Saturday chat: Phillies try to start a new streak

The Nationals stamped out the Phillies eight-game winning streak and spoiled Roy Oswalt's debut in a lopsided 8-1 affair Friday night. Joe Blanton (4-6, 5.85) and the Phillies look to even the score tonight at 7:05.

Beerleaguer: There's no way to sugarcoat Oswalt's first start. It stunk. Cliff Lee's debut this was not. The Nationals jumped all over Oswalt's mistakes early and often as the newly acquired right-hander hung pitch after pitch out over the plate. Chalk it up to nerves, but let's be honest here. He's going to get shellacked at a far greater frequency than someone like Lee or Halladay. Be that as it may, chances are that his next start will be terrific, and his next. So I wouldn't sweat it. Overall he allowed five runs (four earned), on seven hits, two walks with four strikeouts. Honestly, the entire team stunk last night. They couldn't solve sinkerballer Craig Stammen, who was quite good, and they butchered a couple of plays, including Carlos Ruiz's throw to nowhere that led to an unearned run. Charlie Manuel later revealed that Greg Dobbs was supposed to hold his ground and stay at third instead of charging. Not that it made much difference in the one-sided outcome.

Deadline nears: Meanwhile, we're keeping our eyes on the 4 p.m. non-waiver trade deadline. After netting Oswalt, the prevailing wisdom is that the Phillies aLre done. Infield and bullpen help may be obtainable through the waiver trade period, but in my opinion, they would be well-served to obtain help for the back of the bullpen. It's possible they just don't have the money to do it.

Happ's debut: J.A. Happ tossed six shutout innings and held Milwaukee to an 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position in his Houston debut.

Game chat: Blanton meets left-hander Ross Detwiler (0-1, 0.00) tonight. Keep your eye on Ryan Howard, who has started spinning the tires and is hitless in his last three games. 

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Comments

[Old Phan]

According to Gelb, Ryno is resting tonight. Not the worst thing in the world.

[Brian Schneider's Mother]

This will give Dom Brown a chance to show off his 1st Baseman skills, which I hear are second to none.

[J. Weitzel]

I was actually going to suggest that. Not surprised against the lefty. They should still have the firepower to beat him.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

I thought the deadline was 4pm today.

[dlhunter]

Dobbs at first? Gload?

[NEPP]

15 QS in 21 opportunities. I think he'll be fine.

[NEPP]

I'd bat Gload at 1B. He's been hitting well of late and Dobbs looks terrible once again. (.427 OPS in his last 9 games)

Dobbs just isn't a very good player anymore. Even if you go back to his demotion, he's still only giving them a .740 OPS since that time. Okay but nothing to get excited about for a guy that hurts you defensively no matter where he plays.

Hopefully, Brown gets to start again despite the LHP on the mound. Why treat him like a platoon guy...he's better than that.

[PhillyEnrique]

Deadline is 4 pm not midnight...

[Call me Ishmael]

I like the Throw to Nowhere, especially after our mini-Berks County discussion the other day. Excellent bon mot, JW.

[Heather]

Ross Gload has been hitting ok lately and Ryan Howard has looked terrible the last few games...hopefully sitting clears his head.

[aksmith]

Does Ransom play first base? That would be my bet. Ransom at first and Valdez at third, with Hopalong Cassidy at short. Benny Fran in right. And Domonic playing Left Out.

Please someone, tell my I'm wrong. Then prove it.

[aksmith]

Not "my" that should be "me."

[NEPP]

That is just a terrible lineup, ak. We might as well just forfeit.

Ransom has played 1B a couple times in his career but not very often. I'd guess it'd be Gload despite the "matchup" issue.

[tutpsu]

For those who missed a few bullpen stats I posted in the previous thread:

"The bullpen has thrown the fewest innings and yet they're 10th in blown saves. They're also 26th in save percentage, 21st in OBP and 21st in K/BB."

And @magelb tweets:

Rollins 6, Polanco 5, Ibanez 7, Werth 8, Ransom 3, Brown 9, Ruiz 2, Valdez 4, Blanton 1

[Jbird]

At this point it sounds like trading for #1 starters is cheaper (in terms of prospects) than trading for a bullpen piece considering the rumors on Soria and Downs and what Mini-soda paid for Matt Capps. Phillies are better off trying to catch lightening in a bottle with a call up or picking over the scrap heap like they did when the got JC Romero.

[aksmith]

Wow, that's one Francisco short of a non-floating piece of refuse. Therefor, the Phillies will score 12 runs tonight.

[NEPP]

Seriously UC? Ransom at 1B. Gload can hit LHP, he doesn't have a huge platoon split. Ransom is brutal at the plate and all his power this year (both hrs) were against RHP.

Ransom as a #5 hitter is a joke.

[aksmith]

Sounds like the Phillies need to get Jillian Michaels to Florida so she can whip Scott Eyre into shape. Now.

[Old Phan]

Can't Dom play all 9 positions at once? (Well, 8. I can't expect him to pitch.)
In any case, it's good to give Ryno a rest.

[aksmith]

By giving Ryno a rest, you mean playing Cody Ransom at first and Wilson Valdez at third. I beg to differ. Ryan can rest when he's my age.

I'd take him flailing at pitches like he's blindfolded over the lineup Charlie is excreting out there today.

[Jbird]

I'm curious to see what happens if both Ibanez and Brown keep hitting. Will Brown get sent down? Does Victorino get an extra-long milb rehab assignment? Can't see them trading Werth at this point, but you never know, I guess.

[Heather]

Seriously, WTF did Ross Gload do to UC except perform adequately as a PH from both sides of the plate and not embarrass himself in the field?

Thos two qualities alone set him above all the other players on our bench.

[NEPP]

It is absolutely amazing how much playing time Ransom has gotten from UC.

[Heather]

Excuse me, when I said Gload bats adequately from both sides of the plate, I actually meant to say he hits right handed and left handed pitching well, not that he's a pinch hitter.

Seriously though, WTF dirty pictures does Ransom have on UC?

Or does UC's brain just work like, "LEFT HANDED PITCHING MUST HAVE RIGHT HANDED BAT OMG!"

[NEPP]

That we're running Valdez and Ransom out there tells you all you need to know about our bench.

[Heather]

Holy crap, I can't type. That should read, "not that he's a switch hitter."

Gotta stop sniffing glue before posting to BL.

[Sophist]

When's the last time Gload played the field? Maybe something is up with him? I can't remember the last time he was out there.

[aksmith]

NEPP - Gload is on the bench. That tells you all you need to know about UC.

[Gsl]

Nepp, it doesn't tell me anything about the bench. I already knew who was on it.

[Valo]

Good grief. If you positively absolutely have to use Ransom, at least move Chooch up to #5.

[NEPP]

****Excuse me, when I said Gload bats adequately from both sides of the plate, I actually meant to say he hits right handed and left handed pitching well, not that he's a pinch hitter.****

Figured that.

I assume that Ransom will go 4-4 with 2 HRs after I bash him all day.

[Meyer]

Charlie's pissed that the FO didn't find an Utley replacement and is holding Ransom in the lineup until they do. Twenty more minutes.

[Alex]

UC saw Ransom get 2 hits on Thurs and get on base 3 times.

[NEPP]

Ransom has been on the team less than a month and he'll have nearly as much playing time as Gload:

Ransom - 7 GS (8 after tonight)
Gload - 9 GS...though about double Ransom's 38 PAs due to pinch-hitting.

Dobbs has 26 starts and 138 PAs...while Valdez is well ahead of any of them due to the Rollins/Utley injuries with 54 starts and 219 PAs. Though at least Valdez gives us value with his glove.

OPS:

Valdez: .629
Dobbs: .596
Gload: .775
Ransom: .670

[philwynk]

It will not bother me much if Roy Oswalt is no Roy Halladay, and not at all if he's no Cliff Lee. But it will bother the hell out of me if he's no JA Happ.

[Alex]

Dotel to the Dodgers.

[NEPP]

Dodgers really loaded up with Lilly, Theriot and Dotel.

[Alex]

Dotel is a decent piece to team with Kuo in the 8th. Too far back to make any bit of a difference. Theriot is terrible. They would be better off starting Carroll or Belliard.

[NEPP]

The Dodgers have a tough mountain to climb at 7 GB (4.5 in the WC).

[slackerjoe]

Braves get Ankiel and Farnsworth... not that great a haul.

[NEPP]

Braves acquire Farnsworth and Ankiel from the Royals, and Wilkin Ramirez from the Tigers.

Intersting but not major moves.

[NCPhilly]

I've been intrigued by Wilkin Ramirez the last two years. He looks like another Curtis Granderson. Could be good but has an obvious glaring weakness that he hopefully (for him) solves.

[aksmith]

Chan Ho designated for assignment. I'm guessing there will be zero interest from anyone. Could see the Phils flipping him a AAA contract just for giggles.

[dlhunter]

Chan Ho: ERA 5.60 ERA+ 73 WHIP 1.47
Baez: ERA 4.95 ERA+ 84 WHIP 1.68

[denny b.]

I'd take Chan Ho over Baez.

The Phils do need a long man in that pen. If a starter gets knocked out in the 2nd or 3rd inning, who can pitch multiple innings down there?

Durbin can, but he is used later in the game.

Chan Ho was good here most of last year. Too bad Baez has that 2 year deal, huh?

[Scott]

CHP still has nice stuff. No risk in picking him up.

[Heather]

I would have liked to have seen the Phils do something about their horrendous BP at the deadline, even if it was to just get a minor piece like Dotel.

[EastFallowfield]

I think people would like 2009 Chan Ho. Don't know if that's the guy DFA'd today.

[Sophist]

Dotel cost James macdonald. I know these guys sound okay in the abstract but Macdonald was a BA top 60 in 2009. High price to pay for a guy with control problems.

[aksmith]

McDonald's got a good arm. Giving him up is not a small thing. I agree.

The time for Rube to obtain pen arms was before the season started. But back then, apparently, he couldn't afford even a competent bench bat/infielder. So, things must have changed when Oswalt became available.

Wonder what changed?

[Old Phan]

I would have no problem with the Phils taking a gander at CHoP. Can't imagine it would cost too much $.

[aksmith]

It would cost almost nothing on a AAA contract.

[denny b.]

"I would have liked to have seen the Phils do something about their horrendous BP at the deadline."

Its "horrendous"? Really?

Its probably about average (at best) at the closer spot. When they are healthy, Madson and Durbin and Romero and Contreras are pretty darned good. Far from "horrendous". Certainly deeper then 2008, when Cholly only pitched 3 guys out of the pen most of the last 2 weeks of the season.

Herndon is here because he has to be. The only guy you can realistically get rid of is Baez. And he never pitches anyway.

The bullpen will be added to in September, when Mathieson, Worley and Bastardo come back up. Bastardo could very well be on the playoff roster, should there be a need for a playoff roster.

[Scott]

Herndon doesn't "have" to be here. Rube keeps him as a choice, not as an obligation. He's hoping the kid has a future, and clogs up the roster for that reason. He could cut him loose and send him back, but he opts not to. There's a difference.

I've only seen a bit of CHoP this year, but he still seemed to have the same movement and velocity on his pitches. With him, I think his head is the enemy, and if he is back in an environment that is more familiar to him, that might come around.

[aksmith]

Herndon can easily be put on the disabled list and kept. Why they haven't done it is a mystery.

But he's clearly not good enough at this point to be taking up the Fabio Castro Memorial roster spot on a team with playoff aspirations.

Baez was a mistake? So what? But to compound the mistake with a guy who isn't ready taking up a spot defies logic.

[Sophist]

I'm not so sure you can make up injuries for Rule 5 guys without getting the Dodgers or the league involved. In a month, Herndon's spot on the roster won't be costly at all and then they can stash him in AAA next year and let him work on his stuff. I'm fine with him.

Baez was a mistake, and like everyone else I'd like to see what some of these Iron Pig relievers can do.

denny - agree with you on the 'pen. Madson gets a surprising amount of criticism given his numbers over the last few years. Contreras was unhittable for much of the season and hit a cold spot. But he still has a 9.5 K9 and a 2.8 BB this year. Lefties haven't been able to touch Romero (and his OBP against is also low). Durbin has been excellent. Lidge is the glaring inconsistency. They're one reliever and a more consistent Lidge away, and a lot of their problems can be effectively hidden by Doc-Hamels-Oswalt. Certainly not worth another Phils top prospect to get a guy who has the same SIERA as Contreras (3.17). Would have been a nice addition if the price were lower.

[Old Phan]

Reds up 5-2 in the 8th.

[timr]

So I was on vacation and away from TV/ Internet for the last five days. I assume that the Oswalt deal has been debated alot already, and I was wondering if someone could do me a favor and sum up the BL consensus on the trade? I'd assume its pretty positive, but then again, maybe not? So what's the word on Oswalt, Beerleaguers, and has it changed since his first start?

[mm]

@aksmith: Fabio Castro Memorial roster spot. LOL!

[ted]

i think when you look at tonight's game you have to wonder if the phillies can hit a baseball....If they can bump the Nats pitcher total by the 6th...and the main concern is can Blanton give up 3 or less runs in 6 innings. My main thing is that they wont hit a baseball.

[ted]

you also have 3 stirkeout kings for the phills and they tend to eat poop alot for breakfast.

[Scott]

The Oswalt deal was great. And a mistake. Rube is a genius. And an idiot.

I think that sums it up.

[ted]

will phills lose again tonight...well they will cuz they cant hit a baseball

[Old Phan]

PtB hits a 2 run dinger in the bottom of the 8th off of Broxton. Good stuff.

[Old Phan]

Scott, well said.

[ted]

my guess is that the phills strikeout 9 times as a team tonight and get 3 hits and 0 runs
final score 8-0 NATS...but the questions are still in play

[Old Phan]

Phils win tonight 7-5 with all the runs coming on a Dom Brown single. Because he's that good,

[aksmith]

I too watched Pat the Bat hit that homerun. And whoever the analyst was for Fox then decided that since Pat is a single guy, he'd be out at a bar tonight looking for a little poon as well as drinks.

Would that be considered inappropriate to day on BL? And didn't Pat get married?

[aksmith]

day = say

[bay_area_phan]

I have to leave around 4:30 (7:30 for you all), so I'll miss this game. My understudy, ted, will play the role of BAP tonight.

[aksmith]

I auditioned for the part of Old Phan understudy, but I'm neither old nor funny enough. So, I'm still left backing up Rum Tum Tugger every dang day.

[bay_area_phan]

"Would that be considered inappropriate to say on BL?"

Not only would it not be inappropriate; it was the central theme for around 50 Beerleguer threads between the years 2006 and 2008.

[ted]

Your listening to 103.9Fm Phills Radio here in sunny and hot philly we are asking you fans to rate your team 10-1 and givin thier bad performance so far they are not going to make the playoffs. actually alot of you fans said that Oswalt would be a detriment to this team and blow their chances. well hes 0-1 so far as we heard Oswalt on Houston Radio joke before he left and i quote "Well Mark im done here my work is done i have given Houston and Its Fans all a can and i hope they appreciated my efforts. my heart will never be with philly but i have a chance to make the playoffs there, i just hope i go 0-7, 0-8 with that ball club Philly has never been a place that i have liked personaly but right now its my only option so i had to take a chance"

[aksmith]

Ted, that's a serious amount of typing not to be funny. Good work.

[Sophist]

Braves lose.

aksmith - pretty sure Burrell is married now.

[Old Phan]

Ted, a little brevity would help your levity.

Reds beat the Braves. Huzzah.

[Old Phan]

I thought PtB was married as well. Hope his wife wasn't listening to the game.

[fuzzycopper]

This pitcher looks like he could be the little brother of Jered Weaver.

[bay_area_phan]

aksmith: Just as the Phillies have no adequate backup for Chase Utley, Beerleaguer has no one who could adequately fill in for Old Phan. To back up Old Phan, you would have to be a master of the one-liner & relentlessly optimistic. We have a fair number of funny posters here -- not as funny as he is, but funny enough to fill in for the day. Problem is, they're all notorious grumps.

[aksmith]

BAP - That's just a load of . . . I see what you mean.

[bay_area_phan]

The bad news is that Ross Detwiler is precisely the kind of pitcher that drives the Phillies absolutely batty. The good news is that today's lineup bears so little resemblance to the teams that have been driven batty by the Ross Detwilers of the world that maybe we actually have a chance to hit him.

[Hope SE]

LA: "If a guy's 8 for 20 off me (Zimm off Blanton) maybe I've got to buzz him?"

[ted]

phills lossing alreadt 3-0

[aksmith]

Blanton has stunk this inning, but the ump does appear averse to calling strikes.

[Old Phan]

Usually The Donut waits for the 5th inning for this.

[aksmith]

Hate to say it boys and girls, one more run behind and I'm going to do something productive.

Two more years of Blanton after this. Oh my.

[Alex]

Fat Joe is garbage.

[Dukes]

Joe Blanton SUCKS. Lucky it's not worse - the Dunn ball was a rocket as well.

[denny b.]

Blanton still blows.

[Old Phan]

Not that his first innings have been stellar, either.

[aksmith]

Remember when we used to laugh at Washington?

[bay_area_phan]

I'm leaving at the right time. This deficit is already insurmountable & it looks like it's about to get worse.

[Dukes]

This is getting as bad as the Oli Perez deal...not quite, Oli's deal was more expensive.

[Hope SE]

LA: "It's either stand out there and get hit batter after batter or . . .. knock somebody down!!"

[Dukes]

At least we get to watch brown hit.

[Scott]

Joe used to say the brown spot on the bill of his cap was dirt. I used to think it was pine tar. I now believe it to be chocolate icing...

[ted]

like i said phillys are garbage and will always be garbage there done no playoffs this year at all and all of you fans who still have hope go stick your finger up your ass and smell it if it smells like poop it probably is poop. phills are poop.

[Dukes]

The guy walks the first batter and goes 2 and 0 on you and you swing? Just stupid baseball.

[denny b.]

I'd ask how much longer will the Phils continue to run this clown out there every 5th day, but I don't have to ask that anymore.

We'll just have to try and catch Atlanta and the other wild card teams with the worst starting pitcher in baseball, pitching every 5th day.

[Dukes]

I can't watch this team bat and I definitely can't watch Blanton pitch. I'm out of here.