in the first place. From what I hear Carrassco’s numbers haven’t been great so far…

We might be able to win the NL East with our bats alone… assuming we’re all fine with another dog fight right down to the last day of the season. If we want the team to perform in the playoffs though 3 out of 4 of these starters are gonna have to get it together, or we might have to consider a trade or two.

The Mets rotation has been under performing this year. Keep that in mind. Once Perez finds his way, he will be undefeatable. Maine has been rehabbing from a shoulder injury and is getting better with every start. Pelfrey is a slow starter and already he is 4-0. Then they hav either Llivan or Redding for the number 5. We all know about the best pitcher in the game.

Then look at the Marlins. great young arms. Nolasco has been underperforming. and the rest of the rotation, Johnson, Volstad and Sanchez are proving they will be the best rotation in the league.

Now compare them to us. A #1 in Hamel who never pitches and when he does he has been horrendous. Chan Ho PARK is garbage. Moyer’s fastball is embarasasing and my daughter can throw harder. He is a dinosaur. Blanton is the definition in medicore.

We are not built to win anymore. I enjoyed 2008. Have you?

We need to trade to get some decent pitching

Just read Baltimore is trying to unload freel. He is a hard working, get down dirty player always like him. I feel he would be a upgrade for us. look up his and brunlett stats. he is a 279 lifetime hitter, who plays all the position with a 980 fielding percentage, where brunlett is a 236 lifetime hitter, with a 964 fielding percentage. freel has a little more power steals more and is a really good outfielder and decent infield. had one bad year fielding which hurt him made 12 one year other than that is really good.Don’t know contract situation.

Covert I think you might be giving the N.L. East too much credit. While the Marlins have a better starting rotation their offense and fielding have glaring holes, and their bullpen is very weak. The Braves rotation is alright but that isn’t enough to compensate for their all around average team. The Mets excluding Santana have the same problem we do. Except they don’t have suitable replacements for any of their starters. I think your making quite the leap of faith that first off Perez will find his way and that second he’s going to be unbeatable. The back end of their bullpen is much improved but the middle relief isn’t. Their starting rotation so far has been better than ours but I wouldn’t call it good. The only weakness the Phils have right now is starting pitching.

The bullpen has stabalized lately and will soon be bolstered by the return of J.C.

Defense has been solid and improved on last year as Ibanez has been better than Burrel in the field.

There is no lineup in the NL East with the 1-7 threat that the Phillies have. If Rollings continues to improve the Phils could end up with the best offense in all of Baseball. I’m not saying that it would be east to win the NL East as we are now. Like I said it would be a down to the wire thing and since the Mets have a good lineup themselves they’d be with us the whole way. However, it’s not impossible. The real problem is I don’t JUST want to win the NL East.