Phils purchase contract of junkball lefty R.J. Swindle

Beerleaguer is pleased to announce that a site favorite is headed to the Show. Lehigh Valley left-handed reliever R.J. Swindle will replace Brett Myers on the 25-man roster, according to his agent.

The soon-to-be 25 year old has split time between double and triple-A this season, compiling a 1.35 ERA with a tremendous 48/6 K/BB ratio in 40 combined innings. Opponents are batting just .197 off him and he has yet to surrender a home run. Swindle, who was originally selected by Boston in the 2004 draft, will likely serve as a lefty one-out guy (LOOGY) out of the Phillies’ bullpen. Left-handed batters are hitting just .129 off him this season. Swindle is known for his tumbling curveball that can cross home in the low 50s, with a fastball that barely clocks 80 and a slider that falls somewhere in between. He throws from the very left edge of the rubber and releases the ball at a low, 3/4 slot in back of left-handed hitters. His control is exceptional. In five minor league seasons, he's 22-11 with a 2.38 ERA and stellar 323/60 K/BB ratio.

Beerleaguer: I haven’t been this proud since Carlos Ruiz broke into the Bigs. Swindle’s agent reached out to Beerleaguer last season before he signed and I've made a point to track him ever since. Actually, his agent, Tracy Paul Hunt, emailed me the news earlier tonight and thanked the site for all of its support.

Like Chris Coste, here’s another longshot who's beaten the odds after a crazy journey that took him from the Boston system, to the Northern League, to Yankees spring training, to the Atlantic League, to Phillies A-Ball. The rocky road first started when the Sox released him due to a herniated disc. After that, no one could figure out what to do with him, despite success at every level of the minors. Now, the Phils finally give him a chance. I can’t wait to see this. Can he pull it off? He’s murdered left-handed hitters his entire career, but the Major Leagues has a funny way of weeding out oddities like these.

Credit the front office for an out-of-the-box day, with Brett Myers and now with this. If it works, they’ve found their left-handed accompaniment to J.C. Romero. Nevertheless, a big question still remains: Who takes Myers' turn in the rotation? Is help coming from the outside, and if so, who goes?

Links: Here's a great interview with Swindle done by the guys at The Good Phight less than a month ago.

Comments

[AWH the RBP]

Good luck to RJ!!!

I'm glad he gets a chance!!!!!!!

[Bedrosian's Beard]

Amazing work by RJ and a surprise move by the front offce. Best of luck to him!

[RSB]

He even looks a little like Moyer.

Will R.J. give way to J.A. or will he be here to compliment J.C for good? Whatever, so long as we're not trifling with T.J. or J.D.

[Tim]

he'll have a nice audition while they skip the myers spot. i'm guessing that by the next time myers spot is due up they will either drop swindle back down or taguchi or condrey. should be fun to watch at least.

[Tray]

Their roster moves this season have been odd (although Harman was alright), but this and the Myers demotion are smart, not to mention surprising coming from such a play-it-by-the-book front office.

[bathtubhippo]

good for swindle!

all these surprise moves...what's next, we hire some real scouts and send them to latin america and asia?

[vegas]

This is good, I can hear the wheels turning in front offices head. Just what we needed, a real deal shake up. Can't wait to see who takes the mound on Sat. If there is a trade, I'd hate to see Vic leave.

[PhillyFriar]

I think you pretty much nailed it, Jason. Credit where credit is due to Gillick & Co. for a good set of transactions.

I'm still of the mindset that J.A. Happ should take Myers' spot in the rotation, and if Swindle pitches alright in the meantime, I think it may be DFA time for Clay Condrey. They won't need a starter till July 7th, though, so still plenty of time to figure things out.

[Kathy]

This couldn't have happened to a nicer guy! RJ never gave up on his dream and this just goes to show that sometimes the good guys like RJ see the dream come true!
Congratulations RJ!

[Sophist]

Best of luck to, RJ. Here's hoping he pitches well enough to earn himself a spot on the roster.

[Sophist]

Well, he's clearly already pitched well enough to do so. I meant, a spot for the season.

[clicheguevara]

Yes! At least give the man a chance before giving up pieces for someone like Fuentes.

Let's just hope they don't send Durbin out in Myers' place.

[Sophist]

So when will he join the club? Will he be in ATL tomorrow?

[bob]

most compelling stat of the night:

A Cook (W, 11-5)
CG shutout
5 Hits, 0 Walks, 4K
*79 pitches - 58 strikes*

79 pitches?!?

[GM-Carson]

Damn glad to see the Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle is coming on tour to Philly. Damn glad the Phils won last night too.

[GM-Carson]

Check out this injury to my catcher in the WSBGM's Phantasy League (Chris Snyder of the Diamondbacks)- The Diamondbacks placed Snyder on the 15-day DL Tuesday with a left testicular fracture.

How the hell do you fracture that?!

[davthom73]

I like this guy. All the Vancouver, B.C. = born R. J. Swindle has ever done at the minor league level is succeed -- but he has been forced to endure two separate trips to independent league baseball (Schaumburg, Northern League, 2005 & part of 2006, and Newark, Atlantic League, part of 2007). The last independent league stint occurred after Swindle had posted an ERA of less than 0.61 at the A and AAA levels in the Yankee organization in 2006. And look at the surpurb strikeouts-per-inning numbers over the course of Swindle's minor league career:

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/S/R.J.-Swindle.shtml

[phargo]

Good Morning.

Yes! Thank you, DavThom, I knew I recognized Swindle's name from somewhere. It's the Northern League- I have seen him pitch against the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks. Here's hoping he does as well as (or even better than!) the Phillies other former Northern Leaguer.

It sure is a releif to be back in the NL East. As for those AL teams, I'll worry about that another day.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

I can't wait to see this guy pitch. With the recent success of many junkballers, I have no reason to doubt that this guy can be effective.

Plus, J.R. Swindle is the perfect name for a LH reliever. It's conjures up the TV show "Dallas" and thievery, both of which I know nothing about. Regardless, it is a classic name. I always liked Turk Wendell, but this takes the proverbial cake.

Good Luck Swindler.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Gillick is really drawing out the suspense on Myers replacement, no?

This is like watching the last episode of "The Office." Somehow, I have a strong feeling that the internal workings of the Gillick imperial office is slightly less interesting.

[fuzzycopper]

Pleasantly surprised at how it's turned out thus far. Will it work? Who knows, but it's nice to see an "unknown" guy like Swindle get a shot in the big leages vs a "known" generic MLB retread... Nice move.

[Cipper]

Very exciting indeed...

Bold prediction:

Phils win out till the AllStar Break

[king myno]

Congrats to RJ Swindle for making the bigs. Let's hope he gets more than just a cup of coffee at CBP. This news made my morning.

[MG]

Hope that Dubee and Cholly are going to bring along Swindle slowly at first. Use him exclusively as a LOOGY and see what he does. My bet is if they Swindle in select situations that he will reward them with some nice results.

Also, good time to make this room with the Braves/Mets. Allows Cholly to mix and match a bit better late in games and save Romero for more of a pure setup role/late innings guy.

[NEPhilliesPhan]

Shot in the dark here...but clearly Chad Durbin would be the obvious choice to join the rotation as they brought up a reliever instead of Happ. Barring a trade I'm guessing that YahooSports was correct when they had Durbin moved to the rotation.

[NEPhilliesPhan]

To RJ Swindle: Good for you, man!!! It about bloody time!!!

[Willard Preacher]

I'm shocked at the Front Office strapping on a set and making some bold moves here. No matter how they pan out, I'd like to think that they have a grand plan of some sort and they're not just making these moves because of some behind the scenes implications to cost or something.

I'm hopeful that coming out of an abysmal interleague schedule, somehow still up in the division has inspired the FO folks to make a legit run at this thing. We'll see...

[AWH the RBP]

Not to detract from this otherwise excellent thread on RJ Swindle, who is to be commended for his perseverence, and his excellence - yes, excellence - at the minor league level, but I must comment on a couple of Myers' quotes from Zolecki's article this morning that relly should irk every fan.

Those quotes are:

"I'm doing it for my teammates," he said. "We're in a playoff race, and I have to be there to help my team. This isn't a question of what I want to do. It's what I have to do. . . . I need to go work on it, take it seriously, and get back in a starter's mode."

"Obviously, I need to get my head in the right spot," Myers said. "I wasn't prepared to become a starter because my heart and my mind-set were still in the bullpen. That's my fault."

"I want to be great, and honestly, I realized last year that I'd only be a good starter," Myers said. "I felt like I had rock-star status as a closer."

IMO, these quotes are quite revealing.

Myers talks about how he's doing it for his teammates, yet the other quotes reveal that his real attitude is that "it's all about Brett".

"Rock star status"? Uhhh, Brett, you weren't THAT good as a closer.

"work on it, take it seriously"? Ummm, Brett (and I'll address you directly), what the hell were you doing up until now - not working on it, not taking it seriously?

Is that attitude "about doing it for my teammates", or more about you and you own self-absorbtion?

Is that the attitude of a person who takes his profession seriously, or of a spoiled little brat who got coddled by his coaches and Mommy and Daddy because growing up he was so good at baseball? (I admit I know nothing about how he was raised, but I've seen enough kids of that ilk to make the conjecture).

"I realized last year that I'd only be a good starter".

Actually, Brett, if you'd "take it seriously" and "go work on it" you have the pure stuff to be a top starter at the MLB level, a #2 on most teams.

Instead, because you have a crappy, "all about Brett", feeling-sorry-for-yourself attitude, your own self-absorbtion and lack of work ethic (no long tossing, remember) has cost the teammates you claim to care so much about a lot of wins this year, and already may be the difference between them making it back to the playoffs - you selfish little jerk.

You need to grow up and be a man, and make the sacrifices for your co-workers that most people in this country make every day.

You obviouly like the bullpen because relievers don't have to work as hard and be in the kind of shape that starters do, you selfish, physically lazy waste of talent. You should be ashamed of yourself, but I'm not sure you have the vocabulary to know what "shame" means.

Carson was indeed right yesterday, when he called you "a whiny bawl-baby pissy-pants that deserves a slap in the face."

Now you've been slapped. We'll now see if it really is "about your teammates", or if it still is all about you.

[NEPhilliesPhan]

Yeah...what he said.

[PhilsGal]

PhillyFriar: how do you figure they won't need a starter till the 7th? They've moved up Hamels who is now scheduled to pitch in Myers' spot Thursday, but they'll need someone either Friday or Saturday (if they also bump up Moyer to Friday), right?

[AWH the RBP]

NEPP, I'll be in New England (NESN) next week on vacation.

Internet access will be limited.

Any recommendations on the best way to stay up to date on the Phils while I'm up there?

[Sophist]

They wouldn't send Swindle down, regardless of his performance, as soon as Condrey returns, would they?

I suppose they could, and it depends on how they deal with the SP position and Condrey or perhaps Taguchi.

I just wouldn't think they'd use Condrey's new child (I assume that's why he's with his wife) as a reason to demote him.

[The Truth Injection]

Hey AWH-

He was demoted, he accepted it and said he needs to work on things to help his team out. But don't let that stop vitrolic hatred towards the guy.

I hope he works everything out and can contribute. But he is being a man and a teammate by accepting this situation and looking to help out.

[Lake Fred]

Wow! First they demote Myers, next, they call up Swindle. These are two moves that are bold and politically acceptable to the fans. The message is implicit: Perform and you will be promoted; UNDERpeform and you will be DEMOTED!

[PhilsGal]

Also,regarding Durbin, I don't know how much rest would be required between a relief appearance and a start, but if they were planning to start him Friday or Saturday would they have had warming last night in the 7th? I know he didn't end up pitching yesterday, but it seemed like they still considered him an option.

[MG]

Williard - Not so much a grand plan as that I think the Phils just tired of the dismal results that Myers was giving them and his attitude/preparation to the entire thing.

This is probably a gross oversimplification but Brett Myers is a loser. He has gotten by solely on talent so far in his career with minimal to no time in terms of preparation/diligence to his craft.

Now, he is getting toward an age where talent can no longer solely carry him and he didn't prepare himself properly for his transition role. Maybe the Phils made a mistake assuming that Myers could handle the mental transition to returning to the starting rotation. It is entirely possible that Myers needs to be in a role (relief) where he can focus his energies to truly succeed. If that is the case, then some of the onus has to be placed on the Phils' for making an assessment mistake.

However, a large part of the blame always has to be on Myers. Not only is he under contract but a number of quotes today from the Zolecki article (and previous actions/quotes) basically demonstrate to me that Myers is an insolent, self-absorbed person who makes it that much harder to empathize with him.

Think the Phils realized that the only way to get Myers' attention was to embarrass/shock him by sending him to T-AAA. Skipping a start just wasn't going to do it.
Myers can spin it any way he likes but I am sure his ego has taken a big hit.

Question is Myers going to respond well to this? My bet is that he does but I hope the Phils leave him down at Allentown for at least the rest of the month. If Myers is only in Allentown for 2-3 starts, I don't think he is going to get the message the Phils are serious about him demonstrating that he deserves a return to starting rotation with the big league club.

[city fan]

Good Luck to R.J.!
Go Phillies!

[PhilsGal]

Also,regarding Durbin, I don't know how much rest would be required between a relief appearance and a start, but if they were planning to start him Friday or Saturday would they have had warming last night in the 7th? I know he didn't end up pitching yesterday, but it seemed like they still considered him an option.

[Jon]

It is nice to see R.J. FINALLY promoted! Hopefully he does well and sticks around for awhile. The team really needs a second lefty out of the pen.

That being said, I still think it is a big mistake sending Cole out to pitch on Thursday. It's even crazier when you factor in that Thursday would be Happ's normal day to pitch. Call me selfish, but I'd rather have Hamels facing the Muts, espcially since the Muts slapped Happ around a little bit last year. The Phils should break J.A. in against the Bravos this year!

[Jon]

That is of course if J.A. is called up to face the Muts.

[joe l]

AWH - NESN pre/post-game will occasionally show NL highlights, but 99% of the time it's very AL East centric. I think they do a league scoreboard sometime during the broadcast, but there's no ticker scrolling across during the game. You're better off heading to *gulp* ESPN.

[Ankit]

Just reading the headline made my day! Fantastic news and can't wait to see him pitch! Any thoughts on the Swindle call-up being a pre-cursor to another move: DFA Condrey and call-up Happ, as they need another starter.

Also, sure looked like the Phils were glad the interleague play part of the schedule is over! Good game last night, lets continue the winning ways!

[city fan]

You may tell me to lighten-up, but I didn't like the joke Meyers played on Kendrick back in Spring Training. I know a whole bunch of people were in on it, including Charlie, but it was Meyers idea, I'm sure, and I thought at the time it was not a cool thing to do to a teammate, for a little chuckle.

I think it shows where Meyers head is at: an adolescent. I hope he grows-up a bit more, like he said he did after he hit his wife, cause he does have good stuff, and could be a real good starter, but does he have the mental make-up? Time will tell.

[phargo]

City fan, I thought they took it a bit far, too.

I liked it when they listed Jayson Werth as starting catcher, though. That was funny and not as stressful on the prankee.

[michael]

city fan: who is Meyers? i know they have a guy on the team named Myers who is the other one you speak of? and also you must be a real hoot around the office always chastising people for jokin around. and when you say for him to "grow up" you do realize he plays baseball for a living right?

[Bedrosian's Beard]

What if Myers struggles in his 2-3 starts in AAA? Sent to the minor league bullpen to stretch out the arm?

Good luck to Swindle. I'm excited to see that 53mph curve.

[Iceman]

I like the call-up here, but I also think that the writing is now on the wall for a Durbin start, at least against the Mets. He's pitched 6 and 2/3 scoreless against them this year, and surely that's the stat Cholly's going to use to make his decision, screwing up Durbin's comfort-level be damned.

[Andy]

hee hee

Talk about secret weapons. Waiting for the LHBs cork-screwing into the ground. And guys simply frozen by strange stuff on the corners.

If it works, this could be very much fun.

[JB]

Cannot wait to see if they bring in Swindle after Moyer in a game, that will be priceless.

With the All-Star game looming could they be going with a 4-man rotation until then and see how Myers responds?

[The Theory]

"who is Meyers? i know they have a guy on the team named Myers who is the other one you speak of?"

C'mon now, let's not be assholes.

[city fan]

who is Meyers? i know they have a guy on the team named Myers who is the other one you speak of?"

my bad, correction noted, whatever.

[michael]

sorry its kind of a pet peeve of mine that if your going to bitch about a player spell his name correctly.

[CJ]

R.J. comes in for Moyer as a change of pace. Just not the kind we're used to...

[crisco]

What fun! Congrats to R.J. and I hope he rocks it out there, this has made my morning.

[BobbyD]

I'm not a big fan of the personal attacks against Myers. He's been lousy. Leave it at that. If he was that bad a guy he wouldn't have accepted the demotion.

[Lake Fred]

weer all gud typissed hear. Gud moove too sendd Meyers two da irun pigg styy!

Lighten up, michael! I hope I spelled your name correctly. Does your real name start with a capital letter like "Michael"? Type it right. We Beerleaguers deserve the best!

[J. Weitzel]

Mets suffer another injury.

http://www.metsblog.com/2008/07/02/news-cerrone-breaks-toe/

[UD Hens]

Interesting move, but when does the other shoe drop? Moving up Hamels to start on Thursday is a good move because he has only pitched so-so versus the Mets. But the Phillies technically only have 4 SPs right now. I doubt Hamels would pitch on Monday on only 4 days rest. I would love to see Carasco or Happ called up to see what they can do. On the other hand, a trade for a starter right now could signal the end for Myers as a starter with the Phils.

[MG]

If it was just lousy performance due to injuries or other factors, then I would leave it at that. But its not. Time and time again though Myers has demonstrated that he acts like an adolescent instead of a person who has grown up. Some of the incidents have ranged from very minor stuff to really hideous incidents.

Not only does it make it very hard to personally root for Myers as a player but in this case it is directly related to his performance on the field.

I am willing to bet that the only reason that Myers hasn't been publicly lambasted is because that is not Cholly's style or the veteran leaders on this team. Rarely do I think that this approach works but in this case it wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world for one of the supposed clubhouse leaders on this team to publicly question Myers and challenge him to step up.

Instead, the Phils were forced to make a draconian move by sending their opening day starter down to T-AAA. In terms of a drastic move, that is pretty high on the scale in baseball and gives you some good insight into just how disgusted the Phils' management are with Myers.

If it turns out Myers is injured, then it is a completely different story but no one (including Myers himself) had said anything that would indicate he is pitching hurt.

[bay_area_phan]

My guess is that they plan to use Happ on Friday, but since they don't need him until then, they grabbed Swindle for now. Either late today or tomorrow, they'll make Part 2 of this 2-part transaction by bringing up Happ & outrighting Condrey (Congrat on the baby, Clay; but you're cut").

Then again, the Phillies are pretty zany & they seem to have an aversion to making the obvious move of calling up Happ. So who knows?

[MG]

Chemistry is vastly overrated in baseball (and other sports too) but in this case I wonder if someone like Rowand or another guy known for his intensity in the locker room wouldn't have pulled Myers aside a bit earlier and challenged him to step up a bit.

I get the sense that no supposed leader on this team (including Moyer or JRoll) really did much of that.

[Iceman]

BAP: a buffalo nickel says it's gonna be Durbin and his nearly 7 scoreless innings against the Mets. Either that or a 4-man until the AS Break.

[michael]

weer all gud typissed hear. Gud moove too sendd Meyers two da irun pigg styy!

Lighten up, michael! I hope I spelled your name correctly. Does your real name start with a capital letter like "Michael"? Type it right. We Beerleaguers deserve the best!

good one.
no i just think it makes you look like an idiot when your so smugly bashing someone that you don't even know how to properly spell their name.

[MG]

Chemistry is vastly overrated in baseball (and other sports too) but in this case I wonder if someone like Rowand or another guy known for his intensity in the locker room wouldn't have pulled Myers aside a bit earlier and challenged him to step up a bit.

I get the sense that no supposed leader on this team (including Moyer or JRoll) really did much of that.

[BobbyD]

MG, I understand what you're saying. I just hate when Philly fans build up intense hatred towards certain players.. leading to booing at the ballpark. The number one goal for all of us is to win a World Series. Booing players on your own team doesn't help accomplish that goal, or to lure free agents here. Everyone please note that I am not suggesting in any way that the fans are reposbile for the poor management of this franchise for the past century.

[bay_area_phan]

Actually, with the way the Phillies do things, I wouldn't be astonished if they called up J.D. Durbin, who has been absolutely atrocious in the minors this year. But, hey, he has "experience."

[MG]

Lots of talk of moving Myers to the pen and to be honest that might not be the worst course of action going ahead forward. If Myers can show that he is effective, it lessens the need to worry about what Gordon will give them the rest of the year and the Phils can concentrate on getting another starter before the trade deadline.

More importantly, if Myers can show that he is capable of being a dominant setup man for a month or so you might just get another team to bite on him on a trade this offseason. Problem is that Myers is making starters' money next year and unless the Phils are willing to eat some money on their end I don't seem being able to get much in a trade for Myers if it is as a closer.

[J. Weitzel]

Myers flopping in his return to the rotation is not a surprise. He found his calling as a reliever, and the front office agreed he was best suited for relief all along. Then after the season, after he really started to click as a closer, they changed their tune and wanted him back in the rotation. He wants the ball as much as possible, he thrives in the rockstar spotlight. They took it away from him.

Myers deserves blame, but so do the Phils in thinking it would work. I doubted it all along. He'll be a reliever next season for sure, perhaps even this season should Gordon go down.

[Joe]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this scenario:

Swindle may only be up at the major league level for the Braves series - as an extra arm in the bullpen (especially with Condrey not being with the team)

I could see them sending Swindle back down on Friday and bringing Happ up to start vs. the Mets.

[MG]

JW - Agreed the Phils made an error in judgement this offseason and the way they utilized Myers last year was a mistake (mainly in the ridiculous workload they pushed on him early on as the closer which I am willing to bet lead to his lengthy trip to the DL).

Still, other players have moved back and forth from the rotation and the bullpen with much better results and a lot less talent. Yeah, maybe I bashing Myers a bit because he is my least-favorite Phils player (and has been for a while) but results as being one of the worst starts in the NL this year speak for themselves. Even if he had given them just below-average numbers I would feel differently but he was just horrendous.

[CJ]

michael:

your vs. you're is one of my pet peeves... just throwing it out there.

Also on my list:

its vs. it's

[EastFallowfield]

RE: How to follow the Phils in NESN land

You can get 1210 on the AM radio at night up in Maine, fading in and out, so I'm guessing in other parts of NE that would work as well.

[EastFallowfield]

RE: How to follow the Phils in NESN land

You can get 1210 on the AM radio at night up in Maine, fading in and out, so I'm guessing in other parts of NE that would work as well.

[MG]

Last point on Myers:

This crap about him being a "rock-star closer" is ridiculous. Yeah he was above average but was no Papelbon or Rivera either. He got hit (and hit hard at times) as a closer.

[EastFallowfield]

Ah, the old error message, then the old double post. Sorry, sorry.

[AWH the RBP]

How you can call yourself "The Truth Injection" when you blatantly and willfully mischaracterize what I wrote is amazing.

Please explain what "vitriolic hatred" entered in to my post. How is pointing out laziness and selfishness on a player's part "hatred"? How is pointing out the fact that his work ethic and performance don't match his rhetoric "hatred"?

Sheesh. Are you one of his parents?

You have no way of knowing how I feel about Myers -love, hate or indiferrence (for the record, I don't hate him - just want him to perform up to his talent level, and have said so in previous posts).

[DeutschePhan]

Just a question for the general populace... Does this out-of-the-box type of thinking (though I still find it hard to define a move like this as out-of-the box, that K/BB ratio is insanity) indicate that something more dramatic than a Happ call-up is to be expected? JW eluded to it, but hasn't built drastically on the point. Is it reading too much into this to consider this is a sign of optimism in the Phils ability to acquire a big-name starter SOON?

[Bedrosian's Beard]

I think Myers meant that being a closer is more "rock star" than a starter. You get all pumped up, run out to the field with your favorite song on and get to pump your fists with each K. He's got the mentality to be a closer. I'm surprised he's not in the bullpen here or in AAA already.

[CJ]

joe: I think it was mentioned. It seems the most likely scenario.

Jason: From the very beginning I said Myers was best suited as a reliever. I was unsure of Lidge's ability to return to form so I advocated Lidge as setup and Myers as closer.

What does this mean moving forward? As good as Lidge has been, I'd hate to see him walk. If they re-sign him and Myers remains best suited for the bullpen, is he too expensive to be a set-up man?

Are we really going to try to keep Myers in the rotation? How much longer will we try to force a round peg in a square hole?

[Mike]

RJ Swindle is going to make Jamie Moyer look like Nolan Ryan. I'm legitimately stoked to see what this guy can do. Should be an exciting next few days.

[Lake Fred]

Jason, I agree with your assessment of the Phillies being partially to blame about their handling of Myers. I remember reading last year Madson's comments about the difficulty in adjusting mentally from the starter to reliever role and going back and forth. Each role needs a different mindset. A successful transition is the Cubs' Ryan Dempster, who seems to be adjusting okay in his transition back to starter from being in the 'pen last year. I don't think Myers has the mental discipline to make it work. I think most of Myers' problems are between his ears.

[baxter]

Cholly and Gillick both seem dead set against Durbin starting. I think Happ will get a start next week.

[joe l]

EastFallowfield - Sometimes 1210 comes in crystal clear here, northwest of Boston. Usually during cloudy weather. Other times it's complete fuzz. (Double checks usage of "it's".. ok.)

[bay_area_phan]

This whole drama about who is going to replace Myers reminds me of the scene in "Airplane!" where the guy suggests to Robert Stack that maybe they ought to turn on the airport search lights so they can see where the plane is, and Stack replies, "No . . . that's just what they'll be expecting us to do."

I mean, why do the Phillies need -- in Deutsche's words -- something "dramatic?" And why do they have to be coy and mysterious about this, as if to convey the impression that they have some bold trade up their sleeve?

The idea isn't to be dramatic. It's to field the best team possible. They have a guy in their minors who has been their best minor league pitcher since Hamels, and they don't have to trade away 3 top prospects to get him. Call him up already. Chances are, he'll be a lot better than the Phillies seem to think he'll be.

[Jack]

People- We need a starter on Saturday. This 4-man rotation idea will not happen. Hamels and Moyer can go on normal rest tomorrow and Friday, but then you're not gonna send Kendrick out there on 3 days rest. If Happ is going to get a start, it won't be "next week", it will be on Saturday. It's as simple as that.

[Reed]

Maybe Condrey will have a phantom injury and be DL'd. Speaking of that, whatever happened with Rosario?

I don't want to get too excited about Flash, but he looked good last night - his fastball had movement and his first pitch was a nasty curve.

[baxter]

I agree- DON'T trade all our young talent for an expensive pitcher on the downside of his career.

If Happ or Carrasco can pitch reasonably well, that is, as well as Kendrick, they'll be much better off. Young pitchers have outperformed their older counterparts this year and I expect that trend to continue. If Happ can pitch okay, he'll save the Phils about $10 million dollars that they can use to resign Burrell and Lidge.

[philsphan]

Congrats and good luck to RJ Swindle! Like the rest of beerleaguer I have been pulling for him and glad he finally has his chance to show what he can do in the big leagues.

As for the starter, I am worried that it will be Durbin/Madson. This would hurt the bullpen, especially since Gordon can't pitch as much.If Durbin is the starter maybe Taguchi will get DFA'ed so that Condrey and Swindle are both on the team until the All-Star break.
I still hope that it will be Happ, but I would have had him start Thursday instead of Friday/Saturday against the Mets and Santana/Maine respectively.
I wouldn't mind too much if it was Carrasco though. I think he would be a better option than Chad Durbin, just because the bullpen needs Durbin.

The Phillies have been full of surprises this week so I wonder if they the starter will not be Happ, Carrasco, or Durbin/Madson. Could the Phillies be making a trade that will bring them a starter for Friday/Saturday? Here are some darkhorse candidates: Kris Benson pitched on Sunday for the Iron Pigs, but he gave up 4 runs over 4 innings so it is obvious that he is not ready yet to contribute at the Major League level. Blackley pitched at AAA on Monday. He only gave up 2 earned runs over 7 innings but he gave up 5 BBs. Tyson Brummett pitched for Reading on Sunday but got lit up giving up 6 runs over 5+ innings and 4 BBs. Something interesting I noticed is that Josh Outman, who had been moved to the bullpen earlier this season, pitched 3.1 innings of shutout relief on Monday. Could they be moving him back being a starter? And at what level? Fabio Castro, who had also been moved to the bullpen started Tuesday's game and got his 5th win with a quality start, although his stats weren't amazing. And what would a discussion about dark horse candidates for the starting rotation be with Francisco Rosario?! I think he is still rehabbing but he pitched an innings for the Gulf Coast Phils recently as did Matt Smith.

[philsphan]

Here is an interesting fact: RJ Swindle is currently the third youngest pitcher on the Phillies 25 man roster behind Hamels and Kendrick.

[Malcolm]

Fallowfield, New Englanders:

I get 1210 AM pretty damn clear at night here in Connecticut. It's good in Rhode Island and southern Mass., as well. But usually not until 7 p.m. or so (which is the right time anyway).

[The Truth Injection]

AWH-

Would you prefer unnecessary to vitrolic?

You make a long post blasting Brett for thinking of himself and dissecting his quotes in that article. Meanwhile you ignore that he accepted a demotion he didn't have to take. He outright said he needs to get right to help out his team.

Also the "take it seriously" comment was about going down and focusing on this and not pouting about it, which he very well could do. You are mis-reading his comments to fit whatever feeling you have on his comments.

You know what- I'm sticking with vitrolic hatred. You are crying that I misrepresented your comments but you're doing the same thing to Brett. Boo hoo man!

[squatter]

I see a lot of criticism about the recent Myers demotion, what he has said and done.

He accepted his demotion, although he could have blocked it. For those who criticize, what should he have done?

We all read the quotes. What should he have said? Please post your prospective quotes, then we all will parse the words and examine the sentences to pick apart the meaning. He isn't writing literature, he's talking to some sports reporter while he's standing in his skivvies in a locker room.

Yeah, he's probably everything you say he is, but I can't see what he's done wrong here.

[AWH the RBP]

"I think most of Myers' problems are between his ears."

Lake Fred, Dubee indicated as much in Zolecki's article this morning.

Reed, I agree on Flash. He was efficient and filthy last night. Once the Flash got through the 8th, I was confident of the win, because we knew we would see Lidge in the 9th.

Speaking of Lidge, he was nasty last night also. He gave up one dinky little hit - and in credit to his demeanor - he looked visibly pissed that he gave a hit up. He came back and struck out the last 2 batters, the last freezing Chipper (did you see the look on his face?) on a vicious back-door slider.

[DeutschePhan]

It seems important, for the sake of keeping perspective, to note that this goes back to management's decision to move him to a closer role in the first place. Not offering an opinion, but seeing as how Myers is an easy target, it might be noteworthy that the initial judgement of his character might have been as flawed as his character itself.

[Dave X]

New Englanders :

There's ways to watch the game online, similar to sopcast. All of the Phils-broadcasting radio stations don't broadcast the game online, though.

[NEPhilliesPhan]

The Gillick is a jerk possibility: Swindle is merely a placeholder for 2 days until Condrey gets back and then he goes back down in place of Happ before Saturday's start. That would be a crappy thing to do but I wouldn't put it past the Phillies.

[bay_area_phan]

Actually, Baxter, I wasn't expressing the opinion that the Phillies shouldn't trade for a starter. So far as I'm concerned, another starter (in addition to Happ) would be great. Eaton has been pretty serviceable this year, but throwing him out there every fifth game still feels like a game of Russian roulette. Not to mention that a trio of Hamels, Moyer, & KK doesn't exactly sound like a trio that is going to strike fear into the hearts of playoff opponents.

The point of my post was simply that Happ is the obvious first choice to replace Myers, so why all this obfuscation? In point of fact, & he seems like a pretty good first choice. My fear is that, instead of just calling up Happ, the Phillies will instead find a garbage pitcher on the major league scrap-heap or, worse yet, they'll go trade for a starter out of desperation. The result will be something like: Cardenas, Happ, Marson, and Donald for Randy Wolf.

[AWH the RBP]

Injection, you accused me of "vitriolic hatred". You still haven't adequately answered my questions.

Again, since when is adamantly pointing out the disconnect between his rhetoric and actions an expression of "vitriolic hatred", unless you seek to redefine the term?

No hatred, sir - just well deserved criticism.

Besides, your seeming praise of him for accepting a demotion because he knows he "needs to get right to help out his team" ignores the overall point I was making in my criticism:

If Brett Myers is really a team guy and "all about his teammates", the demotion would probably not have occured.

He now has a chance to prove me wrong, and for the Phillies' sake, other fans' sake, and my own selfish sake as a fan, I hope he does. With Brett Myers pitching as well as he is capable of pitching (and I'll cheer him as loudly as the next guy) this team has WS potential.

[NEPhilliesPhan]

BAP if that Wolf trade happens they'll be cleaning the brain matter off my monitor at work here.

[CJ]

NEP: Why would that be a jerk thing to do? The jerk thing to do was to bring up the starter before you needed him and never give Swindle a chance to pitch in the pros. Even if he's up for just a couple of days it's great for him! He's a junk-ball gimmick pitcher who's bounced around every league imaginable. Now he's in the show. He gets a couple of days to show what he's worth so he's the next call up when needed down the road.

It's not a jerk move. It's business... and, frankly, it makes the most sense.