Missing Utley and Lidge

By Amy McCormick

The Phillies began the 2011 season with two long-term substitutes in key roles: Wilson Valdez has been covering for Chase Utley at second base and Jose Contreras has been consistently filling in for Brad Lidge as our closing pitcher.  I’ll admit that I like both Valdez and Contreras; however, the return of Utley and Lidge cannot come soon enough.

At second base, Valdez is a solid infielder.  At the plate, he leaves something to be desired.  Last season, in 333 at bats, Valdez hit .258.  Going into tonight’s game, his batting average was .318, with fourteen hits.  Let me put it this way: if we need to have our second baseman on the disabled list for a length of time, and we use an in-house solution for coverage, my choice is Wilson Valdez.  That being said, he’s no Utley.  Chase Utley is one of the top second basemen in the league, both defensively and offensively.  At this point, the Phillies have sixteen games in the books for 2011.  In the first eight games, our offense averaged 7.25 runs per game.  In the latter half, they’ve average 2.875 runs per game.  Are we going to have a repeat of the offensive slump we saw in 2010? We need Chase healthy, and we need him back in the lineup.  I watched footage of Utley doing drills yesterday, and his lateral movement looks remarkably better.  The fact that he’s running is promising.  I’m holding my excitement until I see him in the starting lineup, though.  I hope, for our offense’s sake, that it’s sooner than later.  The Phils got shut out by Milwaukee tonight, and the offense managed just two hits. 

Brad Lidge has been out due to issues with his shoulder, and is expected to return this season without surgery.  In his absence, Jose Contreras has been closing quite a few games.  I have to say that I like Madson in the eighth and Contreras in the ninth.  My concern is the questions I have about Contreras’s longevity.  I have doubts that he can keep up the innings he’s been throwing for a long period of time.  Some people hate Brad Lidge and say that he’s injury prone, past his prime, and anxiety inducing.  Please remember that he had 27 saves in 32 opportunities last season; he converted seventeen of his last eighteen.  His four-seam fastball and breaking slider make him one of the best closers in baseball.  Don’t get me wrong; I like Contreras in the ninth inning, even if he is 39 years old (he has to be older than that).  I’ll admit that I get excited when I hear “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” as he runs from the bullpen.  But just as Valdez is no Utley, Contreras just isn’t Lidge.

I think we’re lucky to have talented substitutes for regular players.  Wilson Valdez and Jose Contreras continue to contribute to the team and they play their roles well.  My hope, however, is that Chase Utley and Brad Lidge are 100% healthy – soon – and we start seeing them on the field each night. 

The Men in Our 'Pen

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 7^th 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 8^th inning from Madson, and a 9^th inning from Contreras.  My main concern – for starters and relievers – is that they stay healthy.  We’re on track for an outstanding season.