Saturday chat: Halladay seeks first win since May 17

Roy Halladay and left-hander Joe Saunders are set to deal when the Phillies and Diamondbacks continue their weekend set Saturday night at 7:05.

Notes: Earlier today, the Phillies lost their best player this season, Carlos Ruiz, with the possibility that he could be shut down until pitchers and catchers report in February. ... Meanwhile, earlier today, MLBTradeRumors.com polled readers, asking if the Phillies should let Cliff Lee go. Sixty-nine percent of readers voted 'yes.' The Dodgers were awarded claiming rights on Lee yesterday, which gives the Phillies the option of unloading the roughly $90 million remaining on his contract. I see their point, but flexibility via salary relief shouldn't be the Phillies' driving force behind dealing the left-hander. The time to do it is this winter when the records reset, the market opens up and the Phils can zero in on what they really need: top young talent. Plus, with uncertainty surrounding Doc these days, the Phils can't afford to weaken their rotation. ... I'm calling it right now: If the rotation and bullpen will allow it, BJ Roseberg is handed the ball Wednesday, not Tyler Cloyd. Cloyd has logged 141 innings, compared to about 70 for Rosenberg, who has been stretched out as a starter this month. ... Finally, look for the Phillies to sign catching on the cheap now that Ruiz is out. Veteran back-up Koyie Hill was recently released by the Nationals. Wil Nieves of the Rockies was also designated for assignment this week. [Jump to the newest comments]

Comments

[GBrettFan]

Completely agree, JW, about Lee.

[GTown_Dave]

8 whole pitches. Good stuff.

And Chooch looks so damn sad it's making me depressed.

[clout]

Previous thread concludes that Chooch's injury is Charlie's fault.

I predict this thread will conclude that Global Warming is Charlie's fault.

[clout]

Koyie Hill couldn't hit if he was in T-Ball. No thanks.

[bullit]

chooch should be able to go home to panama and enjoy some of mommy's cooking. i hope they don't pointlessly insist that he needs to be in the dugout for a month.

[GTown_Dave]

Nice catch by Dom. Gotta admit, I honestly expected that ball to hit him in the face & bounce over the wall for a HR.

[bullit]

dom's looking pretty good in LF. now he just needs to hit. and i know he can.

[joe]

we should have traded him.

[Iceman]

clout- so are gas prices. You could also make and argument that Manuel is at fault for Europe's economy going in the tank.

The only bright side of the Chooch news is that it gave MG another excuse to copy/paste the "Cholly treats Chooch like a rented mule" essay that he's been posting every week or so since March.

[J. Weitzel]

clout: would you at least agree the Phils need to sign someone, even for Triple-A / September call-ups?

[bullit]

mabes swings at the first pitch. that's progress.

[Docjoe]

Can't wait to see dom hit a lefty. This lefty laden lineup is brutal. Feels like Clearwater

[GTown_Dave]

Saunders up to 19 pitches. Phils really making him work tonight.

[clout]

FWIW, Sickels doesn't consider Rosenberg a prospect and BA hasn't listed him in the Phillies Top 30 for the past 3 years.

Part of the problem is he's 26 years old now and part of the problem is that he was 13th round draft pick with a good fastbnall and not much else.

I think he has no chance to be an MLB starting pitcher, but his fastball is good enough to find a bullpen spot, assuming he can move it around on the corners as he did the other day. If not, he'll bounce up and down between MLB and Trip A as many Grade C prospects do.

[clout]

JW: Yes. Bring back Goosewurst!

[J. Weitzel]

clout: I can't tell if you're agreeing me or not!

[clout]

Sturm und Kratz!

[bullit]

a kratz'n'jammer !!

[GTown_Dave]

Kratz ought to be the starting catcher the rest of the way. No earthly reason he shouldn't.

[Docjoe]

Any idea why Kratz never had more than a cup of coffee in the bigs? He crushes lefties.

[coolhandluke]

where did kratz offense come from? and why wasn't he up sooner

[Iceman]

I'm curious what people would think is adequate return for Lee.

By dealing him, you give yourself a rotation of Halladay-Hamels-Worley-???-Kendrick. Good but not great. Your offense is already average, teetering on a bottom-5 offense depending on who is acquired in FA. The bullpen is not good.

Unless you make an absolute killing in dealing him, you're conceding 2013 by dealing Lee. Is there anyone else that feels differently? What would you think would be a good deal for the Phils in such a scenario?

[bay_area_phan]

"where did kratz offense come from? and why wasn't he up sooner."

His offense has been present for some 5 straight years at AAA; his lowest single season OPS during that stretch was .819.

As for why he wasn't up sooner: because we have Brian Schneider.

[coolhandluke]

I don'tthink the dodgers have enough to trade for Lee

[The Hook]

Not sure what else kratz needs to do to stay. Was clothes, cut grass, line baselines? This guy has done nothing but hit and play d. Doc always liked throwing to him in ST.

[coolhandluke]

the fact that we have brian schneider is all the more reason kratz should have been up

[clout]

JW: I agree. But you have to admit the Tuffy trade was ill-timed.

[J. Weitzel]

4 homers in 25 plate appearances is nothing to sneeze at considering how infrequent and scattered they are. Kratz is also now tied with Howard for fifth on the active roster in home runs.

[Edmundo]

a kratz'n'jammer !!

Nice! Should become a meme.

[joe l]

Isn't there some Phillies "community appearance" we can send Schneider and Mini Mart to somewhere out in the Pine Barrens or a deserted Camden industrial park?

[Buddy Ryan in 2008]

JW:

They shouldn't trade Lee simply because they already have tons of money to spend.

Given (A) they are willing to pay luxury tax this coming year and this coming year only, (B) the threshold will be about 189m going forward, and (C) Utley's contract is off the books after next year,

The Phils have at least 30m to spend annually on upgrades. They spend up to 204m in 2013. With Utley gone, they're already back down to 189m going forward. 204 is 30m in new spending.

Bottom line: with a willingness to pay luxury tax once and only once, the Phillies have a ton of money to spend already. No need to panic-trade Lee.

[clout]

What BAP doesn't want you to know is that Kratz was in 3 different organizations during those 5 years.

[J. Weitzel]

clout: that didn't even sound like a trade. just sounded like they did Toronto a solid because they lost J.P. Arencibia and Travis d'Arnaud to injury. Just sort of gave them Tuffy for a player to be named. Maybe the player to be named later will be Tuffy. Like trading Rob Ducey for Rob Ducey.

[bullit]

thanks, Edmundo. you have to pretty old to remember the katz 'n' jammer kids comic strip. ;)

[J. Weitzel]

Correction. They sold Tuffy for cash money.

[bullit]

the safest way to score howie from first. just walk him around.

[GBrettFan]

I don't think we should trade Lee. Maybe if we're blown away by an offer. But we're already going to have a weak pitcher every 5th day, don't know how Worley will come back, don't know whether Halladay or Hamels will be injured for part of the season.

[bay_area_phan]

clout: Yep, 3 organizations that were all wrong. Just like 30 were wrong about Chris Coste.

[coolhandluke]

kratz cntinues to impress me

[Mick O]

I wish

[bullit]

coste even played in the independent league, didn't he?

[curt]

Best thing about Dom so far: those 10 pitch ABs that he occasionally hangs on the opposing pitcher.

[bullit]

doc's velocity is looking more doc-ish.

[Docjoe]

At least doc looks like doc so far. Not sure we acquired schierholtz. Only reason I can see is an insurance policy if Dom can't play.

[coolhandluke]

you're right bullit. i think he has been up to 92-93 mph

[coolhandluke]

schierholtz certainly is no worse then JMJ or Brown

[GTown_Dave]

Good to see Halladay dominating like this. Need to get a few more runs & make it LindBomb proof, though.

[coolhandluke]

Lindbomb Good one

[bay_area_phan]

It has been a long time since Halladay looked this good. What is different about tonight's game? The catcher, of course!

[coolhandluke]

JSTROLL has such a natural pop up swing

[coolhandluke]

thats my boy JPOP

[GTown_Dave]

Remember the one year Jimmy got a hit? That was a fun game.

[clout]

Halladay's only at 71 pitches.

[coolhandluke]

he hits 2 hrs,then pops the next 50 balls up

[curt]

Our leadoff hitter is engaged in his annual struggle to maintain a .300 OBP.

[coolhandluke]

D Brown flashes the D

[GM-Carson]

J-Rollins had like 1 good month and has pretty much been meh for the most part.

He robbed us!

[coolhandluke]

yeah thank goodness Jimmy doesn't kick balls around the infield.

[bay_area_phan]

Sarge: "[Route-running] is something he can correct."

It's good to know there's still time. I would have thought that 7 years of pro ball would have been enough time to get it corrected.

[coolhandluke]

Brown must be a slow learner

[bay_area_phan]

If I were davthom73, this would be the point where I fly into a rage because the official scorer charged Kratz with a PB instead of charging Halladay with a WP.

[GM-Carson]

Halladay looking like vintage Doc tonight.

Get that ERA under 4!

[coolhandluke]

does anyone think like I do, that JStroll should attempt a bunt now and then? It's better then pop ups. Oh wait, then he would have to run hard to first. nevermind

[coolhandluke]

Surprise!!! Ryan Howard struck out

[coolhandluke]

McCarthy is all over the ball girls. scary

[Cyclic]

Just got here. Apparently Doc has looked good. That's nice.

What about Brown? Hard to tell from the comments here. I saw he worked a walk. Bad defense though? Or good?

[bullit]

dom's defense has been excellent.

[clout]

That was poor pitch recognition by Dom in an important spot.

[GTown_Dave]

Cyclic: I'd say it has been a mixed bag. Some nice plays, & some odd routes.

[GTown_Dave]

Halladay's down to a 4.02 ERA. So close!

[bay_area_phan]

Bullitt: He got badly turned around on a double off the wall, which might otherwise have been catchable. For the most part, though, his defense has looked good. Unfortunately, his offense has looked exactly the same as it did before.

[The Hook]

I'm ok with Dom making mistakes, but only if Juan shows video and works with him after game and tomm morning. He's still an important pc and we need him to develop. He's looking a lot better them previous years. I'm still waiting to say to myself when John is playing center. " Shane would have grabbed that", but I find myself saying glad those two are gone. How many pitches would the both of them flared at in Doms 10 pitch ab????

[coolhandluke]

what is Brown's batting avg?

[Cliff Lee is a Phillie]

Poll people at Citizens Bank Park (instead of using a a national poll) and see how many people think that Cliff Lee should go! Probably at least half the people who responded to that poll hate the Phillies for their five years of domination and want to see them drastically weakened for a long time.

[MG]

Nice if Dom Brown would hit a little. Gets a 2-month audition though to at least give the Phils an indication if he should be counted on to nab a starting role next year.

[ByeByeBL]

What's also sucked this year? JW's posts.

[The Hook]

Just saw Mike "doughboy" z still in snakes bullpen. Wow

[coolhandluke]

I just hope we add some offense to go with our half billion dollar pitching staff

[MG]

First time all year Halladay looked good and from the get go.

[GTown_Dave]

Kratz'n'jammed.

[coolhandluke]

kratz throws him out from his knees !

[Cyclic]

That was freakin' sweet.

[curt]

We spent a year wondering what was wrong with Kratz. Still wondering.

[bay_area_phan]

Thrown from his knees. How the hell are we supposed to trust a front office which concluded that Brian Schneider was better than this guy?

[Dewey defeats Phillies]

Greatest hitting catchers of all time....Piazza-tie-Kratz....everybody else...some girl who plays in the private and parochial league....Schneider.

[Iceman]

A few more outings like that from Halladay will make 2013 seem a lot less bleak.

[coolhandluke]

wow Zagursky mkes Joe Blanton look skinny

[coolhandluke]

OMG Howard got a hit

[GTown_Dave]

Same old Zagurski. Don't miss that guy.

[coolhandluke]

pinch runner?

[Dewey defeats Phillies]

Remember when everybody was excited about Schneider coming to town? No, I don't either.

[coolhandluke]

Mayberry looks at called strike three with a runner on 3rd. nice job

[GTown_Dave]

IronPigs 3, Diamondbacks 0.

[coolhandluke]

downtown Dominic Brown comes through

[coolhandluke]

JPAP time

[bay_area_phan]

This is a situation where I'm really glad to have an $11M closer. Few other relievers in baseball are capable of preserving a 3-run lead for a full inning.

[GM-Carson]

Nice hits that inning by Howard and Dom.

Good game so far tonight. Some good things have happened:

1) Kratz shows he should be the backup catcher and starter for the remainder of the season with Ruiz's injury.

2) Halladay pitched great.

3) Michael Martinez isn't in the starting lineup.

4) Lindblom looked good in the 8th.

5) Howard got a hit against a lefty

6) Dom picked up a RBI hit.

[coolhandluke]

so true phan

[GM-Carson]

BAP- love the sarcasm!

[GTown_Dave]

I think Franzke just said the Phils are 7-43 this season when scoring 3 or less runs. Ouch.