By Amy McCormick
With all the hype surrounding our starting rotation this season, it’s easy to overlook our bullpen. A lot of fans were quite convinced that we wouldn’t need much relief at all; the truth is, though, even aces have bad days. That being said, I’d like to take a look at who we have in our ‘pen this season, and what we should expect from each relief pitcher.
Lefties
Antonio Bastardo. Bastardo, 25 years old, already has a win under his belt for the 2011 season. In 2010, his record was 2-0, and his career ERA is 4.98. His numbers from the past aren’t stellar, but he has shown promise thus far this season. An advantage with Bastardo is that he is the younger of our two left-handed relief pitchers and seems more adept at throwing strikes. I’d like to see Bastardo as our go-to guy when we need a left-handed pitcher.
JC Romero. Romero is 34 years old, holds a career 4.07 ERA, and posted a 1-0 win-loss record in 2010. The difference between Romero and Bastardo is that Romero had three saves last season. Romero is known to throw a lot of balls. If you’ll remember, he’s the one who “lost” his Porsche earlier this year. Maybe it was hiding in the strike zone, and he just didn’t think to look there.
Righties
David Herndon. Herndon is young, 25 years old, and has a career ERA of 4.32. In 2010, his win-loss record was 1-3. I don’t expect to see a whole lot of him this season.
Danys Baez. I couldn’t believe that the Phils decided to hold onto 33-year-old Baez this season, to be honest. He went 3-4 last season. His career ERA is 4.11, which is hardly the worst of the group, but I can remember groaning every time he came running from the bullpen last season. This season, however, Baez is already 1-0, and seems to be performing pretty well. I’m pleasantly surprised. I really only expect to see Baez pitch the 7th inning.
Kyle Kendrick. We all remember Kyle, right? He wasn’t exactly a fan favorite as a starter last year, but now he’s our long-relief man. Many were upset to see Durbin go, but I have faith that Kendrick can pull off middle relief. Last season, as a starter, the now 26-year-old went 11-10. For whatever reason, Kendrick seems to get run support, whereas others (ahem, Cole Hamels) don’t seem to. His career ERA is 4.66. Expect to see Kendrick come out of the bullpen when one of our starters needs to be pulled early.
Ryan Madson. I’ll be honest, I’m a little biased, because I love Mad Dog. Last season, when he was 29 years old, he posted 6 wins, 2 losses, and 5 saves. Madson is an outstanding set-up man. He owns the 8th inning. Some would like to see him take over as a closer, but I’m not sure I’d want that to happen. His niche is really those three outs in the eighth, and he does it well. Of our relief pitchers’ career ERAs, Madson’s is the second lowest, at 3.70.
Jose Contreras. Can someone check this man’s birth certificate, please? There’s no way he’s 39. Last season, his win-loss record was 6-4 with 4 saves. He already has 2 saves this season, as he has been filling in as our closer. His career ERA is 4.53, and he has really stepped up to close games this season. One thing I worry about is Contreras’s longevity, in the sense that I’m not 100% sure he can keep up the 1-2-3 9th innings into late summer.
Brad Lidge. Yes, Lidge is on the DL and we probably won’t see him until after the All-Star Break. Technically, he’s not on the active roster, but this is my blog post, and I can pretty much include whomever I choose, now can’t I? Lidge isn’t exactly young; he’s 34 this year. His career ERA is 3.51, and last season, he had 27 saves in 32 opportunities. This includes 17 of the last 18. Phillies fans seem to be split in their opinion of Lidge; for some, he causes anxiety. For others, myself included, he’s an outstanding closer. I look forward to having him back, hopefully completely healthy, sometime in July.
Our bullpen might not be perfect, but thus far this season, these guys have been doing an outstanding job. While each relief pitcher brings a little something different to the mound, they each seem to be following the excellence that our starters bring to the game. Ideally, we’d have 162 complete games with no need for pitching changes. In reality, though, things happen. Pitch counts get high. Starters lose their command. Pitchers let up runs. I’m pretty confident in our relievers this season. At this point, I’m happy with 7 solid innings from a starter, an 8th inning from Madson, and a 9th inning from Contreras. My main concern – for starters and relievers – is that they stay healthy. We’re on track for an outstanding season.
No comments:
Post a Comment