Big day for Quintero, Revere; bad day for 'pen

Every Phillies pitcher except Jonathan Papelbon and Jake Diekman struggled in Saturday's 15-7 loss to the Rays. From innings 6-8 the bullpen allowed 11 runs and 14 baserunners.

While Papelbon tossed his first clean inning of the spring, Chad Durbin and Antonio Bastardo had trouble locating pitches after his exit. The game was broken open in the seventh against Bastardo, who allowed four runs (one earned). The following inning B.J. Rosenberg (0.1 IP, 5 R) couldn't get his hard but straight fastball past anyone.

The Phils' offense had a productive day. Ryan Howard hit a solo homer off Jeff Niemann -- his fourth of the spring -- and the Phils' bats woke up in the sixth when they touched up Jeremy Hellickson for three more runs. Yuniesky Betancourt hit a sac fly and Humberto Quintero and Ben Revere each drove in a run with a single.

Revere had three hits on the day and is batting .351 in close to 40 plate appearances. Quintero also had three hits and drove in three runs.

Phils release Mather

Joe Mather, we hardly knew ye. The Phillies cut the 30-year-old outfielder on Saturday, probably because he had no shot of making a meaningful impact this season. Mather is a .219/.271/.357 hitter in 229 career games.

Cloyd happy to be here

Tyler Cloyd and Sebastian Valle were rumored to be the players involved in the offseason trade for Wilton Lopez that fell through. Cloyd spoke on Saturday about the joy of still being a Phillie and the pressure he feels to prove last season was no fluke. Jim Salisbury has more over at CSNPhilly.com.

Cloyd went 15-1 with a 2.26 ERA in Double-A and Triple-A last season, but struggled to keep the ball in the park in six late starts with the Phillies. He's allowed six runs and nine baserunners in four innings this spring.

It's difficult to imagine Cloyd's mid-80s fastball playing at this level over any sustained period of time. If Aaron Cook sticks with the Phils, Cloyd would be the 8th or 9th starter, behind Cook, Rodrigo Lopez and perhaps Jon Pettibone.

Comments

[Elephant in the Room]

Quintero looked good.

[MG]

This team has a real lack of bullpen depth again. A lot of marginal relievers on the 40-man roster right now too including Savery, Rosenberg, and Robles. It shouldn't be that hard to remove one of these guys to add Quintero later this camp.

[lorecore]

Kratz hearing footsteps.

[lorecore]

Gillies 0-5 for Canada.

[lorecore]

wow - a baseball brawl with actual punches, and a lot of them. Rare.

[lorecore]

Gillies spiked a guy and then ran off, got grabbed from behind, and then Scott Mathieson came in and started punching the guy who went after Gillies

[e]

yeah including #1 character guy tyson gillies

[lorecore]

Valle stood in the middle of the brawl with his catching gear on, but didn't do anything. Didn't see Aumont.

[EDGE]

Gillies and Jay Johnson involved. Gillies took down Aceves and Phillies minor leaguer Jay Johnson threw a few punches.

[EDGE]

Mathieson, Gillies, and Johnson escalated that whole thing.

[Iceman]

Gilles tried to curb-stomp Alfredo Aceves and then ran off like a little b...well, you know.

Wrong guy to go after. Aceves looked like he would've killed him if teammates wouldn't have intervened.

[Iceman]

Is no one really going to talk about Mini-Mart getting optioned to the minors? Seriously?

[Meyer]

Saturday Night Fights wins over Mini to the Minors?

[lorecore]

minimart to minors is a mandatory new thread

[Bill]

Mini Mart can be on the roster for 2 full years basically and now rightfully doesn't even make it to the middle of March.

[Fatalotti]

Is no one really going to talk about Mini-Mart getting optioned to the minors? Seriously?

Posted by: Iceman | Saturday, March 09, 2013 at 06:20 PM

We're not celebrating for the same reason you don't celebrate right after the exterminator leaves.

You know they'll be back...

[Allen Thornberg]

Mini-Mart is like one of those movie-franchise slashers. He's never dead.

Saturday the Ninth: The Final Nightmare--the apparent fade-out scene shows Beerleaguers hugging each other in relief now that Mini-Mart is finally dead--then, the post-credits scene shows him stirring, and opening his eyes. A teaser title reads, Coming next: The Nightmare Continues.

[SLO Phan]

Mini-mart to minors? Our long national nightmare is finally over.

[Lake Fred]

Fat, classic comeback comparing Mini Mart being demoted to the extermination of roaches. What a great analogy!

[bay_area_phan]

Beerleaguer is actually a much funnier place when Mini-Mart is on the 25-man roster. It's almost reason enough for me to want him on the team. Almost.

[Iceman]

With Mini presumably now not making the opening day roster, the odds for BL Whipping Boy have shifted dramatically. Yuni has now gone from a longshot to on-the-board as a possibility to make the big club.

Whipping Boy odds:

Durbin: Even
DYoung: 3:1
Lannan: 5:1
Kendrick: 15:2
Yuni: 20:1
MYoung: 20:1
Revere: 50:1
Papelbon: 50:1

This list does not include Howard and Rollins, who will always be the default punching bags.

[Meyer]

Ruf and Mini will lead the King's Life at LV. Thankfully, Domonic is a clear-cut untouchable with his amazing few weeks of Spring Training stardom.

[Mike G]

Ice, are you suggesting Yuni and Frandsen make the team with Galvis at Lehigh Valley?

[NEPP]

Gillies continuing to prove what a terrible, terrible trade the 2nd Lee trade was.

[NEPP]

Yuni is a great player if he is the reason that Mini Mart isn't on the 25 man.

[lorecore]

Gillies was 0-6 with a likely suspension, Michael Saunders had 4 hits and named player of the game. Hah great day for lee trade.

Oh yea, and Aumont tweeted that Valle is stupid.

[The Hook]

Very happy with Cody and tommy j this spring. Hope they keep on developing. Hope we can see them in sept, and not before.

[Meyer]

Maudite marde! Philly Phillipe is Aye, Canada.

[Iceman]

Mike: I think it's a possibility. Odds are probably in Galvis's favor, but Yuni hasn't played himself off the roster yet, unfortunately. Mini's departure clears one guy out of his path.

[EDGE]

That's an idiotic tweet by Aumont, he could very likely be throwing to Valle in the near future.

I also saw Reading's Jay Johnson throw some haymakers at Acevedo. That kid throws a mean left hook, specially when people aren't looking.

Gillies, Valle, and Johnson should be embarrassed after that brawl, what the hell are teaching these kids in the minors.

[Iceman]

Is that JC Romero attempting to blow the game for Puerto Rico?

[Meyer]

Jeebus, Freddy is a player - a baseball player - he'll figure out how to hit at the ML level or die trying. Money is on Galvis for a tenured career.

[NEPP]

I would be that Galvis at least has a John McDonald type career.

McDonald is entering his 15th season as an MLB utility infielder.

[Meyer]

I see Galvis more like a Bowa with more pop.

[NEPP]

That should say "I would bet..."

[Conway Twitty]

MM goes out in style. Watching him kick the ball about 3 times today, on a ball hit right at him, will be my lasting memory of him. (I hope). Read that Orr was in that brawl today too.

[Mike G]

I hear what you're saying Ice. It seems to me though that Charlie really likes Galvis and thinks he can get him enough AB's to not stunt his development. I guess we will know by March 24.

[NEPP]

Even in a good year, our utility IFs get around 600-700 PA. There is no reason that Galvis couldnt get 300+ PA in 2013 if he were on the 25 man.

[MG]

How did Looper not know that Gillies had serious character issues and generally seems like he is kind of a real shitbag?

[NEPP]

In Gillies defense, he was probably coked up today.

Wait, that's not a defense at all.

[lorecore]

Galvis getting ~300 PA vs MLB Pitching is bad for the Phillies and Galvis. He'll be exposed with his current approach, needs to really work on it in the minors.

[NEPP]

***Galvis getting ~300 PA vs MLB Pitching is bad for the Phillies and Galvis. He'll be exposed with his current approach, needs to really work on it in the minors.***

How could it be any worse than Mini Mart or Valdez getting 300 PA?

[Meyer]

Gslvis will probably inherit 450 PA at the most and become a fan favorite with his clutch Wilsonian timeliness.

[Mike G]

Looks like the only one on team USA who's ready to play is JRoll.

[SLO Phan]

It looks like Team USA really just wants to get back to spring training.

[Iceman]

If it's not Galvis who is the backup SS/futility infielder? Unless I'm missing someone, the next option is Yuni. Frandsen is not a legitimate option.

[Phlipper]

Iceman -

I'll take those odds on D. Young. He's a lock for most hatred here at BLer. Hands down.

[Meyer]

Rollins is the Schmidt of this era.

[Mike G]

Ice, I think that's the question. Does Yuni make the team and Galvis go to AAA, or does Galvis make the team and Yuni get released.

[NEPP]

Rollins is the greatest SS to ever play the game and is somehow underappreciated by his home fans?

Well, at least part of that sentence is true.

[denny b.]

Likely Opening Day Lineup and Bench (likely against ATL RH Tim Hudson)-

Revere, CF
Rollins, SS
Utley, 2B
Howard, 1B
M. Young, 3B
Brown, RF
Mayberry, LF
Kratz, C
Hamels, P

bench- Nix (LH), Galvis (S), Frandsen (RH), Quintero (RH), Ruf (RH)

-I think Ruf is kept for the first few weeks, before Del Young is ready. He's kept because the team needs some sort of power RH bat on the bench on the days Mayberry starts. Ruf goes back to LV, when Young is activated. Enciarte is kept with some sort of trade and then optioned to Reading.

Its not the ideal situation for the team to keep Ruf, but there is a pretty glaring hole on the bench from the right side without Del Young on the roster. Ruf is the best option early in the year.

When Nix starts in LF, the hole becomes the LH bench option. But my hunch is Nix doesn't start much in LF, except only against tough RH starters. And he certainly won't start out there once Del Young is active.

But as always...this is subject to change because somebody likely will get hurt before opening day. Just seems to work out that way.

[NEPP]

There's still a long time till Opening Day. A guy like Ruf could completely turn it around in that time and a guy like Dom Brown could hit .200 the rest of the way too.

[Meyer]

History is obviously not your forte Nepp.

[NEPP]

History is obviously not your forte Nepp.

Posted by: Meyer | Saturday, March 09, 2013 at 10:29 PM

Huh? Yes, I am well aware of how much crap Schmidt got while he was still playing and I got the reference to Rollins being just as underappreciated.

[Meyer]

Aware and actually being there are two different realities.

[Iceman]

If Charlie finally ousts Rollins from lead-off (which becomes more likely with every game Revere gets on base multiple times), only to bat him second, he'll have completely missed the point. Unfortunately, that's probably what's going to happen.

[Iceman]

If Charlie wants speed at the top of the lineup- which is the line he trots out all the time when explaining his lineup construction- why not put Brown in the 2-hole against RHP?

Ideally I'd like Utley hitting 2nd, but since that will never happen, it would be nice to see Brown get a look there. He's suited for it. Against LHP, put Young there and slide Brown to 6th or 7th.

I guess the argument against that is that it will stack three LHB and they'll be susceptible to a LOOGY in the late innings. I don't worry about that as much because I think Brown has the ability to hit LHP, and if he can't do it, use Ruf or Mayberry as a replacement late in the game to counter. It certainly isn't as bad as when Ibanez was hitting 5th after Utley and Howard.

[Bubba]

Ice- Not personally disagreeing about moving Rollins to a different lineup spot, but he's even batting leadoff in the WBC.
Can Charlie really buck the worldwide tradition of batting Jimmy first?

[Meyer]

Jimmy insists he wants to be Ricky Henderson when he grows up. I say entertain him until he's happy.

[Dragon]

Middle relief and defense look like serious weak spots so far. Can Rube shore one or both up before the start of the season?

[gobaystars!]

"If Charlie finally ousts Rollins from lead-off"
Do we not remember the beginning of the last 2 seasons? Rollins has started each of the last 2 years hitting third. He hit third in the 2010 playoffs. People need to stop acting like Charlie won't hit Jimmy elsewhere and people really need to stop acting like Jimmy refuses to hit elsewhere.
And speaking of Mr. Rollins he had another excellent day for team USA. He's the all time team USA hits leader and deserves credit for playing and playing well. Even in 06 he offered to play second if necessary.

[Bake McBride Was Here]

Go, Pete Orr. You are the . . . something.

[gobaystars!]

Orr and Gillies came up big today. Gotta love the fire in the NAFTA pool.

[Sil Campusano]

World Basebrawl Classic?

I'm sorry...

[The Truth Injection]

Iceman: Your odds are wrong in a few areas. Kendrick's odds are way too high as are Papelbon's. Hell MG alone can get those Pap odds down to 10:1.

Also, calling Gillies a shitbag is kinda dumb. He does stupid things yeah but the brawl yesterday had very little to do with him. That stuff was brewing all game and the third baseman for Mexico clearly told the pitcher to hit the next batter after the bunt single and then the pitcher threw three pitches at the next guy until he hit him. Gillies reacted to someone he felt was grabbing him during the fray. To me, that brawl was the fault of what the Canadian manager said- the unwritten code of baseball and the rules of advancement in the WBC.

[Bonehead]

From MLBTR this morning:

"A National League scout suggested that Phillies outfielder John Mayberry might be a good fit for the Yankees at first base, with a switch back to the outfield after Teixeira returns."

[MG]

TTI - What are you talking about? Gillies was the one who really escalated things by tossing Aveces (who wasn't doing anything physically until that pint) and then Gillies ran away.

If that had happened during a regular season game, Gillies would be facing at least a week suspension I bet. Certainly as much as anyone who was involved with the entire incident.

Let's not forget that he also attacked the team bus driver who had to be defended by his own teammates. Yeah he's a scumbag.

[MG]

If Amaro can move Mayberry for one of the Yanks' relievers, he should do it.

[MG]

I looked and doubtful the Yanks move one of their established veteran relievers.

Yanks do have some nice bullpen prospects who are C+ types who could potentially be pried loose for Mayberry.

[Iceman]

Couple things:

gobay- I'm not someone that thinks Rollins demands he hit first, or that Manuel won't move him out of the spot temporarily when there are injuries. You know I'm with you on this. I just think the time has come to give the lineup a new look, and Revere is the guy to replace him. Rollins is probably my favorite Phillie (and not in the way he's BAP's 'favorite Phillie'). But at the very least vs. LHP, Revere should be leading off.

TTI- My figuring with Papelbon is that if there's something wrong with him, or if he's blowing games, people will turn it on the offense because they didn't give him a big enough lead. I also don't see Durbin out-pitching Papelbon, so matter how poorly he pitches, Durbin will get ragged on a bit more.

Ragging on Kendrick here is more now just a joke than anything because there's really not much anyone can say anymore. Those who dislike him will toss a weak insult every now and then but it doesn't resonate because he's been a solid back-end of the rotation guy. If he implodes like he did in 2009 though, yeah, his odds will go way up.

Also, hopefully that Mayberry bit is just speculation from a scout and nothing more. Moving Mayberry basically puts all the pressure on Ruf to mash for the remainder of spring and the first few months of April, or the team WILL get a large dose of DYoung in right for a majority of the season. That would be a disaster. Plus, who plays CF in this scenario?

I really am sick of Mayberry and wanted them to upgrade from him this off-season, but they didn't, and now he's kind of an important part of the team. Dumping him for a reliever or a C-prospect would be a mistake.

[limoguy]

Phils game not on the tube today. It will be on MLBN sometime tomorrow morning while most of us are at work.

[Will Schweitzer]

How can anyone defend Gillies from being called a scumbag? He's a hot tempered drug user with a history of physical attacks on others.

And he's apparently a gutless p*ssy, which after attacking a bus driver, should surprise no one.

By comparison, Delmon Young is Jim Thome.

If Gillies was a highly regarded prospect of tremendous talent and skill, there may be a debate of whether or not it's worth suffering through his "stupid decisions". He's not. He barely warrants a spot on the roster.

He'll be on the first bus out of Pennsylvania on the first occasion that a half decent middle reliever could be obtained, and not a moment too soon.

[tinnitus]

Those are yours all right!. We at the very least want to get these people stealing pictures to begin blogging! They probably just did a image search and grabbed them. They look good though! tinnitus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN2JGAMRnV8