Saturday thread: Rodrigo restores faith in Phillies

Right-hander Rodrigo Lopez completed the long journey back from Tommy John surgery, earning his first win since July 2007 and stepping off the field to a rousing ovation, as the Phillies eased to a 7-2 victory over the Mets.

Like an old pro, the 33-year-old former 15-game winner kept the Mets off the board through six innings by locating and changing speeds, keeping everything out of the middle of the plate. Lopez mastered Jim Joyce's tight strike zone by living in the black, spotting a good cutter and mixing in lots of stuff with tight sink. The former Oriole finished with the final line of two runs over 6 1-3 innings with four strikeouts. When he's on, Mets' starter Livan Hernandez follows the same blueprint Lopez followed last night, but he was lousy on this night, with the Phillies staking Lopez to a huge early lead and many opportunities to score more. Philadelphia's slumping bats also got a huge lift from several miscues by the Mets' defense.

With the win, the Phillies regained a one-game lead in the division. The two sides are back at it this afternoon starting at 4:10 p.m.

Comments

[Mac Tonight]

As I said before, the sky is not falling.

The Phillies options to address their pitching woes are plentiful. Based on his performance prior to injury, we have every reason to hope that Lopez will be a serviceable starter for the rest of the season.

The way I see it, the biggest obstacle we face is Charlie's his lack of adaptability to variant situations. There is something to be said for consistency, but there is a fine line between being a consistent and stubborn.

[Andy]

"restores faith"

hmmmmmm....

In July,2009:
Phils versus Livan Hernandez: 10/19, .526
Phils versus everyone else: 11/76, .144

My inner cynic still possesses a few doubts.

[EastFallowfield]

July,2009 stats=3 games?

I guess the sample size could be a little smaller, but not much.

[ST]

your inner cynic is dumb. how many runs you want them to score? 7 is fine

[JMARR]

ST - couldn't agree more - we scored 7 while not scoring a single run in a bases loaded nobody out situation .... easily could have been a 9/10 run game. I was more excited about the fact that 6 out of 7 runs scored without a HR .... that is a good sign for this team.

It will be interesting to see how Lopez fares when the teams have a few more starts to watch video of.

He seemed like a much different pitcher last night than I remember in his Baltimore days - adjustments will be made for sure.

[Morty]

Didn't see the game, but did look at the box score. Wow, the Mets' lineup is pathetic!

[Lake Fred]

Let's see, the Farm gives us Kendrick, Happ, Bastardo, Lopez, Carrasco, Drabek, Savery, et al. Some of these guys have to have enough glue to stick. Happ seems to be a sticker, and Lopez with his experience and skills should be a sticker, too!

Maybe, when Myers comes back, there won't be a spot for him.

[MG]

Vagueness on the Ibanez's groin injury isn't a good sign. Not surprised if he doesn't get back on the field before the ASB but does he try to rush to get back in order to play in the ASG?

[thephaithful]

he should go to the allstar game but def not play in it.

[MPN]

JW: What was the font you used in last night's game thread? `Twas very Song Remains The Same-ish.

[MPN]

morty: a trifle bit of credit needs to go to Rodrigo, too. Staked to a lead he pounded the zone and had a lot of movement on his pitches.

[thephaithful]

dear god, Pujols is getting out of hand. Why isn't he intentionally walked at least twice a game.

[mikes77phillies]

My favorite thing about Rodrigo Lopez is Jack Taschner DFA'd.
Come on Marlins, pick him up.

[bay_area_phan]

I don't understand all the handwringing about Ibanez. At the time he went on the DL, Amaro said that it could be longer than 15 days. This is one of those injuries where, if he comes back too soon, he'll reinjured it and be right back where he started. So there's absolutely no point in rushing him back. In fact, there's something to be said for keeping him out this entire week, up to the AS break. That would allow them to use the AS game as a day of minor league rehab.

[sneed]

Stark mentioned the one Royal we looked at closely was Juan Cruz, who KC would only deal for a near ready, top tier prospect because they have him under contract for a few seasons. Arbuckle scouted Carrasco last week, so does this mean they entertained a Carrasco for Cruz swap? I hope not.

[MPN]

I wonder if we could do a Qualls and Felipe Lopez trade with the D-Backs? Lopez can play both middle infield positions, has a decent bat, and would make the gnome dispensable... or the So Taguchi Pre-memorial 25th man off the bench player...

[J.R. King]

MPN: The font is called "Eccentric"

http://new.myfonts.com/fonts/adobe/eccentric/regular/

[MPN]

JR King: Thanks!

[bigmyc]

Wait just a Tommy John second here.

Lopez looks great, but one competent starter outta nowhere does a season make.

I never thought the sky was fallin' (if it was (and may still be) it would've been caught by any number of the severely talented ball players on this team). However, Lopez' emergence doesn't mean the Phillies are out of the woods yet. Not by a long stretch.

Apart from the dings(Lidge) and dangs(Myers) of the regular season grind, they are gonna have to start pitching better in the BP which will begin with pitching better in the rotation. Then the hitting needs to come around consistently with the normal solid defensive effort to glue it all together.

Lopez is a nice help but he is not the answer.

[bigmyc]

Shoulda read, "..does NOT a season make."

Lopez is a welcome addition but not the end of the Phils' troubles.

[redbeard]

"...and stepping off the field to a rousing ovation"

was at the game last night and while lopez ovation was huge, the best of the night for me was when jimmy came to the plate in the first inning. i dont know if it was talked about, or how it was heard on the radio/tv, but it seemed like the fans really showed their support of him and gave him a nice hand. then he lead off with a double. good stuff.

[4DaysRest.com]

I really think this is the turning of a corner for Jimmy.

[High Hopes]

Phillies offered "a prospect not to the Yankees liking" for Wang. Wonder who that could be? Hopefully it wasn't Taylor, as one would have to assume that the Yankees would have been at least less dismissive initially, and also because one would hope that Amaro has moved away from the silly idea of trading him anyway. Doubt it was Donald or Marson, because the Yankees have depth at the positions they play (one of their best prospects is a catcher, and though he's at a low level now, he's a has a much greater upside than Marson). That leaves pitching prospects, given Wang's uncertain status, one would think Carrasco might have at least piqued their interest, ditto for Drabek, who the phillies wouldn't have offered anyway (likely not Carrasco either). So either the phillies offered one of their second-tier pitching prospects at a higher level (Worley, Savery, Flande) or perhaps a lower level guy with upside. Maybe they offered Bastardo, despite his injury? I doubt that though (because of the injury). Either way, sounds like this one ain't happening, and if Amaro was indeed conservative with his offer, it can't be a bad thing. KEEP MICHAEL TAYLOR!

[justphantastic]

Date | IP | H | R | ER |
Jul 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jun 30 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Jun 26 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Jun 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jun 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Jun 18 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Jun 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Jun 9 | 0.1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
Jun 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
May 31 | 0.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Total | 11.3 | 13 | 9 | 9 |

[justphantastic]

that's Cruz's last 10 games - those stats don't inspire a trade involving the likes of Kendrick, Happ, Bastardo, Lopez, Carrasco, Drabek, Savery, Mayberry, or Taylor.

maybe brunlett, taschner, and a bag of bats

[JMARR]

justphantastic -

What do you think Madson's last 10 games look like? Who would you trade for him?

[king myno]

Stop all this "don't trade Mayberry" talk. He has value, considerably more than Golson did, but he's a 4th OF/platoon guy. If a Mayberry package nets you a solid bullpen arm/starter, it would be foolish to turn it down.

[MG]

If the Phils could get a useful bullpen piece (e.g., Cruz) for the likes of Mayberry and Flande, you make that deal without thinking.

[MG]

Not surprised that Manny got cheered last but what is lost in this whole conversation is just what a general scumbag Manny is. Most fans have a negative opinion of ARod or Bonds but somehow Manny enjoys a generally positive reputation despite his well-chronicled difficulties with certain teammates/team personnel, poor treatment of rank-and-file at commercial establishments in Boston, lack of effort/hustle at some point every season, his efforts to sabotage the Red Sox in order to get traded, his efforts to lie & deny about his steroid use, and his half-hearted apology that was made only after Frank McCourt insisted he do it.

Manny is as big a scumbag in baseball in the last 25-30 years and comparable to Bonds/ARod yet he gets a pass from most fans and enjoys a more positive Q rating with the public yet. Just mystifies me.

[justphantastic]

jmarr - good point...

as if Amaro needs our approval for a trade,

Mayberry has trade value - bringing back to KC - like his father before him to get a serviceable reliever- sure beats the 'indirect' trade of Jason Jarmillo to Pitts for Taschner,

[king myno]

MG - I think he's more of the stoner scumbag, the general perception is that he does these things because Boras tells him to or because he wasn't even thinking/doesn't know better.

I'm sure a whole bunch of that is BS, but it seems to be universally accepted by now. Bonds seemed like more of a dick with a purpose, and A-Rod now just seems like an egotistical weirdo. Personally, I like Manny better than both of them, but I couldn't really tell you why.

[High Hopes]

MG: Manny has a ring, two in fact. A-Rod and Bonds don't. Not that such a simple thought is sufficient to answer your general question, but its a start. Manny helped break the curse. Also, I think the day he hired ESPN to be his publicist didn't hurt either. Frankly, its all they're good at anyway.

[NEPP]

Anyone else miss Jaramillo and his .741 OPS and good defense? Better CS rate than any of our catchers.

Yeah...might have been a mistake to write him off.

[G-Town Dave]

It was a (surprisingly) great night to be at the ballpark last night! Beautiful weather, the rare combo of good Phils pitching & hitting in the same game, the Mets looking like their usual, clueless selves (there must have been at least three occasions where NY left one base or another uncovered) & Jimmy finally hitting the ball hard a few times. Finding out once I had arrived that Trashner was DFA was just the icing on the cake ... now here's hoping the Fightins can win another one this afternoon & claim a home series victory against someone other than the Lastinals! :-D

[NEPP]

Perhaps Lopez can be a viable 5th starter...he was decent a couple years ago. If we can get a couple months out of him to stop the bleeding in the rotation, that would be huge and it would significantly help Amaro in that it 1. lessens his absolute NEED to make a bad trade and 2. allows us the time to have more teams fall out of the race.

[MPN]

http://twitpic.com/99vrp

A pic of the hole at Yankees Stadium where the dug up the Big Papi jersey from. (h/t Susan Lulgjuraj at the AC Press.)

[clout]

NEPP: The Jaramillo trade wasn't bad, they got Paulino, whose numbers are similar. It was the Paulino trade that was a disaster.

[justphantastic]

It was an indirect trade -

On December 10, 2008, Jason Jaramillo was traded to the Pirates for catcher Ronny Paulino.
On March 27, 2009 - the Phillies traded Ronny Paulino to the Giants for Jack Taschner

Bottom line - bad trade for Phillies - a top catching prospect for nothing..

[G-Town Dave]

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