Bullpen Blues

This is the look Avery Riley makes when Sandy calls on the bullpen

The first month of the season is in the books and the Phillies have won more games than they have lost. They stand at 15-14 and are just one and a half games back of the suddenly struggling Atlanta Braves. They are far from silencing their critics, but the starting pitching and the offense have been consistent enough to still respect this ball club.

But then there's the bullpen.

A bullpen that was exposed again Friday night when Mike Adams couldn't get an out in the 8th inning when leading 3-2 in a game handed over by Cliff Lee. A bullpen that has been by far the bigger contributor to the league worst 5.08 ERA the Phillies pitching staff has endured in the 7th inning or later through 29 games. Is that bad? A bullpen that is allowing the opposition to slug a league best .450 when the NL average is .361. Is that bad? A bullpen that is in the bottom 3rd of the league in walks given up and strikeouts. It's not good.

This bullpen is tied for the most home runs given up with the Mets and the Rockies, but the Mets bullpen has pitched 13 more innings than the Phils' and the Rockies' 'pen has logged 24 more. If the Phillies' bullpen doesn't give up another home run in 24 innings they'll be in first place. Don't bet on it.

These beleaguered relievers have officially blown six saves so far this season and only one of those has been charged to Jonathan Papelbon. Jon, since his first save opportunity of the season, has not given up a run and has been by far the best pitcher in the group (Not exactly talking about the Nasty Boys out there though). If you watch these games it can be infuriating. Not just for blowing games that should be won, but for the way the bullpen can make you feel helpless watching a team that can't afford to lose games they are winning late. They make a habit of walking leadoff men. They have a habit of walking anybody, and with the margin for error being what it is for guys like Jake Diekman and BJ Rosenberg walking anybody feels like the kiss of death.

I can't imagine what happens to Sandberg and Bowa's stomachs when Antonio Bastardo comes in and goes 3-0 to the first batter he sees in a one run ball game like he did this afternoon against the Nationals. Bowa has to keep Tums in his pack pocket with a bottle of Mayloxx in the clubhouse. Tony walked that man but did strike out the next better to preserve the lead.

The real reason the Phillies are above .500 right now is the minor resurgence of a healthy core four of Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, and Carlos Ruiz.

Let's face it, heading into the season nobody thought Howard would be looking as competent at the plate as he has. He's not without his faults but he's been hitting the ball out of the ballpark with just enough frequency to make you believe. He smoked a 3 run opposite field shot in the first inning on Saturday night. It essentially won the game as AJ Burnett and the Phils cruised to a 7-2 victory.

If there was faith in anyone of the four to have as close to a peak season as possible it was Chase Utley. But for sure nobody thought he'd be hitting .346 after 104 at bats. He had to tail off from that torrid .500 start but he is still getting his hits. He knocked in the only run of the game today in the Phillies 1-0 victory over the Nationals.

Jimmy has seemingly risen to the challenge that is Ryne Sandberg and Larry Bowa telling him what to do everyday. He's gotten big hits. He has shown some of the pop that was missing last year. He could probably stand to take a few more walks but I must say I have seen a concerted effort to be more selective early in counts through nearly 1/5th of the season. Jimmy has shown some hustle with five steals and two triples while also refraining from dogging it to first all that often. Above all else though he's playing Gold Glove defense at shortstop and he just never seems to miss a makable play.

Chooch was NL Player of the Week for last week, so yeah he's been playing some solid ball. Marlon Byrd has basically replaced Domonic Brown's production last year while Dom has basically replaced John Mayberry's production last year. One home run in his last 214 at bats for Dom, dating back to last season. What happened to the power?

So does this team have a chance despite this poo poo platter bullpen ran back for another go round by GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and his brain trust? With the addition of the second wild card I say why not? Mike Adams should be hard pressed to be as bad as BJ Rosenberg. Maybe Jake Diekman can figure out how to keep the ball down. Maybe Jon Papelbon can continue his All-Star caliber play. Maybe somebody figures out how to step up instead of slip up in the 8th inning. There are plenty of maybes there but if the team continues to get quality starting pitching and timely hitting they will be competitive regardless of a mediocre at best bullpen.


There's an old adage about golf tournaments that applies somewhat to the Phils through this first month. You can't win the tournament on Thursday, but you sure can lose it. In other words, at least the Phils didn't come out with a stinkfest like the one the 11-23 Arizona Diamondbacks have put up. It'd be pretty hard to climb out of a hole like that with zero momentum from this team of old dogs. You have to love being 1.5 games out 30 games in and there's reason to believe the bullpen can't be much worse than it has been.


NL East Standings through 5 weeks:

Atlanta Braves ...............................  17-13 -
Washington Nationals ......................  16-14  1 GB
New York Mets ..............................  15-14  1.5 GB
Philadelphia Phillies .......................  15-14  1.5 GB
Florida Marlins ..............................  16-15  1.5 GB




Werth the Watch:

Jayson Werth

Avg: 293 OB: 383 Slg: 448 HR: 4 RBI: 16 R: 17

Shane Victorino 

Avg: 257 OB: 325 Slg: 400 HR: 0 RBI: 3 R: 3

Hunter Pence

Avg: 258 OB: 336 Slg: 400 HR: 2 RBI: 9 R: 19

Raul Ibanez - no longer playing every day

Avg: 144 OB: 222 Slg: 310 HR: 3 RBI: 17 R: 7