Well, after weeks of speculation, the Phillies signed LHP Steve Kline to a minor-league deal and he will report to the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs next week. Considering how often pitchers go down with injury and/or are ineffective, Kline could very quickly find himself on the big league roster as long as he performs in Allentown. RHP Ryan Madson has been complaining about soreness in his pitching shoulder (the same injury that forced him to miss 2 months last year) and both Tom Gordon and Clay Condrey have been somewhat ineffective so far this season. Gordon had a streak of 4 scoreless appearances going into last night where he gave up the winning run in 1 2/3 IP. Granted that run came on a horrible call by the home plate umpire but a run is a run is a run and the Phillies always need more pitching.
In other news: RHP Kris Benson continues to throw off the mound in Clearwater and looks to start in a minor-league game in hopefully two weeks if everything goes well. Considering how poorly SP Kyle Kendrick has pitched thus far in the season, Benson could quickly find himself in the starting rotation.
Huge Surprise of the Year: SP Adam Eaton has pitched in two games so far and both have been quality starts (6 IP, 3ER or less). He has posted a 3.91 ERA so far. Perhaps this will be the year that he figures it all out and somewhat earns his $8 million a year in salary. Or perhaps he will give up 10 runs in his next start...with Adam you never know.
Its About Time: SP Brett Myers was quoted as saying that he will be a "Closer for 9 innings on Saturday". Basically he means he's gonna go out there and just rear up and throw fastballs. Hopefully the Cubs don't read the Daily News and just sit fastball on him but hey if he can bring it, let him. It would be nice to see him stop throwing 90 MPH fastballs and actually get some mustard on the ball.
Weekly Awards:
Player of the Week - LF Pat Burrell: LF Pat Burrell has simply been on fire this week going 9 for 21 with 7 BB, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 4 R, and 20 Total Bases. For that math impaired that's a .438 AVG/.571OBP. Burrell has been the most consistent hitter for the Phillies so far and he looks to build on excellent second half in 2007. Over the past couple season, Pat has cut his strikeout rate and raised his OBP each year and those trends seem to be continuing as he becomes a much more patient hitter than the free-swinging days of his early career.
Pitcher of the Week - SP Cole Hamels: SP Cole Hamels went 7 strong innings on Monday afternoon picking up his first win of the season snapping a two game losing streak and salvaging a 2-2 series split with the Cincinnati Reds. He struck out 4 and gave up 1 ER getting the win. Reliever Chad Durbin was a close runner-up pitching 5 innings in 3 appearances with no runs scored. He continues to be strong out of the Pen.
Goat of the Week - 1B Ryan Howard: Despite Victorino's struggles at the top of the order, Howard has actually been worse this week going 4 for 28 (.148 AVG) with 11 K. The only bright spot is that he has hit 2 HRs with 4 RBI but otherwise Howard looks lost up at the plate.
Showing posts with label Steve Kline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steve Kline. Show all posts
Friday, April 11, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Adam Eaton Sucks and Other Phillies Thoughts
Adam Eaton sucks. He is perhaps the worst signing in the history of the Philadelphia Phillies organization. Sadly, barring an unforseen move by the Front Office to cut its losses with him, we have another 2 long seasons of watching him attempt to pitch to MLB hitters. Perhaps the Phillies could hold a raffle every fifth day where a lucky fan is named starting pitcher for that night's start. It couldn't possibly be any worse than trotting Eaton out there to pitch.
The biggest issue with Eaton isn't that he plays poorly, its that he's stupid. He has the ability to pitch in the Majors, he simply doesn't perform. His pitches are good enough, but his selection and poise at key moments always allows 1 run innings to turn into those game killing 5 run innings he is so famous for. Eaton can literally throw 95 pitches in a game and only miss on 5 of them but still lose by 10 runs because he truly is a moron with his pitch selection. He buckles under pressure like a belt. He is absolutely worthless and every time he starts a game this year, it will be another brick in the wall between the Phillies and a post-season berth.
In other news, JD "Real Deal" Durbin was put on waivers. Likely he will stay with the club anyway as I expect that no one in their right mind will be willing to take him off the Phillies hands. This means he will probably start the season in Allentown along with Travis Blackley (who also cleared waivers) playing for the IronPigs. This means that the Phillies could start the season with only 10 pitchers on the 25 man roster and go up to 11 when Lidge is activated from the 15-day DL after the first week of the season. It also means that the Phillies will be able to keep both Chris Snelling and Wes Helms on the 25 man roster at least in the short-term. This will be helpful in efforts to trade Helms instead of outright releasing him and being on the hook for around $3 million in future salary. However, it also means the Phillies are likely expecting to be able to pick up another pitcher off the waivers scrap heap between now and Sunday afternoon when rosters need to be set for Opening Day. This could mean that borderline players like LHP Steve Kline (who was mentioned in earlier trade rumors) may be available on waivers in the next few days, alleviating the need for the Phillies to give anything up for another arm.
Bold Prediction for the year: Pat Burrell will have a huge contract year in 2008. Pat will be looking to sign one final long term deal after this season and he will need to come up huge to make it happen. Likely, the Phillies will not be resigning him for a couple of reasons. First off, he is dreadful defensively in LF and he has never recovered from the series of ankle and foot injuries he has dealt with in the past few years. Secondly, they are leary of long-term deals for 30+ players like Burrell. Finally, it would make sense for Pat to go for a DH role on an AL club which would lengthen his career considerably with far less wear and tear on his already fragile legs. I could easily see him ending up somewhere like Toronto where Frank Thomas's contract will be up or the Yankees who have around $60 million coming off the books next year as well. Burrell has been very underrated as a Phillie and he has provided a very solid right-handed bat for them for the past 7 years. He will be missed in the middle of the lineup. Left field is a different story though. Predicted line for Pat Burrell this season:
G: 151
AB: 525
Avg: .279
OBP: .415
HR: 35
RBI: 109
BB: 110
K: 120
The biggest issue with Eaton isn't that he plays poorly, its that he's stupid. He has the ability to pitch in the Majors, he simply doesn't perform. His pitches are good enough, but his selection and poise at key moments always allows 1 run innings to turn into those game killing 5 run innings he is so famous for. Eaton can literally throw 95 pitches in a game and only miss on 5 of them but still lose by 10 runs because he truly is a moron with his pitch selection. He buckles under pressure like a belt. He is absolutely worthless and every time he starts a game this year, it will be another brick in the wall between the Phillies and a post-season berth.
In other news, JD "Real Deal" Durbin was put on waivers. Likely he will stay with the club anyway as I expect that no one in their right mind will be willing to take him off the Phillies hands. This means he will probably start the season in Allentown along with Travis Blackley (who also cleared waivers) playing for the IronPigs. This means that the Phillies could start the season with only 10 pitchers on the 25 man roster and go up to 11 when Lidge is activated from the 15-day DL after the first week of the season. It also means that the Phillies will be able to keep both Chris Snelling and Wes Helms on the 25 man roster at least in the short-term. This will be helpful in efforts to trade Helms instead of outright releasing him and being on the hook for around $3 million in future salary. However, it also means the Phillies are likely expecting to be able to pick up another pitcher off the waivers scrap heap between now and Sunday afternoon when rosters need to be set for Opening Day. This could mean that borderline players like LHP Steve Kline (who was mentioned in earlier trade rumors) may be available on waivers in the next few days, alleviating the need for the Phillies to give anything up for another arm.
Bold Prediction for the year: Pat Burrell will have a huge contract year in 2008. Pat will be looking to sign one final long term deal after this season and he will need to come up huge to make it happen. Likely, the Phillies will not be resigning him for a couple of reasons. First off, he is dreadful defensively in LF and he has never recovered from the series of ankle and foot injuries he has dealt with in the past few years. Secondly, they are leary of long-term deals for 30+ players like Burrell. Finally, it would make sense for Pat to go for a DH role on an AL club which would lengthen his career considerably with far less wear and tear on his already fragile legs. I could easily see him ending up somewhere like Toronto where Frank Thomas's contract will be up or the Yankees who have around $60 million coming off the books next year as well. Burrell has been very underrated as a Phillie and he has provided a very solid right-handed bat for them for the past 7 years. He will be missed in the middle of the lineup. Left field is a different story though. Predicted line for Pat Burrell this season:
G: 151
AB: 525
Avg: .279
OBP: .415
HR: 35
RBI: 109
BB: 110
K: 120
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Why Helms For Kline Might Be A Good Idea
Yesterday, I wrote an article giving three good reasons why trading 3B Wes Helms for LHP Steve Kline would be a very bad idea for Pat Gillick and the Phillies. Now I'm gonna flip the coin and give reasons as to why it might be a good idea.
Reason #1: Home/Road Splits - His home/road splits last year and over the past 3 years show him to be a far more effective pitcher outside of San Francisco than inside. Usually this wouldn't make sense but the reason is simple. Steve Kline isn't and never has been a flyball pitcher so having a huge home park doesn't really help him by preventing HRs. Kline is a sinkerball pitcher with extreme groundball tendencies (1.52 GB/FB in 2007, 1.57 GB/FB for 05-07 and 1.79 for his career). Given a good infield defense (i.e. Feliz, Rollins and Utley are all much above average defensively) he should be pretty competitive.
Here are his road numbers over the past 3 years:
By Breakdown
ERA W L SV SVO G GS CG IP H R ER HR BB SO AVG
3.20 4 3 2 6 100 0 0 78.2 67 30 28 9 39 39 .233
Reason #2: Experience - Steve Kline is an experienced setup man. He performed this role admirably for the Cardinals from 2001 -2004 so he has plenty of experience pitching in high pressure situations. While it may be nice to give Blackley a shot at the Big Show, maybe Philly in 08 is not the place to be experimenting. Kline has pitched on playoff teams and could easily fill in as a setup man when injuries start piling up in the Pen.
Reason #3: Why Not? - Helms isn't gonna make the team anyway so the Phillies will have to outright him before the start of the season. Feliz is the starting 3B with no arguments and Bruntlet and Dobbs are far more versatile off the bench anyway. Both can play corner outfield and Bruntlet can capably start at 7 positions and has in the course of his career, so there is no room for Helms anyway.
Reason #4: Addition Through Subtraction - Helms is one of the most "beloved" figures in Phillies history. He probably gained this loyal following by hitting well under .200 at home last year. Getting rid of him can't possibly hurt. If someone like Steve Kline is all we can get for him, so be it.
Either way, we need to get rid of Wes Helms.
Reason #1: Home/Road Splits - His home/road splits last year and over the past 3 years show him to be a far more effective pitcher outside of San Francisco than inside. Usually this wouldn't make sense but the reason is simple. Steve Kline isn't and never has been a flyball pitcher so having a huge home park doesn't really help him by preventing HRs. Kline is a sinkerball pitcher with extreme groundball tendencies (1.52 GB/FB in 2007, 1.57 GB/FB for 05-07 and 1.79 for his career). Given a good infield defense (i.e. Feliz, Rollins and Utley are all much above average defensively) he should be pretty competitive.
Here are his road numbers over the past 3 years:
By Breakdown
ERA W L SV SVO G GS CG IP H R ER HR BB SO AVG
3.20 4 3 2 6 100 0 0 78.2 67 30 28 9 39 39 .233
Reason #2: Experience - Steve Kline is an experienced setup man. He performed this role admirably for the Cardinals from 2001 -2004 so he has plenty of experience pitching in high pressure situations. While it may be nice to give Blackley a shot at the Big Show, maybe Philly in 08 is not the place to be experimenting. Kline has pitched on playoff teams and could easily fill in as a setup man when injuries start piling up in the Pen.
Reason #3: Why Not? - Helms isn't gonna make the team anyway so the Phillies will have to outright him before the start of the season. Feliz is the starting 3B with no arguments and Bruntlet and Dobbs are far more versatile off the bench anyway. Both can play corner outfield and Bruntlet can capably start at 7 positions and has in the course of his career, so there is no room for Helms anyway.
Reason #4: Addition Through Subtraction - Helms is one of the most "beloved" figures in Phillies history. He probably gained this loyal following by hitting well under .200 at home last year. Getting rid of him can't possibly hurt. If someone like Steve Kline is all we can get for him, so be it.
Either way, we need to get rid of Wes Helms.
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