Beerleaguer - Phillies Blog, Baseball News, Trade Rumors & Spirits

Patch Adam makes cameo as Jays series begins

The Phillies will stitch Adam Bernero into the mosaic known as the starting rotation tonight as the Phils begin a weekend series with Toronto.

What can I tell you about tonight’s starter? Absolutely nothing. Here’s a summary from the free press notes:

• Bernero began the season with Omaha in the Kansas City organization. He pitched well, but was released on June 2 because of a clause in his contract. The Phillies scooped him up on June 5 and assigned him to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he went 1-1 with a 1.57 ERA in three starts with the Barons.

• Over his career, he pitched for the Tigers (2000-03), Rockies (2003-04) and Braves (2005). He began last season pitching out of Atlanta’s bullpen and went 3-0 with a 2.42 ERA in his first 20 appearances, but eventually finished with a 6.51 ERA. In five bubble seasons as a half-starter, half-reliever, he’s posted a 5.91 ERA. He last start came in 2004 in Colorado.

In other words, it’s a patch job. He’s had a hot hand in the minors, so maybe they get five decent innings from him and keep themselves in the game tonight.

Wear and tear
The heavily used Phillies relievers are starting to show signs wear. Geoff Geary, Aaron Fultz and Ryan Franklin are each over 40 innings before the all-star break. Fultz and Geary have been shelled recently, but Franklin has been OK, and now there’s word he could actually start Sunday’s game. The Phillies acquired two relievers this week, veteran Rick White and Fabio Castro.

Other stuff
The Phillies will face rookie right-hander Casey Janssen (5-6, 4.76). After a solid start, Janssen has been pounded in his last three starts. No word on tonight’s lineup for the Phillies against this beatable righty. Last night, they snapped a losing streak with two regulars sitting, this time David Bell and Pat Burrell. But Ryan Madson’s near complete-game shutout was the story of the night. After the game, deflector Sal Fasano had this to say:

"It was a big pickup for us because we've been scuffling a little bit. You could tell, there was a lot more life on the field, getting quick outs, and that hasn't happened for a while. Getting a start like this can build momentum."

One way to keep momentum going is for the manager to stick with players that show you something when everyone else does not. For me, that would mean another night of David Dellucci in left, and another chance next week for Madson to build on last night. It would also mean another night on the bench for grim-faced third baseman David Bell, who's killing the team. Even though he's hitting about .150, it's worth seeing whether Abe Nunez can get it together with regular playing time.

Phillies stumbling over baseball’s golden rule

There are 27 outs in a baseball game. Use them well. The Phillies hope to embrace that basic rule tonight in Baltimore.

Sometimes, a simple statement like that says it all, yet I have serious doubts something so simple has been uttered by anyone wearing a Phillies uniform this season.

David Dellucci ... guilty: Tagged out easily after he was caught between first and second on an RBI single.

David Bell ... guilty: Taps into rally-killing double play with two pitches to play with, just as the Phillies were on the verge of getting back into the game.

That’s an inning worth of outs right there.

Meanwhile, Ryan Madson (7-4, 6.40 ERA) hopes for a little more than an inning worth of outs himself in his third second chance in the starting rotation. He’ll face right-hander Rodrigo Lopez (6.45 ERA).

David Dellucci takes Pat Burrell’s place in left field. Bobby Abreu takes a turn at DH as Shane Victorino will play right. David Bell finally sits. Abe Nunez starts at third.

Phils deal for pint-sized reliever Fabio Castro

The Rangers receive starting pitcher Dan Haigwood in the swap. Castro is expected to join the Phillies bullpen on Saturday.

The 5-7 Dominican becomes the first Phillies acquisition this season to earn the infamous “_____ is someone we've had our eye on,” treatment in an official Phillies news release. The last time a statement like that was made was last June when Tim Worrell was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Matt Kata, whom scouts “liked for quite some time.”

Phillies scouts, who’ve been camped out at Texas Rangers games since spring training, witnessed a 21-year-old strikeout pitcher who went 0-0 with a 4.32 ERA in four appearances with Texas this season. Opponents batted .200 against him, though he issued seven walks in eight innings.

Last year in Class-A, Castro went 5-5 with a 2.28 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 79 innings. He's had solid numbers throughout his minor league career, almost exclusively as a reliever.

Castro was selected by Kansas City in December's Rule 5 Draft from the Chicago White Sox and was traded to Texas. He began the season with Texas but became available after he was designated for assignment.

The Phillies bit and sent Haigwood packing the day he was named to the Eastern League All-Star Game. Haigwood, 22, is a former 18th-round draft pick and was acquired by the White Sox in the November trade for Jim Thome. The junkball left-hander had 85 strikeouts in 84 innings.

The highest-ranking temp

Why, and how, Phillies GM Pat Gillick will hand in his resignation after one season.

As 2006 spins further into a sinkhole, much of our focus has shifted toward next season, when the Phillies will liberate themselves of albatross contracts and fossils from the old regime.

Conventional wisdom indicates Pat Gillick, considered one of the smartest men in baseball, will have enough elbowroom then to work his magic, to pull off the same miracle work that earned the expansion Toronto Blue Jays two world titles in 1992 and 1993.

The 68-year-old USC alumnus signed a three-year contract, but likely targeted this season as his best, last-ditch opportunity to guide a team to a championship. It may not seem like it now, but the Phillies had a legitimate shot at the playoffs, and an outsider’s shot at a title. The fact is, when you’re in the playoffs, anything can happen. Nobody knows that better than Gillick. The Phillies were only one win away in 2005, and Gillick pounced.

But he knew they were just short. He needed a front-line starter and made it his offseason focus. Without one, a third World Series ring would be nearly impossible to attain. He tried trading his best player for one. He tried to resign Billy Wagner, too.

Mission failure on both counts. Plans were significantly compromised. Gillick allowed that frustration to boil over during Phillies Winter Caravan stops, when he told members of the press that without pitching, they were not a contending team.

Today, nearly three months into the season, the Phillies are no longer close to contention. A post-season berth is only a dream. Their best pitcher, Brett Myers, has taken a leave of absence. Jon Lieber, their opening-day starter, has been out since May. Two starters from April's starting rotation, Gavin Floyd and Ryan Madson, have been dropped from the mix, and two rookies who never pitched higher than Double-A have seen significant time with the club. On Friday, they will send Adam Bernero to the mound, who last pitched in the majors as a bad reliever with Atlanta. On Sunday, they will cobble together a start from relievers.

Simply put, the season is only a shadow, a reflection of the no-show GM. Since spring, Gillick has been noticeably absent from the team's dealings. Without top pitching, he kept all the expensive players in place and turned on the autopilot. What else could he do? After all, the long-term deals were the team’s burden. He wasn't given a penny more to spend, which is why Ryan Franklin, Abraham Nunez, Sal Fasano and Alex Gonzalez were signed from the scrap heap. Jim Thome? Nothing more than a formality.

The defeatism shows more than ever after one of the worst weeks in Phillies history. Readers unfamiliar with the club would assume Ruben Amaro Jr. was in charge. In these desperate times, he's quoted most. Gillick's lone soundbyte on the Myers situation was rightfully attacked venomously by press and fans alike.

The Phillies knew they needed to replace Ed Wade, and knew it couldn't be someone from the inside. That's what the team would have preferred. That's how they operate. They wanted Ruben. He'll get his chance soon.

Next year, the Phillies will reduce payroll even more, and Gillick will step aside with lukewarm job approval at best. The manager situation will be someone else's problem. The Phillies will insert Amaro as fans no longer have enough fingers to point, and understand the team can no longer go forward with one of the largest payrolls in baseball.

Additional factors enter into the mix. Gillick is in the wrong part of North America. He has no ties to this area. Gerry Hunsicker, who was beaten out for the job, is a Bucks County native and would have been the obvious choice for a long-term replacement.

Gillick has not made a single, significant change in scouting, player development, coaching or management. He can literally pack his bags and disappear without a trace.

For Gillick, this is fortunate planning. There’s still time to be remembered as one of the greatest GMs in modern baseball history.

Double the damage control

The Phillies, hoping to snap a five-game skid, begin a day-night double-header this afternoon in Baltimore. Meanwhile, Beerleaguer’s home base of Reading, Pa. has been declared a disaster area.

The Phillies aren't the only ones in deep trouble. Flood waters threaten to raise the Schuykill River to the highest levels since Hurricane Agnes, and reports are the waters will continue to rise and crest at 23 feet sometime tonight. Flood water has covered several main arteries throughout the city, disabling bridges and knocking out power to certain areas.

Closer to home, the flood has badly crippled my employer, the Reading Eagle Newspaper. Our distribution center, where the company houses weekend inserts and certain Sunday sections, lies beneath no less than three feet of water. Needless to say, further updates today will be limited.

In Baltimore, the reeling Phillies hope for a little damage control of their own. On the heels of one of their worst weeks in team history, the Phils were blessed with a day to regroup after yesterday’s rainout. The hits keep coming, however. Jon Lieber was shelled in his Class-A rehab start, while Randy Wolf missed his start due to a fracture in his non-pitching hand. He’ll be out at least 10 days.

Cole Hamels (1-3, 4.41 ERA) pitches the opener against left-hander Erik Bedard (7-6, 5.09 ERA). Scott Mathieson (1-1, 4.31 ERA) starts his second big-league game against Kris Benson (8-5, 4.06 ERA).

As always, enjoy the game. For the live boxscore, click here.

Phils starved for positive results tonight in Baltimore

The Phillies, losers of five in a row, are desperate to stop a tailspin tonight as they open a three-game series with Baltimore.

Before hearing word that teammate Brett Myers will be granted a leave of absence for the next 2 1/2 weeks, the Phillies learned they will be without skipper Charlie Manuel tonight. Manuel was suspended for one game and fined for arguing with an umpire last week.

Before the suspension, Manuel indicated Pat Burrell would be out of tonight’s lineup following his own battles at the plate. Instead, the Phillies will trot out the same lineup of flunkies that has not won them a game in over two weeks. Let's keep this organization-wide ball of vomit rolling, shall we?

Any-whoo, what better pitcher to represent new beginnings than Cole Hamels (1-3, 4.41), who’s coming off a career-high seven innings in a 5-0 loss to the Yankees on Wednesday. He’ll face left-hander Erik Bedard (7-6, 5.09 ERA), who enters tonight a winner of three straight decisions.

Update: Game postponed due to gigantic, immobile Atlantic Coast weather system.

Myers issues statement, granted leave of absence

Pitcher Brett Myers has been granted time off by the Phillies and will not pitch until after the All-Star break.

From a Phillies news release, issued by Brett Myers through his agent:

"On the day of my arrest, I consulted with my attorney by phone, who advised me to make no comments about this matter. While I followed his advice at the time, I have felt the need to make some comments about this situation and I do so now.

"First, while I dispute that the facts are as alleged, I recognize that my behavior was inappropriate and for that I apologize.

"Second, I recognize that the incident created an embarrassing situation for many people, including my wife and family, my teammates, the Phillies organization, and fans, and I am very sorry for that.

"Third, my wife and children are very important to me and I am willing to do whatever is necessary to address any problems that might harm our marriage. I have asked the Phillies for some time off so that I can concentrate on this matter and make plans for whatever assistance is appropriate.

"At this time, I do not intend to make any further public comments about this matter."

The Phillies issued a statement of their own this afternoon, signed by Phillies President David Montgomery:

"The Phillies have agreed to Brett Myers' request for time off to concentrate on personal matters associated with his arrest in Boston last week. He is expected to be off for two and one-half weeks, through the All Star Break, until July 14. The Phillies have made available appropriate, professional, employee assistance resources to help Brett and Kim Myers in these circumstances.

"After last Friday, the Phillies did not comment further on the events surrounding the arrest of Brett Myers out of respect for the Myers' privacy and because there is a criminal prosecution pending. Likewise, the Phillies did not summarily suspend Brett Myers immediately upon his arrest, prior to any judicial determination of guilt or complete evaluation of the entire matter. Such a decision, unfortunately, has been portrayed or interpreted as the Phillies indifference to problems of spousal abuse. Nothing could be further from the truth. We abhor such violence and recognize that it is a very serious problem affecting a substantial number of victims, particularly women, across the country.

"If we have been guilty of delay in expressing these sentiments, we are sorry. We have been engaged in a difficult balancing of concerns for the rights of our employee, the presumption of innocence, the rights of his spouse, and the legitimate public concern about allegations of spousal abuse by a Phillies ballplayer. We believe that the present status, including a public apology by Brett Myers, time off from baseball, professional assistance for Brett and Kim Myers, and this statement achieves the appropriate balance for now.

A dip in the dugout

The morning after the Phillies get swept out of Boston, one radio host wondered if the rain would stop once Pat Burrell got a base hit with runners in scoring position.

Unbelievably, the forecast for tonight calls for partly sunny skies. Burrell could sit against Baltimore.

Apparently, Beerleaguer isn’t the only entity taking notice of Burrell's recent slump. His batting average with runners in scoring position with two outs, a measly .051, was reported in more places this morning than the final score of yesterday's game.

Things have gotten so bad, that even the stick-in-the-mud lineup-setter is prepared to do something about it. Charlie Manuel told Phillies.com he’s ready to sit Burrell for two or three games against the Os. Apparently, Manuel believes David Dellucci or Shane Victorino could do just as well standing there with the bat on their shoulders. He said the troubled slugger needs to take his mind off baseball for a while, which leaves girls and chewing tobacco as likely options.

As bad as Burrell has been, he actually played a major roll in two of the last three Phillies wins. The Phillies have lost 13 of 16 games and five-straight series. Two of their wins came with two bench players starting. The last game they won was the 4-2 game against New York, after which the manager was buried for sitting Howard and Abreu. Burrell delivered the big hit in that one. The last game they won with the "regular" starters, including Fasano instead of Coste, was nearly two-and-a-half weeks ago in Arizona, back when the season wasn’t in complete shambles.

Still, sitting Burrell tonight figures to be the best move the Phillies have made in weeks, but in the broad spectrum of Phillies’ problems -- including a team president and general manager who’ve acted as absentee landlords during a building collapse -- benching their guaranteed $50 million man isn’t even a nugget in the fallen rubble.

Manuel must know he’s not coming back next season. In that case, in the words of Phil Sheridan, he should fire every bullet he has. It appears he’s loading his gun. He rode Jimmy Rollins after a baserunning mistake Saturday. Now, he’s sitting Burrell during interleague play, when he could be showcased as a DH to the American League.

Charlie, you may fire when ready.

Game 3 in progress; Bell DP kills early threat

David Bell grounded into a double play to end a scoring threat in the second inning as Boston and Philadelphia are scoreless through 1 1-2 innings. Click here for in-game boxscore, and comment below.

Beer nuts: Myers to pitch again Thursday

Ryan Madson’s meaty pitch selection brings more fear to the Phillies than irate constituents, still appalled with the team’s decision to start disgraced pitcher Brett Myers in Saturday’s national broadcast.

The Phillies announced more starting rotation skippage in their game notes this morning, scheduling rookie Scott Mathieson for Wednesday’s game and pitcher Myers for Thursday, thus skipping Mad Dog's spot in the rotation.

Madson (7-4, 6.40 ERA) has been an appallingly bad starter, so bad that the Phillies would rather shame themselves by allowing Myers to pitch more than ever rather than hand the ball to Madson, or even the bat boy.

According to the pregame notes, the Phillies have scheduled their pitching only through Myers’ start Thursday, thus leaving the door open for Friday, which could still be Madson or Cory Lidle, depending on how fresh he is after today’s start.

The Phillies could conceivably go with a four-man rotation of Myers, Lidle, Hamels and Mathieson until Jon Lieber returns from the DL, which is looking more like it will happen in the Toronto or San Diego series.

Trade Flash?
It’s a concept sure to pick up steam the further they fall out of the race. In today’s market, no team wants to be saddled with a veteran closer for more than one year, but demand for dependible stoppers forces teams to pay a devil’s ransom. Gordon will be 41 at the end of his three-year, $18 million deal with the Phils, who could find themselves in rebuilding state as early as next season. In that case, an expensive, old closer is the last thing the Phillies need. Don’t rule out an offbeat approach to the closer situation if Gordon is dealt, such as Mathieson as closer. More teams are getting hip to this type of thinking.

Wait ... this is the Phillies we're talking about. Forget it.

Tigers interested in Abreu?
According to the Detroit News, the Tigers have big interest in our right-fielder, and are willing to fork over the cash money to take on his salary. The Tigers have a bevy of young, promising arms blocked from spots in the majors, and might also be willing to part with veterans Craig Monroe or Omar Infante. The story indicates Pat Gillick would insist on getting Marcus Thames instead, along with young pitching. Gillick said he is not prepared to deal Abreu right now.

Detroit figures to be an ideal trade partner. The Phillies need to leverage this one to the limit. The Tigers are going for it this season and appear ready to pull out all the stops.

In other Abreu trade-related news, the Yankees may be close to trading for Milwaukee outfielder Carlos Lee, according to the Boston Herald. The Yankees have already turned down Kansas City’s offer of Reggie Sanders for pitching prospect Philip Hughes, but a deal for Lee could be right up New York’s alley.

Final game postponed until Monday

Frustration mounts as the Phillies dropped their fifth consecutive series yesterday against the mighty Red Sox. The Phils would have turned to Cory Lidle this afternoon, but the game in Boston has been called.

Nothing personifies displaced fan frustration more than yesterday’s game thread, in which stones were cast at backup catcher Chris Coste.

The 33-year-old rookie backup catcher, who starts about twice a week, is at the bottom of the Phillies' concerns. Their most valuable pitcher - perhaps most valued player for the future - was charged with assaulting his wife. They are generating sub-replacement level pitching from at least two spots in the rotation. Their season is spinning rapidly out of control and they’re losing ground daily in the playoff picture.

Playoffs. They are so far from a playoff contender right now, it’s a joke.

Nobody has stepped up this series, but even more troubling is the lack of movement by management to shake things up. The last time the standard starting lineup won a game was over two weeks ago in Washington. When the ship is sinking, isn't the first step to jettison the extra baggage?

That's all that needs to be asked of apologists, like Tom Gordon in today's Inquirer, who still believe the current roster is better than this. It's basically the same one that was hammered opening day, minus their opening-day starter, minus their starting catcher.

Perhaps on some other planet they are flying high instead of spinning their tails. Here on Earth, the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox and Cardinals have shown they are in a different class, as are playoff hopefuls such as the Dodgers, Astros and Reds.

Individually, they have pieces that hold up next to the premier players in baseball, yet on a sliding scale, they are outclassed among the best as a team, from their top starter to the last guy on the bench.

Show must go on tonight at Fenway

... and according to the Phillies, the show will go on for Brett Myers tomorrow.

In the wake of today’s assault charge, the Phillies have released a statement saying Myers will pitch as scheduled tomorrow against the Red Sox. Myers was arrested late Thursday night for assaulting his wife on a Boston street.

Meanwhile, his teammates will turn their attention toward the diamond, were nothing went right during a deflating 2-7 home stand.

Tonight, Ryan Madson (7-4, 5.79) gets the ball to begin a series in which they are heavy underdogs. The Phils are 9-2 this season when Madson starts, but the 42-28 Red Sox are the hottest team in baseball having won six straight. They lead the Yankees by 2 games in the AL East and send Josh Beckett (8-3, 5.09 ERA) to the mound. Beckett has a history with Phillies slugger Ryan Howard. The two got into an altercation during spring training.

The Phillies are unlikely to win this series, but Phans who’ve suffered through an abysmal two weeks deserve some urgency from their fading team. Today’s incident involving Myers should not impact play. If anything, the right leadership can turn it into sobering mechanism to inject even more focus into their game. The Phillies never needed a road game more than they do tonight.

Tinker time: Phillies claim White off waivers

Positioning for the playoff sprint, the Phillies claimed journeyman reliever Rick White off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds.

The 37-year-old right-hander is owed $325,000 on his contract and posted a 6.26 ERA in 27 1-3 innings for Cincinnati before he wore out his welcome. The move was reported on ESPN.com.

White pitched 75 innings for the Pirates last season to the tune of a 3.75 ERA, but posted ERAs over 5.00 the previous two seasons. A native of Ohio, White couldn't make it work in middle relief for his boyhood team and was designated for assignment on Monday.

White made his major league debut in 1994 with Pittsburgh. The Phillies are his 10th team.

Beerleaguer take
White fits the Phillies’ profile as an old, ineffective innings-eater, but the move smacks of impending roster reshuffling more.

At its simplest, Gillick could be adding depth to the lower tier of the bullpen, or preparing to move someone to the DL (I’ve been sniffing a Rhodes' injury for weeks). It could also signal a possible trade involving a veteran Phillies reliever, such as Rhodes or Rheal Cormier. A more substantial move, such as a trade involving a veteran starter like Cory Lidle, is also not out of the question. Ryan Franklin could either be released or moved into the starting rotation. Goofy, but true.

Stay tuned. This minor, minor move could be the springboard for something big, or more likely, it's just the Phillies being the Phillies. I started picturing White in a Phillies uni to moment I read he was designated. See picture above ... is it really that hard?

In other news, ESPN.com is reporting that pitching coach Rich Dubee received a new deal.

Boston Globe details Myers' ugly scene

Victim's friend recounts alleged assault to the Boston Globe.

"It was disgusting," Knight said. "He was dragging her by the hair and slapping her across the face. She was yelling, 'I'm not going to let you do this to me anymore' ...

"He had her on the ground. He was trying to get her to go, and she was resisting. She curled up and sat on the ground. He was pulling her, her shirt up was around her neck....He could have cared less that we were there."

Myers arrested and charged with assaulting wife

The Associated Press is reporting that pitcher Brett Myers was arrested and charged with assaulting his wife in downtown Boston last night at 12:20 a.m.

This story moved on the Reading Eagle AP wire this morning at 10:30 a.m. Myers’ wife, Kim Wickman, is a native of Oley, Berks County. Wickman and Myers have a 3-year-old daughter.

Witnesses told police that Myers hit his wife last night on a Boston street. Police responded to a 911 call and found Myers’ wife crying with a swollen face, a spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney's offfice said. Officers found Myers nearby and arrested him.

Myers was booked by Boston police and his wife posted his $200 bail. He pleaded not guilty to assault charges at his arraignment Friday morning in Boston Municipal Court.The 25-year-old is scheduled to pitch Saturday against the Red Sox.

Where it stops, nobody knows ...

The trouble with generating a lead for this post is the one in mind isn’t something you’ll typically read here. But then I'm reminded first instincts are often correct.

"Hit the road, you bums."

Technically, it’s not a lead resting there on line two, but it still prefaces my point for the rest of this post.

I'm worried. Who will carry the superfan torch when all else fails? Sports radio offers no candidates. It’s Thursday and callers are still moaning about Monday’s lineup in a winning cause.

Dumb, but somehow understandable. That’s just years of frustration diverted to an unpopular manager. Here's the cruel part: Popular heroes like Chase Utley and Aaron Rowand have more to do with the home slide than Charlie Manuel. Not even unbridled determination can save them when they're out in front of every pitch, or playing too shallow and misjudging balls over their head.

So now they’re off on the road. That’s the big story today. The road is where they spend half the season.

It's the same damn thing over and over again. After the Washington series, they were road weary and needed to come home. Now they're desperate to get away and put the 2-7 home stand behind them. Round and round we go ...

I trust all of you picked up on the defeatist tone over the past two weeks, coming from everyone from Dallas Green, to Pat Gillick, to the players themselves, to columnists, to Beerleaguer, and that's bad news. I’m your last bastion of hope.

Nobody believes this mess will get any better. After the 6-5 road trip, all was calm. After the Mets series, time to shift gears and focus on the Wild Card. After Tampa Bay, give the manager the pink slip. After yesterday, dismantle it all.

RickSchuBlues wrote it best in the comments below. "And so a 2-7 homestand is punctuated by a flatter-than-flat shutout loss. There is every reason to think it will only get uglier. Why shouldn't it? Nobody does anything about it."

Indeed, no one ever does.

Phils desperate for series win as homestand ends

The Phillies hit the road after tonight’s Game 3 between Cole Hamels and Jaret Wright. The Phils are searching for their first series win since June 7 in Arizona.

Hamels (1-2, 4.91 ERA) is seeking his first win at Citizens Bank Park. Since returning from the DL, the 22-year-old left-hander is 1-2 with a 6.28 ERA. He’s hoping to bounce back after a career-low 3 2-3 innings in a 10-4 loss to Tampa Bay on Friday. Wright (3-4, 4.86) has had similar misfortune in his last three starts, going 0-1 with a 6.19 ERA.

Ryan Howard was the hero in last night’s losing effort, mashing 7 RBIs to take the NL lead in that category with 66. Bernie Williams went 5-5 the opposition for the first time in his career.

Finally, some job security for Geary

It's hard to believe Geoff Geary was optioned to the minors earlier this season. Today, the right-hander is the seventh most productive reliever in the National League, according to Hardball Times Win Shares.

Geary entered 2006 with a reputation for pitching well only in low-pressure spots, but in the past few weeks, the Phillies have successfully tested him in the later innings of close ballgames. He’s 4-0 with a 3.05 ERA in 38.1 IP, 9th most among NL relievers.

Next to Tom Gordon and possibly Rheal Cormier, the 29-year-old has been the Phillies most effective reliever. He had a career-best 13.2-inning scoreless streak earlier this year, in addition to an 11.2-inning scoreless streak halted Saturday night against the D-Rays.

This is all pretty remarkable considering he was optioned to Scranton earlier this season to make room for Cole Hamels. Geary was on the bubble to even make the team out of spring training, but thanks to injuries to Julio Santana and the ineffectiveness of pitchers like Ryan Franklin, Geary is sliding closer and closer to the set-up role. The seventh inning may already be his. He's got the stuff to earn it - he's one of the best groundball pitchers on the team.

Textbook example of your late-blooming, slow-rising relief pitcher found throughout baseball.

Wolf on 70-pitch limit tonight in Reading

Making his third rehab start since undergoing Tommy John surgery, Randy Wolf swings into Reading tonight when the Phillies host Erie.

Reading manager P.J. Forbes told the Reading Eagle’s Don Stewart that Wolf will be on a 70-pitch limit tonight against the Seawolves. In two rehab starts with Clearwater, the left-hander allowed an unearned run on six hits, four walks in 5 2-3 innings.

This is Wolf's third-career rehab appearence in Reading, where he pitched in the minors during the 1998 season.

Beerleaguer take
The most optimistic report I’ve read has Wolf returning to the Phillies after four rehab starts, but that was the timetable Wolf set for himself. Realistically, a 2006 return is still up in the air. Obviously, the Phils badly need another arm in the rotation, plus, it wouldn’t hurt seeing what he’s got before he becomes a free agent. Tonight's start will be revealing, and if all goes well, we could be seeing him back in Philadelphia around the All-Star break.

In other Double-A news, second base prospect Tim Moss was demoted to Single-A Clearwater Monday. Moss was hitting .180 and had an incredible 82 strikeouts in 206 at-bats with Reading.

Mussina faces Phils for first time since 2001

Looking to follow yesterday's tidy win, the Phils try to make it three-straight tonight against Mike Mussina and the Yankees.

Cory Lidle (4-6, 4.86 ERA) gets the start for the Phillies, and as always, it’s a good time to dust off the $700 Nordic-Trac in the basement, the one your wife said you’d "always use."

Lidle has gone exactly 6 innings in six of his last seven starts. The other went 6 1-3 innings. That’s enough time to schedule an hour workout on your unused ... (insert gimmick workout equipment here). Factoring in five minutes for pushups and a half-hour for a shower and protein shake, you'll be back on the couch by the bottom of the 6th. It’s as simple as that ... and your quads will thank you for it!

Mike Mussina (8-3, 3.14 ERA) faces the Phils for the first time in five seasons. The veteran right-hander ranks fourth in the AL in strikeouts with 90.

Ryan Howard and Bobby Abreu figure to return to the Phillies lineup after sitting out yesterday against Randy Johnson. Abreu enters the game boasting a .457 OBP, which leads baseball and is well above his career average. Imagine having a team where the leadoff man gets on base half the time. A team like that could make dreams come true.

The Yankees have had a rough interleague road trip, dropping four of five. They're probably due for a win. Tonight will be tough. Feel the burn!

The 'E' in 'Team'

The Phillies crafted one of their sharpest wins of the season, and did it with offensive stars Bobby Abreu and Ryan Howard sitting on the bench.

If the time on the bench gave Howard and Abreu time to reflect that great offense does not cancel out poor defense, the Phillies earned three wins in one night, not one.

But this isn’t about sitting players. Kind of a useless considering the Phils crafted their best win in weeks, unless you’re Bill Conlin, who got the idea for today’s column when lineups were announced and decided to run with it no matter the outcome.

No. Today’s article is about Beerleaguer doing a 180 about the statistic known as errors.

Last year, you would have read on this space that errors were a poor measure of true defense, and figures such as range factor, etc, revealed more about a player’s skill with the glove. Today, Beerleaguer would like to eradicate the Earth Prime Beerleaguer of 2005 who made those statements.

The problem with that thinking, illustrated by the Phillies this season, is if one cog breaks, the machine stops running, for instance, the one in Brett Myers’ head.

Quoting 100 percent speculation for an anonymous poster below, "Abreu screwed one of Myers starts recently with his lousy play out there and I heard a rumor on the radio that possibly the two had some words about it after the game."

I’ll bet it’s true. Why wouldn’t it be true? Is Myers such a pacifist to let something like that slide, considering he didn't last three innings last start? And how many times has Abreu screwed Myers or one of his buddies in the rotation? Lots. Too many.

So maybe a "defense-minded" lineup wasn’t such a bad idea last night, even if it was primarily to rest left-handed bats against Big Unit. But as a pitcher, namely one with a block for a head, I'd feel pretty confident about the right side of last night’s defense, and it certainly looked like Myers was trusting his stuff. Myers scorched a season-high 11 strikeouts past the Yankees of all teams, using his breaking ball to miss bats and break knees.

In support, there were no errors ... check that ... no game-destroying errors. There were also no errors that were ruled hits. The Phillies probably lead the league in that department. The game featured spectacular defense by Abraham Nunez, Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins.

For now, the Phillies aren't the world’s worst defenders. They’re only tied for fourth in the NL with 51 errors. Ryan Howard owns 10 of them himself, most among all first basemen and on pace to commit 25.

I have serious concerns with Howard's defense and on-the-fly thinking. This is why it's in your best interest to punch a hole in your All-Star ballot for some other first baseman.

One comment on another site illustrates the situation this way: "Howard's defense is threatening to overwhelm his offensive assets." Another take overheard on radio said Howard was in danger of falling to the dark side.

The argument here is that errors should be avoided whenever possible. They lead to big innings and short outings by our starting pitchers. If it takes more lineups like last night to break the pattern, go for it. This is their second win in a row with two or more regulars sitting. They have snapped two losing streaks this way, if memory serves.

To keep the ball rolling tonight, Abraham Nunez and his .167 average should start at third against one of the best pitchers in baseball. This will be his fourth-consecutive start, and they should do it for sake of defense. David Bell has played a brutal homestand and continues to play tight at home.

Last night’s at-bat against Kyle Farnsworth would be enough to put him in my doghouse. Bell’s at bat serves as a reminder of what’s missing, even here on this site: Calling out players instead of the manager and GM. Should Bell have been pulled for a pinch hitter? Perhaps for Abreu, who would have done the best job imitating a statue, which is all Bell should have done against Farnsworth, who had just walked a batter and hit Jimmy Rollins in the head. Instead, he swung at all three pitches. What pitch was Abreu, Howard or Dellucci going to hit, the one in the dirt that got through Posada?

It’s time for players to be held accountable, too, and there’s no bigger crime happening than in the field. The players, the manager and GM all agree on that one.

Big Unit, big bats, wage war on Philadelphia

42-year-old Randy Johnson might be the least of the Phillies' worries as the Yankees’ high-powered offense marches into Philadelphia for the first of three games.

Brett Myers won’t be the only source of hot air tonight at Citizens Bank Park. If the weather holds (40 percent chance it will) home runs could fall like rain. It’s one of these soupy, still nights when balls fly out of Citizens Bank Park.

Adding to that, once mighty Randy Johnson (8-5, 5.32 ERA) has surrendered a team-high 15 homers this season. Johnson will look to build on his best outing of 2006 Wednesday when he gave up one run and four hits in 6 1-3 innings before he was ejected – and suspended five games! – for throwing inside to Eduardo Perez.

He isn’t the only one bringing rain. The Yankees are averaging 5.79 runs per game, best in baseball. It's a tall order for Philadelphia’s dismal starting rotation, which luckily sends its one-two punch to the mound tonight and tomorrow. Woo-hoo.

Myers (4-3, 3.86) will be making his first career start against the Yanks. The default Phillies’ ace has not pitched well lately, going 0-1 with a 10.22 ERA in three June starts. Tonight’s atmosphere could mirror his last start, and we all know what happened then.

The Yanks are playing their fourth game on a six-game road trip after dropping two-of-three to the Nationals over the weekend. Only the Yankees could squirm with a 38-29 record, dropping a game back of the Red Sox for the AL East lead. The Yankees have undergone some acid-enducing roster developments this season, losing two corner outfielders to injury and also designating Aaron Small for assignment Saturday. A little less than half their starting lineup isn't all-star worthy. Imagine that.

Tonight also marks the return of Larry Bowa, who talked to the New York Post about it this morning:

"If you're going to make a change, say you're going in a different direction," the first-year Yankees third base coach said. "I don't want to use the word 'sour,' but I am disappointed that the front office said the team was batter than it was, that we didn't play up to our potential. When I took over (2001) they hadn't had a winning season (since 1993) and we had winning seasons three of the four years and were fighting for the pennant or a wild card spot."

Update: Bobby Abreu and Ryan Howard will sit this one out against the big left-hander. Chase Utley starts at first. Abraham Nunez gets into the game at second, his third start in a row.

Devil Rays series wrap

The Phillies showed poorly against the last-place Devil Rays, but don’t take it to heart. This was a tough series that hinged entirely on inexperienced pitching.

Before leaving work Friday, I completed a brief series preview for the Tampa Bay series, urging Phans not to expect too much against the cellar-dwelling D-Rays.

Preparing to copy and paste the Word Document into my blog window, I accidentally hit the "close file – no save" button in my bastardized version of Word. It’s the most evil button in the world, serving no purpose but to thwart me at 4 p.m. on a Friday.

Anyway, before Friday’s home debut of Cole Hamels, I issued concerns over the upcoming series. I didn’t like Saturday’s matchup with Scott Mathieson and Scott Kazmir for obvious reasons, and I wasn’t sure about Friday, either. There was no telling how Hamels would show in his first start at Citizens Bank Park. Too anxious, as it turned out. In addition, the team hadn’t been playing well, and the opposing pitcher, James Shields, had pitched consecutive shutouts. Of all the games, Sunday figured to be their best chance to win. Ryan Madson hasn’t pitched well, but at least he’d been there before, and his pattern seems to be one bad, one good. Seth McClung, now 2-10, is just awful.

Salvaging the final game yesterday, the series still wasn’t worth watching more than the U.S. Open, NASCAR or the World Cup. I attended Friday’s 10-4 loss to see Hamels’ debut and didn’t watch an inning the rest of the weekend.

Not much to see anyway. If Hamels gets lit up again, there will be doubts about his Major League readiness. The problem is, who replaces him? The Phillies are probably willing to shake off his home debut, and will try pairing him with Sal Fasano his next start. Chris Coste can work with Cory Lidle tomorrow night.

I like what I'm seeing out of Shane Victorino and David Dellucci, their seldom-used fourth and fifth outfielders. Dellucci went 3-for-4 spotting Pat Burrell in left yesterday, and Victorino got on base twice in place of Aaron Rowand. Outfield depth is one of the Phillies' only strengths.

No numbers to back this up, but the Phillies often succeed in day games when they start two or more bench players. They also started Abraham Nunez at third in place of David Bell. A home-away platoon isn’t a bad idea for the Bell, who seems to play especially tight at home.

The weekend saw interesting developments in the NL East. The Mets avoided getting swept at home by the Orioles yesterday. The Braves, losers of seven in a row, were swept at home by Boston to fall 14 back of New York and last place in the NL East. Washington took 2-of-3 from the scuffling Yankees. And how about those Florida Marlins, winners of nine-straight? The Fish fried Toronto for a three-game sweep. Their young starting rotation is just on fire.

Thanks to yesterday’s win, the Phils lost no ground to New York and actually picked up a game in the Wild Card. The Phils are three games back of the Reds with 93 games left to play.

Hang your hopes on no one

Cole Hamels joins a the list of starting pitchers who've been torched for big early innings, as the Phillies lose another one before they even had a chance.

The Phillies have run out of saviors, and the offense must be fresh out of faith. Starting pitching has dug an insurmountable hole for them the last five games. It’s simply too much for any team to overcome.

Tampa Bay clubbed Hamels for seven hits and six runs, five earned, in 3 2-3 innings yesterday. Julio Lugo, who had five home runs entering the game, went yard twice.

Battling against the quick-working James Shields, the Phils were down 7-0 in the blink of an eye. The game ended 10-4 for the cellar-dwelling D-Rays. The Phillies fell below .500 for the first time since May 3.

None of the fixes have worked, not even by dumb luck. In fact, most of them, from starters, to spot starters to utility help, have backfired in their faces.

Last night marked Hamels' home debut, and there was no telling how he’d respond. Like a 22-year-old, over-anxious rookie with little experience, as it turned out.

"I tried to overpower guys, and you can't do that at this level," Hamels told the Inquirer. "I have to be more crafty."

Hamels had been considered a beacon of hope, and probably will be someday, but the 2006 Phillies are sinking deeper into an abyss. They send Double-A pitcher Scott Mathieson to the hill tonight in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle. After that, the cycle continues before Jon Lieber and Randy Wolf return. Wolf told mlb.com he's eyeing a mid-July return, but there's simply no telling how far back his team will be, or whether a struggling veteran or recovering pitcher can make a difference. Offensively and defensively, they are too flawed to make up the difference.

Right now, and perhaps this whole season, the Phillies are riding it out.

Words of wisdom
A final brilliant note, coming by way of e-mail this morning from a long-time reader, gives us something to consider.

"Whether right or wrong, the Phillies fans have felt for the past several seasons that the talent was there, but that it was mis-managed, the players themselves underachieved, or the GM failed to find the missing piece at the trade deadline. They would not be receptive to "starting over" from basically scratch when they felt they were this close and had talent that matched up with almost any other team. Gillick wants to disabuse them of that fantasy by letting the fans see what is really there: no pitching, over-priced talent, and many fundamentally flawed players. There will apparently be no bandaids and no makeup applied to make it look good. The fans will be ready, no, they will be demanding a complete overhaul by October."

Channeling the pawnking positives

Yesterday’s 140-plus comment thread read like the last testament for passengers of the Titanic. However, there is one survivor, and his name is pawnking, Beerleaguer’s voice of reason (no offense to the poster who actually calls himself ‘voice of reason’).

Readers may refuse this, but I will toss it out like a life raft anyway. No matter how bad the wreckage, this piece always floats:

"It’s a long season."

There it is. Grab it, and paddle toward the deserted island known as Phillies nation.

Nothing survives using less energy in the vast ocean of baseball better than a .500 team in mid June, even an ugly one like the Phillies. After a demoralizing sweep at the hands of the Mets, the 33-33 Phillies are floating on their own bloat, using little oxygen, moving only in starts and fits.

This is the mantra of pawnking, the guiding principle of one of Beerleaguer’s best readers. I don’t know pawnking personally, but he claims to be an accountant by trade. He’s all about the bottom line, in business and in baseball. Not a week goes by without a reminder about the long season, and that the Phillies were just one win away from forcing a playoff with the Astros last year.

Though pawnking hasn’t posted on this space in a while, he’s been active on his own site, writing the following post on Wednesday (yes, just two days ago), entitled "Why the Phillies will win the World Series." It’s a bulleted post, including the following points.

Pawnking writes: We have only one team to beat in the NL East. The Braves are not going to make the playoffs this year. The Nats and Marlins also have virtually no shot. That leaves only the Mets to battle the Phillies for the NL Eastern crown.

Beerleaguer: The Mets and Phillies are the only teams without losing records in their own division. While the Mets appear to be in a class by themselves, the Nats, Marlins and Braves are teams the Phillies should beat the rest of the way. The Phillies will do better against the Nats than the previous series in RFK.

Pawnking writes: Though the Mets have a great 1-2 punch, the rest of their rotation is weak (See Jose Lima, who actually started 3 games for them this year). Furthermore, I question the ability of Tom Glavine and Pedro Martinez to remain effective over the entire season.

Beerleaguer: I have my own small doubts about Glavine and Pedro, but we’ll wait and see. The Mets are still the better team, with a much better pitching staff. Lima and Jeremi Gonzalez are gone, replaced by potentially better arms in El Duque and Alay Soler.

Pawnking writes: The Mets have played about as well as can be imagined, and the Phils have played as poorly as can be imagined. Things will even out.

Beerleaguer: I agree with this. According to Hardball Times, the Phillies have the worst record in close games and are losing those games in spite of having a good closer and servicable bullpen. Agree with pawnking here: things will even out somewhat, and the Phillies will rise above their current .500 mark.

Pawnking writes: The Phils weakest areas have been starting pitching and defense. With the worst starters banished, and the defense cannot help but get better, the Phils should improve simply due to regression.

Beerleaguer: There is an outstanding piece by Marcus Hayes of the Daily News this morning on defense, I would even call it the best single piece on the Phillies this season. It starts like this:

"The Phillies held pregame fielding practice yesterday for the first time since spring training, and for the first time during the season since Charlie Manuel was named manager."

Beerleaguer: No need to explain how outrageous this is. Defense is half the game. More from Hayes:

"The Phillies' fielding fiasco featured in the first two games of a crucial series with the Mets, completed yesterday, served to display the gross miscalculation made by Manuel and general manager Pat Gillick.

"Before the season began, to the questioned hearing of listeners, both opined that their infield might be the best in the National League East."

I can’t begin to explain how satisfying it was to read this piece. With Manuel, you could point to tactical errors over his tenure, but nothing this contemptible as manager of a professional team. Perhaps it’s time for the hitting guru to be replaced by a baseball guru. Manuel was a nice, dull blade after Bowa's edge, but the Phillies have outgrown him. Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Brett Myers and Ryan Howard have peaked physically as players. It takes something more to get them to harness that talent every day.

And it’s worth repeating how brutal the leadoff situation has become. Bobby Abreu’s on-base percentage sits at .454, best in baseball and about .40 points higher than his career average. Image leading off a ballgame by getting a man on base nearly half the time.

Pawnking writes: Even if, for some reason, the Phils don't win the NL East, the Phils will likely win the WC. They came close last year, and the contenders for the WC all have their weaknesses.

Beerleaguer: The Phillies currently have one of the worst starting staffs in baseball, and the worst receiving corps in baseball, serious weaknesses the other contenders don’t have. The Phillies will still hover and stay in the Wild Card hunt, but this is a worse team than last season, and worst defensively. This new concept called "practice" won’t hurt, but Pat Gillick should consider some "defense-first" moves, such as recalling Carlos Ruiz from Scranton or making a trade for a young defensive catcher. Sal Fasano should return to his role as hard-luck blue collar hero by hanging out on the waiver wire.

National League Wild Card Standings
	W	L	GB	Left
Cincinnati	37	29	--	96
Arizona	35	31	2.0	96
Houston	35	32	2.5	95
San Diego	34	32	3.0	96
San Francisco	34	32	3.0	96
Colorado	34	32	3.0	96
Philadelphia	33	33	4.0	96
Milwaukee	32	35	5.5	95
Atlanta	30	37	7.5	95
Washington	30	38	8.0	94
Florida	26	37	9.5	99
Chi Cubs	26	39	10.5	97
Pittsburgh	26	41	11.5	95

Pawnking writes: Once the Phils get to the postseason, their 1-2 punch with Myers and Hamels can compete with anybody. If there's anything the Astros demonstrated last year, it's the fact that if you have 2 dominant starters, you can go deep in the playoffs.

Beerleaguer: I have more faith in Hamels becoming a dominant, stretch-run starter than Myers. But I see neither of them as post-season pitchers, at least not yet. Can't agree with PK here.

Pawnking writes: Most important, the Philly faithful seem to have officially written off this team for dead. As we recall from last year, it was only when officially given no chance that the Phils started playing with resolve and ability. Since this has happened in June and not September, we have plenty of time to make up any lost ground in the NL East and the WC.

Beerleaguer: In other words, "It’s a long season."

There's that life raft again.

Feeling hangover, Phils hope to avoid series burn

Is there really another game starting in an hour? It wasn’t even enough time to pop an Advil.

This morning, I feel like David Bell looks. Scratchy. A little greasy. Pasty, like uncooked chicken. A little wobbled, like I spent the night on a college couch. My face shows the imprint of a second-hand throw pillow. I smell like a clothes hamper, with a faint hint of controlled substance.

The Mets can make swift work of the reeling Phils this afternoon by completing a three-game sweep. Cory Lidle and Steve Trachsel are on the mound. And for those of you headed to the game, you know what Trachsel means. Sunburn. Lingering headache. Stiffness. Hours upon hours of actionlessness.

Enough has been written about the lack of Phillies baseball IQ, but not enough credit has been given to the Mets. This has been an incredible offensive showcase, particularly from the top of their lineup. Jose Reyes looks like the playmaker Juan Pierre once was. Everyone keeps saying Carlos Delgado is the big difference in their lineup, but with all do respect to the slugger, Paul Lo Duca is my pick hitting out of that two hole and putting the ball in play. Perfect hitter behind Reyes. Carlos Beltran, Delgado, David Wright – just phenomenal.

The Mets have the look of a team that believes they can win every day.

The Phillies look ... well ... a lot like David Bell.

Stupid mistakes, or unprepared team?

Isolated errors and mental blunders will happen, but when mistakes occur at the rate the Phillies are committing them this series, and all season long, there's something bigger at play.

The Phillies picked the wrong series to play their sloppiest ball of the season, but the truth of the matter is stupid mistakes have cost them a handful of games this season. Even the wins are never crisp.

Before yesterday’s game, GM Pat Gillick acknowledged that fact: "We haven't played smart baseball. We've made some stupid mistakes," he told the Daily News.

The Phils committed three official errors Tuesday and three again yesterday. Officially, there should have been more.

These aren’t isolated mistakes from only a few players we’re talking about. Over half the starting lineup is guilty of fielding errors, baserunning mistakes, poor pitch selection, and poor situational hitting. We’re talking game-destroying, season-crushing mistakes across the board.

If the Phillies are truly the Mets' closest competitor in the NL East, New York should pop the cork right now. They’re in a different class.

So what happened to the Phillies? How does a team become stupid? Is it a reflection of the coaching staff? Should Charlie Manuel and crew share the blame for poor preparation, and failing to develop a sense of craft and urgency?

How long will the Phillies sit around and watch man-child Brett Myers make a spectacle of himself? Yesterday, his big mission was to show up an inexperienced catcher and umpire who wasn’t calling the game his way. He turned the most critical game of the season into personal playtime, mucking around against the best lineup in the National League. A thinking pitcher, with just a gram of focus, wouldn’t throw down the middle to David Wright ahead 0-2 in the count.

It doesn’t stop there. Here's a small sampling from the rest of this series. Two missed balls in the outfield yesterday by Bobby Abreu. Both should have been converted to outs. How do you pitch to Endy Chavez, the same, weak fastball hitter who embarrassed himself last year in a Phillies uniform? When is the right time to steal a base? How do you field a chopper at third? How do you respond when calls don't go the way you think they should? Do you throw two high fastballs in a row to Carlos Beltran, a high fastball hitter?

Not enough discipline. Not enough focus. When it gets this bad, one can't help but see it as a reflection of the manager.

This series demanded a focused approach, and the Phillies came unprepared for the fight.

Game 2: Phillies try to even the score with Mets

The three-game series with the Mets continues tonight when Brett Myers (4-2, 3.44) faces Orlando Hernandez (4-5, 5.48) at Citizens Bank Park. The Phils trail the Mets by 7 1/2 games in the NL East.

The Mets are rolling, having won six straight after yesterday’s 9-7 series opener. David Wright, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado each homered, but it was the Phillies defense that was talked about most this morning. The Phils committed three errors in a five-run sixth inning to blow it open for New York. Ryan Madson gave up six earned runs in his five innings of work to add to the list of things that went wrong last night.

It's a good time for the Phillies to send out their best pitcher to stop their small skid from turning into a streak. Brett Myers will look to recover from his worst outing of the season, having allowed a season-high six earned runs in Friday's 9-8 loss to Washington. Before that, Myers had strung together 11 consecutive quality starts.

On the other side, El Duque is coming off his first complete game in six years. The right-hander is 2-1 with a 4.05 ERA since the Mets acquired him in a May 24 trade with Arizona for reliever Jorge Julio.

Injury report
Before the game, the Phillies announced that pitcher Julio Santana will miss the rest of the season with Tommy John surgery. Santana has been on the DL since May 13 with right elbow tendinitus.

Randy Wolf is OK after getting hit on his pitching hand with a line drive yesterday. He will have his next rehabilitation start pushed back a day or two, according to an AP report.

Scott Mathieson to debut Saturday

Making their second bold move with a young pitcher this season, the Phillies will call on 22-year-old Scott Mathieson to pitch Saturday’s game against the Devil Rays.

The move was announced in the Phillies' official pre-game notes for tonight’s game.

The right-hander went 6-2 with a 3.04 ERA with Double-A Reading. He will be skipping over Triple-A to make his major-league debut Saturday against D-Rays left-hander Scott Kazmir.

Mathieson, a 6-3 power pitcher whose fastball clocks in at 96 mph, notched 95 strikeouts in 86 innings for the R-Phils, most in the Eastern League. This is the second such move the Phillies have made this season with a young pitcher, having called up left-hander Cole Hamels earlier this year.

Mathieson, a native of British Columbia, was a member of the Canadian team in the World Baseball Classic and is a former 17th round pick of the Phillies in the June 2002 draft. He pitched last season for Class-A Clearwater and was the top-rated pitcher in the Arizona Fall League, according to Baseball America.

Prior to this, there was speculation the Phillies were positioning to move him higher in the system.

More Mathieson reading:
Mike Drago: "Canadian Idol"
Beerleaguer: Top Prospects List, Nov. 2005
Beerleaguer: Mathieson dazzles AFL

Saturday’s choice reportedly between Franklin, Floyd

Phillies.com speculates manager Charlie Manuel could name his Saturday starter as early as today, and the choice appears to be between Ryan Franklin and Gavin Floyd.

Franklin hasn’t been used as a starter this season, but told MLB.com he has "80 to 90 pitches right now." Manuel feels that Franklin can go only three to five innings.

To repeat, that’s three to five innings.

The 33-year-old right-hander (pictured right during a great moment in Phillies history) pitched two innings of shutout relief last night, but allowed two hits and two walks. Since his two abominations on May 23 and 27, he’s pitched a little better, lowering his ERA to 4.40. Opponents are hitting .267 against him, but he’s lived up to his reputation as a home run machine, giving up over two home runs per game for the Phils, second only to this next guy.

Ideally, Gavin Floyd would spend the rest of the season in Triple-A where he can regain his poise in a low-pressure environment. With the big club, his composure resembled that of a wet spaghetti noodle.

However, it’s very likely he will be recalled for four reasons: Reason 1: He was up with the club before as a starter. Reason 2: He’s been outstanding since his demotion. Reason 3: Saturday would fall right in line with his turn in the rotation. Actually, he gets an extra day having pitched on Sunday. Reason 4: The Phillies honestly believe they can still make it work with Gavin Floyd this season.

Thing is, Floyd was a complete mess when he left. I remeber it vividly, like it was only two weeks ago. His final outing was a four-inning, seven-run performance against the Dodgers to elevate his ERA firmly above 7.00. Few pitchers in baseball have been worse than Floyd, and very few have surrendered homers at his rate.

Matchup-wise, the Phillies are better off with a right-hander, so scratch Eude Brito from the list. The D-Rays are hitting just .235 against them.

So what do you think? Franklin? Floyd? Frying pan over the head?

Recharged Phillies battle Mets in series opener

Following a day of rest, there will be no excuse for lifeless play as the Phillies engage in their most important series of the season.

The jabs have already begun on New York’s end from catcher Paul Lo Duca, who told WFAN he hopes to "bury" the Phillies.

"We’re playing well, but this is a series we need to go into and just bury them," Lo Duca said. "I mean, if we can come in here and win two of three, or even sweep them, we can move nine, ten games up in the loss column and that’s huge…

"So, this is a big series for us. And I know they’re gonna be pumped up, because this is where they can try to cut the deficit in half. So, we need to come out and play well, and, like I said, we can put them in the freezer and hopefully bury them by the end of the series."…

The Phils should tack this up on their bulletin board and remember it. Frankly, Lo Duca gives the hometown nine a lot of credit for being" pumped up." We haven't seen it in too many games.

Prove him right. Become ruthless and relentless. Show him that June 13 is too early to bury anybody, especially a team that's only a few games back.

A lifeless showing here, similar to the way the Washington series ended, would be devastating for this fan and should be unacceptable for the Phillies’ front office. The Phillies have enough good players to hang with this team, especially playing at home. Tonight’s game is the start of a nine-game homestand. They are 16-16 at home this season and that needs to improve right here.

The Phils and Mets are knotted up at three games a piece in their season series. The Mets come in as the hot team in the division, having won five straight to improve their NL best record (39-23, .629). The Phils (33-30, .524) are returning from a 6-5 road trip, which ended on a sour note by dropping three-of-four to the Nationals.

Ryan Madson (6-3, 5.71 ERA) will look to build on his best and longest outing of the season, a 7 2-3 gem against Arizona on June 7. His last appearance against the Mets was the 16-inning game where he took the loss on a walk-off homer by Carlos Beltran after throwing 7 shutout innings in long relief.

Tom Glavine (9-2, 3.06 ERA) looks to become the National League’s first 10-game winner.

Press notes: Getting better against lefties
--- As a team, the Phillies are 8-9 when a left-hander starts against them, but 8-5 in their last 13 games against a lefty. Individually, Pat Burrell is tied for second in the NL with 7 homers against LHP; Ryan Howard is tied for ninth with 5.

--- The Phillies’ bullpen has allowed only 10 earned runs in their last 53.1 innings (1.69 ERA) and have a 3.16 ERA, best among all major league bullpens. Still, if the battle boils down to the bullpens, the Mets still have the edge.

--- Since April 12, the Phillies are 32-24 (.571), which is the third-most wins in the NL over that span.

Gillick shares blame for rotation misfortunes

From the winter hot stove, to in-season deals that were missed, Phillies GM Pat Gillick hasn't done enough to address the unraveling starting rotation.

Pat Gillick and the Phillies were outdone by Omar Minaya and the Mets in how they temporarily fixed the bottom of their rotation.

Like the Phils, they had two gaping holes, filled for a while by Jose Lima and Jeremi Gonzalez, both no longer on the team. Sensing urgency, they called up Alay Soler, the Cuban rookie, and traded for El Duque, the Cuban veteran.

The question is: Why didn't Gillick trade for a pitcher like this at the first sign of trouble? The Mets were able to move journeyman reliever Jorge Julio for him. It’s not as if the Phils couldn’t come up with something better.

Did anyone besides the Phillies brain trust expect all the puzzle pieces to fit? After a month, it was clear they would not. Did Gillick really expect Gavin Floyd to pull through? How much did he expect from 36-year-old Jon Lieber, who hasn’t pitched well since spring training and appears better suited to drive a forklift? And how much faith did he have in Ryan Madson to help the team more as a starter than as a reliever?

These are three legitimate questions that fall back on Gillick, who's watched as several productive, cheap pitchers have passed him by. Today, his only starting pitching acquisition remains Ryan Franklin, who has yet to start a game for the Phillies.

Gillick made the right call in passing on high-priced free agents, like Matt Morris and Jeff Weaver, but several good pitchers have been had for a lot less, from Bronson Arroyo, acquired by the Reds for Wily Mo Pena, to Aaron Sele, signed right off the scrap heap by the Dodgers.

El Duque had struggled with Arizona, but has pitched well since coming over to New York. Stats or no, this is a pitcher that has won in the past, has pitched in the postseason and could have helped them.

--- The Beerleaguer fantasy team finally parted ways with struggling second baseman Marcus Giles. Atlanta’s leadoff situation is the biggest difference between this season and last, with Rafael Furcal moving on to the Dodgers to anchor that young defense. Giles is an even worse leadoff hitter than our own Jimmy Rollins, with less speed and less ability to generate extra-base hits. Giles has 19 on the season, with just 3 homers. He’s well off pace for what PECOTA expected from him this season, and allow me to make this observation without insinuating anything, but he looks much smaller. The Braves are 10 back of the Mets and 3.5 games back of the Phillies. Still, don’t count them out.

--- If the Phillies do nothing else at the trade deadline, they should move Rheal Cormier to a contending team that needs a left-handed reliever. A team like Arizona, for example, could find themselves in the NL West hunt without a left-handed arm in their entire staff. It would be criminal to be without one for the playoffs. If the Phillies can manage even a mid-level third base or catching prospect, from a farm system as deep and redundant as Arizona’s, they should consider themselves blessed. Stranger things have happened. Some of the most lopsided deals in history came in deadline deals for veteran relief pitching, including Larry Andersen to Boston for minor league first baseman Jeff Bagwell.

--- In other news, Randy Wolf has already made two rehab starts. Second baseman Chase Utley has widened his lead in all-star voting over Craig Biggio. Tom Goodman of Swing and a Miss has a great article on whether the Phils will buy or sell at the trade deadline. Tom Goyne of Balls Sticks & Stuff takes a look at the polarizing effect Bobby Abreu has on Phans. Enrico of The 700 Level is helping raise money to fight breast cancer.

Fading stars of tomorrow shine tonight

When the Double-A Reading Phillies play the Altoona Curve tonight at Citizens Bank Park, don’t count on seeing many of these players in the home dugout further down the road.

READING, Pa. -- Yesterday at First Energy Stadium, the average age of the Reading Phillies starting nine, including DH, was 28-years-old, much older than most Double-A clubs.

That's older than some major-league clubs, frankly.

Granted, three young regulars – Michael Bourn, Tim Moss and Jason Jaramillo -- were out of the lineup to start yesterday's game. Then again, so was veteran outfielder Jim Rushford, age 32, recently promoted to Scranton after spending two months in Reading.

No team speaks of the sorry state of the Phillies farm system more than Reading. The team was so desperate for bats, they were forced to clean house a few weeks ago by re-signing veteran retreads, like 31-year-old Gary Burnham. Burnham got as high as Triple-A Syracuse (Toronto), but he’s way too old for Double-A. The same can be said for half the team.

Better organizations don’t resort to this. Then again, no one ever accussed the Phillies of running a tight ship. After yesterday's loss, Reading fell to 25-36, the worst record in the Eastern League. It's part of a lasting, top-to-bottom trend of Phillies minor league futility spanning the past few seasons.

Only two R-Phils position players, Bourn and Jaramillo, are considered big-league prospects. Jaramillo, a catcher in the mold of Johnny Estrada, has been hurt most of the season, while Bourn is spending his second full season in Reading. The speedy 23-year-old has earned high marks for defense, but does not hit for power. His make-or-break stat should be on-base percentage, which stands at a respectable .349. However, it cannot mask the biggest eye-opening stat: strikeouts, 50 of them in 61 games. Unless you're Ryan Howard, that's not the stuff of major league hitters.

The good news: the R-Phils have a stable of outstanding pitchers. Dan Haigwood, the junkball left-hander picked up in the Jim Thome deal, along with teammate Gio Gonzalez, starts tonight's game in Philadelphia.

Haigwood and the talented pitching staff isn’t the problem for Reading, but the desperate atmosphere of losing can be devastating for confidence and drive. Haigwood is holding hitters to a .221 average with a 3.97 ERA, but his win-loss is just 1-5. Gonzalez, who’s dazzled, is just 2-6. In addition, Mathieson and the surprising Zach Segovia have shown promise. It's a welcome change from last season, when the entire starting rotation was comprised of pitchers who started with other organizations.

Here’s a glimpse at yesterday’s Double-A lineup. This should never happen.

Carlos Leon: 27-year-old infielder. Signed as a minor league free agent in 2003. Hitting .287 with 2 homers and a nice OBP (.388).

Joey Hammond: 28-year-old outfielder/infielder. Signed as a minor league free agent after 2005 season. Hitting .240 with 2 homers and a .284 SLG. Slow swinger.

John Castellano: 28-year-old catcher/outfielder who cannot defend. Signed back with the desperate Phillies earlier this season. Was assigned to Single-A for some reason, where he punished young pitching. Back with Reading, he’s hitting .316 with 4 homers and a .451 SLG.

Matt Padgett: 28-year-old designated hitter/outfielder. Played last two seasons with Albuquerque (AAA) and hit 17 homers last season. Posted a .515 SLG in 2004.

Angel Chavez: 24-year-old infielder. Claimed off waivers from the San Francisco Giants in April. Saw action in 10 games with the Giants last season. Ranked fifth among all Giants farmhands with career-high 83 RBI in combined 119 games. Batted .282 with 19 2Bs, 4 3Bs and career-high 16 HRs.

Gary Burnham: 31-year-old infielder/outfielder. Signed as a free agent on May 24 as part of Reading’s veteran overhaul. Originally selected by the Phillies in the 22nd round of 1997 draft. He spent the entire season with independent Bridgeport and hit a career-high 18 homers. He and catcher Jeff Winchester combined on a bang-bang play at the plate in yesterday's game.

Jesus Merchan: 25-year-old third baseman. Signed by Phillies as a minor league free agent last June. Light-hitting corner slugging just .333 this season with no homers.

Brandon Gemoll: 25-year-old first baseman. Spent last three seasons with Double-A Huntsville before signing as a minor league free agent. Hitting .198 with no homers in 91 at bats. Ten doubles, however.

Jeff Winchester: 26-year-old catcher. Signed as a free agent in June. Originally selected by the Rockies in the first round (40th overall) of the 1998 draft. He’s hitting .108 in 55 at bats.

Extra reading: As usual, check out the latest Double-A news at Mike Drago's blog [here].

Phils, Nationals finish off four-game set

Cole Hamels and the Phillies hope to even their series with Washington this afternoon and finish off their 11-game road trip on a positive note.

Hamels (1-0, 2.65 ERA) earned his first career win last outing in an impressive showing against Arizona. Shawn Hill (0-1, 2.77) will make his third start of the season for the Nationals.

Pat Burrell was the hero in yesterday's game. His two-run homer in the eighth led to a five-run rally against Livan Hernandez, who had been tough on the Phils this year.

The Phillies will go with a lineup of starters for today's game.

Phils patching together threadbare receiver corps

Mike Lieberthal is Crash Davis, Sal Fasano is a starter, Chris Coste is a backup, and the Phillies are dangerously thin at catcher.

Before the season, I never thought Sal Fasano, the career back up and Triple-A catcher, would log more innings as the season went deeper. His signing figured to serve as a place-holder in case Carlos Ruiz emerged, or if they acquired another catcher.

Instead, due to two separate injuries to Mike Lieberthal, the 34-year-old veteran is seeing more action than ever. His career high in at bats came in 1998 with Kansas City - 216 of them. This season with the Phils, he already has 97.

Meanwhile, Ruiz, who struggled offensively with the Phils, continues to start every day for Scranton, filling innings at a position that has grown dangerously thin throughout the Phillies organization. During Ruiz’s earlier call-up, the Red Barons were forced to use a catcher whose previous experience was in the Gulf Coast League.

Here in Philadelphia, the position is equally thin. The Phillies placed Lieberthal on the 15-day disabled list yesterday, retroactive to June 6 with a left hip strain, and recalled right-handed pitcher Brian Sanches from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

With Chris Coste already on the roster, manager Charlie Manuel told mlb.com he was comfortable having Coste and Fasano as his catchers until Lieberthal returned. Coste has never been anything more than a part-time and emergency catcher in the minor leagues.

Looking to give Fasano a day off, Manuel handed the receiving duties to Coste yesterday, his first start behind the plate in the Majors. Coste went 0-for-3 and is still seeking his first big-league hit.

Even with a healthy Lieberthal, catcher is the worst position on the team, perhaps the worst position on any team in baseball. Phillies catchers have generated just three homers, all from Fasano. The highest ranking catcher, in terms of Win Shares, is still Lieberthal, who places just 27 in the National League. Fasano ranks 32. When Ruiz left, he was hitting just .143 with 1 RBI.

Fasano, who has just overtaken the team lead for starts, has not looked terrible defensively since some earlier struggles, and hit homers in consecutive nights last week. He also went 4-for-4 for the first time in his career.

Fasano had been assigned to Jon Lieber and Gavin Floyd, but is catching just about everyone now, including some impressive starts by Ryan Madson and Cole Hamels. Of all the pitchers in the rotation, he has handled Brett Myers with less frequency than the others. Fasano caught Myers' disappointing start on Friday.

Considering Lieberthal's rapidly erroding health, Fasano could be as good as it gets until 2007. Even then, the Phillies will be looking to fill two catcher positions possibly vacated by Fasano and Lieberthal, who become free agents.

Phillies sign pitcher Adam Bernero

The 29-year-old right-hander pitched in 36 games for the Braves last season, and started last night's game for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He took a no-hitter into the fifth inning.

Bernero had been pitching for Kansas City’s Triple-A team, where he posted a 3.27 ERA, but became a free agent through a clause in his contract. He made 11 appearances, including seven starts.

Bernero was a former starting pitching prospect with the Detroit Tigers from 1999 to mid-2003, when he was traded to the Colorado Rockies for catcher/outfielder Ben Petrick.

He has appeared in 134 career games with 34 starts to go 10-24 with a 5.91 ERA. The 6-5 hurler last started a game in 2004 with Colorado. For the Braves in 2005, Bernero went 4-3 with a 6.51 ERA in 36 relief appearances.

Bernero's signing figures to improve depth at the Triple-A level in case the Phillies recall one of their pitchers.

For Manuel, bullpen management is a judgement call

Despite critisim of his one-inning approach to relief pitching, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel is getting the most from a mediocre bullpen.

Part of what a manager does is recognize when his team doesn’t have it. Last night against the Nationals, the Phillies didn’t have it.

It was the eighth game of a cross-country road trip, the first in a new city. They have played 17-straight games, and will play 20 before a day off on Monday.

On top of that, today’s story in the Inquirer said their flight to Washington was delayed two hours and the players didn’t get to bed until 4:30 a.m. If they weren’t already asleep, one can’t blame them for dragging ass once the game started. Eude Brito walked the first batter he faced, a sign of things to come. He left in the fifth inning trailing 4-2.

At this point, Manuel correctly looked ahead to the next three games of this weekend series, including tonight’s tough game with Brett Myers and Tony Armas Jr.

Manuel mopped up yesterday's mess with the bottom tier of the bullpen, even though the score was still 4-2. The offense had already wasted opportunities, and as it turned out, wouldn't score the rest of the night.

Because of this correct judgement call, the Phillies have Rheal Cormier, Geoff Geary, Arthur Rhodes and Flash Gordon all rested and ready to go. Cormier may not have been available to pitch yesterday; he pitched the previous two nights.

The Phillies bullpen, considered by most experts to be the weak link of the team, has been the strongest area compared to other teams around the league. They have the second best ERA in the National League. Tom Gordon has 15 saves and is making his case for an all-star bid. Geoff Geary is having a career year. Rheal Cormier a comeback year.

Eude Brito
Brito pitched a little better last night, but he doesn't get the Phillies close enough to win. The best the Phillies could have hoped for was to catch lightning in a bottle. Brito isn't a prospect.

The simple, temporary answer is to skip Brito's next turn in the rotation and go with a four-man rotation until Lieber gets back, which could come as early as Saturday.

Ryan Franklin
The Phillies are fortunate the way the game unfolded. This allowed everyone, including Pat Gillick, to see that his boy, Franklin, stinks.

Franklin has been day-to-day with a strained shoulder, but it doesn't change things. Franklin’s pitches are slow and right down broadway. If he isn’t hitting his spots, he’s useless. At first, it appeared the bullpen experiment would work. Perhaps his pitch selection would keep hitters off-balance. But in relief, you can’t surrender home runs at this pace.

There’s talk that Franklin could be available for a spot start now that Brito has bombed. That’s crazy. The Phillies should be leaning more toward releasing him or trading him than giving him more chances to hurt them.

Until Gillick admits his mistake, it's almost like having the boss's son on the team and trying to fit him in somewhere. Hard to believe there was a press conference for the "innings eater."

Franklin is one of several struggling role players signed by Gillick, but not every Gillick move has been bad. He recognized Vicente Padilla, Tomas Perez, Jason Michaels, Ricardo Rodriguez, etc. wouldn’t help them more than what they already have.

Neither does Franklin. His spot on the club should belong to the younger Brian Sanches, pitching his third outstanding season of middle relief at a high minor league level.

Young left-handers duel at RFK

The Phillies return to the East Coast for the first of four games with the Washington Nationals. The Phils are looking for their fifth-straight win following 5-2 West Coast swing.

Ryan Madson and Sal Fasano were the heroes of last night’s victory, which completed a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Phillies are riding their second-longest road win streak of the season.

Eude Brito (0-1, 13.50 ERA) will start tonight’s opener, his second start since replacing the injured Jon Lieber. Impressive young left-hander Michael O'Connor (2-3, 3.25) goes for the Nats.

Pat Burrell returns to the lineup after sitting out yesterday. Fasano will catch his third straight game in place of Mike Lieberthal, day-to-day with a hip injury.

The Phillies are 3.5 games back of first, while the Nationals are hanging 9 back.

June 2006 Ex-Phillies Report

An ongoing look at former Phillies. Readers are encouraged to contribute their own ex-Phillies report not listed here in the comment thread below.

Ricardo Rodriguez, now pitching for Triple-A Richmond (Braves), was tagged for three runs in six innings yesterday in a 6-3 loss to Charlotte. The 27-year-old right-hander has pitched well for the Braves, going 3-5 with a 3.90 ERA since being dropped by the Phils. Rodriguez was the player to be named later in the Vicente Padilla trade with Texas, but never pitched a game for the Phils. He was released before the end of spring training.

For the first time in his career, Jason Michaels is an every day player. The 30-year-old former fourth outfielder has played in 52 games with the Tribe, 51 of them in left field, batting most games out of the No. 2 hole. Defensively, he ranks 8th among LF with a .851 zone rating. After a 2-for-4 night against Oakland, he’s is hitting .289/.349/.399 with 4 homers, 4 stolen bases and 12 doubles. Michaels was traded to Cleveland for veteran reliever Arthur Rhodes.

No team fusses over their roster more than Texas, where Robinson Tejeda has already been optioned to the minors twice. The 24-year-old right-hander, who was traded to the Rangers for David Dellucci, was recalled from Oklahoma on May 2, pitched a five-inning win against the Devil Rays, lost his next start to the Yankees, and was optioned back to the minors on May 9. On May 19, he was recalled once again, pitched a 5-inning, one-run no decision against Houston, then got beat up his next start against the Angels. The next day, he was optioned back to Oklahoma, where he is currently pitching for the Redhawks. Tejeda is 1-2 with a 7.71 ERA, 12 strikeouts and 14 walks in his four appearances with Texas.

How does Ryan Howard compare with Jim Thome? Close, but Howard still hasn’t matched Big Jim’s output this season. Thome’s terrific 1.092 OPS (third in baseball) has given the White Sox a potent offensive punch to compliment Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko. Thome is tied with Howard with 21 homers. The deal has worked out great for both sides, but GM `Ken Williams of Chicago deserves a lot of credit for taking a chance on the big slugger.

Tomas Perez should retire and get ready for coaching. After falling one strikeout short of breaking a major-league record for strikeouts in consecutive at-bats, he hasn’t been able to save face. He’s hitting .173 with a .463 OBP, some of the worst production in baseball. In spite of this, he’s starting in a little less than half the games for Tampa Bay and has appeared in 41 games total. Perez does have two home runs on the year, two more than all of last season. Sad as it sounds, he’s still proving to be a bigger asset than utility replacement Abraham Nunez. According to Win Shares, Perez is the better overall contributor than Nunez this season.

Inning Endy Chavez has been anything but buried on the Mets bench, called into duty because of some injuries in the outfield. Chavez filled in yesterday for Xavier Nady in right field. After an 0-4 game, he’s still hitting a respectable .270 with a .691 OPS.

Jose Offerman’s stint with the Phillies was about as long as Alex Gonzalez’s. The 37-year-old native of the world’s greatest baseball town, San Pedro de Macoris, D.R., is hanging on to the dream at Triple-A Norfolk (Mets), where he’s hitting .264 with 2 homers. The pinch-hitter was released by the Phillies less than a month into the 2005 season.

Todd Pratt is striking out once every three at bats for Atlanta, but life is still good for the 39-year-old catcher. Pratt is mentoring Brian McCann, the game’s best young National League catcher. He's hitting .221 with a home run in 68 at bats.

'Tough' Phils go for sweep this afternoon

The Phillies, who have played in more 1 or 2-run games than any team in baseball, find themselves just 3.5 games back of the Mets for the division lead. Ryan Madson and the Phils take aim at a sweep this afternoon to pull even closer.

If the Phillies get to October, they will have overcome more early adversity than any other team with a fighting chance (so that rules out Kansas City). Here's a list:

-- Starting pitching.
-- A horrendous, deflating home showing the first two weeks of the season.
-- Failing to make timely hits.
-- Defensive gaffs and baserunning blunders.
-- Little production from the bottom of the order.

These are the reasons the Phillies have no business being in the NL East mix. Instead, they are right there. They have won 7 of their last 10 games to separate themselves from the Braves and pull closer to the front-running Mets.

The Phillies are getting tough. The Phillies are 18-16 in close games, which is the most nail-biters in baseball. They come into this afternoon with the second-best road record in the National League. Their bullpen has been rock solid of late, and they’ve received three consecutive good starts from Brett Myers, Cory Lidle and Cole Hamels. Finally, they have become the aggressor.

The Diamondbacks came into this series red-hot after a four-game sweep of Atlanta. In game one, the Phillies put out the fire, making perhaps their biggest statement of the season by getting past Brandon Webb’s start with a come-from-behind victory. Yesterday, they made Russ Ortiz pay for all those skin-of-the-teeth starts he used to have against the Phils when he was with Atlanta. Ortiz never impressed me.

Ryan Madson (5-3 6.04 ERA) takes the ball in an ideal situation against a rookie pitcher. Right-hander Dustin Nippert will be making his season debut. He went 7-1 with a 3.47 ERA at Triple-A Tucson.

Happy endings

The people who say it’s premature to get excited by Cole Hamels are the fans who’ve had their hearts broken hardest by the Philadelphia Phillies.

The rest of us have already lowered our defenses, a sign of strength, not weakness. We’re not afraid to watch Hamels pitch, watch him hit, watch him drink water from a cup in the dugout and believe every moment will lead to a certain ending. We’ve already silhouetted his figure from the TV screen, removed the colorless backdrop of Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Arizona, and replaced it with Citizens Bank Park. We wonder what it would sound like to hear his name repeated by Joe Buck. We wonder who would win a battle between Hamels and Derek Jeter.

The Phillies announcers are rarely as quiet as they’ve been the three games Hamels has pitched. They are instructed to believe it's too early, but like us, they are awestruck. Their routine does not include words for him. There are no words for him. So they watch, and imagine, like us. There is no other way to do it.

Hamels hoping to avoid snake bite in AZ desert

Often-injured left-hander Cole Hamels will make his first start since May 18 tonight in Arizona. Hamels has been on the DL since May 24 with a strained right shoulder.

Immediately following his examination, Hamels (0-0, 3.18 ERA) told the team he felt fine and was ready to pitch again. He was given the green light to rehab in Lakewood, and following a 55-pitch start in front of Pat Gillick and others, flew across the country to rejoin his team in Los Angeles.

It’s crazy to consider all the time, money, travel and energy that followed one "pop," the sound Hamels heard when he was long-tossing. My father will tell you he hears a "pop" just about every time he moves.

Phillies nation responded to the news of Hamels’ setback with a collective "Of course. Why wouldn’t there be a ‘pop?’ " One reader compared Hamels to a unicorn, a mythic beast that exists only in fairy tales. Hamels has yet to pitch a game in Philadelphia, starting his first two games in Cincinnati and Milwaukee. Word is his first home start could come June 16 against Tampa Bay’s young stud Scott Kazmir.

The Phillies will need to make a roster move to clear space for Hamels. No word yet on who that will be, likely a pitcher, but if it wasn’t for the injury Mike Lieberthal suffered last night, I would prefer the man to be Chris Coste. This would cut the Phillies bench to four players. However, with Ryan Madson and Eude Brito scheduled to go the next two games, it’s better to hold onto the extra arm in case both of them melt down once again.

Lieberthal update
Speaking of that shuttle bus to Scranton, according to the Associated Press, the Phillies may be without Lieberthal tonight. Lieby strained a hip running out an RBI double yesterday and will be re-evaluated before the game tonight.

Burrell bottoming out
Like the patented "Burrell strikeout face" (pictured right), I wince at thought of Pat Burrell lumbering around the bases and outfield in 2008, the year his contract expires. The immobile left-fielder is getting his leg wrapped after every game, with problems with his foot, ankle and lord knows what else.

Burrell, along with right fielder Bobby Abreu, have been the subjects of trade rumors involving the Yankees, with reports the Yanks have scouted both corners.

Abreu, considered by outspoken members of the media to be a bigger disappointment and defensive liability than Burrell, still contributes runs in a significant, elite way, and has hit well with RISP.

As for Burrell, who contributed the bulk of his offense in April, it’s hard to believe scouts would endorse a deal for him at this stage. He can't leg out doubles anymore, he is a liability in the field, and appears to have not much clue in his at bats. His mechanics have always been lousy, and considering his declining health, Burrell looks worse than he has in over a year. Offensively, Aaron Rowand is close to surpassing him in certain advanced numbers. In addition, Burrell has not stepped up against big-time pitching or in big moments, including a .315 OPS with RISP, 2 outs.

After an 0-for-4 last night, Burrell is hitting .261/.385/.511 with 13 homers, still on pace for about 38-40 this season. However, he has one hit in his last 19 at bats and only three homers since May 11.

Phillies select RHP Kyle Drabek with first pick

The Phillies take a chance on a high school pitcher with great talent, but questionable makeup, according to scouts.

Baseball America thought Drabek could go as high as 12 or fall out of the first round altogether. Instead, he fell to the Phillies at 18.

The 6-1, 18-year-old right-hander is the son of former Cy Young winner Doug Drabek. According to Baseball America, his best pitch is a 78-82 mph spike curveball, to go with a 94-95 fastball.

"When his fastball and curve are one, he has one of the best two-pitch combinations in the draft," an American League scout told BA.

He’s also a good hitter, playing shortstop for Woodlands HS in Texas, perhaps the richest state for high school baseball talent. Scouts said he could also make a case for being the best high school position player in the draft. The Phillies are extremely thin with minor league middle infielders.

As for that makeup, Baseball America says the reason some teams are backing away from Drabek is he’s "high-strung" on the field, in addition to some negative off-field issues. Those issues were not specified by BA.

Stay posted for the Phillies’ next pick, No. 37 overall.

Phillies hoping to prevent first 9-game winner

Cory Lidle and the Phillies have their work cut out for them tonight against the league's hottest pitcher, Brandon Webb. The sinkerball right-hander enters the game riding a 25-inning scoreless streak.

It’s Beerleaguer tradition during Cory Lidle starts to recommend some other activity during his half of the inning. Lidle (4-5, 4.86 ERA) has been a lock to allow about 3-or-4 runs per outing, usually over six innings. Lidle gave up three runs and seven hits over 7 1-3 innings in a 3-2 loss to Washington on Wednesday.

It’s not that he’s a bad pitcher. He’s just a predictable one, and not an especially captivating one. Dish duty is usually a good activity, but at 9:40 p.m., most of us are ready to relax. Amateur astronomers could find the time useful to dust off the telescope and look at stars. Or if you’re not into that, ABC will air the 2006 ALMA Awards, recognizing Latino artistic achievement during the past year. So there are lots of choices. Baseball Tonight also airs at 10 p.m.

Phans may not want to watch the top half of the inning, either, as Brandon Webb (8-0, 2.01 ERA) enters the game as the hottest pitcher in baseball. Webb is riding a 25-inning scoreless streak and has been tough on the Phils, going 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts against them last year.

Santana update
Here’s the latest on Julio Santana, if anyone cares. The injured reliever is currently on rehab assignment in Clearwater and there is no word when he will return. Personally, I’d rather go the rest of the way with Clay Condrey or Brian Sanches than the injured right-hander, on the 15-day disabled list since May 13. Besides a spare tire, Santana is hefting around a 7.56 ERA. Just release him.

Frenchy rolling
Rheal Cormier has allowed just one hit in his last six appearances. The veteran left-hander (one of my picks to have a comeback year) has an 0.79 ERA dating back to last season, not including a perfect WBC for Team Canada.

Another Drabek pitching in PA?
CNNSI’s mock draft has the Phillies taking high-school starting pitcher Kyle Drabek in tomorrow’s amatuer draft. Drabek, a student at Woodlands HS in Texas, is the son of former Pirates pitcher Doug Drabek.

Top-heavy lineup a little better than average

An overview of team offense.

In preparing tonight’s pregame post for the Phillies matchup with Arizona, I wanted to find out why the Phillies have had so much trouble against sinkerball pitchers like Brandon Webb, tonight’s starter for the D-Backs.

The search took me to ESPN.com sortable stats page to research an area I haven’t discussed much this season: Team batting.

The Phillies lineup has a reputation for dysfunction, believe to be a group that strikes out too much, delivers poor situational hitting and impatient at bats, does not have a proper leadoff presence and is generally too slow on the bases. Their strengths are believed to include on-base percentage and power.

Here are a few numbers compiled from ESPN’s team batting page, as applied to groundball pitchers. Some will prove conventional wisdom correct, others will debunk a few myths.

Why do the Phillies seem to struggle against sinkerball pitchers?
The two noteworthy examples this season are Aaron Cook for Colorado and Derek Lowe of the Dodgers. These are terrific pitchers, and in the case of both, specifically Colorado, they are backed by good defenders. (In hindsight, the Phillies should have done everything in their power to sign Lowe instead of Jon Lieber from last season's FA crop.)

Cook and Lowe have managed to make easy work of the Phillies this season because the Phillies, frankly, hit a lot of ground balls anyway. They have the fourth-highest groundball to flyball ratio in the National League, about 1.34 ground balls to every flyball. David Bell and Bobby Abreu are hitting about half of their balls on the ground. Abraham Nunez is hitting grounders at a rate of 65 percent.

Are the Phillies too impatient at the plate?
ESPN says the Phillies are the fifth-most patient team in the NL with an average of 3.89 pitches per plate appearance, but I would argue that it is entirely do to three hitters: Bobby Abreu, Pat Burrell and Chase Utley. The rest are impatient to varying degrees.

Against sinkerball pitchers, it generally pays to be a little more patient, but the Phillies have a number of first-pitch, fastball hitters, including Mike Lieberthal and Aaron Rowand. Lieberthal sees the fewest pitches, only 3.02 per plate appearance, while Rowand, in his brief time with the Phils, sees 3.23. Jimmy Rollins sees 3.45 pitches per at bat, far fewer than most leadoff hitters.

Why does the Phillies offense tend to get in a funk?
Two reasons.

First reason: Reading quotes from players and the manager, left-hand pitching is a major boogyman for the Phillies, and has thrown even good hitters like Bobby Abreu out of rhythm this season. The Phillies have played in 45 games where a left-hander was used, tied for second in the National League. They create far fewer runs against left-handers, about 4.56 runs for every 27 outs, fourth worst in the NL.

From a team standpoint, there couldn’t have been a more frustrating stretch than that series loss to the left-handers of lowly Pittsburgh. After that, they faced a nice stretch of mostly right-handed pitching, including Atlanta and San Francisco, scored more runs and went on a winning streak.

The second reason is immeasurable, but has no doubt effected the offense: They always play from behind because starting pitching is so poor. They have outscored only one team this season: Washington. That's desperation baseball. The 2006 Phillies pull more hitters and pitchers out of ballgames more than any team I can remember.

Chase Utley in yesterday’s paper: "When you're always trying to come back, it makes it more difficult. But when you're in those situations, you have to do whatever it takes to get on base, just to put some runs across the board."

Does the black hole still exist?
More than ever. Measuring runs created by the 7-8-9 hitters of the Phillies:

7-hitter: 25.2 RC (10th in NL)
8-hitter: 14.0 RC (Last in NL)
9-hitter: 0.5 RC (Last in NL)

To make matters worse, the black hole has sucked an additional entity into the darkness:

1-hitter: 29.6 RC (11th in NL)

In general, how does the Phillies offense rank?
The solid five-man show of Utley, Abreu, Burrell, Howard and Rowand makes them a little better than average, a reflection of their overall record. They are one of the best teams in the league in terms of isolated power (SLG - AVG), rank 6th in OPS, and will create 5.05 runs a game, which is 7th in the NL.

However, they are the most top-heavy lineup in baseball, and opposing pitchers are getting through hitters 7-through-1 with steady ease.

Phillies, Dodgers finish off four-game set

The Phillies hand the ball to staff ace Brett Myers in hopes of splitting their road series with Los Angeles. Myers will be looking for his 10th-consecutive quality start.

It's hard to believe, considering how the starting rotation has deteriorated, that if the Phillies win this afternoon, and the Mets lose their game to the Giants, the Phillies will be just 4.5 games back of the NL East lead.

Myers (4-2, 2.80 ERA) has the 9th-best ERA in the National League, and sixth best on the road (2.67 ERA). He has not allowed more than 3 ER in 14 starts dating back to last year. Last time out, he lasted 8 innings against Washington, including a stretch when he retired 13 in a row.

He'll be opposed by Aaron Sele (3-0, 2.20 ERA) and a young Dodgers team that has been impressive this series. The Dodgers are 32-24 on the year and 1 1-2 games back of the Diamondbacks in the NL West.

Pulled from the game notes
The Phillies’ bullpen has allowed only 3 earned runs in their last 25.2 innings (1.05 ERA). They have a 3.29 ERA, 2nd-best in the National League and 3rd-best among all major leagues bullpens. Only the Cardinals (2.98) and the Tigers (3.19) have lower bullpen ERA’s.

Offense, defense must carry the load

Last night’s 8-6 win established a template for how the Phillies need to win ballgames.

Starting pitching is at its weakest point in years, but when the offense gets it going, and defenders like Aaron Rowand take charge, the Phillies can hang in there.

Hang in and hover. That’s the best the Phillies can hope for until the Phillies can find an answer for the starting rotation. Answers could come in a block-buster deal, or in a small trade for a veteran pitcher throwing for a struggling club. Don’t be surprised if GM Pat Gillick pulls off a small deal for a “buy low” American League starting pitcher, for example, any one of the starting pitchers from the Orioles (Erik Bedard, Rodrigo Lopez, Bruce Chen have all struggled).

Those aren’t great answers either, but neither is Ryan Madson. Madson is a temporary answer and was hit hard again last night. His command failed him once again, and when he was forced to come over the plate, LA’s young hitters hit everything cleanly.

With Mad Dog, it's not mental like it is with Gavin Floyd (there is also a report that Floyd is tipping pitches), and it isn't really command, either. Madson doesn't have the pitches to make it as a starter. Hitters will figure him out. Last night, 21-year-old rookies were cranking balls out of Dodger Stadium. Everything those hitters hit in that 5th inning was crushed. That's because they know what's coming.

Madson throws a nothing curve he can't control and a nothing fastball. Good change. It’s not enough for the starting rotation. It shows up better in the bullpen.

Eude Brito, who pitches this afternoon against Brad Penny (4:05 p.m. EST), actually becomes a pretty big piece to this puzzle. But until that puzzle is solved, the offense and defense must carry them.

Utley
After a 4-for-4 night, Chase Utley is now hitting .327. I always thought by the end of his career, Utley will be known best for great hitting, not necessarily clutch hitting or RBIs. Right now, he's giving the Phillies everything - great hitting, clutch hitting, power, RBIs, great baserunning and very good defense.

He's the total package. Is there any doubt he's among the 10-best players in baseball?

He'd rather be a fireman

The good news for Gavin Floyd is he's still young enough to decide what he wants to be when he grows up.

From last night's game thread, Nat put it this way: "I was noticing that Gavin looked depressed as he was coming off the field at the end of the 4th. The kid just looks miserable and I feel bad for him. Maybe he never really wanted to be a baseball player. Maybe he really wanted to be a fireman or something. He sure doesn't look like he wants to be where he is.

"He's depressing you. He's depressing me. Maybe he's depressing the team as well."

Time for the Phillies to get creative. Big starts coming up in the career of Ryan Madson and, yes, Eude Brito on Saturday. If Brito can give them 6 good innings, I'd have to think the Phillies will consider keeping him around. Honesty, he's pitched solid ball for over a year as a starter. In contrast, Floyd has been lost for over a year.

I talked about this all winter: Guys you wouldn't expect can contribute to this team. Clay Condrey and Brian Sanches pitched 4 shutout innings yesterday. The Phillies need this, and they must continue thinking outside the box.

Don't wait for injuries to occur to bring up players that can help you.

Don't wait for players to retire.

Don't wait on players like Gavin Floyd that are hurting the team.

Not every pitching prospect must be a first-round pick (Floyd). Not every pitcher you use must have major league experience (Franklin) Many, many, many pitchers take years to develop (Sanches, Condrey).

However, there's something horribly wrong with the hometown nine, something deep in the core. And we say the same thing every year.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

It’s Gavin Floyd (4-2, 6.64 ERA) vs. Derek Lowe (3-3, 2.90 ERA) tonight at Chavez Ravine. Game time is really late.

Here’s a game RickSchuBlues and our West Coast posters have been waiting for all season: Phillies, Dodgers. Game 1 of a four-game series. Rick's fans are expecting some clutch zingers tonight in his home time zone.

Meanwhile, those back here on the East Coast get a well-deserved break from the action. My baseball fix came between 7:30 and 9:15, a showing of ‘Mr. 3000’, starring comedian/actor Bernie Mac. The movie depicts life for a 47-year-old former star who comes out of retirement seeking his 3000th hit.

Like a lot of baseball comedies, ‘Mr. 3000’ revolves around a hard-luck organization, this time, the Milwaukee Brewers. That could only mean Philadelphia is next on Hollywood’s roster. Touchstone Pictures is now casting “Ed II,” not a sequel to the monkey movie starring Matt LeBlanc, but a completely fresh take on a hard-luck, but good-hearted Phillies GM. William H. Macy stars. John Leguizamo co-stars as the wise-cracking, pie-throwing bench player.

Many of us will close our eyes and hope that when we wake up, a surprise will be waiting for us in the Yahoo! boxscore. Last season, Ryan Howard delivered a game-winning grand slam that opened voters’ eyes to his rookie of the year cred, and also Phans’ eyes to his remarkable poise in the clutch.

Howard led all major-league hitters with 13 homers in the month of May, but is 1 for his last 11 at bats.

Nobody loves hitting in Dodgers Stadium more than the California kid and righteous dude Mike Lieberthal. Lieby is a .348 hitter in L.A. with 8 homers. He’s riding a totally radical 13-game hitting streak at Chavez Ravine. Hang 10, bra!

Beerleaguer is riding his own six-game absentee streak for games played on the West Coast. I will do my best to keep that streak going,

Lieber could miss up to a month

The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that veteran Jon Lieber could miss three weeks to a month with a strained left groin. Lieber was placed on the DL following Monday’s game against Washington.

Beerleaguer take
Though the 36-year-old right-hander had been struggling, going 3-5 with a 5.79 ERA, the injury proves untimely because the Phillies may have been thinking about nudging Gavin Floyd from the rotation. Floyd (4-2, 6.62 ERA) is sinking fast, giving up five or six runs in his last three starts. Because of Lieber’s injury, Floyd may be given more opportunities to work it out.

Ryan Madson figures to have another shot at proving himself as a starter. Madson (5-3, 5.79 ERA) starts Friday’s game and appeared to be locked in a dead heat with Floyd to keep a spot once Cole Hamels returned from injury, but Lieber's setback may have given them both a boost. Madson has outpitched Floyd in recent appearances, but Madson’s usefulness in the bullpen could have had him re-ticketed for relief.

Eude Brito will be given a spot start in Saturday's game, taking Lieber’s turn in the rotation. Brito was 5-2 with a 3.06 ERA in 10 starts with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The 27-year-old left-hander did a serviceable job last season in 5 spot starts, going 1-2 with a 3.68 ERA. As I recall, his best pitch is a slider.

The Phils begin a tough four-game series tonight in Los Angeles. The Dodgers are playing well and will match Derek Lowe, Jae Seo, Brad Penny and Aaron Sele against the Phillies' patchwork staff.

Lieber’s extended stint on the DL could have the Phillies eyeing another solution. Daily News columnist Bill Conlin asked the Phillies to think outside the box this morning, calling for the team to jumpstart the future by promoting either Zach Segovia (3-1, 3.00 ERA, 4 GS) or Gio Gonzalez (2-4, 2.56 ERA, 69 SO, 10 GS) from Double-A Reading.

With speculation the Phillies, Marlins and Yankees are working on a three-way deal that would land Dontrelle Willis in Philadelphia, Pat Gillick addressed the matter yesterday on Comcast. Gillick said a deal at this stage wouldn’t be wise for the rebulding Marlins, who can only demand more for the 24-year-old hurler closer to the trade deadline.

In one rumored deal, the Phils would send either Pat Burrell or Bobby Abreu to the Yankees for prospects and Aaron Small. The Phillies would flip those prospects and a few of their own to the Marlins for Willis.