Sunday chat: Replacements rising for impartial Phils

Jimmy Rollins rests for the first time in 62 starts as Charlie Manuel goes with a unique lineup blend in the rubber match between the Diamondbacks and Phillies. First pitch is 1:35 with Cliff Lee seeking his third win.

Notes: Say what you want about Manuel, but you can't say he isn't keeping an open mind. Erik Kratz, who accounted for two of the Phillies' three runs in Saturday's victory, isn't the only replacement earning his keep these days. Kevin Frandsen, who makes his seventh-straight start at third base Sunday afternoon, has provided a passable glove and bat since his promotion, hitting .273/.304/.409 and forcing Ty Wigginton into a pure 1B role. Meanwhile, Nate Schierholtz, who replaces Rollins in the lead-off spot, is off to a good start with his new club; he's 4-for-11 with a home run and has looked better, defensively, than the man he replaced, Hunter Pence. But Kratz takes the prize. The Triple-A veteran belted a screaming shot over the left-field wall for Saturday's first run and now has four home runs and eight RBIs in just 28 scattered, infrequent plate appearances. Kratz gets the nod again as the 32-year-old backstop appears to have leapfrogged oft-injured Brian Schneider in the depth chart. Michael Martinez, meanwhile, makes his first start at short for Rollins.

All things considered, Saturday ended on a high note following news that the Phils would be without Carlos Ruiz for the next 4-to-6 weeks. It was the best Roy Halladay we've seen in months in a game that followed a framework we were expecting to see more of this season.

Elsewhere, Joe Blanton makes his first start for the Dodgers. Have a great Sunday everyone.

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Comments

[Edmundo]

I'm all for calling Schneider a bad signing for 2012, but I'm at a loss to understand this statement: "little visible effort when Schneider did play ".
He TRIED to throw guys out, he TRIED to block pitches in the dirt, he went out to talk to the pitcher at the right time. Heck, IIRC, he even blocked the plate when required.
Problem is, he just sucks any more.

[MG]

Schneider was a 'sure thing' for what? Maybe to have a trip to the DL where he missed at least 4-6 weeks and possibly more. Wasn't his defense either.

Schneider was cheap and knew the staff. Those are the only reasons Schneider was back.

Kratz is still struggling to learn the staff & pitchers. He was out to the mound 4 times yesterday including 2 lengthy trips when Lee was out there.

It didn't matter this year that the Phils made a mistake in bringing back Schneider because of their record/standings. 1-2 games won't mean much.

Next year though it very well might & Amaro's tenure here as GM hasn't been marked by the Phils making good calls on their internal options and rounding out the bullpen/bench via FA signings & trades. It is an area they have generally struggled a bit in part because of Amaro's insistence on established MLB veterans & ridiculous 'cost certainty' fetish he has in giving out unwarranted 2-yr deals to backups.

[MG]

Part of Amaro's difficulty in rounding out the team has been the lack of prospects that have been developed internally during his tenure here especially positional ones.

Still, there are a lot of veteran guys at the end of the line who Amaro has signed that end up out of MLB/retired once their contract is finished with the Phils.

[pissee pantsee possee]

"Schneider was a 'sure thing' for what?"

Schneider was cheap and knew the staff. Those are the only reasons Schneider was back.

Posted by: MG | Monday, August 06, 2012 at 09:36 AM

OK. The Phillies had a fantastic record when Schneider played in 2011. Why would they change something that went so well for them and go with the unproven Eric Kratz in 2012?

[MG]

This has been posted before on here numerous times. Phils scored a ridiculous amount of runs during Schneider's starts last year. For a while until it tailed off a bit in the 2nd half, the Phils were averaging nearly 6 runs/start. Any NL team is going to win at a really strong clip if they average near 6 runs/game for a stretch.

It certainly wasn't due to Schneider either. In fact, given his almost complete lack of offensive production you could say it was in spite of him.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

It's like an olympic gymnastic competition reading BLers avoiding giving Schneider any credit whatsoever. A Perfect 10 to MG, i'd say.

[pissee pantsee possee]

He hit like a backup catcher this year and they lost more.

[Ted]

Mayberry (Raspberry?) is single handedly killing Lee this year.
I would love to see him traded for another underachiever-- preferably younger. At the least sit him for Cliff's next game.