Phillies fans finally get to see Pedro

By Bill McFarland

Sunday's outing by Jamie Moyer, during which the veteran lefty gave up 11 hits and two earned runs in a 12-3 loss to the Florida Marlins, pretty much cleared up the situation regarding the Phillies' crowded starting rotation. While he has only been sent to the bullpen, the future looks cloudy for Moyer, who has the most wins on the Phillies this season (10) and one of the highest earned-run averages in the National League (5.47).

With three of the other four starters throwing well at this time — Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton and J.A. Happ — it pretty much came down to Moyer because nothing but an injury will bump Cole Hamels from the rotation. The young pitcher has been struggling this season, but manager Charlie Manuel seems to think that he needs to keep sending Hamels out there every fifth day in the hope that the young left-hander can right his sails in time for a September stretch run.

Moyer has been a reliever before, but it's uncertain if he could be effective at this stage in his career because he normally needs a few batters or an inning to see what is and what is not working for him on any given day. The only situation where a pitcher can experiment out of the bullpen is during mop-up duty when a win is clearly out of the question, and the team certainly doesn't need any more games like Sunday's loss in Florida.

The move was not really a surprise because the Phillies had been itching to get a glimpse of newly signed Pedro Martinez, and Manuel had stated that he would need to see Martinez start a few games before he could make a fair assessment of what the pitcher has left.

Martinez is one of the top pitchers — if not, the best — of his time, but he can't take his three Cy Young Awards to the mound with him. It will be up to him to show the Phillies what he has left at 37 years of age.

Martinez will start tonight's game (Aug. 12) in Chicago and will likely get about four starts by the end of this month. By then, the team will have a better idea of who will start during September's stretch run and for any post-season appearances.




Well-deserved kudos went to Amaro for swinging the Lee trade with Cleveland. Toronto turned down the same package for Roy Halliday that the Indians accepted for Lee. Now the Blue Jays are stuck with Halliday's salary for next year.

Also, Halliday has stated his desire to be a free agent after 2010, so it's unlikely that he would command as much at the July 31 trade deadline next season, unless a contending team desperately needs a starter and is willing to pay top price for a blue-chipper for a stretch run.

As for the four prospects that the Phillies gave up for Lee, only Lou Marson is a significant loss. The catcher was having a good year (.295 batting average) at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, and the parent club was planning on bringing him aboard to back up starter Carlos Ruiz in 2010. Infielder Jason Donald was having an off year and had been hampered by an injury, and the two pitchers included in the deal are at opposite ends of the projection spectrum.

Until this season, Carlos Carrasco was the organizations' best pitching prospect, but he had been struggling at Triple-A and was replaced by Kyle Drabeck on the minor-league pitching depth chart. Many baseball people, including the Phillies, believe that Carrasco still can be a top-of-the-rotation starter, but he is at least a year or two away, and the club doesn't have the options to hold him that long. It was best for the organization to get something for him now than to lose him later.

Jason Knapp, who started the season at Class A Lakewood, is an 18-year-old fireballer, and those pitchers have a poor track record. Scouts love young pitchers who can throw a baseball through a brick wall, which is why these kids are drafted, and the scouts think that it's just a matter of harnessing the kid's power. It rarely happens.

Fireballers usually do one of two things. They blow their arms out early and have very short baseball careers, or they don't successfully develop another pitch to prevent batters from sitting on their fastball.

If a fireballer gets into trouble, his first instinct is to go back to his fastball because that's how he's been successful all of his life. By the time fireballers learn that hitters are more patient, the pitchers are in Double-A ball, and by then, it's too late to learn another effective pitch.

Nolan Ryan was the only fireballer during our lifetimes who was successful for many years in the major leagues, but he was a freak of nature. I'm not counting on Jason Knapp to be the next one.

Amaro has until Aug. 31 to make his next move, which is to find an effective closer. Brad Lidge may have been perfect — and a little lucky — last year, but he's not the same pitcher this season. Brett Myers could be an option in September, but Amaro doesn't have the luxury of time.

Anybody acquired after Sept. 1 is not eligible for the playoffs, so keep your eyes peeled, Ruben.




That's my opinion. What do you think? Click on the "Comments?" link below and let me know.

Bill McFarland has covered the Phillies for several publications since 1991. He can be reached at 215-354-3037 or mcfarlandwilliam@hotmail.com

Next post: Aug. 26.

© 2009 www.Bill-McFarland.com

This column was posted on Aug. 12, 2009. It may not be reproduced anywhere else without permission.

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