Game chat: Phillies activate Jenkins for series finale

Outfielder Geoff Jenkins has returned from the 15-day disabled list. Reservist Andy Tracy has suffered a break to his left hand and will miss the rest of the season. Footnotes for a crucial Game 3 between the Marlins and Phillies. First pitch is 4:05 ET.

Down three in the loss column, it’s Operation: Critical. The margin for error is slim. They need this. On the mound, it’s Ricky Nolasco (13-7, 3.56) vs. Brett Myers (9-10, 4.19). Expect a tight contest; Nolasco has pitched brilliantly since August and nobody's been better than Myers since the All-Star break. Lineups are posted: Charlie Manuel does Freddi Gonzalez a solid and bats Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in the 3-4 holes. Greg Dobbs and Chris Coste earn starts.

In other news, Jamie Moyer has been named as tomorrow's starter, according to the official pregame notes. Sunday's start is still to be determined. According to Scott Lauber of the News-Journal, the last time he pitched on short rest was four years ago, and he was bombed.

Comments

[CJ]

I know Jamie Moyer is a bit of a Superman, but ESPN has him listed as the starter for both Thursday's and Friday's games.

[jobbers]

Phillies.com announces Moyer to start Thursday

[bay_area_phan]

CJ: But Dobbs ought to be batting second. He hits .353/.421/.588 when he bats second in the order, and only .286/.345/.467 when he bats seventh

[Sophist]

Jenkins was actually playing well before his injury, at least as far as getting on base is concerned.

.314/.390/.400 in the 22 games from July 30th to the injury.

[bay_area_phan]

Speaking of Dobbs' stats at different positions, Baseball Reference.com lists his 2008 stats as a 1st baseman, 2nd baseman, third baseman, left fielder, right fielder, DH, pinch hitter, and pinch hitter for the DH. At the end, it then lists 1 more AB under the category of "Other."

Anyone have any idea what that "Other" would be? Did Dobbs play CF, SS, or catcher at some point this year? I certainly don't recall him pitching any games. I believe I would have remembered if he did.

[Sophist]

Hairston, Jr homers off CC. 3-1 Reds.

[Steve]

As the Brewers continue to do their best impression of the 2007 Mets

[Sophist]

CC through 5: 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO, 77-49 (pitches-strikes)

[Poster Nutbag]

if the brewers are doing their best mets '07 impersonation, who is playing the role of the '07 phillies who charged in to take the lead?

[mike cunningham]

last night during the Phils failed comeback, one of the most VOCAL and active guys in the dugout was Geoff Jenkins.

When I saw him in the dugout (after i made the requisite Favre/Wolf jokes to myself) I was surprised to see him, only because I had written off for the end of the season.

Because his performance this season was sub-par and well below most expectations on this board, even clout, who I believe still wanted Jenkins to start against RHP instead of werth while he was on the DL:

I wonder what kind of leader he is in this clubhouse. Is he more Rowand like, than we know? Was he in the shadows because he was new? Has the DL stint perhaps motivated him to reclaim some of his legacy, Myers style?

And finally, Farewell to Andy Tracy, we hardly knew you.

[Steve]

could be the Astros or the Cards. And if you guys manage to take 3 of 4, it could be the Phils

[diehard]

Poster Nutbag,
The Astros would make the impersonation of the 07 Phillies, but the Brewers had a pretty commanding lead of the WC, so if they let any team pass them then it would be a huge collapse.

[Jerry]

Andy Tracy broke his hand? How? Calling Japan?

[CJ]

If we can manage a win today... and the Brewers lose, we'll be two games out going into a 4 game series. We'll have won 6 of 10 games while the Brewers will have lost 8 of 10.

Momentum will certainly be on our side... plus we miss Sabathia.

[J. Weitzel]

You have to feel for Tracy. Seriously. He spends all that time grinding it out in the minors for the right to sit in a Major League bench. 2004 was his last taste of the bigs. The Phils give him a shot as a Sept. callup, now this.

[TK]

don't jinx it, CJ.

[CJ]

Judging from Feliz's terrible season, I have no Beerleaguer reverse jinx abilities.

[king myno]

clout's head will explode when we actually end up in the running for the wild-card.

[Bob]

Quick gut feel/swag:

Jenkins will come back and make a positive contribution over the remainder of the year.

[bay_area_phan]

Not sure what made me think of this, but it occurred to me this morning that there is a strange dichotomy between how Beerleaguers perceive Joe Blanton's 2008 performance & how they perceived Kyle Lohse's 2007 performance.

Last year, Lohse made 11 starts (plus 2 relief appearances) for the Phillies after they acquired him in a trade. His numbers were 3-0, with a 4.72 ERA, a .276 BAA, a 1.44 WHIP, and 5 quality starts. He was widely hailed as a key to the Phillies' playoff run, and pretty much everyone on BL (including I) was in favor of resigning him for this year.

This year, Joe Blanton has started 10 games since being traded to the Phillies. He is 2-0 with a 4.61 ERA, a .257 BAA, a 1.48 WHIP, and 3 quality starts, plus another which would have been a quality start if he had pitched just another .1 innings. His performance has been widely ripped by just about everyone on Beerleaguer (including yours truly).

Far be it for me to defend a player whose acquisition I hated, but why all the love for Lohse last year & all the hate for Blanton this year? They have been almost exactly the same pitcher. If anything, Blanton has been slightly better.

[J. Weitzel]

BAP: You bring up a good point. Personally, it came down to Lohse's last start before I was ready to call him a success. He performed well, so it was a success.

[Bubba]

BAP- our rotation has been better this year than last so Blanton has a higher staff norm to be compared against

[mike cunningham]

@bap -- wow. those numbers are stunning.

The only thing I can say is the bloatists on the board. Kyle Lohse looks like a pitcher. Joe Blanton looks like he drinks 3 pitchers a night.

Remember when Bret Myers was fat, when he was terrible this year? And now that he's been awesome, he looks like he's in shape.

When there has been little difference in his body?

[Rollinsux]

I'm aware Sabathia is a MAJOR part of why the Brewers are the position they are today, and he's been amazing since the trade, but it's worth keeping an eye on his performances down the stretch.

His track record in playoff and important games aren't exactly sterling. Only natural the yankees would have an uber hard-on for him.

[J. Weitzel]

There's also a difference when the team trades Matt Maloney, a non-prosect, and Adrian Cardenas, a top prospect, and Josh Outman, also a prospect.

[BobbyD]

I really hope the Phils don't take all the fun out of the upcoming Brewers series the way they did last weekend when they lost 2 out of 3 to the National before going to New York. Win today. Brewers lose today. 2 back of the WC. 4 game series. Wouldn't even need to sweep.

[bay_area_phan]

CJ: The Beerleaguer Reverse Jinx doesn't work for full seasons. If it did, then Eric Bruntlett would be the front-runner for the National League MVP, and Kyle Kendrick for the Cy Young Award.

The Beerleaguer reverse jinx is a short-term phenomenon: if you insult Feliz, he's liable to do something good later that same day. Now that you've insulted him, maybe Cholly should change his starting lineup to include Feliz.

[CJ]

Lohse pitched into the 7th inning 6 times in 10 starts.

Blanton pitched into the 7th inning just 2 times in 10 starts so far.

That may have something to do with it. Although I think the relative quality of the rotations also has something to do with it.

[UD Hens]

BAP - you can put lipstick on a pig, but...

[doubleh]

It's funny, but I think if the Phils make the playoffs, people will be fine with Blanton. If we don't, he wasn't enough.

Truth is, the pitching, for the most part, has been fine this season. The vaunted offense is what has let them down so many times. Now that the offense is starting to come around, the pitchers are tiring. The hitters are going to have to step up and carry this team if they want to play in October.

My son had surgery last week, so my attention is obviously on him (and during the Nats series, I was glad I had better things to worry about), but he sure liked going to those playoff games last year. Come on, Phils, it's now officially a sprint and not a marathon.

[NEPP]

Lohse was way way cheaper is why.

[bay_area_phan]

jason, bubba, mike c.: All good points.

Lohse certainly has better pure stuff than Blanton, and I think that added to the perception as well. Watching Lohse last year, I always had the feeling that one of these years, he was going to turn into a top-flight pitcher. I certainly don't have that feeling with Blanton.

[Bubba]

Settle down Brett- we need you to get it done today

[Sophist]

Myers does his best Lidge impersonation.

[Ribbies]

Wow, walking the tightrope in the first inning. One of the advantages to playing a team with a ton of strikeouts is that there's always a way out of a jam.

[NEPP]

Anyone want to ask the Marlins if stikeouts dont hurt a team?

[CJ]

Ribbies: But only for strike out pitchers...

Brett sure has shown how a real escape artist works recently!

[Joe]

This is probably irrelevant, but anyone know whats up with the 4:05 Midweek start?

[Hitman]

Sophist- Please re-read what I said. KK was quite successful at first, but his limited skill set caught up with him and now the novelty has worn off and the hitters know what to expect. Given that he doesn't throw hard, he will have to master a few more pitches if he ever expects to become effective. He sure isn't the first major league pitcher to start out well only to fade into what Mike Tyson once described as "Bolivian."

[king myno]

That was part gutsy pitching, part "team that strikes out as much as we do."

[CJ]

J-Roll's been hot in the past couple weeks, but he sure has been rolling over a lot of pitches to the right side.

[John]

Didn't the Marlins begin to figure Moyer out the last time they met? That, and Moyer's short rest, have me worried about tonight.

How worried? Adam Eaton worried.

[bay_area_phan]

Now those were some quality ABs from our two star players.

[CJ]

I'm curious to see how fast Chase got out of the box. I wonder if he only started running hard when he saw it'd be trouble.

[NEPP]

****This is probably irrelevant, but anyone know whats up with the 4:05 Midweek start?****

Its a test of how fervent the fanbase is...whether or not people will cut out of work to go to a game or not.

[redbeard]

first pitch pop up, and 3rd out at 2nd stretching a single. thats bush.

[bay_area_phan]

Never mind. I was watching on Gameday which merely showed Utley hitting into an out. I was not aware that he actually got a hit. I guess that was a pretty good AB after all. The base running is a different story.

[TK]

Hey John, they're playing right now....and Myers is pitching. Moyer is tomorrow.

[CJ]

How nasty is Myers' curve these days? Between his curve, Hamels' change and Lidge's slider... that's pretty filthy stuff.

[CJ]

bap: It wasn't *really* a hit. He popped it up into no man's land... and when it fell, he was easily thrown out at second.

[kells]

Finally a way to stop a T-Mac report-steal the battery's from hike Microphone-genius.

[Lake Fred]

I know why Cholly has Moyer starting on short rest. Cholly visited a psychic medium this weekend and arranged a seance. In the darkened room, facing the crystal ball, Cholly requested the spirits of past Phillies managers. Coming through the dimensional veil was the ghost of Gene Mauch, who suggested that Cholly could solve his lack of solid starting pitching problem by starting his better pitchers on short rest. That's the only explanation I can think of.

[CJ]

Lake Fred: I'm fairly certain that he's starting Moyer on short rest because the only other legitimate option is Adam Eaton.

Which would you choose?

[Sophist]

Well, it fell right at an OF feet (behind the OF who missed the catch.) if Utley runs to first and stops in a situation where he could have taken second (which they nearly was -- even with the OF getting the right bounce, there was a play at 2nd) people would be complaining then too.

[CJ]

Ryan Howard... doing his September thing.

[Ribbies]

noice

[mike cunningham]

For Christmas, I'm sending Ryan Howard a calendar where the months of April through August are replaced with September.

[Sophist]

Howard.

[Lake Fred]

You got me there, CJ. Anybody but Eaton is always a better choice.

[CJ]

Ryan Howard has 9 home runs in his last 73 at bats. Coming into today's game, he was boasting a 1.259 OPS in his last 15 games.

[kells]

1rst pitch swinging by Victorino & Rollins, great job guys.

[CJ]

Brewers load the bases with no outs in the 8th vs. David Weathers. They trail 3-2.

[CJ]

Brewers tie it on a double play ground out.

Runner at third, 2 outs, 3-3 game.

[kells]

Reds Weathers ready to give the brew crew the game. Bases loaded no outs. Thanks Dave

[CJ]

Lots of first pitch swinging. Is that scouting? This team hasn't done a lot of this recently, especially Rollins.

[CJ]

Brewers lead 4-3. Gonna need a blown save now by the Brewers.

I apologize for jinxing it.

[CJ]

And I'll say this:

There's NO WAY... no way at all for the Brewers to blow another save and lose this game.

[bay_area_phan]

Hitman: If Kendrick's skill-set were that limited, there would have been nothing for the hitters to catch onto. He would have been unsuccessful from the get-go. The reason Kendrick succeeded last year was because he had a stellar rate of just 1.85 walks per 9 innings. The reason he was still pretty decent until August of this year was because, through July, he had a still pretty good ratio of 2.66 walks per 9 innings. If your control is good enough to walk only 1.85 hitters per 9 innings, it also undoubtedly means that your location is good within the strike zone, which means that even with rather pedestrian stuff, you can get pretty good results (as Jamie Moyer has proved for the last 15 years).

Since August, Kendrick has walked 21 batters in 29 innings & his other numbers have, not surprisingly, followed suit. When Kendrick throws strikes, he is a perfectly serviceable back-end starting pitcher. When he doesn't, he is not a big league pitcher. That's pretty much all there is to it. I have no explanation as to why his control has fallen apart so suddenly and dramatically, but it isn't likely to improve this year. If this were mid-season, I would try sending him to pitch a month at Triple A & see if he can correct the problem. But the Triple A season is over.

[TK]

well getting swept by the Reds at home in September is pretty hard to do, I guess.

[clout]

king myno: Last year nearly every poster said the Phils had no shot at the division, but would win the WC. I was a minority of 1 saying the opposite. This year I have a few Beerleaguers who agree with me, so I don't feel quite as certain as last year. If a majority of Beerleaguers were to sincerely agree with me, that would make a Phillies WC win a certainty, so I'd have to change my opinion.

[mike cunningham]

shoot. The reports of Luis Gonzalez demise were premature.

[TK]

Gonzalez? Really?

[wally]

For what it's worth, the only opponent of significance that Myers has beat during this streak of his were the Mets on Saturday. The rest (Cubs in a slump, Washington, Pittsburgh, etc) were pretty light in the hitting/discipline category.

[CJ]

Brewers win.

[CJ]

wally: The Cubs were a light lineup? Are you serious?

[TK]

I would still say beating the Cubs was a pretty quality win.

[CJ]

wally: I'm not sure you know just how stupid your comment was.

The Cubs had won 7 STRAIGHT GAMES before Myers beat them.

But they were "slumping."

[Brian G]

Clout: The heroic stand you took last year inspires me to this day.

[wally]

CJ,

Let me rephrase. Perhaps Myers is due for a little hiccup. Particularly when you consider that despite his stellar ERA, he is giving up a lot of hits (11 to the Cubs, etc).

I don't doubt that he's had a very good last 10 games.

[Steve]

Brew crew gets it done stopping the bleeding. Big win for them.

[TK]

Brett Myers just doubled?

[clout]

Looks like the collapse of the Brewers was a bit exaggerated.

[CJ]

wally: Since his return, Myers' WHIP is 1.07. Even over his last four starts where he's given up lots of hits, his WHIP is just 1.23.

[wally]

Thanks for the statistics. I guess I spoke without really looking at the numbers too closely. My b.

[CJ]

clout: I'd wait until they clich something to make that declaration. They haven't managed to win a game not started by CC or Sheets since Aug. 30th. If those two are the only ones who win for them down the stretch, they'll have real trouble winning the WC.

[Steve]

Clout: It will depend upon how they respond to the Phills to really see if the rumors were exaggerated. But it could have been a big win for them, much like the Sunday night game for the Mets

[Hitman]

Sophist- You are confounding cause and effect. When KK does throw strikes, he gets bombed because he has substandard stuff and mediocre velocity. So, he is trying to hit the corners to get players out. As next year unfolds, we'll see which of us is right.

[bay_area_phan]

A leadoff double from one of the worst hitters in the history of baseball & our 1-2-3 hitters can't drive him home. Totally unaccetable. And, unfortunately, a metaphor for the entire 2008 season.

[CJ]

Chase Utley has homered once in his last 117 plate appearances over 26 games.

In fact, his slugging percentage has dropped about 40 points since Aug. 3rd (34 games).

[bay_area_phan]

Myers doesn't have it today. He's falling behind every hitter and the Marlins are making him pay. The Phillies' inability to beat the Mets & Marlins is the story line of the 2008 season and is the reason they're going to be October spectators.

[BobbyD]

If they lose this game...

[PHIinBK]

strike out with a man on third and one out in a must win game during a playoff hunt. Jimmy, THAT is why we boo.

[PHIinBK]

well that and giving up a two out rbi single to the pitcher. AAAARGH

[CJ]

Sorry... even with a loss today, I'm not giving up on this season.

I seem to remember almost everyone giving up on Sept. 12, 2007. The Phils had just lost to the Rockies 12-0.

At that point, we were 7 GB the Mets and 3 losses out in the wild card race. Plus... we only had 3 games remaining against the Mets and none against the WC teams ahead of us in the standings.

[Lake Fred]

How can the Fish get a lead off double and move the man around to score and we can't???!!! Come on Myers!!

[Metssuck]

anyone else notice whenever howard homers we lose? (Nats last week when he hit two, sunday night vs the mets, last night vs the marlins, and likely today)?

[BobbyD]

Taking all of the emotion out of it, and just basing it on results, doesn't Charlie Manuel deserve to be fired after this season.. assuming it ends the way it's looking? 4 seasons. 85-89 wins each year. 1 playoff appearance.. 0-3.

[Lake Fred]

At least Ryan made him throw eight pitches while striking out. Sheesh!!

[redbeard]

pat burrell loses money every at bat

[clout]

CJ, Steve: I'm responding to the posters who said they were ALREADY dead.