PHILLIES: J.C Romero and Chad Durbin to the D.L

On Thursday, the Phillies sent not one, but two relief pitchers to the 15-day D.L with various injuries. Both Chad Durbin and J.C Romero will be out of action for the next two weeks, something that can’t be good news for the Phillies bullpen.

While Durbin has been inconsistent for the better part of the 2009 season and Romero hasn’t been as good as years past after missing the first 50 games of season due to his suspension for allegedly taking performance-enhancing drugs, both are still a big part of the Phillies success over the past 2 1/2 seasons. Down the stretch, if the injuries linger on, it will most certainly be a problem, but it doesn’t seem like that’s the case here. Both injuries are considered minor, and Durbin and Romero are expected to return after their short D.L stints.

Tyler Walker and Andrew Carpenter have been recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to fill the bullpen roles voided by Romero and Durbin.  Walker was an easy call for the organization because he was very affective when he was up with the club during Clay Condrey’s stint on the D.L in early July, so he will hopefully pick up where he left off. For me, though, the decision to bring up Carpenter is a bit confusing.  With Romero being a lefty, I would have expected the Phillies to recall left-handed reliever Sergio Escalona (something they have already done five times this season) instead of a right-handed starter in Carpenter to fill that role.

That obviously didn’t happen.

Due to the Romero injury, Scott Eyre is now the sole left-handed relief pitcher in the bullpen. 

Other Notes: Antonio Bastardo has been on the D.L for almost a month with mild shoulder strain. If he is progressing, don’t be surprised if the Phillies activate him as a reliever, not at starter. It will give the Phillies another valuable long reliever, and an extra left-handed arm.  In fact, some scouts find him better suited as a reliever rather than a starter.

EAGLES: McDermott takes over for Johnson during training camp

With defensive coordinator Jim Johnson continuing to battle melanoma, Sean McDermott will fill the role as coordinator for training camp next week. Recognized as Johnson’s main student and potential successor, McDermott has a great deal of experience and head coach Andy Reid believes that he will do a sufficient job filling the void.

Before taking over for Johnson, McDermott has coached the Eagles secondary

“I think Jim did a great job of teaching Sean,” Reid said to the Inquirer. “Sean was in Jim’s hip pocket all the time, and he developed into somebody that Jim could bounce things off and talk to. I don’t have a concern from a coaching standpoint or a leadership standpoint at all. Sean will be different than the way Jim went about it. But Sean has studied Jim, and Jim has opened up so much to Sean that I don’t think Sean will have a problem.”

One could not even begin to describe the impact that Johnson had on the Eagles defense. Philadelphia was ranked in the top-10 defenses in four of the last seven seasons, including a third overall ranking last season. According to the article from the Inquirer, Johnson’s goal each game was to hold the opposing offense to under 17 points. In 88 of the last 160 regular season games and 9 of the last 17 post season games, the Eagles accomplished Johnson’s goal. Philadelphia’s overall record when holding the opposing defense to under 17 points is 79-17-1. Not too shabby, eh?

McDermott will now get the opportunity to be in the spotlight that he’s dreamed off his entire life as an Eagles fan. The 35-year-old graduated from La Salle High School in Philadelphia. Despite his young age of 35, there isn’t much better of a person to learn from than Jim Johnson.

I speak on behalf of the members of the Philly Phour and all Philadelphia sports fans from around the country in wishing Jim Johnson a safe recovery. He has been battling illness for a few years now and it would be a shame to lose such an intricate part of the Eagles defense.

PHILLIES: Myers Rehab Well Ahead of Schedule

It seems like an eternity ago. Brett Myers walking off the mound, leaving a May 27th game against the Florida Marlins with a seemingly endless limp, fans and players in Citizens Bank Park and others watching knowing that it may be the last time they would see Myers in a Philadelphia Phillies uniform (contract expires at the end of the season). The diagnosis of a torn labrum in his hip echoed that, Myers had surgery,  and it was a forgone conclusion that he would be done for the year.

Not so fast.

 

Brett Myers may be back in uniform for a Phillies potential playoff push in September

Since the surgery, Myers’s tremendous physique (that was sarcasm for those who haven’t heard his name before) has allowed his body to heal quicker than anticipated, even to the point that Myers is now starting a throwing program 1 1/2 months ahead of schedule. 

For Myers to return this season, as some reports have indicated, it will be in a role similar to what Brett Myers did for the Phillies in 2007. Yes, that was the year that he was the Phillies closer for the last half of the season, had 21 saves, and was a huge reason that the Phillies were able to win the 2007 NL East down the stretch. This year though, Brad Lidge, barring any huge collapse, will stay in his role closer, and Myers, if and when he does come back, will be used as a middle-reliever or set up man.

If the rehabilitation goes as well as advertized, and Myers is able to be activated of the D.L in the capacity of a relief pitcher sometime next month, things could get interesting.

My guess the Phillies will wait until September 1st, when the roster expands from 25 to 4o guys, to bring Myers up if he is healthy, so they don’t have to demote anybody. From September 1st to the last game of the regular season, Myers will get work sparingly, but more and more appearances as the month goes on, in an attempt to keep him fresh and get him back in the swing of things. 

Now, if the Phillies make the playoffs, which most of us expect, the Phillies have some flexibility to what they can do. Let’s assume for the time being that the Phillies hold their 6 1/2 game lead in the division over the next two months and win the NL East for the third year in a row.  Since the roster shrinks again come the playoffs, for Myers to be on the team, a demotion to a player currently on the roster will need to happen. In order o make that demotion, members of the Phillies organization first have to decide come playoff time if Myers will be used as starter or a reliever.

It’s a much tougher decision than it seems. Honestly, even if Myers isn’t 100% healthy, I think if the Phillies gave him the ball as the game 3 starter of the Divisional Round of the playoffs and said “give us 6 innings”, he’d give them 7. He’s that kind of player. But if this whole Pedro Martinez thing works out, J.A Happ and Joe Blanton keep on pitching like they have been (assuming this Roy Halladay deal does not happen), and Cole Hamels gets back into gear, there is NO room for Myers in the starting rotation, especially with his durability in question. That’s why I think the Phillies will keep him in the bullpen for the playoffs.

With that said, the player who will be demoted to make room for Myers will most likely be a right-hander reliever, so the likely options are Chad Durbin, Chan Ho Park, or Clay Condrey. Tough call there, but I actually think out of all of them, Condrey might be the one who goes. That’s just because at the present time, Chan Ho Park is pitching lights out (three scoreless innings Tuesday night against the Cubs) and Durbin doesn’t have the health issues that Condrey has. Obviously, that can change in a matter of days, let alone two months.

Then again, in that time, the status of Brett Myers’s surgically repaired hip can also obviously change.