Aaron Fultz will make his first career start this afternoon in a game that will bridge the gap quickly, and painfully, to Monday’s off day. Then what?
Phillies hinted today’s start would be filled by a reliever earlier in the week, the byproduct of injuries, rainouts, exhausted roster moves, and yes, probably a little admission the season is hopelessly slipping away.
The only silver lining is the series has occurred in another country during a holiday weekend. Still, let the record show they have lost 16-of-20, including big, national broadcast debacles. And that's what many of these loses are: debacles.
The fact Fultz makes his first career start today, after seven seasons as a B-list reliever, indicates just how low things are. You never want to see something like this. For years, Phillies fans could glance at the out-of-town probables, see a pitching matchup like this, and be glad not to be a Royals fan.
Fultz vs. Burnett.
“It’s a shame what happened to the Phillies,” some will say.
Here on Beerleaguer, there will be those who wonder why Ryan Franklin, who hasn’t pitched since June 28, isn’t starting instead of Fultz, and if not Franklin, why not a prospect. Does it matter? Like Fultz, Franklin is only a reliever anymore. The outcome of this game is entirely in the hands of Burnett, who needs only to pitch average baseball to hold a bad Phillies offense in check. As for the prospect, it's probably not worth another 40-man roster shuffle, let alone the cost of a plane ticket to Canada.
Ok. That’s too much analysis for this formality of a game. I should have let my wife write this post, in the spirit of first-timers.
Jason,
This sentance dosen't make sense...
"Like Fultz, Franklin is a reliever anymore"
Posted by: Greg | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 11:19 AM
In the Inky today they showed the Jays starting lineup's lifetime BA against Franklin...I dont thinka guy was under 320. That said, why not pull up another 3A guy, screw it. Dismantle time is on and we have Stand Pat. This is a friggin' debacle.
Posted by: That Dude | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 11:20 AM
G: Thanks. I'll fix it.
Dude: You wonder why Triple-A disaster insurance pitchers exist sometimes ...
Posted by: J. Weitzel | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 11:26 AM
Fultz starting? I think a quote from Bill Paxton's character in Aliens sum up Fultz's start and the season thus far:
"Well that's great, that's just f@ckin' great man. Now what the f@ck are we supposed to do? We're in some real pretty sh!t now man... That's it man, game over man, game over! What the f@ck are we gonna do now? What are we gonna do?"
I easily say see Fasano saying this after a game in South Philly while devouring a giant meatball parm.
Posted by: MG | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 12:17 PM
And I don't see Ripley on the horizon. More like Paul Reiser instead...
Posted by: Mike H. | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 01:01 PM
Friday: Adam Bernero. Saturday: Cory Lidle. Sunday: Aaron Fultz & the Retreads.
Is this any way to win 93 games?
Say what you want about Ed Wade. The Phillies were never this much of a total embarrassment in his tenure. What a disgrace. The only equivalent in recent history is the late summer of '99, when the team went on a freefall from respectability to absolute oblivion, yet Francona kept his job.
You keep thinking it's really bad, but it just keeps getting worse.
Posted by: RickSchuBlues | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 01:47 PM
Looks like good old Pat Burrell is in the line up. And he strikes out again with the bases loaded.
Posted by: Sam Mc | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 01:48 PM
We could sure use Vicente Padilla right about now. Who was that hot prospect we traded him for?
Posted by: clout | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 02:16 PM
It would be hilarious if Manuel would totally lose it at one of his postgame conferences and repeat Pitino's famous rant when he was the Celts' coach. Manuel would yell, "Mike Schmidt isn’t walking through that door, Steve Carlton isn’t walking through that door, etc"
Posted by: MG | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 02:37 PM
The Phillies sure don't lose much in center field with Victorino out there.
Posted by: J. Weitzel | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 02:43 PM
Are you suggesting the Phils aren't going to lose this game?
Posted by: RickSchuBlues | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 02:46 PM
If this doesn't work, will we be seeing prospects called up from Lakewood 'A' Ball?
They have descent to good relief pitching but the starters are killing us.
Posted by: Bob D | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 02:51 PM
The next time the Phillies toy with the idea of using the Adam Berneros of the world, they should remember this outing by Geary.
Posted by: J. Weitzel | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 03:01 PM
When the Phillies return to NL play, with no DH, it will be interesting to see what CM does with Burrell vs Delucci. It will be very hard to justify letting Burrell continue to start. Of course, CM never justifies anything anyway.
Rowand should be careful as well. Victorino looks awfully good in CF. If the Phillies move Abreu (I should say 'when', not 'if'), I would put Rowand in RF and let Victorino stay in CF.
Posted by: George S | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 03:01 PM
It's an easy choice for me, George, as Burrell strikes out looking against the left-hander. At least Dellucci got the bat off his shoulders for his K.
Posted by: J. Weitzel | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 03:10 PM
They aren't going to keep Burrell on the bench. Does Bell still play every day? It's all about the $#^)* contracts. It has nothing to do with what makes the most sense.
Posted by: RickSchuBlues | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 03:15 PM
There's a lotta love on this site for the Flyin' Hawaiian, but the fact is, Victorino's past stats, both majors and minors, do not suggest a quality everyday offensive player. He's got speed and is a decent fielder (I would argue no better than Rowand and that both are quite good) and has been a pleasant surprise with the bat. But look at his BB/K ratios throughout his career. At his age, that's not going to change. Playing a full season, does anyone here honestly think Victorino would create more runs than Rowand or Burrell?
Posted by: clout | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 03:44 PM
Furthermore. Does anyone honestly think Nunez, Coste, Scales or Thurston would put up better numbers than Bell, offensively and defensively? Yes, Bell sucks. But replacing him with a player who sucks worse is not a step in the right direction. Guys are fringe players or career minor leaguers for a reason.
Posted by: clout | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 03:49 PM
Right now, Victorino is a solid fourth outfielder. There's no disputing that.
K/BB ratios for Hawaiian and Rowand:
Victorino K/BB minors: 407/230
Rowand K/BB minors: 306/124
Victorino K/BB majors: 39/13
Rowand K/BB majors: 358/105
They both made it to the majors at about age 25. Rowand's probably got more power, Victorino has better speed. Comparable defenders. When Rowand went on the DL, Victorino filled in very well ...
Posted by: J. Weitzel | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 04:31 PM
Phils win 11-6. Fasano left in the fourth with inflammation in his left knee. He's day-to-day. LF David Dellucci left in the seventh with a strained left shoulder. He's day-to-day. Utley is starting to hit again. Three-hit games by Utley, Abreu and Bell. Two-hit games from Rollins, Burrell and Coste. After a slow start, Coste is hitting .294. Howard hit his 28th homer, it was his only hit of the game.
Geary wins it to improve to 5-0 on the season. He lasted 3 1-3 innings. Fultz was rocked in his 1 1-2 innings work.
Posted by: J. Weitzel | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 04:44 PM
anyone else noticed that geary has picked up 3 mph on his fastball this year? he hits 93-94 these days. i hope a fasano stint on the DL finally showcases how worthless he really is. on scales he struck out 96 times in 376 ABs last year at AAA. no thanks.
Posted by: gr | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 04:52 PM
Jason: We agree, as of this moment Victorino is a solid 4th OFer. My point is: He's not an everyday player. One more stat: Rowand lifetime OPS: .785; Victorino: .688
Posted by: clout | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 05:17 PM
I agree on Scales, Thurston and that whole argument, Clout.
Posted by: J. Weitzel | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 05:41 PM
Wait a minute ... the OPS argument isn't fair, either. Rowand has about eight or nine times as many career at bats as Victorino. 73 of his at bats were with San Diego in 2003, where he had an OPS below .500.
You may be right Victorino may never pan out as an everyday player, but you're connecting some dots here that shouldn't be connected.
Posted by: J. Weitzel | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 05:46 PM
We can certainly compare their first 100 ABs in the major leagues if you like. But you can't discard Victorino's first 73 ABs just because he sucked.
Posted by: clout | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 05:50 PM
Clout, I think I'm with you on this one. Victorino is defintely a good fourth outfielder. But there's a big difference between a third and a fourth. That said, I'd love nothing more than to see him play a lot more in the second half, so we know. There's nothing to lose by finding out for sure.
Are we down on Rowand now? He hasn't done much since coming back from the DL, but suddenly some people are ready for him to walk the plank as well. He's been dragging along with the team for the past month, and he's really only slightly above average offensively. But I'm not so sure about him either way, yet. I may be after a full season of watching him, weighing the positives and the flaws. I tend to still believe he represents a step in the right direction, despite being on team that's very much in the wrong direction until further notice.
Posted by: RickSchuBlues | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 06:07 PM
"He hasn't done much since coming back from the DL."
Of course, if he hadn't foolishly put himself on the DL, he might be having a good year. Victy makes a small fraction of Aaron's money and is at least as good a player. Can there be any question, at this point, that Rowand's defensive reputation is far better than the reality?
Dump Rowand. Then again, they should dump everybody not under 30 and under $1 million per. Time to get younger and cheaper and build from the ground up.
Posted by: John Salmon | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 07:31 PM
Few comments on Rowland v. Victorino:
-Rowand has really struggled offensively since he has come back. No power and he absolutely looks confused at the plate.
-Oddly enough, Rowands' defense has improved with the exception of hitting the cutoff man.
-If the Phils do indeed give up on Rowand and trade him for prospects, they basically have little to show for trading Thome.
-Rowland is making about $3.5 million this year and his salary is the least of the Phils' financial problems.
-Victorino has been one of the few pleasant developments on the Phils but his BB/K ratio and OBP are not that great. He would really struggle as a leadoff hitter on this team. Best suited to hit 7th or 8th on a decent lineup.
Posted by: MG | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 09:37 PM
To add to the indignities, Uts, Ryho and Flash made the all star team, but right now on ESPn they have the Black Bull listed as a memeber of the houston astros.
Posted by: That Dude | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 10:04 PM
Dude, didn't you hear? Gillick traded Howard to Houston for a pair of set-up men. Said he wished he could have gotten another deal done with Texas, but he supposed another team in the state would have to do for now.
Posted by: RickSchuBlues | Sunday, July 02, 2006 at 11:27 PM
I don't understand what the big to-do is about the lineup. Yes, the lineup has its glaring problems, specifically at catcher and 3rd base, and they still don't hit with RISP. But the fact is, all we should be concerned about is the pitching. Arguing Rowand vs. Victorino or continuing the neverending debate about Abreu is pointless. Right now, our rotation is Lidle, Hamels, Mathieson, Madson, Bernero. That is why we are losing. We can cross the whole Rowand/Victorino bridge when it becomes an issue. Until the rotation is fixed, it doesn't matter one bit, and I don't think substituting one for the other would have too great an impact regardless.
Posted by: Adam | Monday, July 03, 2006 at 12:28 AM
If they trade Burrel and/or Abreu they can platoon Victorino/Delluca. They are both good enough to play (and cheaper). Plus in any trade they may come up with, an outfielder maybe thrown into the mix. Its time to prepare for next year. I know - they have an outside shot at the wild card but at this point they would need a dramatic turn around.
So Pat go ahead and trade some veteran starting pitchers, relievers, Bell, an outfielder, and the manager for some good players for next year.
Posted by: Bob D | Monday, July 03, 2006 at 08:07 AM
Leiber will be back next week.
Posted by: Bob D | Monday, July 03, 2006 at 08:08 AM
Some made comments above about keeping Bell at 3rd because he's the best option, although that may be true, I don't want to see him out there. I would like to see Scales, Thurston, or Coste given a chance. Bell disgusts me! This is only my opinion, and my strong desire to see someone else man 3rd.
Posted by: Drama Queen | Monday, July 03, 2006 at 08:08 AM
For years I've been watching the All Star game and waiting for the lone sympathy pick Phillies to bat or field. This year the Phils have THREE legitimate All Stars and none are named Rollins, yet the the team stinks! (I cleaned that up). I don't know what to think about what needs to be done to fix this team. I think I'll take this All Star break off and think about hamburgers and lawn chores (no Phillies!).
Posted by: Lake Fred | Monday, July 03, 2006 at 08:53 AM
About Lieber coming back...NO! He's getting lit up in Single A Clearwater...he's just bad!
Posted by: Drama Queen | Monday, July 03, 2006 at 10:37 AM
At least with Fasano out, we can see if Coste's 0.294 is an illusion or not.
The old-man rookie really may be able to hit. Maybe he needs a chance to prove it.
Posted by: joe | Tuesday, July 04, 2006 at 12:27 PM