Reliever Matt Anderson, who was supposed to be in minor league camp, made his Phillies debut this afternoon, pitched a perfect eighth and reportedly reached 96 on the gun.
Beerleaguer: I gotta say, it's really interesting that Anderson, the first pick overall in the 1997 draft, worked himself into an audition this early in spring, and it becomes even more intriguing that he pitched so impressively today. Even though he's been out of the Majors since 2005, there's something about this guy that excites me. Here's a snippet from Jerry Crasnick's overlooked ESPN.com piece on Anderson from back in January. Tell me if you don't feel the same after reading this:
"Anderson didn't take the mound until early December, but his velocity quickly crept into the 90-94 mph range, and he even popped a few fastballs at 96 and 97. Each time Del Unser saw him, he kept coming back to his Phillies superiors with encouraging reports. 'I was going to parade Matt in front of all 30 teams,' agent Joe Longo said, 'but right away he said 'Try to focus on the Phillies. This team has a real chance to win a World Series, and I know I can help and I want to be part of that.' I started listing the other people in the Phillies' bullpen and he said 'I don't care.' That's what I love about Matt. He's not afraid of going in to compete.' "
Phillies 6, Blue Jays 3: Roy Halladay pitched a pair of scoreless frames, while Placido Polanco and Carlos Ruiz combined to knock in four runs as the Phillies capitalized on five Blue Jays errors en route to a 6-3 victory. Otherwise, it was a quiet afternoon offensively. Domonic Brown went 0-for-4 and has failed to register a hit in three games. Pitching-wise, right-handed prospect J.C. Ramirez struck out four in two innings, while Mike Stutes fanned three in his two innings. Cliff Lee and the Phillies host the Tigers tomorrow at Bright House Field.
Great story. Then again, Baez touched 95, 96 last year. We shall
see. But I'm rooting for this guy. Grilli, too.
Posted by: Zudok | Monday, February 28, 2011 at 09:36 PM
Everyone's favorite Brave, Jason Heyward went 0-3 today. I like to pick out the worst NLE lines of the day to take my mind off Dom's.
Posted by: Cliff | Monday, February 28, 2011 at 09:38 PM
Cliff, Dom Brown will be fine. He may start the year in LV. So what? He'll still be fine. He should just relax have fun. Eventually the talent shines through.
Posted by: awh | Monday, February 28, 2011 at 09:43 PM
MG: Thanks for the info in the last thread. So the Phillies were basically league average in terms of the number of times they got completely shut down. So they weren't quite as ghastly as I thought, but they weren't very good either.
Posted by: bay_area_phan | Monday, February 28, 2011 at 09:47 PM
In the last thread, RSB & Willard Preacher were saying the Phillies need more youth and athleticism on the roster,
Where are CJ Henry and Greg Golson when you need them?
Posted by: clout | Monday, February 28, 2011 at 09:50 PM
Anderson throwing fire?! OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG
Posted by: Unikruk | Monday, February 28, 2011 at 10:13 PM
Does Mattzilla throw a hard slider to enhance the fire?
Posted by: Meyer | Monday, February 28, 2011 at 10:45 PM
"So they weren't quite as ghastly as I thought, but they weren't very good either."
bap, so I guess scoring the second most runs in the NL isn't very good?
Never mind, I forgot. In bap world, where he drives the bap mobile, and types on the bap computer in the dark of the bap cave...well, the atmosphere can depress.
You need to get out in the sunshine Metropolis of Phillie Nation more, where scoring the second most runs in the league actually is very good.
Posted by: awh | Monday, February 28, 2011 at 10:45 PM
Matt Anderson as potentially the most unlikely value find ever at the 'Value Village?'
Posted by: MG | Monday, February 28, 2011 at 10:50 PM
In other news, Mike Stanton of the Florida Marlins suffered an age-related injury:
http://aol.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2011-02-27/marlins-stanton-strains-quadriceps
The 21 year-old outfielder strained his quadriceps running out a ground ball on Sunday. "Damn", Stanton was quoted as saying, "if only I wasn't so young and had a few more years experience I would have known enough not to exert myself so hard this early in Spring Training. I guess I got hurt because I was too young to know any better."
Stanton had collapsed running down the baseline, and subsequently limped off the field. There is no timetable for his return.
This injury comes one season after another Marlins outfielder, chris Coghlan, also suffered an age related injury, when he tore his meniscus foolishly celebrating after a game. Older, wiser palyers have been known to avoid similar injuries.
Posted by: awh | Monday, February 28, 2011 at 11:01 PM
MG, maybe so. Does the bullpen look like this when they break camp?:
Lidge
Madson
Contreras
Romero
Bastardo
KK
Anderson
Posted by: awh | Monday, February 28, 2011 at 11:03 PM
clout, you forgot Taylor and Hewitt.
Posted by: awh | Monday, February 28, 2011 at 11:10 PM
awh: We're having a disconnect here. It is possible to score the 2nd most runs in the league & still have an inordinate number of games in which the team's offense is shut down completely. If that happens, I would submit that all is not well with the offense.
Posted by: bay_area_phan | Monday, February 28, 2011 at 11:20 PM
BAP - inordinate amount? You just said yourself it was league-average. 7th worst out of 16. That is not an 'inordinate amount.'
2nd in runs. 5th in hits, 5th in HRs, 5th in OPS, 5th in batting average, 4th in stolen bases, 4th in total bases. 'League average' (7th out of 16) in games with 4+ runs.
Basically above average, and in the top third, of every statistical offensive category. And all of this despite having an absolutely ghastly 25 game stretch in May-June in which they scored 3 or less runs 19 times.
awh is right- you really are in 'BAP World' when it comes to last year's offense.
Posted by: Iceman | Tuesday, March 01, 2011 at 12:33 AM
AWH...I need Vance Worley in the pen, he's earned it. But honestly, as long as Baez and Herndon get left in FLA picking oranges for the rest of their career, I don't mind anybody getting a shot in the pen
Posted by: schmitty's stache | Tuesday, March 01, 2011 at 12:54 AM
If Matt Anderson becomes an effective reliever for the Phils this season I'll be shocked and impressed.
Posted by: GM-Carson | Tuesday, March 01, 2011 at 07:28 AM
awh: RE: Dom Brown
I was only having some fun. BLers ride the emotional rollercoaster during Spring Training. I was really just playing around with the idea that maybe Braves fans are doing the same.
Posted by: Cliff | Tuesday, March 01, 2011 at 08:18 AM
I'm hesitant to start rooting for Anderson, as it may detract from my Mathieson love.
Posted by: Bay Slugga | Tuesday, March 01, 2011 at 08:44 AM
"- The 21 year-old outfielder strained his quadriceps running out a ground ball on Sunday. "Damn", Stanton was quoted as saying, "if only I wasn't so young and had a few more years experience I would have known enough not to exert myself so hard this early in Spring Training. I guess I got hurt because I was too young to know any better." -"
For the twitterati out there...@humblebrag?
Posted by: Shawn | Tuesday, March 01, 2011 at 08:48 AM
Yo, new thread
Posted by: EastFallowfield | Tuesday, March 01, 2011 at 10:00 AM