Spring Training is just about finished up, but the Phillies still have a lot of issues with their pitching staff, in both the starting rotation as well as the bullpen. Jamie Moyer was just named the fifth starter this week, beating out Kyle Kendrick, but Kendrick is going to get a chance to start the year in the rotation, anyway. The reason? Joe Blanton was put on the disabled list yesterday with a strained oblique muscle, knocking him out for the first 3-6 weeks of the regular season.
Now, Blanton has never been on the DL during his big league career, so I don't think it's an issue with him staying healthy. The guy was a horse for the Phillies last season, and has averaged about 200 innings of work in all six of his pro seasons, so I would expect him to be back as soon as possible. This doesn't really worry all that much, though. Jamie Moyer has looked solid in spring training action, proving that even a 47 year old can still pitch in the major leagues. Kyle Kendrick was great as well, as his time training with Roy Halladay has obviously been a very, very good thing for his career. As long as he can handle the mental aspect of the game this season, and not freak out whenever someone gets on base, he should do fine while he's spelling Blanton. At this point, I think the rotation is going to go along the lines of: Halladay, Hamels, Happ, Moyer, Kendrick. At least, that's the way I think it should go. Halladay and Hamels are a good 1-2 punch, and Happ is more than likely going to drop back down a bit from his great rookie season, but he's a solid number three pitcher. Moyer and Kendrick are the question marks, but if they can carry over how they've pitched this spring, the Phils will be fine.
Where I am worried is in the bullpen, where both Brad Lidge and J.C. Romero are going to start the year on the disabled list as they finish recovering from offseason surgery. Though it's not going to be good having both their closer and their number two set-up man starting the year on the DL, it's for the best. Last year, Lidge was never really healthy, and by the time he did get put on the 15 day DL, it was June, and he'd already lost half of his season. As for Romero, he didn't even get to pitch until June, and when he did get back, he got hurt relatively quickly, landing him back on the disabled list and ending his season after he had pitched just 16 innings. The Phillies are going to need both of these pitchers back at 100% for the majority of the season, so having them start the year on the DL to get back to that point is going to suck, but is a necessary evil.
The biggest weak spot that the Phillies have this season is in their bullpen, and it's already going to be exposed with Lidge and Romero out. For the time being, Ryan Madson is going to be the closer, and with Chan Ho Park in New York and Scott Eyre retired, the Phils are going to have to rely on Chad Durbin and Danys Baez to fill in until Lidge and Romero are back. It doesn't exactly fill me with a warm, fuzzy feeling, but it's the way things are going to start this year. I already said, it has to be done to ensure that both guys are back and able to pitch like it's 2008 again. Lidge has to get back to that level, and Romero needs to at least get somewhere close to there again. Without those two pitching well, the Phillies could be in for another season with that nervous feeling in the late innings, and I don't want that again. Just starting with those two on the DL is enough to get me there, but it's for the best. They'll both be back soon, they just need a little bit of time to recover, and then everything will be back to the way it needs to be.
It could always be worse...they could be the Mets.
CSNPhilly.com: Blanton to DL, Lidge and Romero there, too
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