Breaking: Manuel makes Moyer official as Phillies' 5th

After Kyle Kendrick made just 40 pitches this afternoon in Kissimmee, suggesting his bid to become the Phillies' fifth starter had ended, Charlie Manuel made Jamie Moyer's return to the starting rotation official, the outcome most had predicted. Moyer, who was bumped from the rotation last season, has pitched well this spring and has appeared to suffer no ill effects from groin and knee surgery. Meanwhile, the Phillies fell to the Astros 5-2. Jose Contreras, who has not had a good go of it, allowed three runs in 2-3 of an inning. His ERA stands at 9.00. David Herndon allowed his first run of spring, but was otherwise solid through 2 1-3 innings, striking out four. The Phillies fell to a listless 12-11-1 with Opening Day nearing.

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Comments

[Reverend]

Did he get hurt?

[R.Billingsly]

...which could mean that Kendrick’s bid to become the Phillies' fifth starter has ended.

Let's be honest, did it ever really start? Once Jamie threw in his first B game, the "competition" was over. Moyer was not starting the season in the 'pen.

Unless, of course, Kendrick does end up becoming the fifth starter. Then boy will my face be red.

[ST]

no he's not hurt because Bastardo was warming up while Kendrick was still pitching. then came in the game the next inning

[clout]

I wonder what the value of an Eric Valent signed baseball is on the open market.

[Andy]

The Valent card should, just by itself, guarantee that BL wins the tournee. What's Zo got that tops that? A crumbled empty wrapper from a pack of Harry's smokes?

[Bay Slugga]

Lidge's line - 1 IP 1 BB 1 H 1R (unearned) - 20 pitches, 10 strikes.

Is this progress? I guess.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

clout, I'll trade for it straight up for a Spanky Lavalliere.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

I don't think ten balls and ten strikes is much progress for Lidge - tho I assume that question was in jest. He lives on swings at balls out of hte strike zone and those figures tells me he ain't close.

[NEPP]

KK to the bullpen is not a bad thing really...the bp is pretty shaky right now.

[Dan in Philly]

I said it before, I will say it again: The Phillies are a better team if Moyer is able to be an effective 5th starter than if he isn't. What's so bad about Kendrick going to the pen, then? One of a few things will happen:
1) Moyer gets bombed and after about 5 or 6 starts, is replaced by Kendrick, in which case we've probably lost 1 or 2 we might have otherwise won.
2) Some starter gets injured during the year, Kendrick steps in and becomes the new 5th starter
3) No one gets hurt, Moyer pitches OK during the year, Kendrick becomes a good long term arm in the pen and becomes the #5 starter next year.

Note that all of those are better than Moyer not being able to pitch as the 5th starter.

[aksmith]

At this point, it looks like Kendrick will have to take up the slack due to Contreras being pure awfulness in a human body. So, it's probably best that Kendrick be able to suck up some innings in the pen for now.

Anyone know if Contreras has always been awful in ST? I have no idea. Maybe he's a guy who can just flip the switch and pitch well once the real games begin.

[awh]

If it's any consolation, the man Contreras "replaced" has gotten absolutely shelled in ST with the Twinkies.

Condrey's line:

9.0 IP, 12 H, 10 R, 9 ER, 4 HR, 2 BB, 0 K, 9.00 ERA

[awh]

Contreras' line:

11.1 IP, 17 H, 11 R, 9 ER, 1 HR, 6 BB, 13 K, 7.15 ERA

[Meyer]

Contreras is a cold weather pitcher. His best years were in chilly cities.

[TTI]

JW: You have to direct me to where I can buy a Goat Boy figurine.

Must have.

[RodeoJones]

The most disappointing thing in the Wizard of Oz was to see behind the curtain, to see what the Wizard really was. I remember as a boy, going to Cooperstown and seeing the Hall of Fame in an ordinary red brick building and the plaque room looking like the inside of a mausoleum and discovering that the plaques were quite small. Jim Bunning's 1964 Phillies Perfect Game Ball was not in a Perfect Game exhibit, but rather inside a long glass covered table with hundreds of no-hitter baseballs with no mention of the distinction of it being a perfect game, having it receiving the same notoriety as Rick Wise's no-hitter ball.

Now, shame of shame, the Grand Poohbah of BL does not produce his wizardry in a palatial environment. Worse than that, he stores his baseball cards, not in a humidity free environment, but rather on top of an air conditioner unit; subjecting his cards to heat and cold, condensation and evaporation. His grandchildren will enjoy looking at his yellow moldy Roy Halladay cards in the year 2050.

Posted by: Lake Fred | Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 02:53 PM

Reposted for awesome.

[John]

Herndon looked good again today. Granted he gave up a run, but 4k's to no BB's in 2.1 IP is a real nice sign. A lot of people seem to be critical of Herndon having never pitched an inning in the bigs, but hey, everybody is a rookie at some point right? Davids performance has also seemingly reinforced Cholly's statement about having a guy that comes out of no where every year.

[clout]

David Herndon could easily be the Joe Bisenius of 2010.

[Jr]

Like Happ last year,KK never had a chance. Let's hope it works out as well.Someone needs to introduce RA to the 1 year contract.

[thephaithful]

JR: to be fair, CHoP flat out earned the starter role in ST in spite of Happ pitchign very well at the same time.

[John]

My comment was posted under someone else's name? has this happened to anyone else?

Jason - fantastic job on the MSP preview!!! You're an inspiration to those of us who are trying to muster up the courage to become bloggers. Now knowing that my office is bigger than yours, I am even more encouraged. Then, of course, we all know size doesn't matter!!!

[Spitz]

So if the roster is set and JC and Lidge start the season on the DL, who is the primary 8th inning guy out of the pen? Durbin? Herndon? KK? Chances are that the Phils will blow a number of games in the 7th and 8th in the first half of the season until the BP (hopefully) works itself out.

[Jonesman]

Spitz- 8th inning guy to start the season will be Baez, with Durbin/Bastardo likely platooning for the 7th. If they need someone earlier it will likely be Kendrick. Luckily the off days will make the lack of BP depth a little less problematic.

[Willard Preacher]

"David Herndon could easily be the Joe Bisenius of 2010."

If only expectations could win a few ball games...

[Spitz]

Jonesman, thanks. I had totally forgotten about Baez.

[Jonesman]

I wouldn't be shocked if Contreras only gets garbage time innings at the start of the year, and if he doesn't show improvement ends up conveniently 'injured' when Lidge or Romero is ready to come back.

[MG]

'Official' decision that was made almost 2 weeks ago.

[Lake Fred]

Rodeo, thanks for the awesome compliment.

Jonesman, Nostradamus couldn't improve on your prediction when you wrote: "I wouldn't be shocked if Contreras only gets garbage time innings at the start of the year, and if he doesn't show improvement ends up conveniently 'injured' when Lidge or Romero is ready to come back." Bet the house on it. This scenario will happen.

MG, the "official" decision was this: Jamie pitched well in ST and Mgmt. had this easy decision, "Do we want our $8 million pitcher used every fifth day, or do we want to see him pitch occasionally in mop up roles in games where we are hopelessly ahead or behind? Easy call on this one. KK will gladly sit in the pen accepting MLB money instead of Iron Piggy bucks.

[MG]

Lake Fred - My only point is that I bet the Phils came to that decision after Moyer's strong appearance two weeks ago after a couple of shorter outings in the 'B' games. This was just a formality.

Phils might have had a tough decision though if Moyer had really stunk it up and pitched poorly in his 3 starts the past 2 weeks.

I still wish this team would carry a 6-man bench with Mayberry instead of carrying Herndon/KK and letting them pitch maybe once a week.

That said, I am really rooting for Moyer. Besides the historical stuff, he worked really hard to get back this year and compete. Speaks volumes about what kind of individual Moyer is. He could have just taken it easy this offseason & collected his paycheck.

[MG]

Family friend who is a scout and talked with a buddy who is a scout who watched Lidge tonight.

Comments were:

- More fluid delivery motion than last fall with pretty good action on his slider.
- Got unhinged after the error.
- Pedestrian on the gun at 84-85 MPH on his fastball with nothing on it by the end of the inning.
- Struggled with his command.
- Not remotely ready to face MLB-caliber pitching and looked really gassed by the end of the inning.
- Lidge is more than 10-14 days away from returning. More like 3-4 weeks and that is if he is 100% healthy.

Lidge Warning Factor (LWF): 4.5

[clout]

Last spring, this site was a wriggling, seething nest of Moyer haters, the most vile hate directed at any player in the history of Beerleaguer. Those snakes are hiding right now, but it won't take much to bring them out.

[Mick in Houston]

Is there any reason to be genuinely concerned for Lidge?

I know ST stats really do not matter, but if he is throwing in the mid 80's and tired after one inning against minor leaguers then will he really be ready in 3 weeks?

I would put my LWF at 6.5, but maybe Im over concerned.

[mike cunningham]

@clout -- it will take the first outing.. which will what I like to call the moyer quality start.
6IP. 4ER. 9H. 5K 0BB

[mike cunningham]

@MG: What scale are we using for LWF? Is it like a Richter scale? where the difference between a 5 and a 7 is mild disturbance and complete devastation?

Because that report... did not sound good... at all...

[CJ]

Just so we're all clear. Jamie Moyer is Washed Up (tm). But it's nice to see him healthy to start the season. I hope he pitches well enough that we won't have to discuss KK as a replacement for at least 2 months!

[muchacho peligro]

vile hatred? snakes? really, clout?

didn't have you pegged for hyperbole...oh wait.

[clout]

muchacho: Too bad you didn't read this blog last May.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Moyer is one of those guys who is vilified for his salary as much as his performance. I consider him a marvel at his age and, while he sometimes looks like Bobby Abreu's home run derby pitcher, he puts in just enough successful outings to keep living the dream. I doubt he gives two sh!ts about his critics.

[J. Weitzel]

Take a second to vote:

http://thephield.wordpress.com/2010/03/30/vote-now-the-phinal-phour/

[limoguy]

Not too hard to figure out whether KK will be happier to be back with the big club doing whatever is asked of him than being in AAA and knowing his role.

[NEPP]

KK should follow Happ's example and just do what's best for the team. I hope he sees it that way. Honestly, I'm sure he probably does...after a year plus in Lehigh exile, its got to feel good to be back in a MLB clubhouse.

[kuvasz]

Yeah, nobody ought to have bitched at Moyer after he gave up 7 runs & 7 hits on consective starts, 5/7, 5/13, the first in 2 1/3 inning and the second in 4 1/3 innings bringing his ERA TO 8.15. Then followed by a 9 hit outing on 5/20 and third consecuetive loss. Likely its just me, but any fellow making $8,000,000 ought not consider such a performance acceptable.

[Meyer]

I foresee KK with about 6 wins by June 1st.

[limoguy]

Interesting article linked to phillies.com about Pat Venditte, a switch pitcher in the Yankees organization.

[muchacho peligro]

I've been an avid BL reader for the past two + seasons, clout...

I just think that a good deal of the 'hatred' for moyer was borne out of frustration over his periods of, at best, pedestrian results...

I also read this blog in 2007, when he was championed and revered.

[NEPP]

Career line as a Phillie for Jamie Moyer

104 G, 99 GS, 47-31, 4.49 ERA, 99 ERA+

Yeah, that guy has been terrible. Give him a little credit. Those are solid 4th starter numbers for a 27 year old, not a 47 year old.

I'm excited to see his 100th start in a Phillies uniform personally.

[MG]

Mike - Nah not the Richter Scale. Say it move up half-point or more if he has another outing like he did today the next time out this week.

We debated the other day on here about velocity/control but it is raising more & more of a red flag about Lidge's health that he is at 84-85 MPH on his fastball.

It is understandable if he was say 89-90 MPH and still building up arm strength. It is quite another when he is throwing anywhere from 8-9 MPH less than he started last season & seemingly not building much velocity the past 2 weeks.

[awh]

MG, not a goodweather report on Lidge.

That does not, however, change my opinion.

They should take as long as necessary to get Lidge healthy. Last year showed that if he's not healthy he's a liability, not an asset.

IMHO, if it takes until June to get him right then that's what they should do.

They returned to the WS last year with him pitching to a 7+ ERA.

This team is good enough without him to stay in contention until AN EFFECTIVE Brad Lidge returns.

[awh]

clout, I don't remember the hatred being directed at Moyer as much as I remember the anger being directed at Amaro for giving him a 2 year contract.

[Zudok]

Two words on spring training statistics: Ron Stone.

[awh]

The Fish just traded for Nate Robertson from Detroit.

Looks like they think thye can contend.

[awh]

Did we miss it?

Zolecki reports that Werth lost the beard.

http://zozone.mlblogs.com/archives/2010/03/stop_the_presses.html

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Jamie Moyer reminds me of my neighbor's uncle who worked at teh post office until he was in his 90s. He did the job / nothing spectacular and had to nap every day. He never missed a day or took a mental vacation. All in all, a model employee. He took all the overtime he could get. Guys looked at him like he was stealing their lunch every time he cashed his paycheck.

[denny b.]

"Zolecki reports that Werth lost the beard."

Good. He looked like a tool. Hopefully he cut his hair too. Its time to start looking and playing like a major leaguer again.

He got the attention he was looking for. Its time now to go into his salary drive for 2011.

[Baumer]

yall see this?

http://www.the700level.com/2010/03/jayson-werth-shaves-epic-spring-training-beard-before-after.html#more

hilarious.

[phargo]

Good Morning!

awh, you got my hopes up for a clean-shaven Werth. Instead he's back to that chin-fuzz nastiness, no doubt with gruesome soul patch. Ugh.

Shocker about Moyer. Who saw that coming?

"Got unhinged after the error." I think Lidge's body is irrelevant until he gets his head fixed.

[awh]

Good Morning, phargo.

I trust you're high and dry.

Sorry, I didn't mean to be the source of disappointment.

[awh]

Crashburn Alley has a great peice up on the site about DVORP - Dollar Value Over Replacement Player.

Interesting read.

[Bob]

MG,

Thanks for the Lidge scale update. I would put it higher, at about 6, but you're closer to the situation. Hope you're right.

phargo,

Didn't you post a couple of years ago that you looked like one of the bikini models in one of Jason's ads? Suggestion: e-mail Werth a photo, and tell him he looks gross with the scrubby beard and soul patch.