Rotation Update

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Some curious goings on in Allentown and Atlanta….JA Happ is now starting Thursday, pushing the Phillies need for a starter back to Friday.  This places Rodrigo Lopez in the mix for the start on Friday for the Phils.  Lopez , while not on the 40 man roster, has a good deal of major league expereience, and had an excellent outing in his last appearance yielding just a run in seven innings.  One of the intriguing aspects of Lopez for the Phils is his control, having given up just 13 walks in 71.1 innings.  He is 3-0 with an 0.64 ERA in his last 3 starts.  The Phillies reacquired veteran minor league starter Brian Mazone, who will be joining the Lehigh Valley rotation when they make a roster move over the next couple of days.  With talent such as Savery/Drabek progressing in Reading, the organizaation has made a decision to bring in a starter from another organization rather than move up someone from Reading.  Phillies GM Ruben Amaro was in Allentown last night, meeting with the Lehigh Valley brass.

31 thoughts on “Rotation Update”

  1. Though I will no doubt be in the minority, I don’t think it would be the end of the world to see if Lopez couldn’t give us some good innings.

    I don’t think Carrasco is ready, and while his stats in AAA are better than they appear, they are not great. Plus, he has not proven to be a quick study who easily adjusts, but rather seems like a guy who pitches to his mental state. If he gets hit around in his first start, it could set him back months.

    I further don’t think carpenter is any better than lopes, and he’s never done it before, so the only difference I see is age. The stuff is uninspiring and the track record is spotty.

    Drabek might very well be our best option, performance wise, but I can understand the hesitancy here, first year off Tommy John. I don’t want to see him come up and try to just throw it harder when things get tight (see Bastardo/Mathieson for how that works out).

    Savery wouldn’t have a prayer. Until he starts putting up numbers at least as good as Happ at the same age and level, I’m not buying it.

    Kendrick is a finished product with his current repretoire, and since that clearly isn’t good enough, they are trying their best to change that. Hasn’t happened yet.

    You know what this tells me…. we need to make a deal. That’s a whole ‘nother bag of worms.

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  2. BS This is the phils usual chicken approach, I hope I am wrong but 50+ years of gutless baseball tells me no.

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  3. I don’t mind the move, though it shows they’re planning on making a trade at some point soon. No way they use Rodrigo Lopez for any significant time this season.

    This is the reason we signed an experienced starter at the AAA level. Keep in mind, Lopez is a two-time 15 game winner in the majors. He’s a career .500 pitcher at the major league level with a sub-5 ERA in over 150 starts.

    Meantime, no need to expose the kids at the major league level, should we wish to include them in a deal.

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  4. I think moving Happ to Thursday has nothing to do with who is going to ultimately get the call up. All it means is that whoever does get called up will start twice before the All-Star break instead of three times.

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  5. Not sure if anyone has seen but Knapp has 12 strikeouts so far thru 5 innings, he’s given up just two hits and two walks and 1 run so far, another great start from him, cant wait to see him continue to progress thru the system

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  6. plus he had a great June recording an ERA of 1.31 with 39 Strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings, after a poor may and only 14 hits allowed but he did walk 13 but still under 1 for whip and if he get his control better which we come cuz he is only 18, he is going to be special to watch. Its just nice to finally see that we have so many great pitching prospects and ones that can throw heat as well.

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  8. Gregg: whoever pitches Thursday will have to make three starts before the All-Star break (including this Thursday’s start), whereas the Friday starter will only make two starts. So no matter who it is, it makes sense to give Happ the extra start because he’s more of a known commodity.

    That being said, it does open the door for Lopez, which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. He’s not going to wow anyone with his stuff, but as you pointed out, Gregg, he’s stingy with the free pass, and he’s done a good job keeping the ball in the yard (0.49 HR/9). For two starts, it wouldn’t be a bad move… though I’ll admit I’m still partial to calling up Carrasco.

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  10. Happ had a great start last time out. He’s earned his regular spot. I think that plays a part as well.

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  11. I think they are biding time. Lets get to the break. See what kind of shape the Muts are in, See how Florida looks and make a decision. The front office is looking for crack in a door – any door- ,so they do not have to give up one of our top prospects. If Happ is for real ( and I thought he was our best prosepct during the voting – tooting my own horn) then with him, Hamels, Blanton and Moyer – Amaro may think he has enought to win the division. THen it is Hamels, Hamels, Hamels to the trophy – Hopefully.

    Also Marson’s stock has to be rising every day. Keep hitting kid

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  12. Between Knapp, Drabek, Brown and Taylor we’ve got 4 potential 5 star guys. Pretty impressive.

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  13. Very nice recover by Flande.Gose also walked twice nearly .400 OBP a great sign,very encouraging. Marson almost got
    to .300 for June.That might be important since Ruiz fell off the face of the earth in June, over .200 drop in OBP.

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  14. its nice to worry about the staff but hitting is the problem. rollins has become ridiculous. this team must hit and play defense to win,as evidenced by tonites debacle.

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  15. John, I absolutely agree with you. Rollins batting leadoff is killing the team. There are pitchers hitting better than him. Why not lead the pitcher off? I still like Jimmy but he’s got to move down in the order. I like how disruptive he can be when he gets on base but he’s got to get on base.

    I’m wondering if they’ll bring a starter up. Starters aren’t going deep in games. There’s an off day in there. They can pitch more and need to. Except Moyer, he’ll need to skip a start every once in a while so you may need a spot starter for him. If a starter is needed, Lopez would be my choice.

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  16. I saw an article by an Inquirer writer named Andy Martino in which he stated, “Carrasco, 23, a lefty, began the season 0-6 for the IronPigs but has impressed the organization lately by winning four of his last five decisions. He is 4-7 with a 4.92 ERA.”

    Wow, Carlos is the guy we want… he can throw with either arm.

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  18. great comedy guys. and people wonder about politics. tell me gregg or rickey b. should not be writing instead of half of these guys.

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  19. The lineup is falling apart. No Raul,Ruiz took a dive off a cliff and took the backend with him and Rollins . With the pitcher that four not hitting. And the bench stinks. Maybe the worse since ole Terry Harmon day(lol).
    But at least we are not Pittsburg the iron head city(could they please move to West Virginia

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  20. Here is an idea dump Taschner and bring up Carpenter and Carrasco. Sorry frustration is setting in. Anyone know when Donald is coming back?

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  21. Lopez probably is a good choice right now and that was the reason they signed him.
    I went to the Reading game last night. Flande is much smaller than I thought. He had one terrible inning but bounced back to throw 4 scoreless innings after that against a very bad Altoona team. he threw 88-89 mostly but topped out at 92. His change up was very effective when he kept it down and got ahead of the count with a sneaky fastball. After an easy 1st, he walked the leadoff guy in the 2nd and then after a long at bat, threw a fat fastball at a time when a change up was required and it got roped. After a sac fly to right, where Taylor set up nicely, caught and threw a laser to the plate only to see Tuffy drop the ball, Flande hit a guy on his jersey and then, totally flustered, threw a terrible fastball down the middle of the plate and it was smoked for a homer. That was 5 runs. The coach came out and told him to throw strikes and he did, striking out the next guy and then breezing through the next 4 innings. It was an impressive turn around and he looked like a different pitcher. I’ll be very curious to see how he does in his next start. One thing however: Flande is the worst looking hitter I’ve ever seen in professional baseball. He looked like he had never held a bat in his life, truly uncoordinated, he couldn’t even touch the ball trying to bunt with no one on. By the way, I’ve been wanting to hear reports on Zagurski all year. He pitched the 10th and struck out the side in order hitting 92 or 93 and looked very good. Taylor had one hit and was hit on the head but struck out in the 9th with the winning run on 3rd on a slider away on a full count. He is fun to watch and will be a nice addition in Philly in mid 2010. At Reading tonight, Drabek and Raul!

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  23. I could live with Lopez, but I’d go with Carpenter, who has also pitched well. He might have a future. Lopez only has a past.

    No way would I call up Carrasco. He’s not ready.

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  24. I think every time Rollins hits the ball in the air or swings first pitch he should have to do twenty push-ups. Like Willie Mays Hayes.

    I don’t know it anyone commented already, but Pettibone had an interesting line last night, 5ip 1er…. but 5 runs. Anyone know what ridiculous, egregious error led to 4 unearned runs?

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  25. Hewitt was 0 fer again with his 6th error. Not good… Barnes however, this year’s Tyler Mach, is tearing up down there.

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  26. I didn’t realize that it was wasn’t just Knapp’s 12 Ks. The Lakewood staff combined for 18 Ks in 9 innings! The biggest travesty is why is BJ Rosenberg still in Lakewood? I don’t understand why he and Schwimmer haven’t both been bumped up by this point. Not bumping them suggests to me that the organization doesn’t think they have any shot to make the majors and I can’t agree with that assessment yet.

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  27. Hey Skunky, I almost included the Willie Mays Hayes idea in my post above.

    On Pettibone’s line, I think there were 3 errors in that game so it wasn’t just 1 bad error. The two runs in the 3rd were all on Pettibone. He had the error (Don’t you think that if the pitcher has the error, the run(s) hould be earned?). Barnes also had a costly error. Hewitt had an error in the 9th to give wertz an unearned run.

    I want to see if Pettibone comes back strong in the next outing. Even though there were 4 unearned runs, the errors that caused it were to lead off an inning. He had the chance to get himself out of the jam easily. He was also backed by 3 DPs in the infield.

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  29. Mentioned Kennelly above.

    This guy looks like a genuine HITTER…but with limited power.

    He also seems to be a player without a position…except, maybe, a DH.

    Anybody know/suspect how he is intended to be used??…what position ?, and whether POWER is hidden away so far, but could be developed in the next 2 seasons…??

    Didn’t he get used as a catcher, a 3rd baseman, and an OFer. Trying to find a position…

    Ad: “Hitter in search of position; Willing to Learn”

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  31. Also funny you guys said Willie Mays Hayes, KG said a scout compared Anthony Gose to the Indians legend today on BP.

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