Phillies Nation

Washington Nationals (13-33) at Philadelphia Phillies (25-20)
Ross Detwiler (0-0, 2.45 ERA) vs. JA Happ (2-0, 2.60 ERA)
Time: 7:05 p.m. at Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
Weather: Possible thunderstorms, 77
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Twitter: Phillies Nation

So the last one didn’t end well, did it?

Brett Myers might be lost for the season after a bad start against the Marlins and another series loss at home for the Phillies. Now good friends the Nationals come in for a weekend set. JA Happ will try and continue his strong pitching tonight against fellow youngster Ross Detwiler.

Your gamenight beer: Pete’s Brown Ale is a beer from the Bear Republic Beer Co. in California. It’s made with molasses and brown sugar, so it’s bitter, slow and thick. Eat a steak with a sweet potato with this one.

Go Phillies!

I stepped away from the Phillies for a while today, since there wasn’t anything really new to write about. Yes, the offense has some bad games, especially against sinkerball pitchers and guys who … well … can actually pitch. And yes, the pitching wasn’t good last night – Brett Myers was probably hurt; Jack Taschner probably isn’t long for the 25-man roster. We know all these things.

Then the news about Myers grew worse, and now it looks as if the longtime Phillie won’t finish 2009; moreover, he might not even don a pair of red pinstripes again.

So now the question becomes: What now? Suddenly the Phillies have lost their best pitcher (statistically), leaving one bonafide ace (Cole Hamels), a probable mid-rotation seesaw (Joe Blanton), a still-unproven mid-rotation lowballer (JA Happ) and an aged veteran who hasn’t shown to be worth his weight (Jamie Moyer). Suddenly they’re – at best – a three-man staff.

It’s no secret the Phillies have been the most ambitious of gentleman callers this season. They’ve inquired about the following pitchers: Jake Peavy, Brandon Webb, Roy Halladay, Doug Davis, Erik Bedard, Cliff Lee, Aaron Harang, Brad Penny, Chris Young and Jason Marquis. The names range from the elite to the broken, and everything in between. For once, though, the Phillies have the talent leverage to pull a deal. Names teams are salivating over include Lou Marson, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, Travis d’Arnaud, Michael Taylor, Dominic Brown, Freddy Galvis, Vance Worley, Kyle Drabek and Antonio Bastardo. Ah, the benefits of finally having a top-shelf farm system.

But considering the circumstances of both the major league rotation and the potential dearth of pitching prospects, the Phils might need two starters via a trade. It might mean Jason Marquis now, Jake Peavy later. Or the Phillies could call up Carlos Carrasco or Vance Worley. Or they could play it safe with Kyle Kendrick or Andrew Carpenter (safe, meaning, they don’t mind making the offense score seven runs per game).

Of course, one problem the Phillies now face is every team in baseball knows the Phils need an arm, so the Phils carry no value leverage. A multiple prospect deal (say Marson, Worley and Bastardo) for a Young is very possible.

So should the Phils point their guns at a big-time pitcher right away?

I think it’s best the Phillies work with what they currently have, at least for a little while. Yes, there is only one goal: Win a world championship. There is no selling to be done. There is no resting on their hands. They must show a commitment to winning. But jumping that gun and trading for a mid- or top-line starter right away wouldn’t be wise. Instead, give Kendrick and Carrasco their chances. Yes, Kendrick has struggled, but his average against with runners in scoring position remains strong (.170, almost 100 points less than his standard average against). That seems like the old Kendrick.

Meanwhile, despite Carrsaco’s faults he remains a high-strikeout pitcher capable of going undamaged in five-to-six inning starts. Start him on a major league track now – force him to make adjustments and see if you can ride him for a few starts. If so, you’ve saved some money and gained some leverage.

Of course, it’s still possible Myers might eschew surgery and risk his hip, pitching the remainder of 2009 without surgery. That’s not wise, but if he feels okay about it, it’s his call. That said, the Phillies can’t be reactionary. They’re already naked to the rest of the league; if they can prove they have more clothes than others think, they can gain some leverage and, ultimately, help themselves out in the long run. Not just in the short term.

UPDATE (5:50 p.m.): Jim Salisbury of the Inquirer says it’s a fraying of the labrum of the hip. His surgery (which he has to agree upon) is like those of Alex Rodriguez and Chase Utley. They needed about four-to-five months for recovery; that alone would end Myers’ season.

***

Todd Zolecki is reporting Brett Myers will likely have hip surgery and be out for the remainder of the 2009 season. As Myers is a free agent at the end of the season, he may have thrown his final pitch as a Phillie.

More when it comes.

On August 7, Harry Kalas will be inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame.

“When we started the Wall of Fame in 1978, the intent was to honor the great players in our history,” team president David Montgomery said. “We believe it is fitting to make an exception because Harry deserves to be remembered along with some of the greatest names in our history. He is indeed a Phillies icon.”

The Wall of Fame is located in Ashburn Alley at Citizens Bank Park.

The Philadelphia fans have acted as a tenth player throughout the years. With a record under .500 at home, Charlie Manuel says the Phillies may be trying to do too much, but also has a message for the passionate Phillies fans.

“I notice sometimes when they’re talking to us around the dugout, they’re always talking about last year and thanking us for winning and all that,” Charlie Manuel said. “Of course, they’re enjoying the game and they love us, but… well, maybe they should get on us a little bit.”

The offense: Bad. The pitching: Worse. The result: Ugh. The Phillies barely showed up against the Marlins, losing 6-2 and yet another home series.

Burke Badenhop, making his first start of the season, threw a solid five innings — yet another sinkerball pitcher who looked like Cy Young against the flailing Phillies. The bad numbers: Jimmy Rollins went 0-for-4, Shane Victorino went 0-for-3, Raul Ibanez went 0-for-4. The Phillies failed to bring Ryan Howard home after a double in the fourth inning. Then they failed to score a run with two late-game rallies. Horrendous.

Meanwhile, Brett Myers injured his hip after 5.2 poor innings. He allowed two home runs among seven hits. Clay Condrey pitched a strong 2.1 innings, but Jack Taschner couldn’t keep scoreless in one.

Mostly everything that usually does fail for the Phillies did so against the Marlins, and now the Phils find themselves again in second place, with the Mets making another of their patented runs.

Multiple reports say Brett Myers has left tonight’s game against the Marlins with right hip inflammation. He had given up five earned runs in the 5.2-inning outing.

Florida Marlins (21-26) at Philadelphia Phillies (25-19)
Burke Badenhop (2-2, 5.75 ERA) vs. Brett Myers (4-2, 4.34 ERA)
Time: 7:05 p.m. at Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
Weather: Partly cloudy, 73
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Twitter: Phillies Nation

Brett Myers can deliver a series win against the Marlins, as the Phils and Fish tangle for the sixth time in 2009. Florida will counter with Burke Badenhop, making his first start of 2009.The sinkerballer pitched 2.1 scoreless innings against the Phillies earlier in the season, but for his career has given up a Ryan Howard home run. Because Badenhop isn’t ready to make a full start, Hayden Penn will be ready for long relief. It’s the kind of night when the Phils should be wise to take some pitches.

Myers allowed three runs in six innings against the Marlins earlier in the season. He walked six in that game; since, Myers has been much more effective, capping with a strong start Friday night against the Yankees.

In the last rotation turn, the Phils’ rotation ERA dropped from 6.31 to 5.86. Myers is 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA in his last three starts.

Your gamenight beer: Creemore Springs Premium Lager is one of the better lagers you’ll ever taste. Loaded with malt flavor, it’s crisp and golden, easy to drink and intelligently refreshing. This American-style lager is, in fact, Canadian: further proof those up north make some damn good beer. Pair this lager with some honey-glazed chicken, rice and broccoli.

Go Phillies!

Last night, Joe Blanton turned in his most impressive start in a Phillie uniform. For seven innings he worked the plate like a madman, baffling the Marlins into 11 strikeouts, a career high. He walked into a small bit of trouble, but each time he worked out of it impressively.

Seventy-two of Blanton’s 114 pitches were strikes. That’s a good ratio, especially for a pitcher who tries to use all corners and sides to work hitters into bad outs. Sifting through pitch data, you could see why hitters were having so much trouble:

More late sliders and sinkers. Normally Blanton throws 25 percent or fewer sliders in his starts, and almost never throws the sinker. But last night he ramped up the sliders late in the game, adding many more sinkers than usual. Conversely, he threw fewer changeups (about 5 percent).

The vertical and horizontal movements of his pitches all increased. On July 3, 2007, Blanton had maybe the best outing of his career, a complete game against Toronto. In that game, all of Blanton’s pitches moved astoundingly about the zone. While his vertical movement was strong, his slider broke far off the plate throughout the game. His curveball even had radical horizontal movement. Last night, all of his pitches moved across the zone in the same pattern.

Low pitches. Blanton stayed on the lower half of the zone all night. His fastball, as predicted, was on point thanks to follow-through. That makes the sinker better, and by throwing it more often, it resulted in more confusion-inducing swings low in the zone. In short, Blanton’s gameplan was down, down, down, and he was good, good, good.

If Blanton can continue working the zone this way, it’s absolutely possible he turns into the solid ground-ball pitcher we hoped he could become. An ERA close to 3.50 isn’t out of the question, either.

Your first plea:

VOTE RAUL.

And while you’re at it, VOTE Chase and VOTE Pedro. I won’t blame you if you VOTE Howard or VOTE Victorino, too.

But for the love of Raul, VOTE RAUL.