Thursday, August 28, 2008

Who do you trust? Phillies Edition.

I should probably say this right now to get it out of the way, but as a Met fan, the Phillies scare me. They have played bad baseball against the Mets this season and have some pretty bad starting pitching, but the bullpen is such a vital part of September baseball. Even if the Phillies fall behind big (7-0 to the Mets) they always will have a shot to come back because of their ballpark and their great bullpen. Acquiring closer Brad Lidge has turned out to be a great move and for the price they paid for Lidge, the Mets have to be kicking themselves that they did not make a play for him. So without further ado here is the Phillies big, menacing, and scary bullpen.

Brad Lidge: To be quite honest, Lidge has been phenomenal so far. His past struggles have to taken into account (hello Albert Pujols), but he finally looks like he's turned the corner.
TRUSTED

J.C Romero
: I have not the slightest idea how Romero wen from future journeyman to one of the better relief pitchers in the National League in the course of a year. He got a big contract this offseason, but has actually maintained his tremendous performance. Lefties only have nine hits of Romero all season and his 2.29 ERA reflects his dominance.
TRUSTED

Chad Durbin:
Where did this guy come from? Durbin has gone from a AAAA starter in the big leagues and has developed into a stud in the bullpen. Durbin has a 1.95 ERA this season in 73 innings of work. Lemme repeat that: 1.95 ERA! And he pitches multiple innings! How much better does it get?
TRUSTED

Ryan Madson:
Lemme get this straight, the Mets don't have anyone who I feel confident pitching an inning, but the Phillies have two great pitchers who can pitch multiple innings? Not fair. Madson has been up and down with the Phillies for his career, but he is putting together a great campaign in 2008. Madson has pitched 68 innings this season and has a very respectable 3.16 ERA. Even though I have seen Madson blow some big games, I would trust him in a big spot.
TRUSTED

Rudy Seanez:
This guy is still around? Seriously? And wow, he's actually been kinda good. His 3.82 ERA is good, but he has almost a 5 ERA against righties and his WHIP is 1.56. Seems like he gets into more trouble than his ERA leads us to believe.
NOT TRUSTED

Clay Condrey:
What I like most about Condrey is that he gets both lefties and righties out. He's another guy out of the Phillies pen that has done a good job. Now, I don't like the 1.57 WHIP or the poor strikeout rate, but for some reason, I think Condrey can get the job done.
TRUSTED

Scott Eyre: Does his job. Lefties cannot hit this guy. If Manuel uses him ONLY as a specialist, he'll be golden.
TRUSTED

How is this possible? The Phillies go six deep in the bullpen. Wow. So if the Phillies can have a starter eat six innings and leave with the lead, the Phillies should be golden. How is this team .5 games behind the Mets with that offense and that bullpen. Their too good. After writing this, I'm going to pray to my lucky stars for Billy Wagner and oh yeah, Adam Eaton, please come back to the Phillies rotation. And bring your 5.80 ERA too.
(Photo: Phillies.com)

No comments: