The Phillies finally threw in the towel for this season. The weekend sweep by the Atlanta Braves left the team 20 games behind the Eastern Division leaders, and it would take a major miracle for the Phils to close that gap. The only question now is how extensive the retooling becomes.
Before you read this, the first of probably several moves had to be made to open up a roster spot for minor-league phenom Brett Myers, who joined the team in Chicago on Monday and was penciled in to start Wednesday's game against the Cubs. The 21-year-old righthander was the Phillies' top pick in the 1999 draft and has just three years of professional experience.
Before anyone expects miracles, I'm offering a comparison to Randy Wolf, who arrived with similar hoopla in 1999. The little lefty jumped off to a 5-0 start to his major-league career, but some of that was helped along with luck. Before the bottom dropped out of the 1999 season, that team scored runs in bunches, and Wolf got the benefit of some good hitting and strong defense on days when he did not throw particularly well.
"You learn as much as you can in the minor leagues, but (the major leagues) is where you really learn how to pitch," Wolf said after Sunday's game.
The pitcher ought to know, and I'd like to see Wolf take Myers under his wing. It's taken him nearly three years at this level, but Wolf has developed into a good pitcher. His 5-7 record would be over .500 if he had some more offensive support. Sunday's 2-1 loss to the Braves was a perfect example. Wolf held the best team in baseball to four hits and two runs in eight innings. He also walked just two batters and struck out 10.
You could see the stars in his eyes when he first came up to the majors, but Wolf handles himself with a lot of poise when he faces the press after a game, whether it's after a good outing or one when he's been shellacked. He could put his maturity to work by tutoring Myers. Who best to help a young pitcher handle any adversity than one who's just been through the same thing?
Myers could prove skeptics wrong and show them that he's really ready to compete at this level. After a good spring, there were those clamoring for him to make the jump from Double-A Reading to the big leagues, but I was always of the impression that a full season at the Triple-A level was necessary. The only player to prove me wrong on this point was soon-to-be ex-Phil Scott Rolen. Pat Burrell paid the price for his inexperience when he first came up, but he's finally blossoming as a hitter.
The season-long debate on who plays the hot corner when Rolen leaves will continue until he's gone. Since the club has no third basemen of Rolen's caliber in the farm system, the best solution would be to acquire a player already established at that position.
Burrell has been mentioned, but he has turned into a pretty good left fielder, and it's not likely that the club will want him to change positions again.
Last week at the Vet, the outfielder lost two fly balls in the twilight during the same inning, which cost a few runs, but he found some sympathy from his manager. After that game, a reporter asked Larry Bowa if he had ever seen that play happen before.
"Yeah, when I was playing," said the skipper. "It used to happen to (former left fielder Greg) Luzinski all the time. I've seen that play happen twenty times a year."
Both Burrell and Bowa explained that the ball is hard to pick up at a certain point in the evening.
"It's the same every night for about ten minutes," Burrell said. "It just so happened that those two balls were hit to me (during that time)."
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