Roster Shuffling

I haven't posted much besides game previews, so I'll catch up on a little news.

In terms of pitching, Adam Eaton has accepted a demotion to the minor leagues. He'll be pitching for Lakewood on Thursday, and hopefully he won't damage their playoff chances. To take his place, J.A. Happ was called up again. I think he'll stick this time around. He's going to pitch out of the pen, probably as a lefty specialist, until Myers falters or someone in the rotation gets hurt. Speaking of Myers, I don't want to take too much away from this game. He was in control and he looked like vintage Brett, but Washington does have the worst offense in baseball. However, it was still a nice start and something to build on.

On the offensive side, Pedro Feliz has been placed on the DL with back issues. It was previously believed that he would be able to play on this road trip, but that's obviously not the case. In his place, Greg Dobbs and Eric Bruntlett will likely platoon. That's a pretty sizable downgrade defensively, and even at the plate, Feliz was having one of his better years. Mike Cervenak was recalled from AAA to take the roster spot.

Game 86: Phillies at Braves (3/3)

I realized my game count was behind. Not sure how that happened.

Philadelphia Phillies: 46-39
Atlanta Braves: 40-44

Cole Hamels (8-5 3.38 ERA, 4-2 3.59 ERA)
Jair Jurrjens (8-3 2.94 ERA, 0-0 --- ERA)

Projected lineups

Rollins SS N/A
Victorino CF N/A
Utley 2B N/A
Howard 1B N/A
Burrell LF N/A
Werth RF N/A
Dobbs 3B N/A
Ruiz C N/A
Hamels P

Blanco LF 1/2, .500/.500/.500
Escobar SS 0/6, .000/.250/.000
Larry 3B 3/9, 2 HR, 3 RBI, .333/.400/1.111
Teixeira 1B 1/7, 1 RBI, .143/.143/.143
McCann C 5/13, 3 RBI, .385/.385/.615
Kotsay CF 0/2
Johnson 2B 1/11, .091/.231/.182
Francoeur RF 5/21, 1 RBI, .238/.238/.238
Jurrjens P

A sweep would be great, and with your ace on the hill, there's no reason it can't happen. After some tense moments to finish up last night's ball game, the Phillies have to come back tonight and face a very tough pitcher. Jair Jurrjens gives up less than a hit an inning, but his K/BB numbers and ratios aren't particularly overwhelming. He's beatable, and the lefties such as Utley and Howard will have a chance to do damage tonight.

On the farm, Carlos Carrasco felt some tightness in his shoulder during warmups last night. I doubt this is some sort of smokescreen to fool the Mets, and it's a shame he got hurt. This means it's likely J.A. Happ getting the call for tomorrow's start. Brett Myers made his AAA debut, and gave up 3 runs in 5 IP. The results aren't what matters with him. He needs to execute his pitches, and apparently his secondary stuff was fine. Myers needs to locate his fastball and stay low in the zone. He was throwing some pitches in the dirt last night, so maybe he was a bit too low.

Myers Demoted

According to the Phillies and every beat writer and blogger that covers the team, Brett Myers will report to AAA Lehigh Valley and start tomorrow against Scranton.

This has been a long, hard stretch for Myers and the Phillies. After transitioning to the closer role last year, Myers had to move back to the rotation this spring, where he's had success before. He was named as the Opening Day starter, partly as a reward and partly because of his ability. However, nothing came together. It was bad outing after bad outing. Walk after walk. Home run after home run.

The Phillies just had to stop giving away games. They were not winning his starts, and he was putting the team in a hole early. I'm confident he can work out his problems and get back, but they have to go in a different direction for a bit.

Who's coming up? All indications point to J.A. Happ or Carlos Carrasco. Brian Mazzone is an outside possibility, but he's one of those AAA guys who never really made a splash in the minors, and he'll have a tough time convincing anyone he should be up. Someone high up in the organization said that Carrasco will get the first call if necessary, but he struggled in his last start, and that could change things. I think it'll be Happ.

As a random note, this makes the Phillies the 30th and obviously final team to make a change to their pitching staff this season. Prior to this move, the Phillies had the same 12 pitchers on the team all season long.

Game 82: Phillies at Rangers (2/3)

Philadelphia Phillies: 43-38
Texas Rangers: 41-40

Cole Hamels (7-5 3.27 ERA, 0-0 --- ERA)
Vicente Padilla (10-3 3.74 ERA, 0-0 --- ERA)

Projected lineups

Rollins SS N/A
Victorino CF N/A
Utley 2B N/A
Howard DH N/A
Burrell LF N/A
Dobbs 3B N/A
Coste C N/A
Jenkins RF 6/7, 1 RBI, .353/.389/.529
Bruntlett 1B N/A

Kinsler 2B N/A
Young SS N/A
Hamilton RF 0/2, .000/.333/.000
Bradley DH 0/3
Byrd CF 0/2
Boggs LF N/A
Ramirez 1B N/A
Saltalamaccia C 2/3, 1 HR, 1 RBI, .667/.667/1.667
Vazquez 3B N/A

The Phillies face off against their old teammate for the first time tonight. Only two Phillies have ever faced him, but we'll see if the guys that played with Padilla know how to approach him. He's having a very good season, which comes as a surprise to almost all. He hasn't been this good since about 2003, and this is a huge bounce back from last season when his ERA was almost exactly two runs higher.

I truly believe it's possible that Myers made his last start for a while last night. He got a quick hook, and it might've been one of his worst outings of the year. The Phillies have to be getting fed up with what he's giving them, and they need to stop throwing away games every five days. I was in favor of just letting him work it out before, but I'm not sure how much longer they can wait.

Game 76: Angels at Phillies (2/3)

Anaheim Angels: 44-30
Philadelphia Phillies: 42-33

Joe Saunders (10-3 3.06 ERA, 0-0 --- ERA)
Brett Myers (3-8 5.58 ERA, 0-1 7.94 ERA)

Projected lineups

Figgins 3B N/A N/A
Izturis SS 2/2, 1.000/1.000/1.500
Anderson LF 1/2, .500/.667/.500
Guerrero RF 3/6, 1 HR, 1 RBI, .500/.500/1.000
Hunter CF 1/3, 1 RBI, .333/.333/.333
Kotchman 1B N/A
Kendrick 2B N/A
Mathis C N/A
Saunders P

Rollins SS N/A
Victorino CF N/A
Utley 2B N/A
Howard 1B N/A
Burrell LF N/A
Jenkins RF N/A
Feliz 3B N/A
Coste C N/A
Myers P

It's time to snap the losing streak. The Phillies need to show they can compete a little with the top teams of the AL, because they hope to run into Boston or Anaheim later this year. They have to prove they can hit good pitchers, and tonight is a tough challenge with lefty Joe Saunders on the hill. He's having a career year, but the Phils are due for a breakout offensive performance.

I wonder how close the Phillies are to making a move with Myers. Among the fans, you get the feeling that now is the time to move on. I disagree. He has talent, and he's shown it in the past. You can't trade him for nothing because he's at his lowest value right now. That's bad baseball. The Phillies need to ride it out for a while and hope he gets better.

The Brett Myers Conundrum

He's obviously struggling this year, so I will try and figure out the problem. Here are some facts to consider when figuring out what to do with Myers.

- He's still only 27 years old
- He's had success as a starter before
- He's owed 8.5 million this season and 12 million next year
- He's shown great stuff in the past
- His ERA this season is approaching Adam Eaton territory
- From his last year as a full time starter:
- Innings Pitched DOWN
- Hit Rate UP
- Walk Rate UP
- Strikeout Rate DOWN
- HR Rate WAY UP
- Shoulder injury last year

He's been bad this season. I know it, you know it, Myers knows it, and the Phillies know it. People say he doesn't care because he's an idiot or whatever, but that couldn't be further from the case. We all saw the fire he displayed as a closer. He shows a lot of emotion on the mound, and I think it's fair to say he cares more than anyone else. Myers doesn't know what's wrong, and he's trying to figure it out. He's going to work harder.

First of all, the Phillies need to sit down with Myers and find out if anything is wrong with his arm. His velocity hasn't been there for much of the season, and the question is whether or not this is due to lack or preparation or an injury. Manuel and Dubee have said that Myers doesn't work as hard as he should between starts, and he has since started long tossing on his off days. Last year, he had that serious shoulder injury, and even when he did come back, he admitted to pitching hurt for the remainder of the season. If it turns out he's injured again, he needs to be put on the DL and take some time off.

If he's not hurt, then the Phillies need to just stick with him until he gets better. We've seen what he can do before, and I'm confident he'll get back to that level again. I know it's frustrating to watch him pitch right now, but he's a highly paid, talented player, and the team needs to work things out. He's a key part to this season, and Myers has to get better if the Phillies are going to hang around in September again.