Myers Ready To Return, But Should He?

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Reports say that Brett Myers has declared himself ready to return to big league action, and further reports suggest he will start Wednesday against the Mets.  Here we ask the question, "Why?"  Let's start with the fact that Myers career ERA against the Mets is 5.18.  He says he's pumped to face the Mets since they are division rivals, but can we afford to have him blowing important games?  He hasn't done much this season that can be considered good, and in fact lost what was probably the best game he pitched all season against the Reds.  The career numbers against the Mets suggest that, if you are going to give Myers another shot, this would not be the team to do it against.  Club officials have said that the objective of Myers' trip to the minors was to regain his confidence, but how will he feel after being pummeled by a team that has owned him in a very important series?  Also important to consider is that there is another option here in J.A. Happ.  It doesn't seem to me that Myers has earned another shot at the big leagues yet, but we should compare the two a bit.

In the minor leagues this season (from AAA to A) Myers has put together the following numbers:

1-3, 3.00 ERA, 27 IP, 24 H, 9.3 K/9IP, .235 Opp. BA

Also worth noting is that most of those numbers were improved dramatically by his one start at the A level.  Now look at what Happ has done in AAA:

6-6, 3.31 ERA, 108.92 IP, 9.6 K/9IP, .230 Opp. BA

So, at worst Happ's numbers are comparable to Myers', especially when you consider that Myers' ERA at AAA alone was 3.65.  But then again, we should consider what each has done at the major league level this year as well.  For Myers it goes something like this:

3-9, 5.84 ERA, .284 Opp. BA

While for Happ we have:

0-0, 3.27 ERA, .200 Opp. BA

Certainly Happ's statistics come from a more limited sampling, but who can argue that at this point he hasn't earned another chance.  Myers has pitched at a mediocore level in the minor leagues, and at this point it appears the Phillies should cut their losses with him and try to get whatever they can in return.  Happ on the other hand, is a budding young talent, who pitched 7 no hit innings with 12Ks in his last appearance for Lehigh Valley to earn a win.

My suggestion would be to release or designate Adam Eaton.  You might as well designate him to the minors, as the club has shown willingness to do so with Myers, and Eaton would have no choice to accept as no other club could possibly want him at this point.  After that, you could bring Myers back up into the bullpen in the spot Eaton is now occupying.  Sure, it seems as if thats caving into Myers a bit, but it's the best option for him to possibly contribute to the team at this point, and if he does well could at least raise his trading value.  Finally, allow Happ to take the final starting spot.

Feel free to debate it in the comments, but that's the most logical course of action in my mind.

Phillies Regain Lead and Look To Maintain Road Success

AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee

The Phillies beat Ricky Nolasco and the Marlins last night 4-2 and currently have the best road record in the NL.  The win, coupled with a loss to snap the Mets 10 game winning streak, put the Phillies back in sole possession of first place, 1 game ahead of New York.  Moyer was successful in winning his 9th of the season and is now 10-0 against the Marlins in his career.  The only two runs he allowed were in a mistake marred 4th inning.  Overall Moyer pitched well as the young Marlins were unable to deal with his off-speed stuff, as he went 6 innings giving up only the 2 runs on 4 hits and striking out 3.  Moyer's ERA is now down to 3.90.  Ryan Howard went deep in the 2nd to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead, and Geoff Jenkins added 2 RBIs including a solo shot in the game.

The Phillies will look to earn their 3rd straight win, and 5th on the road, with Kyle Kendrick on the mound tonight.  Kendrick has been great for the Phillies on the road this season, and has not lost a road start since April 9th in New York.  Since that time he has gone 4-0 with a 4.01 ERA in 8 starts on the road.  He will be opposed by Scott Olsen who is coming off a victory against the San Diego Padres in which he gave up only 1 earned run in 8 innings.  Olsen acheived the rebound win after struggling against the Rockies in Colorado, giving up 9 runs in 5 innings in the now infamous 18-17 loss.  Certainly the Phillies offense is more potent than that of the Padres, and we will look for Ryan Howard to continue his hot hitting tonight.  After going 1 for 3 with a homer last night he is not batting .234 and has gone deep in 5 of the teams last 6 games.  On the other hand, Dan Uggla who was an All Star representative for the fish has been struggling.  Uggla has gone 6 for 35 with 2 RBIs in his last 11 games.  He has also not faired well against the Phils this year batting only .083.

Game time: 3:55pm

Local Media: Fox, WPHT

Pitching Matchup:

Kyle Kendrick, RHP - (8-3, 4.47)

Scott Olsen, LHP - (5-4, 3.77)

Game notes:  The current Phillies are batting .257 against Olsen, with Ryan Howard putting up outrageous numbers....The slugging first baseman is .476 with 2 HR and 9 RBI in 21 at bats against the lefty.

Phillies A-ASG Begin Tonight

The Phillies take on the Marlins tonight in game 1 of a 3 game series in their first action after the all star game.  The Phightins will look to get off to a good start as they are now tied with the Mets for first place, and will play 15 of their next 18 games against NL East opponents.  In total, the Phillies still have 41 games remaining within the division.  Pre-game analysis for tonight follow.

Game time: 7:10pm

Local Media: CSN, WPHT

Pitching Matchup:

Jamie Moyer, LHP - (8-6, 3.95)

Ricky Nolasco, RHP - (10-4, 3.70)

Game notes: The current Marlins roster is collectively batting .192 against Moyer...The current AccuScore Prediction has the Phillies listed as a 44% underdog.

Minor Pitching Update

LHP J.A. Happ dominated in his first start since being sent back to the minors.  Happ through 7 no hit innings against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees while striking out 12 to win the game.  Happ also pitched effectively in two starts for the Phillies this season, filling in for the mystery that is Brett Myers.  It seems evident that Happ should have earned another start in the majors at this point, and the Phillies could potentially go with a rotation like:

Hamels/Blanton/Moyer/Kendrick/Happ

Certainly a marked difference from what we started the year with:

Myers/Hamels/Moyer/Eaton/Kendrick

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Myers is scheduled to start for the class A Clearwater Thrashers tonight and would return to the big team on July 23rd to pitch against the Mets in New York.  Myers hasn't proven much in my opinion by being an "OK" starter at several minor league levels, and at this point I think I'd rather not see him in a Phillies uniform again.  He's a drama queen who needs to have things his way, and it might be worth just shipping him somewhere else to cut your losses at this point.  I don't think you'll ever see him regain the form he showed in the 2005 and 2006 season, and quite frankly he wasn't great then either.  Over those to seasons Myers posted the following numbers which I would call good, maybe very good, but not great, and definitely not ace material:

25-15, 3.81 ERA, 397 K's, 131 BB's, 1.25 WHIP

If you look at his career numbers, Myers best ERA was 3.72 in 2005.  Outside of that two year span he has not had an ERA under 4, so this level of production shouldn't be too surprising.

Phillies Nation has offered speculation of a potential deal to send Myers to the Rockies as part of a package to land All Star OF Matt Holliday.  I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone in Philadelphia not willing to make that deal, as that bat should give our offense the one thing it's been lacking all season - consistency.  Of course, that is only speculation, and there is no reason to believe that there has even been a discussion of the like between the two clubs, but we can still dream.

Phillies Land A Starter

AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

The Phillies have acquired RHP Joe Blanton from the Oakland A's the teams announced earlier today.  Blanton was reffered to as an "above average" starter by Tim Kurkjian if ESPN.  The move makes sense for the Phillies who were in need of help in the starting rotation.  Blanton is 47-46 for his career with a 4.25 ERA.  These are not bad numbers for an AL starter with an offensively lacking team; however, we should take into consideration that the A's McAfee Coliseum is a very pitcher friendly park.  Blanton has a 3.79 ERA in 24 starts in Oakland and a 4.78 ERA in 23 starts elsewhere.  He is only 5-12 with a 4.96 ERA this year, but the team is hopeful that a change of scenery will serve him well as it did for All Star closer Brad Lidge.  Blanton is an innings eater, failing to go over 200 IP only once over the last three seasons (in 2006 when he went for 194.1).  He was 14-10 last year for the A's, and typically does well in the second half with an ERA of 4.05 versus 4.37 in the first half.  Blanton has never pitched at Citizens Bank Park, and is under contract through 2010.

The Phillies gave up minor leaguers in the deal.  The top prospect dealt was 2B Adrian Cardenas, while LHP Josh Outman and OF Matthew Spencer were included in the package.  The Phillies are now tied with the Mets, who defeated the Reds for their 10th straight win tonight, at 52-44 atop the NL East.

Utley All Star Revue

Chase Utley batted 2nd for the NL all star squad one night after hitting only 5 HRs in an early derby exit.  Utley, who admittedly is not a strict power hitter did cause some controversy at the derby.  While speaking into an apparently uncensored microphone, Utley responded to the booing New York crowd with profanity which aired on ESPN.  Certainly there's no excuse for that, although, if it were not for children whom I believe to be the only victims in this, it was nice to see that type of emotion from the normally stoic Utley.

Utley went 1 for 3 in a solid outing in Tuesday's game.  With his one hit, a line drive single, he helped to produce the NL squad's first run of the game.  Utley was eventually spelled by Dan Uggla of the Marlins who nearly cost the NL the game.  Uggla went 0 for 3, with several chances to drive in the game winning run, and committed 3 errors, 2 in one inning.  Fortunately for him, the game was lost on Brad Lidge's watch.  Lidge finally came into the game in the bottom of the 15th as the last option for the NL, managed by Clint Hurdle of the Rockies.  Lidge made good pitches, but after getting up 5 times in the bullpen this was simply not his night.  The AL hit off of the normally "Lights Out" closer and finally ended the game after 4+ hours of play.

This 79th midsummer classic was the longest of all time both in terms of time played, and innings.  JD Drew of the Boston Red Sox was named the game MVP, while Scott Kazmir picked up the win for the AL.

Phuture Stars Shine Bright

Four players in the Phillies farm system appeared in the All Star futures game this past weekend.  Pitcher Carlos Carrasco, who is projected as a top of the rotation starter, picked up the win pitching one scoreless inning with 2 K's for the World team.  His pitches all have great movement on them, though at the moment control could be an issue.  Carrasco did walk one batter, but when his pitches were in the zone he was unhittable.  Given till the end of this season, he could potentially be a number two starter behind Cole Hamels next year.

Lou Marson and Jason Donald were starters for the US team, with Marson going 0 for 1 in a tough at bat in which he really worked the opposing pitcher, and Donald went 1 for 2 with a single.  Marson's plate discipline was apparent, and I believe he could potentially help the Phillies this year with their hole at catcher.  Donald is a solid prospect and played good defense up the middle despite a throwing error in the first inning.  His progress will be blocked by having Rollins and Utley locked up long term; however, he should either make a good bench player in another couple seasons, or could prove valuable as a trading piece.

Greg Golson was also in the game as part of the US team and went 0 for 2 with 2 K's.  The Phillies project him as a potential 5 tool starter, but clearly his swing was lacking.  This may be due in part to just coming off an injury.  Golson won't be ready to help the Phils anytime soon, but again is the target of trade speculation.

Following the game, both Marson and Donald were named to the USA olympic squad.

Phillies Win Tough One To Maintain Division Lead

The Phillies were able to grind out a win against Diamonbacks ace Brandon Webb to maintain their lead on the eastern division going into the All Star break.  Hamels allowed a season high 11 hits pitching for the Phils, but also struck out 8 in seven innings while allowing only 2 runs.  For a while, it looked as if that might be all the support Webb would need; however, Cole helped his own cause with an RBI double, and Rollins tied the game with an RBI in the bottom of the seventh.  Non-all-star Pat Burrell put the Phillies ahead for good with a 3 run shot at the expense of reliever Chad Qualls in the eighth inning.  Ryan Madson gets the win in this one pitching a scoreless eighth inning.  Lidge allowed a run pitching the ninth in a non-save situation as the Phillies took their second straight series, 3 games to 2.  A Marlins loss coupled with a Mets win gave the New York squad sole possession of second place in the division a half game behind the Phils.

AP Photo/Tom Mihalek

Soul Win Conference Championship

The Philadelphia Soul defeated Cleveland 70-35 to advance to the franchise's first Arena Bowl appearance.  Cleveland managed to keep the game close in the first quarter, but Philadelphia proved themselves to be the superior team by dominating from that point forward.  The Soul scored as many points in the first half as they would allow in the entire game.  The Soul will take on the San Jose SaberCats on July 27th for the AFL league championship.  San Jose are the defending champions and have won three of the last six Arena Bowls.  The championship game will take place in New Orleans on July 21st at 3pm and will be broadcasted live on both ESPN and ABC (HD).

Phillies Weekend Update

I've been away for a few days moving, so here is an update of all the recent Phillies action to satiate you hungry fans.  First the Phillies won 3 straight, 2 against the Cardinals and 1 against the Diamondbacks, albeit in rather unimpressive fashion.  Even through the winning streak the Phils seemed to lack the fundamentals and consistency of a true championship contender.  The team did show fight though, including a 6-5 comeback win in 12 against the snakes from Arizona.  The Diamondbacks came back with a vengeance though, putting up an 8 run frame and defeating the Phillies 10-4 yesterday.  With the Marlins and Mets both winning the division lead is now down to 1/2 a game with one game left before the break.  The Phillies will look to win their second straight series by taking one more from the D-Backs today at 1:35, and in doing so maintain their standing in the division.  It will be a battle of the aces as All Star Brandon Webb takes on All Star snuff Cole Hamels.

Game time: 1:35pm

Local Media: CW57, WPHT

Pitching Matchup:

Brandon Webb, RHP - (13-4, 3.27)

Cole Hamels, LHP - (9-6, 3.18)

Game notes:  Howard had his hitting streak halted yesterday at 13 games...Utley was given the day off...Shane Victorino now has 5 home runs on the year after hitting two at the expense of future HOF'er Randy Johnson