Wasn’t the starting pitching finally supposed to be strength for the Phillies in 2007? Well the past two days have seen a few events that could make people think otherwise. Yesterday Cole Hamels had a bad game against a minor league team giving up yet another HR while trying to "work on his mechanics" (read boost his ego) and massage his ERA of over 7.
He is on schedule to be the #2 pitcher right now as Charlie Manuel wants to break up the Phillies righties and lefties.
Hamels himself said he has NEVER had to pitch in a cold environment before; well it can be cold in Philly in early April…
Are we sure we can pencil him in as a 13-15 win pitcher?
And then the sunset and a new day of drama began. Today was the day that Charlie officially announced that Jon Lieber was going to be the starter sent to the bullpen. Needless to say Jon was not pleased with this decision and was headed to the buffet to feed his sorrows.
But wait a second, not so fast Jon. In tonight’s game prized off-season pick up Freddy Garcia gave up 5 hits and 3 earned runs (including a mammoth HR to Troy Glaus) in an inning. He was pulled after 1, not because of his poor outing, but instead because he had soreness in his right bicep. He will be examined tomorrow in Clearwater to determine the damage, if any, but there are talks of possibly starting the season with Freddy on the DL. The bicep was not the first thing Freddy was fretting about this Spring either. He had noticed a decrease in his velocity.
Well at least there is still Jamie and Brett…
