Beerleaguer for breakfast: Boo birds followed Burrell

Before we get to the Phils, an alert reader tips us to a piece on slumping ex-Phillie Pat Burrell, courtesy of the St. Petersburg Times. [Link]

“Burrell was supposed to be the answer to all of Tampa Bay's needs in 2009. He was going to correct the problem versus left-handed pitchers. He was going to eliminate the need for a platoon at designated hitter. He was going to be the thump behind Carlos Peña. Except none of that has happened. Burrell started slowly and then got worse. About two-thirds of the way into the season, he is the lightest-hitting DH in the majors. And — we might as well say it — the Rays are not repeating as AL East champions. At this point, there is no way to defend Burrell. He does not have speed. He does not carry a glove. He is being paid $7 million this season to be a power hitter, and he has less home runs than Marco Scutaro. Less than Adam Kennedy. they are stuck with a designated hitter with a .361 slugging percentage. Do you realize how bad that is? Among AL players with at least 225 plate appearances, Burrell's slugging percentage ranks 106th out of 117. And a lot of the players below him are middle infielders who get paid for their gloves.” [Stats]

Notes: The Pedro Martinez show moves to Reading for a Wednesday start for the R-Phils. Martinez allowed five runs, four earned, in a Friday start for the Triple-A IronPigs. Afterward, the three-time Cy Young winner said he felt "rusty." Pedro's presence, and the Phillies appearant rush to bring him to the Majors, has at least one reader feeling uncomfortable. Writes RSB: "They're really going to shuttle Happ out of the rotation to make room for a guy who puts up Kendrickesque numbers in an AAA start? Pedro's presence in this organization suddenly appears wholly pointless. Ever since Gillick first came aboard, the Phillies have broken out of their old mold of sticking steadfast to obvious mistakes. Here's hoping Amaro will do the right thing and not go out of his way to accomodate Martinez."

Comments

[reading phan]

Pedro is pitching in Reading on Wednesday.. woooooo!

[RSB]

Poor Pat. In order to relieve his frustrations, someone should send him one of those Ibanez posters they'll be giving out to use as a dartboard.

[Ed]

Reuben looks pretty good on this one too.

And maybe it's the better pitching in the AL.

[Brad C]

Stinks to hear that about Pat. I am still rooting for him to do well, especially for him and the Rays to keep one of the Yankees/Red Sox out of the playoffs.

I am glad the road trip is over and glad the Phils have a day off. Normally I am angry I don't get to watch baseball for a night, but in this case, the team seems pretty drained with the west coast trip, trade deadline madness, Shane injury, etc. Hopefully they can come out strong tomorrow and win the first game of the series and then continue to win series from here on out.

[timr]

I feel bad for Pat.

From a Phillies perspective though, the Ibanez signing just keeps looking better and better.

[gm-carson]

What the hell? I've left a comment both on this thread and the last thread and it shows up, but then it disappears.

[vegas]

Getting booed by FL. fans is tough, considering half the stadium is normaly empty. Still one of my favorites. I'm glad he got a ring.

[Sophist]

Burrell's career interleague stats:

154 G, 20 HR, 102 BB, .198/.328/.377

15 of those games are from this year.

[sneed]

You can't be surprised by this. Pat has a history of half season slumps and this is no different. He also has a history of 2 month hot streaks so anything is possible before the end of the year. The Devil Rays took a page out of the Billy Beane small market playbook and signed an aging veteran home run hitter to a high, short term deal as their DH, hoping that it could be the missing piece to their young, inexpensive core. It's early to say for sure, but I don't think this one is going to work out and would imagine that the Rays want a mulligan.

[Mac Tonight]

For god's sake, Pedro sat for over a year. Give the man a few games in AA/AAA to work out the kinks before you write him off as a mistake.

Not saying he's going to work out, but this isn't Kris Benson, it's Pedro freakin Martinez. If nothing else, he deserves a pass on criticism for his first few minor league appearances.

[MG]

Mac - Benson was a pretty good pitcher but just hasn't been able to regain his pre-injury form.

Pedro was terrible last year, in his late 30s, and hasn't been an effective pitcher in 2 years at the MLB level.

You can't even make the argument that organization "owe him anything" that you can with Moyer or that they have a ton of money invested in Pedro.

If he continues to largely be mediocre in his next two 2 starts and struggle to make it through even 5 innings without giving up 3-4 runs, then he has no business in the starting rotation and probably not even in the bullpen with a few guys back in a couple of weeks including Durbin, Condrey, and Romero.

[CarlosBeltransexual]

It's not about giving Pedro a chance, it's about giving him a chance at the expence of Happ. Is Pedro's upside for the short term (the rest of 2009) that much better than what Happ has already shown?

[Tony D]

Ryan Howard: .297 SLG vs LHP

Awesome.

[Jack]

Hey, Tony D said it, not me.

[clout]

FWIW, Hamels BABIP is .332. Last season it was .262

[Jack]

Clout: Are you implying that some of Hamels' struggles have simply been bad luck, not "lack of focus", or "concentration", that so many posters on here seem to think? If so, then we totallly agree.

I have no idea what's going on in Cole Hamels' mind, and neither does anyone else on here. What I do know is that a .332 BABIP means that he's getting unlucky, especially since he's giving up almost the exact same line drive percentage as last year.

[Tony D]

clout, it might just be me but he seems to be giving up a ton of weak hits this year. 6 hoppers in the hole, bleeders over the 1B/3B head. He looked frustrated yesterday. Hopefully this will reverse itself down the stretch.

[Jack]

We should've traded Ben Francisco for Pat at the deadline.

[clout]

Jack: Yes, I'm sad to say we completely agree on Hamels.

[Wet Luzinski]

Pedro's an insurance policy--nothing more, nothing less, and over the past few years of his career was only pitching portions of the season anyway. At his last start his velocity was decent and he gave up runs from the stretch. This means he's either rusty or still hurt--but if the velocity was ok, it seems more likely the former is true. There's no need to rush him, and arguably he could take all of August to get straightened out and save some other not-ready-for-primetime prospect (or one we want to shut down for the offseason - hi Kyle Drabek) some premature ML service time.

[PHIinBK]

I don't catch too many games on tv but i do get the radio broadcasts and i've heard the phrase "hammels is up in the zone" way more than i care to.

[Wet Luzinski]

shucks, and as for Pat, well, it's kinda hard to believe he's that done, but only kinda. I think everyone expected that he'd have more shelf life as a DH. If he's done, then chalk one in our column for actually pulling the ripcord on a player at just the right time, rather than taking one on. Would that we would have done so on Moyer too.

[joe l]

Ever since Gillick first came aboard, the Phillies have broken out of their old mold of sticking steadfast to obvious mistakes.

Save for Bruntlett and Bako.

[The Truth Injection]

Benson was at best, a league average pitcher in his career. A poor WHIP, too many walks, and he doesn't miss enough bats. At his best he is Vicente Padilla or Jon Garland (two guys who have been roundly criticized by the readers of BeerLeaguer.)

Benson is the prototypical guy who had a ton of potential, got a big contract because of it, and never lived up to it.

Mac's larger point is right though. Pedro is still throwing to build arm strength and stamina and RSB already wants to shovel firt on him. If Pedro can get healthy and gets added to the rotation it isn't a knock on Happ or his abilities as many seem to take it as. It's an embarrasment of riches in that they have plenty of viable starting pitching options.

Pedro will help the team whether it be from the bullpen or rotation. That is if he can get a little more consistency in his outings. I don't think a bad outing though warrants the post RSB gave.

[njrossdawg]

Just playing devils advocate: if you could have either Stairs or Burrell on the bench, because you really could only have one due to their slow footedness and limited fielding potential, who would you take?

[Lake Fred]

After the game, I was working in my garage with the local sports radio on. I'd cringe each time the refered to Hamels as our "Ace". I wish these idiots would get it right. There is a new world order...Cliff Lee is our "Ace".

The AL has the DL and the NL makes the pitcher bat. The Phillies play Ultra NL by making their pitcher bat and having an extra "pitcher" bat by batting pitcher equivalent batter Bruntlett. Argghh!

We used to both love and hate Pat the Bat. His poor performance (along with Ibanez' lights out hitting) vindicates Rube's decision to replace Pat with Ibanez. The "love" part of our love-hate relationship means that we are sad that he's having a tough time in Tampa. We'll always cherish the memories of Pat the Bat riding that beer wagon in the 2009 WFC Parade.

[loctastic]

E-Brunt got a double and a run scored yesterday, he's coming back! He'll reach .200 by September!

[Pete Happy]

An aging slugger who seems fully committed to partying each and every night, with a history of inconsistency, and people are surpised that he's slumping? Pat's struggles are probably the second least surprising baseball story of 2009 (right after Manny and Papi being on PEDs).

[joe l]

I'd take Burrell over Stairs simply because he's RH. I don't think a LH bench bat is as valuable given the lineup's construction.

[Lake Fred]

Years ago I was on a business trip to Wichita, KS. I was staying in a hotel that had a two hour happy hour with free drinks. Being cheap, Lake Fred scheduled his bar time for happy hour. Sitting next to me was a salesman. We got to talking about business travel. He told me that Florida was part of his territory and that he especially liked Tampa, because there the girls took everything off at the clubs and you could touch them. Now, I know why Pat the Bat is having problems in Tampa. Does he hit better on the road?

[Spitz]

I was not very impressed with Ben Francisco this weekend. I know we are spoiled with our defense, but he has a noodle arm and doesn't take very good approaches on fly balls. Moreover, he doesn't have a very good approach at the plate. That's probably excusable since he's getting used to the pitchers in the NL, but the defense just isn't very good.

[bay_area_phan]

Truth, I think RSB's point was: why does there seem to be this widely-held presumption that Pedro is going to take over for Happ? And are the Phillies seriously of that mindset? What on earth entitles a guy with a 2008 ERA+ of 75 to a spot in our rotation at the expense of a guy with a 128 ERA+?

I agree with you that Pedro can probably be a good reliever but, as a starter, he was terrible last year (despite supposedly being healthy). The burden is on Pedro to prove that he's NOT terrible anymore. Allowing 5 runs in 5 innings sure didn't set him on the path to proving that.

I also don't get all the talk about how it's all ok because "this is his March." It may be his March but, for the rest of the baseball world, it's August. Assuming he could somehow start pitching better as he rounds into shape, that would probably take us up to late August or September. Are you really going to replace an effective starter with a total wild card in late August? If that idea isn't zany, zaniness doesn't exist.

[Jack]

Frankly, I expect Raul's bat to seriously cool off the 2nd half of the year, to the point where all those 1st half talks of his "monster" year will prove to be overblown. I think he'll finish with his Avg/OBP stats right around where they always are, and his HR and RBI numbers will be higher, and thus his SLG, but not nearly as high as some predicted.

I'll predict he finishes at .288/.355/.545, with 36 HRs and 112 RBIs.

[loctastic]

I don't think Pat parties as much as he used to, he's all married and lame now.

[The Truth Injection]

BAP: I don't think that was the intention of RSB's point. From the minute the comments were made last week about Pedro and Moyer people on here have assumed that the Phillies are itching to move Happ from the rotation. The comments made were typical speak by a coach, and not a slight against Happ as so many on here have taken it.

I don't think the coache's are given Pedro a free ride to a rotation spot. They are saying things to keep him working hard.

Also, I didn't actually see Pedro pitch Friday so I'm not going to comment on just a stat line. There are other things I would look for in a rehab start rather than his final totals. If he was locating the ball well and had good velocity then the stat line is sort of a moot point.

[clout]

Wet screen name changer: Is Moyer done?

[Brohamel]

The Phillies need to turn their attention to the Rockies quick. I was down at Great American Ballpark for Scott Rolen's debut as a Red and that team is smoking hot right now.. Phils could find themselves on a 5-game losing streak fast and only up 2-3 games on the Marlins if they don't get it together on the off day. I wouldn't be surprised if the Rockies come out on top of the Wild Card race and the Giants stay at home this year. This series in San Fran doesn't count as far as I'm concerned when looking at the Giants in a potential playoff matchup either, the Phillies are a totally different team when Victorino and Ibanez are in the Line-up.

Hamels is fine, he is Cole Hamels, he won't get rocked around like that when it counts, period. --Brohamel

Same with Lidge. This team has won it all now. They are not the '93 Phillies and Brad Lidge is not Wild Thing. Get over it. These Phillies win and win when they hit, and they hit when Victorino and Ibanez are in there, it's as simple as that. This is the best team in Philadelphia Baseball History and easily the best team in the MLB.

YA GOTTA BELIEVE.

Focus on Tommorow and not on what happened out West. Howard needs to take more pitches when he's ahead in the count. You have to also all remember that we still have J.A. Happ, thanks to Ruben Amaro. If we had Halladay instead of Lee and no Happ or farm right now we would all have trouble sleeping tonight, but I'm not going to. A game 1 match-up between Lee and Lincecum is a draw and probably goes to the home team, which would be us if we hold on to win the East.. and then you have Hamels, Happ and then Blanton/Pedro or Lee available again.

I don't care who you are, you're not going to ever beat that and it boils down to Citizens Bank Park. Our home record means nothing, no one is beating Philly at home in the Playoffs this year, period.

This isn't '07. This isn't '08. They are the DEFENDING CHAMPIONS now and we have (and have always had) the best fans and mascot in all of Sports, globally. Believe me, no one wants to come into Philly in the Playoffs in any Sport right now, and definately no baseball team, the best Yankees wouldn't want to. I know the Red Sox don't for a fact. This year we need to leave behind being fickle and stand by our Defending World Champs from here on out, take it to the next level. Now is when they need to close the deal on the East. If they let the Marlins hang around they will sneak in and do what they used to do to us back when the Braves were dominant. Remember the Marlins are the final series of the regular season this year, and remember that Florida is the same franchise that held us out in the final weekend in years prior to '07.

Florida is the only thing between us and a REPEAT.

After the regular season, it's a wrap. Win right now, starting Tuesday with the Rockies and we won't have to worry about the Marlins or Braves down the stretch. Believe me, you don't have to worry about anything.

I take this Phillies team over any team, ever.

"But one of the big weaknesses of the Phillies is that their general offensive approach is all brawn and no brains."

That is quite possibly the dumbest thing that I have ever heard. The Charlie Manuel Phillies steal (Rollins, Victorino), hit and run, hit the gaps and play small ball. Don't blame/doubt the best team in Franchise History because they hit the long ball and one of them (Howard) strikes out a lot trying to. He is the Clean-Up man and he has earned that priviledge (and so has everyone else as far as I'm concerned).

They have the ring, and know what they're doing out there.

[Ruben Amaro Jr]

If being Zany is Wrong, I DON'T WANT TO BE RIGHT!!

[MG]

RSB was making a simple point. Pedro posted some crappy numbers in his first start and if continues to struggle so much in his minor league starts(barely get through 5 innings and give up 3-4 runs) then there is no reason why he should given a spot as a starter in this rotation.

Regardless, unless Pedro is hurt he is going to be on this team when rosters expand on Sept. 1st whether it is as a starter, bullpen arm, or postgame commentary supplier. Phils didn't sign this guy to let him languish in the minors and there isn't a ton of deserving candidates at AAA who deserved to be promoted either.

[The Truth Injection]

MG: Then maybe we should wait til he makes a second start before we start sounding the alarm that he shouldn't be with the big club?

RSB'S post was the typical knee-jerk reactionary post that many on here are guilty of.

As I said- spots in the rotation are not set in stone. What was said last week was said to keep Pedro on track and not tip their hand about any plans.

[Lake Fred]

"They have the ring, and know what they're doing out there."

History is littered with one time and out World Series Champions. Repeating is very difficult.

Is Brohamel the new screen name for MVPTommyD? Both are riding their magic carpets high in the sky of Lalaland. Brohamel types longer winded comments, though.

Let go of your helium balloons Mr. Brohamel and let your feet touch the ground. One needs to be properly grounded in order to have their comments taken seriously on BL.

[Lake Fred]

Yo new thread!

[Wet Luzinski]

Clout, just started posting here. Haven't switched screen names at all. Mostly I hang on thegoodphight.com

Moyer is not done, and has been better of late (no start <5 IP over the last 10) but if you look at his splits he really is a situational lefty.