Game chat: Papelbon seeks an inning of work tonight

The Phillies have 99 problems and hustle ain't one. The 44-game learning experience continues when Vance Worley takes the hill against Yovani Gallardo in the second of four from Miller Park. First pitch is 8:10. The Phils' bullpen has blown two-straight games. All-Star and $50 million closer Jonathan Papelbon, pictured right in case you've forgotten what he looks like, goes in search of his seventh inning of work this month. [Jump to the newest comments]

Comments

[GTown_Dave]

It's important for a last place team to have a rarely used closer who has been as much disappointing as dazzling when he does occasionally find himself pitching in an actual game.

[J. Weitzel]

He's saving all his bullets for 2015, and possibly, 2016 (vesting option year).

[Wayne from Nebraska]

I see that Ruf had his 29th home run last night and his roommate Asche had a hit in his 11th straight game and is now hitting .278 . Ruf is now playing LF every game. Maybe these guys can come up in Sept 2013.

[GTown_Dave]

Wayne: Knowing the Phillies, more like Sept. 2017. Gotta make sure everyone's nice & old before they get a shot at the bigs.

[Willard Preacher]

The upside to rarely using Paps is that it's a quicker and more painless way to get to the end of the season. You'd think Papelbon was paid by the hour with how he slows the game to a grinding halt. Must be all that adrenaline in those high leverage situations that he loves so much...

[GTown_Dave]

Could've saved Edward Norton's character in Fight Club a lot of aggravation if the plot had simply called for him to watch Papelbon pitch an inning. Boom, insomnia cured.

[Fan from Fifty]

I keep thinking Ryan Madson would be a good potential addition to the 2012 bullpen. Given his TJ surgery, he’ll be available cheaper than normal. He and Papelbon could handle the 8th & 9th. But Madson may have lingering issues with Amaro and Amaro may have lingering issues with Boras. Thoughts?

[Fan from Fifty]

2013 bullpen, that is...

[UBIK]

If Worely looks gassed/nauseous/impinged/bone-spurred tonight, I'd just as soon see him shut him down, wave the proverbial white flag, and bring Cloyd. I don't even care if Cloyd sucks, I just think Vance should go ahead get surgery sooner rather than later if he'll need it either way. Feel like Worely hasn't had a really good start in two months.

[MG]

It is amazing how Papelbon literally sucks the life of the CBP.

[wes covington's ghost]

Anybody with extra innings package looking for a chuckle before the game, check out the gnats and listen to Ray Knight, whose ramblings make Sarge seem like Winston Churchill.

[MG]

Phils at +130? Not with Worley on the mound against this lineup. Brewers at -145 stinks for the value too. I would take them at -120 or even -125.

[GTown_Dave]

MG: The Brewers make me leery almost regardless of the line. Seems like every time I watch them the bullpen is melting down &/or they're kicking the ball all over the field.

[MG]

Dave - Yeah it is two semi-flawed teams playing one another tonight. Like Gallardo's chances though to put the clamps on this lineup over 7 IP though.

[ChollyM]

Curious to see what Worley has tonight.

[ChollyM]

Wow Howard was winging like he doesn't have a clue.

[ChollyM]

swinging even

[NEPP]

Not that velocity matters but Worley's looks to be down to start the game.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Who gives a shart? Love beerleaguer but, it's staggering while trying to readjust to being a site devoted to an also-ran.

Watching LindBomb slosh gasoline all over the bases before he lit a match last night was painful but, meaningless. Did Manuel admit his intention? Just absolutely painful watching these games knowing that winning isn't the agenda of the folks who count. Now, I'll go read the last couple threads and despair for BL-kind.

[GTown_Dave]

I think the Phils TV broadcast should air that play of Dom at the wall while the HR ball flies by his glove about 700-800 more times. I haven't seen it nearly enough.

[NEPP]

Former top prospect Trevor May got lambasted tonight in AA.

2.2 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Brewers Broadcast = "future's so bright, I gotta stuff my face in a steroid enhanced cow's udder' is annoying.

[NEPP]

There we go.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Good to see someone else is watching.

[NEPP]

Pretty much anyone not named Molina advances to 3B there on a grounder to the right side.

[clout]

Lindblom is off to a horrible start with his new team, but, as a prospect, he is better than Stutes, Rosenberg, Schwimer, Diekman, Sanches, Herndon.

Fans tend to overrate home grown prospects, but the fact is every one of those Phillies I mentioned is a Grade C prospect. That means maybe 5-10% of them will pan out. Some will bump up and down between here and LV for a few seasons before disappearing, but the overwhelming majority will fail.

You've basically got Lindblom and DeFratus as legit prospects (not including low minors) and, if you're lucky, one of the others will pan out.

That's it.

[mainerob]

Terrible, terrible AB by Nix. That second called strike is in most any lefty's wheelhouse. Crap.

[mainerob]

If, if, if, if, T-Bag.

[fooman]

Man, where are all the front runners tonight?

[NEPP]

Lindblom is a C prospect too...FWIW.

[clout]

Ryan O'Sullivan is not a bad pickup in the Blanton deal.

Good fastball (94 mph) and curve. Fairly polished college kid in second year after elbow injury. held his own in 17 IP in High A Rancho Cucamonga, an extreme hitters park.

Good bloodlines too: Brother is Sean O'Sullivan, who's been up and down past 3 years and not been very successful in MLB, but could still make it at age 24.

That said, in terms of eventually making the team, I like Kyle Simon's chances better.

[clout]

fooman: Watching the Yankee game.

[Not Cliff Lee]

Wow, Worley is doing better than I thought.

[MG]

clout - Pretty much. Even after this season showed that heavily counting on low-level internal options to fill 3-4 spots in the bullpen you still see the same Phils' blogs calling for the same exact strategy this offseason.

[Mick O]

They've discovered the hole in Dom Brown's defense: His glove!

[Fin]

Thank god brown hits for power cause his fielding sucks

[Five-4-One]

Not a major league baseball player. Hard to believe Pence is gone and the right fielder is actually worse.

[clout]

MG: You are right and it is annoying since these same people called for Zags and Carp and Mathieson (especially Mathieson because he could throw 98 mph!) etc. ad nauseum.

[GTown_Dave]

Brown stinks. And scoring that a triple is a sick joke.

[Five-4-One]

Good night.

Time to shut Worley down. Brown in the Phillies outfield next year will be a cataclysmic disaster. Cant have another year relying on the pitching and having that suck machine in the outfield.

[clout]

GTown: "scoring that a triple is a sick joke."

Welcome to 21st century scoring, where, unless the ball hits the fielder in the head, it's a hit.

[fooman]

Clout: Unfortunately you are probably right.

[GTown_Dave]

clout: Gotta love Selig. There's no such thing as bad defense, only great offense!

[mainerob]

Just when you think it can't get any worse...this.

Either Worley has reached his level of incompetence (a la the Peter Principle), or his injury is worse than he'll admit.

In either case, shut him down and give the rising AAA's and AA's a shot. In fact, without making a roster move, move Worley aside and put BJ Rosenberg in his place.

Typical of UC & Co., they are ruining Rosenberg by both not allowing him to start and then throwing him into games very sporadically. No wonder he blows up when he pitches once a week. OK, exaggeration, but I'm close.

[NEPP]

I dont agree on the ball hitting the fielder in the head being an error. I bet they'd score that a hit too.

On Worley, how much of this is the bone chips and how much is just the league adjusting to him?

[wes covington's ghost]

Brown will be lucky to finish the season alive unless he learns to protect himself better out there.

[Not Cliff Lee]

Crap, I am clearly a jinx :(

[ramsey]

Love how Brown spent the last year learning left, and now he's back in right. Wonder where he'll play next year.

[NEPP]

***Wonder where he'll play next year.***

It depends on what Lehigh needs most I suppose.

[Conway Twitty]

Does Uecker do the games by himself?

[Stocky Vance]

Damn Dom - learn the judge the ball and the WALL

Every night a new embarrassment..

Is Dom Brown the best our farm system has to offer for alleged ML player(s)?

[MG]

NEPP - Can't tell at this point. Don't understand what the point is in trotting him out there either.

Worley will have started 7 GS since the ASB, will have only averaged a little over 5 IP/start, and will have an ERA over 5.

Not working deep into games nor is he really giving this team a good chance to win either.

Phils are 4-2 in his 6 GS so far but big deal. They scored 26 runs in those 4 runs.

Case for shuttling him down early just continues to grow especially after the roster callups Sept 1.

[NEPP]

@clout: I agree on Kyle Simon being the best of that bunch.

[Stocky Vance]

Why I am still out on the mound with 90+ pitches, and chips in my arm?

Does Cholly have rocks in his head? o.. never mind

[curt]

"Love how Brown spent the last year learning left, and now he's back in right. Wonder where he'll play next year."

I love how everyone has him penciled into next years outfield (somewhere) when we last saw him being demoted in favor of H.Pence. I guess all of the wonderful things he's done since then have inspired lots of confidence.

[NEPP]

***especially Mathieson because he could throw 98 mph!***

Of course some of us said it didnt matter if he threw 108mph because he had the flattest fastball in the history of baseball.

[MG]

It isn't Cholly's decision to continue to start Worley.

[NEPP]

Juan Samuel would have sent the runner there...he did earlier in the year for us...almost the exact same play. Somehow, the Brewers 3B coach didnt though.

[Scott]

Ugh.

[Stocky Vance]

understood, but why keep me in the game when I continue to be so ineffective?

that's uc's move. right?

[Stocky Vance]

Two straight nights that Reading's SP is getting pasted...

last nite Colvin
tonight May

[NEPP]

I'm sure it was just a bunch of bad luck for May...afterall, he was our #1 prospect coming into the year. No way he's a bust or anything.

[university of pennsylvania hospital]

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[MG]

Stocky Vance - Yeah but he was trying to get another inning out of him.

If you have a starter who has trouble even giving you 5 IP, it's time to take him out of the rotation.

This is Worley's 3rd start where he has struggled to give the Phils 5 IP and 4 of his last 5.

[curt]

Stocky - The Phils always have "Baby Aces" and other such hot prospects in the low minors. Curiously, though, their AAA teams are always stocked by retreads and aging vets.

[NEPP]

car accident lawyers?

We used to have a higher quality of spam here.

[Stocky Vance]

hey, no way they got it wrong about May...

( I know - I'm no not Robert Louis Stevenson)

[Scotch Man]

I hate to say it because the kid's got heart but I am running out of good reasons as to why Worley should keep going out there. He's an important part of next year's team and now's the time to get him right for then. He's injured, tired, and pitching in a lost season.

[GTown_Dave]

Way to work the count, Dom.

[NEPP]

Jimmy was nice enough to take Dom under his wing...its good to see its paying off at the plate.

[clout]

You like such post? Such post much informative.

[Stocky Vance]

Brown has been swinging alot at 1st pitches in the last week and striking out more too.

He is meta-morphing into one of the 2012 Phils as far as bad plate habits go.

[clout]

curt: "The Phils always have "Baby Aces" and other such hot prospects in the low minors. Curiously, though, their AAA teams are always stocked by retreads and aging vets."

This has been true for years. How is it they go missing before reaching Triple A? Kidnappers?

[NEPP]

I'd guess that some of it is just rosy glasses and some is just poor development under our such great coaches.

[cut_fastball]

What if NEPP's correct and the league now "knows" Worley, and has picked up a tip or 2 on his "called strikes"? Clearly Worley can't adjust in the short term, due to injury or god only knows what else. Geesh.

[NEPP]

How come none of our so-called reliever prospects has ever developed a 2nd pitch?

[Mick O]

"Contract year for Chorizo"

I love these guys.

[curt]

clout - Like the Higg's boson it's one of those elusive mysteries.

[MG]

clout: Route 222 from Reading to Lehigh is slow and hazardous.

[NEPP]

So, is Kelly Dugan still a prospect?

.847 OPS in Low A ball but he's been in the system for 4 years now and he's in his Age 21 season. He's definitely on the slow track but he seems to finally be hitting like he was projected to do when he was drafted.

[wes covington's ghost]

Please put Braun on the face punch list.

[clout]

I guess you could make the case that Rosenberg is not a major league pitcher at this point in his career.

[fooman]

Our bullpen is so reminiscent of The Nasty Boys of early 90's Cincinnati Reds fame.

[MG]

Phils have one hitter in this lineup (Utley) who puts together consistent quality ABs on a nightly basis.

Otherwise this is a night with a lot of bit-parts and over-the-hill vets.

[bullit]

this wall that dom has been dealing with appears to have a fairly fielder-friendly design. unlike the horrible center and right field walls at the bank. bourn got a taste of our center field wall last week and banged his hip pretty hard on the lowest projecting pads. it's a dumb design. i guess it is to accomodate the shrubbery.

[NEPP]

***I guess you could make the case that Rosenberg is not a major league pitcher at this point in his career.***

I'm not quite sure...maybe we need to see him a couple more times to be completely sure.

[clout]

NEPP: Dugan? Yep, you're seeing him developing skills to go with the tools.

[NEPP]

I'll be interested to see how he does in Clearwater next year and if he can stick in RF.

[3r0ck]

I've been keeping the phaith all year, but tonight I declare the season is indeed over.

We can't even win a series against the Brewers.

[Not Cliff Lee]

"We used to have a higher quality of spam here."

Yeah, right, NEPP. Like the asshat with the 'lazy' and 'watermelon' crap?

[cut_fastball]

curt -- They found the 'Higgs Boson' -- within the bounds of statistical certainty -- at the Large Haldron Collider a few months ago.

Probably not as difficult as finding an effective pitcher in the Phillies' 'pen.

[curt]

3r0ck - No worries. Our man Rube is going to find us 3 outfielders, a 3B a SP, a 1/2 of a 2B, and a whole new BP this winter, and 2012 will soon be a bad dream.

[MG]

Thought Gallardo would shut this team down over 7 IP. Turned out to be the case and he mowed through this lineup tonight will little trouble.

[Not Cliff Lee]

And Exxon Valdes is now in. "Flame On!!!"

[cut_fastball]

wcg -- Braun is definitely on the "hate the face" list.

[ChollyM]

I bet Braun is juicing again. He is definitely on the punch face list.

[ChollyM]

Another pathetic performance. Dom, I like you but you need to find a different career.

[NEPP]

I thought Chase got enough of that one...oh well.

[ChollyM]

I'm thinking Stevie could hit better then Lance.

[Stocky Vance]

Biddle pitch 7 inning no hit baseball 2 walks. 12K'S

Relief - 2 inning - Giles 1 hit 4 K'S

WOW