Phils remain winless, fall to Reds 10-3 in Sarasota

Following the emotional high of winning the World Series, the Phillies find themselves in a three-game funk. The Reds scored four runs off starter Drew Carpenter and never looked back. Meanwhile, the Phils have yet to score more than three runs in their first three ballgames. Leading the charge for the Phils were Shane Victorino (2-3, 2 2B), fresh off the news that he will replace Grady Sizemore on Team USA’s WBC roster. Utility candidate Pablo Ozuna led off the fourth inning with a home run, the Phils’ first tater of spring. Beerleaguer: One can only assume the Phils emptied the tank in October and didn't bother to save anything for February. 

Comments

[philsphan]

Bastardo and Escalona both has success at AA, although they both haven't pitched much there yet. However Bastardo put up better peripherals. I don't think either one will make the 25 man roster out of camp but I think Bastardo is the better of the two, and he's about a year younger.

[PhillyFriar]

(Re-posted from last thread -- thought it was be an interesting talking point.)

Rough outing for Escalona today: 1.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 ER), 1 BB, 1 K. Meanwhile, Bastardo gave up that solo blast to Votto, but was otherwise effective: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.

Again, not jumping to conclusions, but I know which one I'd rather see make the roster as the bullpen's second lefty.

[Mikey B]

d00d-- the link you have for zolecki is wrong-- its the old one. he has a new blog at mlb.com.

cool post d00d!

[MG]

Reds scored 8 runs today against 2 guys who probably open the season at Reading and likely be marginal MLB players at best during their careers.

Why 80-90% of the stats and results that happen during spring training mean squat.

[AWH]

The Phils are 0-3 in ST

0-3 is ST!

Hey that rhymes!!!

AWH's reaction: "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ".

[J. Weitzel]

I am updating links tomorrow.

[Andy]

AWH - More bubbly wine in 2009?

MG - Yeah. I was thinking that there are only three ways we would see today's line-up in a Phillies game that counts this year.

1) They clinch the pennant way ahead of time and Chollie uses this line-up to rest everyone except Vic and Ibanez. (This is the one I like, incidentally).

2) They fall so hopelessly behind everybody that Ruben demands they use this line-up to move up in draft order.

3) There are so many injuries that they're left with people like "Ozzie Chavez."(Really, were they thinking he must be like a hybrid between Ozzie Smith and Eric Chavez?)

(Or Ozzie Osbourne and Endy Chavez?)

While we have not really learned much about this team, yet, it's good to know that Chollie won't waste any brain cells worrying about how to fit Carpenter or Bisenius on the roster.

[RSB]

Eh, this happens every year, doesn't it? I mean, every single spring without fail. Even though the Phils threw us all for a loop by actually winning post-season games last year, it's almost comforting to know that at least one team tradition endures. And hell, if they don't care about spring training, why should I?

[doubleh]

I was at this game today, too. Meh. I'm 0-2.
Most concerning to me was seeing Victorino come out of the game but appear to be limping on the warning track and working out with a trainer for the rest of the game. Hope he's OK.
The Reds old ST ballpark looks like a minor league park, which was fitting for the team we had out on the field today.
Obviously, the outcome of these games matter little, because the Pirates have a winning ST record and we all know they aren't winning any championships this year.

[Goody]

The Phils should have traded Eaton to Citizens Bank for a couple of those green tote bags. The bank could have made him a VP and Obama would have limited his salary to a half-mil, saving us 8 big ones.

[Sophist]

Sorry, I haven't been keeping up with the threads but the Mets signed Ron Villone today. Someone probably mentioned this. He held LHB to .176/.311/.318 last year (108 PA) and .237/.344/.356 for his career. He's about 39, but it was a minor league deal. Solid signing.

[NEPP]

I'm happy Eaton is gone...I'm annoyed that Vic will be playing in the WBC...can't have em all, I suppose.

Finally Eaton is freaking gone though.

[NEPP]

Parting Shot From Eaton: "I wanted to go out and have a good year. Obviously, it didn't happen. I got off to a relatively good start and had nothing to show for it. This day in age, it's what have you done for me lately. Regardless of leading the team in quality starts until the All-Star break, two starts later, three starts later, I'm cast off in the bullpen. Granted, there were a lot of horrible games in there, but there were some good ones, too. It's tough. Getting beat up still, you're trying to do so well, it's tough. But the pressure of wanting to perform and weighing your salary to how you should perform,it doesn't really affect anybody. Once you're between those lines, it's man versus man. It's not, 'He's making 400 grand, I'm making 8 million.' If that was the case, then the Yankees and Red Sox would win the World Series every year."

I'm not gonna miss him one bit...quite delusional, isn't he?

[MG]

NEPP - Amazing thing is Eaton has the gaul to rip how the Phils handled him. If anything they gave him several chances to try and show he could contribute to the team over the past year, tried to move him this offseason, and didn't criticize him publicly in any way during the process.

I hate to personally rip an athlete but Eaton deserves some severe criticism. Likely won't be missed and there hasn't been a single teammate/coach in the past year who has said a positive thing on Eaton's behalf.

My bet is that Eaton is done as a professional athlete. There are better altneratives out there still looking for a job this spring.

[MG]

RSB - Question is whether it translates into another subpar April yet again under Cholly. Have to wait and see about yet about Utley/Feliz and how the roster shapes up but if the Phils can finish .500 in April again I will be happy.

[RSB]

Yeah, Adam, and speaking of context - your 2007 season might have had a little something to do with the shortened leash you experienced the following year. Good riddance, the release was at least a full year overdue.

All the teams in the East should be loading up on lefty relievers to throw at the Phillies. Can't believe Ohman is still out there.

[NEPP]

His comments on them asking him to stay in shape in FL during the playoff run are priceless. I'm gonna take a shot that he'll never play competitive baseball again. He seriously burned any and all bridges on his way out of town. Why give him a shot? What motivation is there. He has never ever been a good pitcher so there's no expectation for him to improve. Even if he bounces back to his peak years as a 5th starter, is that really worth anything? The guy is showing himself to be a cancer, pure and simple.

I get the idea from reading Scott Lauber's blog on him that Scott doesn't have the highest opinion of him to say the least. I have to agree, Good FREAKING Riddance. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, Adam.

[Rush Limbaugh]

Goody and AHW are the two most inteligent posters on this blog. Keep the up the message.

[NEPP]

I wouldn't have given up a a couple of CB totes for Eaton. I could be putting together a softball team for work and I still wouldn't want Adam on it.

[Goody]

NEPP
He would probably be a good DH on your softball team and Cholly has used him as a pinch-runner.

[Goody]

RUSH
On this blog,I don't know if that was a compliment or a dig, but I don't consider myself intelligent. I just try to use common-sense and humor.

[MG]

Rush - Don't worry. Most people won't make the mistake of using the word 'intelligence' and you in the same sentence.

[phargo]

I hope Vic is okay.

[BobbyD]

Now that Eaton has been released, I hope we can put to rest the "same old Phillies" argument that should have been put to rest when they won the World Series.

[Hibachi]

"Johan Santana met with GM Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel for 40 minutes this morning about the best way to handle his elbow tightness. The bottom line is that Santana is officially in limbo and his Opening Day start (April 6) could be in jeopardy as well."

http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/blog/2009/02/johan_santana_out_indefinitely.html

[EastFallowfield]

a href="http://beerleaguer.typepad.com/beerleaguer/2009/02/despite-hard-times-phils-fans-havent-been-frugal.html">Yo, new thread

[EastFallowfield]

Yo, new thread, with actual link