Blanton Finally Shows His Stuff

By Amy McCormick

I’ll be honest.  I like Joe Blanton.  He’s a consistent #5 pitcher, which is hard to come by.  It started to annoy me a little when fans were focusing so much on our four aces and treating Big Joe as an afterthought.  For better or worse, Blanton is our fifth starter, and part of the 2011 starting rotation. 

I attended Blanton’s first start this season when the Phillies played the Mets.  He started the game looking focused.  If you were to look at the beginning of the game and the final score of 10-7, you’d think it was a great game.  Wrong.  Blanton’s outing was fine until the 4^th and 5^th inning when he let up seven runs.  Thank goodness Bastardo and Contreras were able to come out of the bullpen, do some damage control,  and get the win and the save, respectively. 

“Be patient,” I told everyone.  We’re spoiled with Halladay, Lee, Oswalt and Hamels; some fans expect Blanton to pitch at the same caliber.  It’s not going to happen.  Blanton is a solid #5, but a #5 nonetheless.  We should not expect shutouts from him.  He’s not likely to pitch complete games.  He surely won’t end a game in two hours.  “Just watch,” I said, though.  “He’ll open the series in Washington and redeem himself.”  Well, folks, that didn’t happen.  Instead, Blanton, in six innings, allowed seven hits, five runs, a walk and a homerun.  This brought Joe’s ERA to 10.45 (not a typo).  Phillies fans everywhere were ready to have Blanton removed from the starting rotation.  To be replaced by whom? Kendrick? Oh, please.  I still thought that Blanton needed a little bit of patience from us. 

Going into tonight’s game against the Brewers, Blanton brought along with him that less-than-stellar ERA and an 0-1 record.  Dubee announced that the “mechanical” issues had been worked out.  His changeup looked really good tonight, and he struck out Prince Fielder twice with it (talk about a confidence builder).  Blanton does well when he pitches inside (with the exception of the near-decapitation of Ryan Braun), and his command was on point in tonight’s game.  His line tonight was: 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 98 pitches.  Not too shabby. 

In the end, the Phils couldn’t come up with a win in twelve innings. The important thing for me, though, is that Big Joe pitched well.  He showed why he deserves to be a part of our beloved rotation.  I hope that my patience continues to pay off, because I think Blanton has the potential for a good year.  If seven solid innings is what Blanton can give us this season, I’ll gladly take it.