Game 3: KK leads manship of RHPs into rubber game

We're going to see the right-handed relievers tonight - you can bet on that - be we're not going to see Jimmy Rollins.

Rollins is not in the lineup Wednesday for the Phillies' rubber match with the Rangers in Arlington, Texas. Instead, the shortstop is headed back to Philadelphia to be with his wife as the couple is expecting its second child. Instead, Jayson Nix is making his Phillies' debut at short. Kyle Kendrick makes his season debut on the bump. Ryan Howard will DH. The John Mayberry Jr. experiment at first continues into the 2014 season, and I know you're excited about that.

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Comments

[NEPP]

Yeah, its really tough to come around on a 91 mph fastball down the middle like that. Truly an amazing piece of hitting by Beltre.

[GBrettfan]

Come on, Papelbon. This is not what we're paying you for.

[NEPP]

Loss attributable to the bullpen?

I think so!

[Jack]

NEPP: Did you see the pitch Beltre hit? It was up by his shoulders, not right down the middle.

[NEPP]

Papelbon is pure garbage. Its gonna be a long disappointing year with this bullpen.

[Rally Red '67]

well, this sucks.

[Dickie Thong]

I guess the outcome yesterday would have been much the same had Papelboner pitched the 9th.

[GBrettfan]

Maybe not using our closer in the 8th inning of a tie game is smarter than we think.

[Jack]

But yeah, Papelbon sucks.

However, he has pitched the last pitch of a season before. And you need to pay a guy $12 million for that.

[bittel]

unreal.

[BobbyD]

Well that sucks.

[GBrettfan]

Or 9th. Sorry.

Maybe Bastardo should become the closer.

Oh, crap, Pap!

[NEPP]

I hate Papelbon so much...just stop letting him close at least so we're not stuck with bum arse next year too.

[bittel]

Wow. I really wanted to win this game.

[BobbyD]

wtf is going on here that was a dp ball.

[Rally Red '67]

"...I did't come here for this...."

What a POS,

[Jack]

Papelbon is my least favorite player of the entire Amaro era, and that's saying something.

No idea why we weren't playing for the DP there.

[Meyer]

Should have keep Hollands in for the 9th.

[HammRadio]

why draw the infield in. that was a double play ball that ends the game.

[BobbyD]

Is anybody watching or do you just hate Papelbon that much? He just enduced nack to back weak groudners.

[GBrettfan]

Can we eat the money and get another reliever, make Bastardo our closer? It's going to be an even longer year if Pap is going to suck. We could keep him as the best paid mop-up man ever.

[Dickie Thong]

If Texas walks off here, does that still count towards Pap's "games finished" total?

[Jack]

Papelbon is a worse version of Billy Wagner.

How long until he claims an injury?

[bittel]

Two dead ground ball outs, and they tie the game.

[HammRadio]

I also hate the idea of just letting your closer finish the inning out when he's got nothing. And that was a strike. This ump has been awful all night.

[Jack]

I just hate Papelbon that much.

No idea why the infield was in, though.

[NEPP]

Papelbon looks like BJ Ryan after he went to Toronto.

[Jackamac]

Pap Smear's already blown a game 3 days into the season. Top-5 bullpen, my ass.

[Juums]

I'll admit, Pap's had some bad BABIP luck with that dribbler to Asche and that one that got buy a diving Utley. Both were close and, with a little different luck, the inning would be over.

But that doesn't change the fact that Papelbon is being paid eight figures to pitch an inning a game, at best. If you can't bow your neck and get an out when needed, then you shouldn't be closing.

[GBrettfan]

We haven't had any plays challenged tonight, but it still feels like a long game. Although it looks like it will be over in a minute, tops.

[can_of_corn]

Ship him out of town and eat the money. Seriously.

[Jack]

He looks like Lidge towards the end of his big contract.

I wonder what idiot GM would give out a second huge contract to a closer immediately after the first one didn't work out? (And yes, I know Gillick did the Lidge extension--but Amaro saw how badly that turned out.)

[GBrettfan]

What Juums said.

Thanks, Pap.

[BobbyD]

Now you can hate Papelbon.

[Unikruk]

Wow. Just wow.

[Jack]

Amaro must be wondering what the hell is going on.

A proven closer just blew a save to a guy who took a walk.

[Batters eye]

Pap SVCKS!!!!!!!!

[GBrettfan]

So the only game we won this series was the one in which our SP was terrible. The well-pitched games were blown by our 'pen.

Not fun.

[Jack]

"He's our closer. He's a proven guy. He has to close games, that's what we pay him to do. So we're going to put him out there in save situations because he's a closer."

[NEPP]

The bullpen is probably worse than last year's garbage.

How sad is that?

[HammRadio]

With a major league bullpen, the Phillies had a good chance at starting the season 3-0. Now, 1 and 2... and its this horsebleep.

[Westchester Phil]

Ruben Amaro really is a great GM.

[Batters eye]

Sandburg gets honorable mention for this loss

[Juums]

The doubly sad thing is that Hollands attained redemption for last night by going three-up and three-down tonight. This is attributable entirely to the one bullpen piece who was supposed to be, even at worst, an above-average reliever.

I very much hope Pap gets the once over by an irate Larry Bowa, as he earned it after tonight.

[kuvasz]

what a mess

[Kevin]

Well. That certainly was painful.

[Gsl]

Joke

[ColonelTom]

I'd love to see some pitch F/X on that ninth inning. The umpire simply wasn't going to call a strike on anything that broke.

I'll second the Lidge comp, Jack - it's that same sinking feeling, trying to wish every close pitch over a corner to get out of an inning. Papelbon can't close out hitters and the control's just not there (nor is the velocity, of course). If one of the other RHP in the bullpen doesn't step up, it's going to be one late-inning loss after another all year.

[GBrettfan]

Michael Barkann: "If he's not hurt, he's terrible."

[Batters eye]

Any reason the Phil's let Rosin unprotected?

[Rally Red '67]

d
f
a

If the elfin' Iggles can release DeSean Jackson, maybe Monty grows a pair and bucks up to the $$ and unloads this albatross. Jonathan Papelbon is, as God forgive me, Howard Eskin might say:

human garbage.

[Meyer]

Whole deal predictable. Rosin/Hollands and then Paps. Chicago next.

[Muuurgh]

Interested to see whether Sandberg gives some other relievers save opportunities if Papelbon blows another in the near future. What a mess is right.

[docjoe]

pap barely hitting 90 on the gun. I think Sandberg didn't realize it was 1st and 3rd when he brought the infield in. That was a dp ball or at worst the 2nd out and maybe extra innings. bad loss of many this year unfortunately. Pap is toast. DL him even if a bogus reason.

[NEPP]

This was kick to the teeth painful...not kick to the balls at least.

So there's that.

[Jack]

Papelbon is my least favorite Phillies of all-time. He is terrible to watch, seems like a terrible person, and represents the very worst of the Amaro era.

[NEPP]

I agree 100% with that sentiment, Jack.

[ColonelTom]

Papelbon's pretty much sidearming his fastball now. He wants that option to vest and won't admit that his shoulder's shot. I'm betting on some serious ugliness when the team either pulls him from the closer's role or tries to place him on the DL.

For what it's worth, I don't think Sandberg will have much patience for this. If Papelbon doesn't suddenly find 3-4 MPH on his fastball, Bastardo will be closing before June.

[mm]

Should be 3-0. Terrible.

[NEPP]

Papelbon has NOTHING on his fastball and hasnt since 2012.

It was an absolutely terrible signing that defines Rube's inability to correctly judge talent and invest money wisely.

[mm]

Walking in the winning run is inexcusable. Even if your only way to get it over the plate is to lob an easy one, at least you have a "chance" to get an out or outs.

[GBrettfan]

Ricky Bo wonders about Pap's shoulder. "I'm seeing a dropping of the elbow, which means you're probably looking for a spot where it feels more comfortable to throw the ball." Not sure if it's dead arm or masking a problem or what.

[docjoe]

Famous crapelbon quote " I didn't sign up for this" Neither did we Pap. He is unwatchable.

[Dickie Thong]

He should change his first name to Chad.

[HammRadio]

If any other pitcher is pitching or its anything other than a save situation, Sandberg would have pulled the pitcher. I never understand why you let a closer finish the blown save. I didn't understand it when Lidge was flailing... and I don't understand it here.

[GBrettfan]

Haha, Ricky Bo just predicted people would say what you just said, docjoe.

[ColonelTom]

I agree with Ricky Bo. Papelbon's arm slot and action look an awful lot like Halladay's early last year.

[Iceman]

Another great example tonight of why the team has no chance this year. With pitching like the last two nights from your #3-4 guys, the team will be in most games. They've been able to get around inconsistent run scoring in the past because of a very good bullpen. This bullpen, though, is the worst in the MLB, and now one of the only good pitchers in the bullpen is declining in a big way.

The second LATTB in 3 games, I'll be interested to see how high that number climbs this year. It will be worth keeping track of.

[Iceman]

I've actually been convinced by JW that they should just run young guys like Hollands out there and see what happens.

Whatever Sandberg does, he's sending a bad pitcher out there every time he goes to the bullpen (with the exception of Bastardo, who rides that line sometimes). The team will not compete this year. The best case scenario is sending Hollands out there to see what he can do and hoping he can turn into something against all odds. Why the hell not?

[MG]

"Papelbon is a better reliever than Madson and the additional money ($6M over 4 years) is minor.

Papelbon also has never been on the DL in his professional or minor league career too while pitching in a tougher league.

Still dislike this deal for several reasons (length & dollars, likelihood it prevents the Phils from fulfilling a few other things I thought they needed to do more this offseason, etc).

Amaro identifies a need and goes after it with bulldog-like determination even if it means paying a king's ransom & likely has some real downside on the back-end to it.

Posted by: MG | Friday, November 11, 2011 at 06:05 PM"

It was utterly infuriating to watch this dumba$$ pitch in the 9th tonight. Instead of trying to locate the his 4-seam fastball at even 89-90 relying upon his strong command and trust Chooch, Papelbon was overthrowing the ball tonight from the get go to try to get 1-2 MPH more velocity.

In the process, the ball was sailing on him & he had little command or control of his 4-seam fastball tonight badly missing his spots a few times. There were at least 2 times where Chooch set up down low and the ball went high & up in the zone. Either Papelbon completely missed his spot on his 4-seamer or he just wanted to try to overpower the hitter with this fastball.

Yeah Papelbon got hurt on 2 weakly hit grounders and not playing for the GDP hurt too on Martin single. Still, this is a guy who can't top more than 90-91 right now without losing command and control, doesn't have a good enough secondary pitch to rely upon like Lidge's slider, and is a damn blockhead who refuses to acknowledge that he can't overpower hitters anymore with his fastball at 92.

Papelbon is going to get lustily booed at his first appearance at CBP and I admit I would too. Not even the fact that he isn't 'earning his money.' It is the fact he is such an unlikeable guy who has an unadjusted sense of machismo where he thinks he can simply overpower hitters yet.

[GBrettfan]

RT'd by @Beerleaguer

Jay Floyd ‏@PhoulBallz 11m
Jose Mesa had an 86.8% success rate as #Phillies closer. Jonathan Papelbon has an 84.8% mark as Phils closer.

[Dragon]

PAPELBUM!!!

[MG]

I did notice too that Papelbon was dipping down a bit too night but I wonder if it was his hip that was bothering him again or his shoulder.

Last year it was supposedly his right hip that was giving him real problems especially in Sept.

It wouldn't surprise if Papelbon isn't disclosing how he is feeling to the medical staff/trainer and/or that the medical staff/trainer continue to screw up their evaluation of Papelbon.

[GBrettfan]

If our BP is going to blow 2 out of every 3 leads that we hand them, this is going to be an ugly season.

[Bubba]

Highlight of today was seeing JW back and BL looking better.

Lowlight was the Pap blown save bottom of the 9th.

There is no excuse for walking in the winning run. NONE.

[MG]

Mesa was a polarizing figure while he was here but people forget that with the exception of the horrendous '03 season (when he single-handedly cost this team a chance at the playoffs that year) that Mesa was a solid closer.

Also an enjoyable personality who never lashed out at the fans or got negative/dour despite the torrent of boos he heard at times especially in '03.

[Meyer]

No fvcking wonder Paps thought the bullpen was going to dominate this year. The lineup looked as good as him.

[Rally Red '67]

Tis', GBrettfan. Tis'.

[GBrettfan]

Meanwhile, the Astros have gone 2-0 in their first two games versus the Yankees.

[Ghost]

If not for injuries and decline on performance. A BP of Papelbon, Bastardo and Adams was pretty decent. Take aside one's personal feelings for Papelbon etc.