I just found this interesting, since Carlos Ruiz is often overlooked, or only mentioned when he isn't hitting. Check out his numbers this month:

He's hitting .306 (18-for-59) with three home runs and 11 RBIs in 20 games. In case you missed it, he had three hits and accounted for the game-winning hit Sunday night.

Of course, he was overshadowed by another strong start by Joe Blanton, solid and smart defense by Jimmy Rollins, a rare appearance from Scott Eyre (who hadn't pitched in two weeks) and, of course, everyone's favorite closer to panic about, Brad Lidge. (Lidge has looked awfully good in five of his last six, by the way).

But, again, don't forget about the guy they call "Chooch." He's raised his average this month from .223 to a respectable .242.

Hey, he's not going to win a batting title. But in an offense flooded with All-Stars, Ruiz will get overlooked when he is hitting more often than not.

And given the team's current problem with runners in scoring position, it shouldn't be ignored that Ruiz came through Sunday night in an important one-run win over a division rival.

Phils top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek won't throw another pitch in 2009.

Relax. He's not hurt - it's just a precautionary measure since he's throw upwards of 170 innings a year after having Tommy John surgery. Drabek has been placed on the temporary inactive list.

A hot name at the trade deadline, Drabek was the one guy the Phils were vocal about not wanting to trade. Drabek, the team's top pick in the 2006 draft, was 12-3 with a 3.19 ERA in 25 games between Class A Clearwater and Double-A Reading.

Drabek could compete for a major league job in 2010.

More from assistant general manager Chuck LaMar on the move in Monday's Daily Times.

You can believe what the Phillies say all you want - that they're sticking by struggling closer Brad Lidge - but it's awfully difficult to think that he will be the man they hand the ball to in the ninth inning in October if he keeps being as unreliable as Wayne Gomes.

First, a piece of full disclosure: I like Brad Lidge a lot, both as a person and as a closer. I may sound completely off the wall for saying this, but I honestly think he can right himself in the next three weeks and kill this issue.

I know that sounds strange, but being around Lidge as much as I am, I believe it.

OK, I got that out of the way and feel better. Now back to the current reality of the situation.

Lidge blew his major league-leading ninth save Tuesday night. One-third of his saves have come within the last two weeks, which leads you to believe he's getting worse, not better.

Maybe another DL stint (his right knee has been an issue this season and in the past) makes it easy to replace him without demoting him.

On that note, the Phils have to be examining their other options privately if not publicly. Which made the events of Wednesday night pretty interesting.


In Pittsburgh, Ryan Madson - the primary setup man and Lidge's understudy - failed in his audition as closer (he pitched because Lidge was unavailable to work five straight days). Like Lidge, Madson gave up a crushing, ninth-inning home run.

He stayed in the game an inning later and collected a win - and appeared to pitch well despite the home run - but the fact at the end of the night was that he added another blown save to the Phils growing total (it's 18, if you're counting at home).

Personally, I think Madson has the stuff to close. But since he's never had the role in a long-term situation, and since he thrives in the eighth, I don't think I'd give him the ball in the ninth for the next two months. Leave him be.

At about the same time Madson was taking the mound at PNC, his good buddy Brett Myers was also pitching in relief... at First Energy Field in Double-A Reading. The minor-league rehab appearance was the fourth for Myers.

My guess is he'll make at least one more (and probably two, to test how he handles pitching in back-to-back games for the first time) this weekend. I think if all goes well, he'll be activated next week.

But let's get back to his performance on Wednesday. Myers worked two innings, he allowed one base runner (on a walk). He struck out five of the seven batters he faced.

I realize he was facing Double-A hitters, but a performance like that has to boost his confidence.

Myers has also handled the closer's role. He took over the job early in '07 and fared quite well, including nailing down the save in the playoff clincher on the last day of the season.

I remember talking to Myers the winter after that performance, and how he said that's where he wanted to be: pitching in the ninth inning, with a chance to finish off a team and lead his team to an important win.


Would there be a better story that seeing Myers come back, take over the closer's role, and have a Brad Lidge-like moment at the end of the World Series?

Is there a better option for the Phillies than to hand over the closer's role to Myers?

PITTSBURGH - Brad Lidge has 9 blown saves - three more than any other pitcher in baseball.

Brad Lidge's ERA is 7.33 - the worst among major league reliever with enough innings to qualify for an ERA title.

Brad Lidge has served up 10 home runs - only Chicago's Kevin Gregg, with 12, has allowed more.

Gregg was jettisoned as Chicago's closer last week, as the Cubs continued to fade from the playoff picture. Lidge? He's not going anywhere.

Following a stomach-turning, 6-4 loss at PNC Park in Pittsburgh Tuesday night, Brad Lidge looked as beat up as he has since joining the Phillies two falls ago. Approaching him felt like walking up to a guy after he just had to put his pet dog down.

Charlie Manuel, however, knows his role as a manager. He walked over and lent a word to Lidge.

“Stay in there,” Manuel said.

The manager later told the media he was "sticking with him" despite possible, legitimate replacements in setup man Ryan Madson and former closer Brett Myers, who is rehabbing in Reading Wednesday.

“We just keep going. We just keep playing,” Manuel said. “That’s where we’re at. That’s our closer. I’ve said it all along, that’s the guy we give the ball to in the ninth inning.”

Brett Myers is scheduled to continue his minor league rehab tour Wednesday for Double-A Reading.

Myers threw scoreless, one-inning stints in Clearwater (Thursday) and Lakewood (Monday) in the last week. He struck out one and walked one, while allowing no hits, at Lakewood, where his fastball was clocked as high as 94 miles per hour.

If Myers can continue to progress, he could be a very big boost to a pitching staff that's been pretty strong since July 1. Of course, there's no room in the rotation, but the impact he could have on the pen may be greater anyway, if you remember how he pitched at the tail end of '07.

So after three trips to the New York Mets' new digs in Flushing (by the way, is there a more appropriate name for a town that is home to a team that keeps watching their seasons go down the drain?), I keep hearing about how Citi Field is a pitcher's park.

During the Phils second visit to Citi in June, I remember the talk was about how David Wright hadn't homered in X amount of games and how they need to move the fences in and yada, yada, yada.... snore.... yada.

Then a funny thing happened. The Phillies cruised their way to wins on enemy territory by disproving the widely-held theory that Citi Field was too darn big.

Chew on this: the Phils middle-the-order quartet of Ryan Howard (4), Chase Utley (4), Raul Ibanez (2) and Jayson Werth (2) have combined for more home runs at Citi Field (12) than any single Mets player has hit in every ballpark all season.


Jeff Francoeur leads the Mets with 11 home runs (and he hit five of them while playing for Atlanta). Gary Sheffield has a whopping 10 home runs and perennial All-Star and national media darling David Wright, who had played in all but three games before his recent head injury, has eight home runs (five at home).

So the guess here, given that the Phillies had no problems hitting home runs at Shea Stadium's replacement, is it's the players - not the ballpark - that is at the root of the Mets' season-long power drought.

Blame the player, not the park.

Brett Myers just got finished his second rehab appearance, a day after getting rained out.

Myers started the first game of a doubleheader at Class A Lakewood. In one inning of work, he allowed one walk and struck out one. He didn't allow a hit or a run.

Myers will likely have a fewer more minor league tuneups before joining the Phils pen next month.

A hot name at the trade deadline will be sidelined for the next two weeks.

Twenty-three-year-old Michael Taylor was placed on the disabled list with a right oblique strain.

Taylor is hitting .320 with 20 home runs and 84 RBIs in 116 games between Lehigh and Double-A Reading. The move is retroactive to August 22

Eric Bruntlett's unassisted triple play was great to see live at the ballpark, since it was just the 15th unassisted trifecta in baseball history... but I wonder how often one player circles the bases three different times in a 24-hour span , in three different ways, before another hitter comes to the plate.

Get all of that?

Here's what I'm talking about:

Mets outfielder Angel Pagan led off the bottom of the 1st inning Sunday with an inside the park home run. In his second at-bat Sunday, he hit a ball into the bullpen for an outside-the-park home run.

A day later, he led off Monday's series final against the Phillies with "a Little League" home run. With the Mets trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the first, Pagan hit what appeared to be a harmless pop up just behind second base.

Chase Utley fudged the can of corn, however... and then threw the ball into no man's land up the left field line. Pagan easily circled the bases, once again.

So for the third time in 24 hours, Pagan circled the bases before a teammate stepped into the batter's box. And he pulled off the hat trick of "home runs" in a new and interesting way each time.

Anyway, I wonder how often that's been done in baseball history.







(Sorry I couldn't add a photo to this post. It's becoming increasingly annoying when it won't allow me to do so.... blogs are a lot easier to read when there's a photo)

What a wild and wacky way to end a game... even for the Phillies-Mets game.



It was 9-6 Phillies and then 9-7. Disaster appeared to be on the horizon, and sure felt like it when the Mets first three batters reached in the bottom of the ninth off Brad Lidge, two on errors, another on an infield hit that sent Citi Field into a frenzy.

With the way Lidge has struggled this season, you expected Jeff Francoeur to slug a game-ending, three-run home run to complete an amazin' comeback by the Mets.

Instead, Francoeur lines into the good 'ol unassisted triple play, courtesy of Eric Bruntlett.

Absolutely improbable. But, as they say about this crazy game, that's baseball.

How rare is the unassisted triple play?

There have been 14 in the history of major league baseball.

That's fewer than the amount of perfect games in baseball history (18). It's also fewer than the amount of times a player has hit four home runs in one game (15).

"I guess I'll go down in history," Bruntlett said. "The runner on second play was jockeying looking like he wanted to steal the base. on that pitch he did. I was going to second to try to cover the back runner tying to steal and the ball ended up being hit right me. The bag was right there and the other runner was right there, too...

"I was almost laughing after the game. That doesn’t happen. What do you do there? The game’s over. High fives."

Bruntlett's remarkable defensive gem was only the second game-ending triple play in the long, storied history of the game. The only other one? On May 31, 1927 by Detroit first baseman John Neun.

After the game's momentum shifted so dramatically in a matter of seconds, you could almost here Whitey turn to his best friend and say, "Hard to believe, Harry."

In case you've lost track, the Phils still have a whole host of pitching on the disabled list. Here's the skinny on the latest progression of all four of their rehabbing pitchers:

- Brett Myers will start tonight (5 p.m.) at Lakewood. GM Ruben Amaro said Friday that Myers, who had hip surgery in June, will continue to grow accustomed to a reliever's role during his minor league rehab.

-Antonio Bastardo, who showed off his talented left arm in late June, will make his first appearance in a game since landing on the DL in early July on Monday. Bastardo will start for the Gulf Coast League Phillies in a game that begins at noon in Clearwater. Bastardo, who flashes an upper-90s fastball, could be a boost to the bullpen in September if he's healthy and ready.

-Veteran relievers Clay Condrey and J.C. Romero will also get some work in down in Clearwater. Both are scheduled to throw bullpen sessions at the Carpenter Complex on Monday.


In case you missed the news from earlier, Greg Dobbs was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained right calf. Miguel Cairo was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Dobbs' roster spot.

The Phillies placed reserve infielder/outfielder Greg Dobbs on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right calf. To take Dobbs' spot on the roster, the Phils have recalled Miguel Cairo from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Dobbs appeared to suffer the injury Friday. Dobbs, who started at third base, was removed from the game a half inning after legging out a single midway through the Phils-Mets series opener.

The 35-year-old Cairo, who broke camp with the Phils coming out of spring training, was hitting .287 with five home runs and 33 RBIs in 78 games at Lehigh Valley.

Brett Myers will make his second rehab appearance Sunday for Class A Lakewood, the Phillies announced Saturday.

Myers, who had hip surgery in early June, is expected to join the Phillies bullpen in September. The 29-year-old right-hander pitched in a game for the first time since May on Thursday, throwing a scoreless inning at Class A Clearwater.

Myers will start for Lakewood in a game scheduled to begin at 5:05 p.m.

Greg Dobbs, starting in place of Pedro Feliz at third base tonight, has been taking out of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Dobbs has a strained right calf. He appeared to suffer the injury while running the bases after hitting a two-out single in the top half of the inning.

Just an update to an earlier note:

The Phils announced that Brett Myers' minor-league rehab program will get back on track Thursday. He'll start for the Class A Clearwater Threshers against the Dunedin Blue Jays.

Brett Myers could make his first minor-league rehab appearance Thursday.

Phils GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said Myers (hip surgery) was to take a concussion impact test today. Myers hit his head, suffering swelling to his left eye, this weekend in Jacksonville.

The eye injury, stemming from falling out of his own car, according to Myers, prevented him from making an appearance with Class A Clearwater Saturday.

But if Myers threw a bullpen today and if the impact test goes well, he could pitch for Clearwater Thursday, according to Amaro.

More on Myers, who was present during a bar fight Friday night in tomorrow's Daily Times, including what his manager thinks of the recent happenings involving his veteran right-hander.

The Brett Myers story continues...

Scheduled to begin a minor league rehab assignment Saturday night, Myers was scratched early in the morning after telling team officials he injured his eye playing catch with his four-year-old son, Kolt.

A few hours later, he changed the story, saying he banged his head - and thus, his eye - after getting out of an SUV following a night out with his wife and friends.

But an anonymous tip here to the blog mentioned there was a bar fight at Shannon's Pub in Jacksonville Friday night.

I just got off the phone with a witness who was at Shannon's that night.

"He was there, but he wasn't in a bar fight," the witness said. "He wasn't even in the room (where it took place)."

Cole Hamels declined to talk to the press following Saturday afternoon's 4-3 loss in Atlanta. It's the second straight start Hamels has had without speaking afterward.

Hamels allowed two runs in six innings. The Phils took a 3-2 lead a half inning after he exited, but the Braves scored twice off Brad Lidge in the bottom of the ninth to steal victory away.

Some pretty interesting news here in Atlanta.

Brett Myers was not hit in the eye by a baseball thrown by his four-year-old son, Kolt.

A Phillies spokesman said the team was "misinformed" by Myers. When he told his second story to team officials, Myers said he slipped coming out of his pickup, banged his head and came away with severe swelling under his eye.

Myers will get re-examined by the medical staff in Clearwater Sunday.

He was supposed to make his first minor league rehab start tonight for the Class A Threshers, but that was scratched when Myers told the first story... the one about the ball thrown by his son, not the one about slipping out of his truck.

Brett Myers will not pitch tonight in what was supposed to be his first minor league rehab start.

According to a Phils official, he was struck in the eye with a ball while having a catch with his son, four-year-old Kolt. No word on the severity of the injury, or when Myers will pitch.

Obviously more later on this...

Jennifer Utley, the wife of Phils second baseman Chase Utley, is an active member of the Pennsylvania SPCA. Her and Chase do a lot of work helping animals in the Delaware Valley.

Jen Utley and several other SPCA members were banned from entering the Eagles complex today in South Philly, where the team introduced convicted dog fighting ring leader Michael Vick as a new Eagles player.


“I think if you're planning on being conscious of a very sensitive issue it might be positive to (contact us),” Jen Utley told FOX-29. “I don't work for the Eagles. I don't know what their (public relations) department does. I only know that reports said they called us. They didn't.”

The Phillies, already with a surplus of pitching, could be in line to have a whole contingent of fresh and talented arms ready for the September stretch drive.

One of those arms will begin to get in gear this weekend.

The team announced today that Brett Myers, who had hip surgery in May, will start for Class A Clearwater Saturday night against the Tampa Yankees. If you're in the area, that game begins at 6:30 p.m.

Myers is scheduled to throw one inning.

The free-agent-to-be could be a big boost for the bullpen when he returns, and may even become a legitimate backup closer candidate if Brad Lidge's knee were to act up again.

Since Pedro Martinez was off-the-charts charming in his post-game press conference Wednesday night - talking about his late father, calling a reporter "dumb" and calling himself an "old goat" - it was tough to find room to discuss the incident that took place in his last inning of work, when Shane Victorino was doused with an adult beverage while camping under a fly ball near the left-center bleachers.

Victorino made the catch... but also caught a hatful of Old Style Light.

He declined to talk about it after the game, but discussed the matter prior to Thursday afternoon's game at Wrigley.

Both Victorino and the Chicago Cubs have filed complaints with the Chicago Police Department, according to Cubs chairman Crane Kenney.

"It’s not so much that I want to press charges or file anything against him, but he’s probably at home thinking, 'I got away with it,'" Victorino said. "So I hope he gets the understanding that you can’t be doing stuff like that. if it happened in the streets, I don’t think he would be walking too far with something like that happening in the streets. It's just not something you do.

"The big picture to me is the guy should be held accountable, something should be done. Whether it be (the police), Wrigley, I don’t care. Just something should be done."

It's early (second inning) and there's a lot of baseball left to be played (and stories for me to write), but I just wanted to drop some early scouting from the press box on Pedro Martinez's first Phils start and first major league game since September.

-His velocity looks legit. According to MLB's Gameday, he just touched 92 miles per hour.

-What makes that velocity even better is Martinez has a very good changeup. The separation between fastball and changeup is key.

Just look at the three-pitch at-bat against Alfonso Soriano: 89 mile-per-hour fastball, 79-mph changeup and 77 mph-chnageup. Three pitches, one very quick out.


-In his second to last minor league start, Martinez said he was struggling while pitching out of the stretch. He's looked OK at Wrigley.

In the first, he erased a two-out double by ending the inning with a strikeout of Cubs cleanup hitter Jake Fox. In the second, he pitched with runners on base after a leadoff double and limited the damage, racking up two more strikeouts.

Jamie Moyer is not a happy camper.

He just spoke to reporters, not taking questions, and said he was "disheartened," that he thought his career would warrant a "respect factor" and that he was "not really happy" with the decision made by the Phillies.

Additionally, he said the Phils ensured him that this situation, going to the pen, would not happen while he negotiated a two-year contract as a free agent this winter.

The Phils enter tonight's game at Wrigley Field just 3 1/2 games up of the Florida Marlins (and 4 1/2 in front of third-place Atlanta).

It's the closest the division race has been in a month - they were up 4 on July 12. The Phils grew that lead, however, to as large as 7 games as recently as Thursday.

So what the heck has happened? Although the focus recently has been on the pitching - the Cliff Lee acquisition, the swap of Pedro Martinez for Jamie Moyer and the ongoing inconsistency of Cole Hamels (wake up, Cole) - the culprit during the current losing spell isn't the arms.

It's the bats. Namely, the middle of the order bats, which to quote a former Phils manager, "are killing them."


Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth, who all represented the Phils at the All-Star Game four weeks ago, have taken a two-week holiday, all at the same time.

The middle-of-the-order foursome is hiting .224 with three home runs and 14 RBIs, while striking out 52 times, in the last two weeks (12 games).


Let's break 'em down individually:

Utley - .205 (8-for-39) with one home run, three RBIs and 11 strikeouts.

Howard - .234 (11-for-47) with no home runs, three RBIs and 19 strikeouts.

Ibanez - .256 (10-for-39) with no home runs, one RBI and 11 strikeouts.

Werth - .200 (9-for-45) with two home runs, seven RBIs and 11 strikeouts.


Just as the Phils offense can't roll without Jimmy Rollins firing at the top, they can't possibly get the most out of their talent if those four guys are sleepwalking at the same time.

But the guess here is it can't be possible for this to continue. Even if one or two of them continue to struggle, odds are the other two will take up.

Although facing right-hander Rich Harden can't help, perhaps Werth will be the first to get going. The last time the Phils paid a visit to Wrigley Field, Werth had arguably his best series of the season: he hit .538 (7-for-13) with three home runs and seven RBI in four games.

Finally, the rotation turns.

Jamie Moyer was informed he's headed to the bullpen Monday.

Pedro Martinez, taking Moyer's spot in the rotation, makes his Phils debut Wednesday night.

J.A. Happ will start Tuesday, on his normal fifth day, while Cliff Lee goes Thursday, getting a two extra days of rest.

The Phils will make a roster move before Wednesday's game to activate Martinez from the DL. (Kyle Kendrick?)

Additionally, Chad Durbin was activated from the DL. Rodrigo Lopez was sent to AAA Lehigh Valley to open a roster spot.

“Based on our reports on how Pedro has pitched in his rehab starts, we felt it was time to move him into our rotation,” Charlie Manuel said in a statement. “Jamie was a total professional and team player when we let him know of the decision to move him to the bullpen. He has been and will continue to be a very important part of this team.”

J.C. Romero's first minor league rehab assignment wasn't stunted by rain Saturday night; he was taken out after experiencing soreness in his left arm. Romero has been "shutdown" for the time being, according to Charlie Manuel.

Romero was placed on the DL on July 23 with a strained left forearm.

This just in: J.A. Happ will remain in the rotation.

GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told the media that he's sticking with the rookie left-hander, who fired his second shutout of the season Wednesday night, despite Pedro Martinez's likely addition to the roster this month.

"Happ's not going anywhere," Amaro said. "He's not going out of the rotation. He deserves to stay in the rotation. He's pitched very well and he's one of our most effective starters."

Happ is is 8-2 with a 2.74 ERA. Only five National League pitchers — Chris Carpenter, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Dan Haren and Wandy Rodriguez — have lower ERAs.

He is 6-2 with a 2.80 ERA in 14 starts since being promoted to the rotation five weeks into the season.

Amaro has not made a decision yet on where Martinez will pitch next.

"I think his effectiveness was enough to perhaps warrant him pitching in the major leagues, but we haven't made any final decisions yet," Amaro said.

I wasn't around the Phillies last week in Arizona and San Francisco. It's one of the three trips all season I don't make.

So when I walked into Citizens Bank Park, I heard the whispers that began on the west coast - the whispers that were printed in several newspapers, that, in all likelihood, J.A. Happ would be sent to the bullpen to make way for Pedro Martinez.

The starting rotation would be Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Joe Blanton, Jamie Moyer and Pedro Martinez. Really.

Really?

The logic escaped me. It continued to do so Wednesday night, when J.A. Happ spelled out every reason he shouldn't be sent anywhere but back to the mound every five days.

He pitches innings (nine on Wednesday) and he pitches them well (all of the shutout variety against the Rockies, who oh by the way, are the third most productive offense in the NL).

Pedro Martinez and Jamie Moyer are at the point of their respective careers where getting six innings out of either one of them is a luxury. Happ is younger and more able to pitch innings (and more effective innings), thus, saving an already over-used bullpen.

So, please.... can someone explain this to me like I'm a six-year-old?

Moyer and Martinez have a combined 470 career wins. Happ helps you win now.

UPDATE: In my get-up-the-blog-and-get-out-of-the-ballpark rambling, I forgot to include at least one stat regarding Happ. Since he entered the bullpen Memorial Day weekend at Yankee Stadium, he is 6-2 with a 2.80 ERA and two shutouts in 14 starts.

He has allowed two runs or less in seven of his last nine starts.


Read more about Happ's brilliant night - and what he and Charlie Manuel had to say - in tomorrow's Delco Times.



(That's at delcotimes.com or at your local newstand - if you're down the shore, the Paper Peddler in Avalon stocks our paper)

So let me see if I can get this straight - the Phillies have seven starting pitchers, right? Seven starters for five spots.

OK, perhaps it's six, since the Phils have announced that Cliff Lee is pitching Thursday, thus, skipping Rodrigo Lopez. Lopez will be available out of the bullpen.

He's been unceremoniously sent to the 'pen.

So now we're down to six: Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Joe Blanton, Jamie Moyer, J.A. Happ and the soon-to-be-joining-the-team Pedro Martinez.

In today's Daily Times, we examined the options the Phils have in solving this dilemma.