Phillies send Rudy Seanez to DL, recall Les Walrond

Just days after coming up empty in their quest for more pitching, Rudy Seanez will be sidelined at least 15 days with back and shoulder soreness. Triple-A left-hander Les Walrond replaces him on the roster.

Beerleaguer: This should come as no surprise. Seanez hasn't been pitching well and was used sparingly even before Thursday’s game, which is when he suffered the shoulder injury, hitting the deck in Washington.

The good news is that in Walrond, the Phillies are receiving the International League’s hottest pitcher. The journeyman left-hander, who’s tallied 1,186 minor league innings between five organizations, last pitched eight shutout innings Tuesday, making it three-straight shutouts for the Oklahoma native. Earlier in the month, he struck out 17 in a complete-game shutout, and in July, he went 4-0 with a 1.00 ERA and 43/12 K/BB ratio for the IronPigs.

The bad news – he’s yet to prove himself as a Major League pitcher and has almost no experience in the bullpen. In stints with the Royals and Cubs in 2003 and 2006, he’s 0-3 with a 7.46 ERA over 25 1-3 innings. Some might recall that he earned a spot start with the Cubbies against the Phils back in ’06. He struck out six over three innings, but also walked five and allowed two runs.

The Phils are hoping to catch lighting in a bottle with a hot-handed lefty, but it's difficult to picture it. With two months to go, and two injuries this week, the roster is starting to look a little threadbare.

Game chat: Let's keep it here. Joe Blanton and Braden Looper square off tonight at 7:15 ET.

Comments

[Riverboat Gambler]

Fat Blanton better give us some good innings tonight, or i shall shake my fist at him very hard.

[The Theory]

...I'm not looking forward to this game, sadly enough. Blanton has been a disaster in his first two starts, and I don't see him turning it around against a great-hitting St Louis squad.

[philsphan]

Seanez had been a very good middle reliever for the Phillies this year, but his last few outings show that he is losing steam. I think that this will be his last season in the big leagues. We may see hi in September but I think that will be it.

As for Les Walrond… He has been good at AAA this year but the Phillies should be able to find a lefty (or even righty) reliever on the waiver wire that is better and more proven at the big league level.

Also, Carrasco has been promoted to AAA.

[Billy Mac]

Glad to see Walrond get a shot and the Phils are rewarding performance. I've seen him pitch a few times and he throws junk, but has been effective. He may be able to fill the LOOGY role.

Phils need to look to make a waiver deal for a 3b. Perhaps Jose Bautista is now available from Pittsburgh with addition of Andy LaRoche.

[MG]

RSB - Maybe but I am willing to bet that start against the Nats bought Myers at least 2 or 3 more starts. I also think the Phils are strongly thinking about the $12M dollars owed to Myers next year. They probably want to see what he can give them down the stretch and if they can count on him to even be an average starter next year.

Additionally, if the Phils are strong considering moving Myers this offseason (and I bet they are), then his value will be greatest as a starter even if he is just average or slightly better down the stretch.
No team is touching a $12M setup-up man and if the Phils do move Myers it looks like they are going to have to eat a decent portion of his salary.

Given they already have over $20M invested in 3 players likely to be duds next year (Eaton, Jenkins, Feliz), I bet the Phils would love to move Myers if they don't have to eat any of his contract.

[MG]

At least Walrond gives the Phils another fresh arm of the pen. Going two guys short like they have for the past week is ridiculous.

[MG]

Phils haven't sad much but sadly I am willing to bet they are relying upon the fact that Gordon returns again some time by Sept. 1 to give them a lift in the pen the last month. Maybe he does but that seems like grasping at straws.

[MG]

Relying on Gordon is one thing that Phils won't miss next year. Arguably might have given them 5 quality months during the 3 seasons (18 months) he was signed here. With exception of really the first half of 2006, he has only been effective for a few weeks at a time while making pretty good money (over $10M the last 2 years).

[anon]

a little comic relief...

If you go to Yahoo's main MLB page, they have a fantasy hot/not list. I'm sure it must be a typo, but look who's on the Hot list for Pitchers, and look at the stats.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb

[THe Dude]

3.3 million tickets are expected to be sold and this team is not going to increase the self imposed salary cap or "budget". Ridiculous! Somebody do the math. OWnership is pocketing $$$ out there asses!

[philsphan]

amon: That was pretty funny. It appears they mixed up the "Hot" and "Not" sections.

[J.R. King]

anon - 1% of the Yahoo fantasy owners have Adam Eaton? Shouldn't that be 0 by now?

[Mets4Life]

MWO (METS WORLD ORDER)

Whatcha gonna do next year when ManRam, Carlos D & B, DWright and Jose da Great & the rest of the MwO cum to a city near you?

Holla back atcha!

[denny b.]

Have no problem with Walrond getting the nod. His numbers in July speak for themselves. Glad to see production mean something (Cervenak was having a great season as well, and got promoted). I thought they might go with Castro from AA, who has also been pitching well and was already on the 40 man roster, but I am fine with Walrond for a few weeks. They need a fresh arm out there, and another lefty is even better.

They really want to rush Carrasco up, don't they? He hasn't even been that impressive in AA this year, but you can tell they want him up to the majors as soon as possible.

And, Benson has really pitched solidly the past few starts in AAA. I don't expect anything from him this year at the major league level, but maybe he can work himself into a possible role in the rotation in 2009. Build that arm strength back and be ready in 09'. Benson, at one time, was an above average major league starter and he is still relatively young. Maybe he makes it back.

And, with Hamels. It seems he goes through one of these little spells every year, where he has 2 or 3 off starts in a row. Its usually been followed by about 4 or 5 absolute lights out starts right afterward, so maybe that is what we can look forward to. He is a feel pitcher and it doesn't take much to get him a little bit off. He'll bounce back, probably with a big start next week against Florida.

[denny b.]

OK, so Benson isn't "relatively young". He will be 34 later this year.

Benson's last 3 starts at LV:

20 IP, 5 ER, 4 BB's, 12 K's.

At least there is some progress there.

One thing to like about Walrond. In over a 100 innings at LV, he only gave up 3 HR's. That's real good.

And, Carrasco is starting tomorrow for Lehigh Valley.

[denny b.]

Here is a name, that completely fell off the radar...

Matt Smith seems to be healthy and back pitching at Clearwater. He has had 5 straight scoreless appearances, with a strikeout per inning.

Is he still on the Phils radar, maybe for a September callup, or not? He had seemed to earn Cholly's trust for a time there, and then it all seemed to go away.

[johnnysanz3]

Hamels is still only 24. I am still pretty confident he is still improving.

[bay_area_phan]

denny: Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if Matt Smith ended up being our LOOGY down the stretch. He pitched well for us in 2006.

[MG]

Kris Benson? He is completely irrevelant to this team's plan for the year. Non-factor. Same goes for Matt Smith.

If the Phils have to call up either one of these guys, they aren't making the playoffs because it means there pitching staff was deciminated by injuries the last two months.

[bay_area_phan]

It is too early for Cholly to have Happ warming up in the bullpen?

[Nick]

great 1st and 2nd at bats from jimmy and shane.

[MG]

Werth/Dobbs/Coste - "A" platoon team get the starts tonight while "B" platooon team (Jenkins/Bruntlett/Ruiz) all ride pine. No compliants there.

[Iceman]

Nice to see the 3 minute top half of the first. Got some fire and enthusiasm to build on that first-place lead!

[MG]

Now that the Cards are a little bit more healthy, they can put a pretty good team on the field. If Carpenter can hold up and the Cards get Wainwright back in 2 weeks, they should be in the thick of things for the WC down to the wire.

[Iceman]

Nice job from Blanton to come back from that 2-out walk to Pujols. I can think of a certain pitcher who probably couldn't compose himself after that..

[bensdad00]

Why did that gooneybird 4-hitter just look at four straight pitches?

[bensdad00]

1-2-3- hitters = ten pitches

Howard = ten pitches

problem?

[MG]

Yeah but Blanton threw 19 pitches in the 1st inning alone. They need him to be a bit more economical with his pitches to get throw at least 6 today.

Was a huge issue with Blanton during his minor league career and he when first came up that the A's pushed hard on him to develop his offspeed stuff more/get through innings with less pitches.

[bensdad00]

Was that a great catch or did Howard goof>?

[Sophist]

good catch on a misread (due to sun, it seemed.) Howard was maybe a bit more aggressive than necessary. It looked like he may have tied the throw.

[Greg]

He groved 3 pitches right down the middle to Glaus in that AB...terrifying...

[MG]

Loved seeing that 10-pitch walk from Howard. Walks have really drived up this year for him and he will be lucky to finish with 70 BB which is a big dropoff from his last two years. Also take into account that he is getting a lot less intentional walks too (really not much of a secret that opposing managers are going after most times if they have a decent lefty on the mound)

You could live with Howard hitting .240-.250 if he was still working 100+ times a year and get the high-rate of intentional walks.

[MG]

Truth is with this lineup right now there really isn't a single guy you have to be incredibly careful to pitch around.

Utley has been pretty human the past 6 weeks (although he has looked better the past few games) and I would go after Howard in any situation if I had a decent lefty to bring out of the pen or a solid lefty starter on the mound.

[johnnysanz3]

Ya I guess Bruntlett wouldn't of done that.

[Sophist]

Howard's BB%:

2006: 15.7
2007: 16.8
2008: 10.9

He's on pace for 75 BB this year. He had 108 and 107 in the past 2 seasons. He had 37 IBB and 35 IBB in 2006 and 2007. He has 10 IBB this year.

Dobbs!!!

[redbeard]

bang!

[Iceman]

Dobbs shows why there's no reason he shouldn't be starting against every RHP.

[Tray]

Is that over at-bats or plate apperances???

[Sophist]

MG - I wouldn't say that. First, that's letting the month of June's poor hitting, and Howard's early struggles, dominate your thinking too much. Additionally, this team hits bad pitches. You have to be careful for that reason alone.

Howard in July: .311/.366/.612.
Utley's last 7 games: .409/.462/.727.
Burrell's last 7 games: .318/.385/.636.

I'd be careful.

[Sophist]

Is that a joke, Tray? I'll answer anyway. PA.

[Iceman]

Just let Harry do the game over the phone. I've had enough of TMac over the past few days to last a lifetime.

[Andy]

Sophist -
Reasonably sure he was joking.

This "put the pitcher 8th" strategy works wonders. Instead of having him bunt Miles to second he's already out on strikes. Clever.

[Sophist]

4 backward-Ks for Blanton. I wonder how many of his Ks come from missing the bat?

[Andy]

It's even better when the next batter hits a "woulda beena run" single.

[Iceman]

OK, that was some nasty stuff from Blanton.

[Tray]

A joke and a serious question. I couldn't remember which side of the debate you were on.

[bay_area_phan]

Blanton actually looks sharp tonight. Maybe he saw Larussa and Dave Duncan and he thought he was pitching at Oakland Coliseum.

[GoPhilsGo]

Brilliant performance by Blanton! (so far)

[redbeard]

jumpin in the cadillac

[Iceman]

Good Lord he crushed that. They should have rolled a Cadillac out there and escorted him around the bases for that one.

[bensdad00]

so through 13 batters howard gets 31% of the pitches (17/55) that is an obscene percentage

[Andy]

Howard has been, ummm..., Howard-like lately.

[Sean]

The entire lineup will be swinging for the fences now.

[GoPhilsGo]

Andy...It's nice to see Howard playing like Howard.

[Iceman]

Blanton has got some good stuff tonight. I guess this is what they mean by 'eating innings.'

[GoPhilsGo]

"Eating innings" is better than "Eaton innings"

[Andy]

Ice -
No. This is what they call "eating large versions of red birds in the finch family."
For dinner.

[bay_area_phan]

Blanton relies on his curve the way most pitchers rely on their fast ball.

[Andy]

GPG - Now if we could only get Bruntlett to play less Wine-like and Ruiz to play less Dalyrimple-like.

[Andy]

(Of course Chollie solved the problem by making both of them play a little more "Taguchi-like" tonight.)

[Iceman]

Running up the line on that foul tapper, Blanton must have been thinking, "God hates me for putting me in the NL."

[Iceman]

Running up the line on that foul tapper, Blanton must have been thinking, "God hates me for putting me in the NL."

[GoPhilsGo]

Andy...Now you're waxing nostalgic. Reminds me of a game at Shibe Park when Dalrymple took off his cap and then took off a toupee.

[Andy]

GPG - That's very funny. What an image.

[Mick O]

Manny woulda had that!

/kidding...

[Mets4Life!]

MWO (METS WORLD ORDER)

Whatcha gonna do next year when ManRam, Carlos D & B, DWright and Jose da Great & the rest of the MwO cum to a city near you?

Holla back atcha!

[GoPhilsGo]

Bobby Wine was the Abe Nunez of his day.

[Andy]

ummm....I dunno...

Wonder how a team with all that "talent" keeps ending up in third place?

[Andy]

GPG - Except Wine was a way better fielder. (Maybe a worse hitter, though.)

[THe Dude]

i feel bad for the color guys when McCrapy is doing play by play. The guy never gives anyone else a chance to talk. I really dont think he will eventually grow on us like Sarge, LA, and others announcers that were rough at first over the years. McCrappy is what he is. Horrible and just think we have him for the next 30 yrs

[GoPhilsGo]

Andy..Most definitely a better fielder. No one seemed to mind that he hit below the Mendoza line, perhaps because there was no Mendoza line.

[THe DUde]

I thought i was re-named the Jeltz line?

[bay_area_phan]

Yet another totally listless offensive performance tonight.

[GoPhilsGo]

B_A_P...By which team?

[Iceman]

Blanton is FEASTING on innings tonight.

[bay_area_phan]

GPG: "Listless offensive performance" is ALWAYS a reference to the Phillies. When the opposing team has a listless offensive performance we say, "Boy our starting pitcher is really sharp tonight."

[bay_area_phan]

Caveat: Unless the starting pitcher is Brett Myers and the opponent is the Nationals.

[GoPhilsGo]

B_A_P...Very good...I'll remember that!

[Andy]

b-a-p:
I'm thinking that when the defense also sucks we should start calling it a "listless defensive performance."

Just a thought.

[GoPhilsGo]

Caveat: Unless the starting pitcher is Brett Myers and the opponent is the Nationals.

Then it's, "What the hell just happened? It's the 3rd inning and Myers is still pitching well"

[Andy]

BTW Who's keeping tabs on the Howard pct of balls seen by Phillies tonight. That AB ought to raise it a bit.

[johnnysanz3]

I like the radio crew. LA and what is the other guys name? Franzke or something?

[Iceman]

Blanton's effort notwithstanding, this is yet another lackluster performance by the offense. Most of them don't seem to have the time to work out a good AB.

[GoPhilsGo]

When Blanton pitches like this, it's "Eatin' Season."

[bay_area_phan]

The Phillies are considerately trying to let people get on with their Saturday nights at an early hour.

[Iceman]

Might be safe to qualify Ludwick as a Phillie Killer at this point.

[Benny Profane]

Will the Phillies win a pitching duel???

[joe l]

Anyone up in the pen?

[Benny Profane]

HOFer Nick Stavinoha steps up to the plate...

[Andy]

joe
Why get someone up? We're not behind by three runs yet.

[GoPhilsGo]

Props to Blanton for going 7 innings and only giving up 1 run. Don't see that much these days from the Phils staff.

[Andy]

If you take away Hamels and Madson from his career totals, Ludwick is just 5/40 against the Phils. He's only a "selective" Phillies killer.

[joe l]

Bruntlett pantsed at 1b

[Andy]

Looks like that Gnome was roamin' too far from home.

[Iceman]

What the hell is Bruntlett thinking there? He's halfway down the baseline and Molina is an assassin. What a moron.

[Andy]

In re: Ludwick
Just in case the Cards load the bases on J.C.? Ludwick has also pasted Romero in limited action.

[GoPhilsGo]

It's Roamin' Season for Bruntlett

[MG]

Props to Blanton. This team needed a really strong outing and he delievered. He is only 2-trick pony but when his curveball is on he can be incredibly effective.

Just more unique to see now a days because most pitchers coming up have a changeup in their arsenal instead of a curve. Easier to master and you can teach at a younger age/less worried about stress on arm.

[Andy]

{Inside Bruntlett's brain...

"Yeah baby! Fast, man. I am a two foot, red-hatted, plaster-cast, garden decoration with velocity, baby! And speed kills, man! You just watch me as I...whoa!! Who knew this guys could throw like that?"

[MG]

At least Cholly hasn't taken out Burrell. Glad to see that useful move are pretty much been relegated to the dustbin.