Madson’s overstated slump; AA All-Stars named

Ryan Madson didn’t have a bad month, but a trio of blown saves made it feel that way.

Madson may have the most fickle fan support of any Phillie, but that’s the life of a reliever, where only a handful of blow-ups can lead to a statistical and perceptual tailspin. There isn’t a more detrimental stat in the court of public opinion than the blown save, and Madson had three of them in June, the most in the National League. ESPN’s Jayson Stark gathered Madson’s numbers since June 16 last night on Twitter: 9.52 ERA, three blown saves, one loss that wasn't a blown save, 16 baserunners in all but 5 2-3 innings. That’s poor, no question, but a little perspective reveals that a). pitchers will often struggle, b). June of 2009 actually wasn’t as bad as Madson’s July of 2008. July basically comprised the entirety of Madson’s struggles: a 1.71 WHIP and .298 BAA. Madson has allowed runs in four games since June 16, but before that, the last time he allowed a run was May 16. His final June totals were 3.55 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, .255 BAA. Maybe we’re being too hard on Mad Dog.

AA All-Stars announced: Outfielder Michael Taylor, third baseman Neil Sellers, lefty Joe Savery and righty Vance Worley have all been named to the Eastern League All-Star team.

Comments

[EastFallowfield]

Natinals take a 3-2 lead in the top of the 7th down in FLA.

[Greg S. from Lancaster]

From previous thread. The Rev suggests Holiday In parking lot... any other thoughts. Thanks.

.......

A bit off topic, sorry. I'm meeting up with a big group for the Sunday, July 12th game. We want to tailgate a bit before hand. Besides staying south of Pattison, any other advice for tailgating newbie? Also does anyone have a suggestion of a place to rendezvous before heading over to the parking lots.

Keep in mind, this is a family group.

Thanks.

[EastFallowfield]

Being the Nats, they surrender the lead on the very first batter of the bottom of the inning, 3-3 on a Ross HR.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

Holiday Inn parking lot. Good spot, easy entrance/exit and there are bathrooms.

[Jonesman]

How about Brian Sanches pitching for the Marlins with a sub-2 ERA through 18 IP of relief work? That can't continue right?

[clout]

Jonesman: Matt Smith had an ERA of 0.87 in 21 IP for the Yanks & Phils in 2006. And he went on to become...well, nobody.

[ThicketDan]

Rodrigo Lopez to start Friday, as per Zolecki.

[RK]

OK guys here are the choices. The following are June numbers for LV candidates:
ERA IP ER
Carrasco 4.06 31 14
Lopez 2.03 31 7
Carpenter 1.87 33.2 7
Kendrick 3.06 35.1 12

Based on what we know of Phils management its between Kendrick and Lopez. WHy? They are the two oldest and most "MLB" experienced.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

You're 1 minute too late, RK.

[king myno]

Good thing we didn't trade Pat Burrell for Rodrigo Lopez all those years ago, because we got him now!

[gm-carson]

I've often referred to Madson as the Antichrist over the past 4 seasons. I know he's done well, and believe it or not I'm glad he's in our bullpen. However, I cannot forget all the times he's come up small in big situations. I also distinctly remember him blowing the 1st two would-be wins of Cole Hamels career in '06.

[joe l]

gm - last september and october made me forget all about Madson's earlier big situation performance.

[gm-carson]

I agree, Madson was awesome last September then into the postseason, but for some reason I can't stand his deer-in-headlights look he has on his face every time he enters a f'n game.

[TK]

How about that Ricky Romero? 8 innings of 4 hit shutout ball against the sizzling Rays today. Makes a feel a tad better about how he owned us twice. Only a tad.

[Brian G]

Ricky Romero with 8 shutout innings against the Rays today. Maybe he's just really good.

[AF]

It was really annoying last night when Madson had a 1-2 count on the batter with 2 outs and he kept focusing on the runner at first.

[bay_area_phan]

You could kind of see the Rodrigo Lopez move coming, once they pushed the vacant spot back to Friday. Believe it or not, I agree with the decision. Let Carrasco have some sustained success at AAA before calling him up.

Lopez has had sort of a crazy career but he has had some very good seasons. He's certainly not too old to still be effective and, with nearly 2 years passed since his TJ surgery, he should be as healthy as he has been in a long time. Based on track record, he's no less likely to be decent than many of the names who are being tossed around in trade rumors (i.e., Wang, Bannister, Pavano, Young).

[rk]

Well I didn't see the post and I was calculating the ERAs for June. I am heartened that I have figured out how these guys are operating. Although this may turn outa to be an OK choice this is not amanagment team that is willing to think out of the box. How else do you explain Bako instead of giving Taylor a whiff of the show or for that matter giving Drabeck a one time shot. Truly disapointing decision making approach. Although I do think they owe Liopez a shot.

[rk]

Actually the true measure of how poor managment has been is teh Kaplowe fiasco. here is a guy who waspitching real well and they simply forgot that if they didn't bringhim up he could opt out of the contract which he did. He continues to pitch well but not for us and boy we sure could use another exprienced reliever who has something left in the tank.

[Brian G]

rk: Answers that come from "thinking outside the box" aren't always the best ones. Was Bastardo's call up not "outside the box"? The Phillies goal is to win games and set us up for long term success, I'd be more disappointed if they made moves based on what they think will spark the fan base's interest.
And I missed when the other 31 teams were falling over themselves to sign Koplove after we let him go.
I'm fine with the Lopez move. He's hot right now, and Carrasco is by no means obviously ready, so I'll trust the judgment of those that watch him on a day to day basis.

[clout]

BAP: So Rodrigo Lopez should be every bit as good as Chris Young?

Interesting.

[EastFallowfield]

Yo, new thread