Archive for the 'Joe Blanton' Category

Did the Phillies Give Cleveland Too Much?

Published
by
thesportsidiot
on July 30, 2009
in AL Central, Carlos Carrasco, Cleveland Indians, Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ, Joe Blanton, Kyle Drabek, MLB, MLB Prospects, NL East, Philadelphia Phillies and Roy Halladay
. 0 Comments
When the Phillies pulled the trigger on the Cliff Lee trade yesterday, the immediate thought was that Phillies GM Ruben Amaro had gotten over on the Tribe.  In acquiring Lee, the second best pitcher on the market behind Roy Halladay, the Phils added a Cy Young winning arm to their rotation, without giving up either J.A. Happ, Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor or Dominic Brown.  Now that the dust has had a little bit of time to settle, it is time for a better breakdown of the deal.

Carlos Carrasco entered this season as the “co” number one prospect in the Phillies’ farm system with Dominic Brown being the other “co” number one guy.  Carrasco has seen his stock go down this season, as he has toiled away to a 5.18 this season, his first full season in AAA.  While his strikeouts are still there, he does have 112 of them in 114.2 innings, so are the hits and walks, to the tune of a 1.36 WHIP.  Carrasco, who is only 22 years old at this point, could still turn out to be a top line pitcher, but right now his cap is looking like a three in the rotation.

Jason Donald has recently been described as a future utility man in the Majors.  For your fourth ranked prospect, you hope for a better fate than that, and the Phillies used to hope he would supplant Jimmy Rollins at short.  Well, before this season even started those expectations had shifted towards the utility role, and after dude has raked to a .235 batting average this season you can guess where those expectations are at this point.  Maybe Donald, who is 24 years old, can turn it around in the batters box, but in order to do so he will have to stop striking out so much (he has 58 Ks in 234 at-bats, which projects out to over 150 over a full season in the Bigs).

Jason Knapp is 6′5″ of raw talent.  Dude can hit triple digits on the radar gun, has a decent changeup, a power slider and a breaking ball.  Problem is Knapp can not seem to develop a consistent delivery, which causes him to change planes and lose his command.  As things stand, Knapp is projected to be an overpowering set-up man in the Majors, and possibly a closer.  He is young as well, though, at only 18 years of age, so there is time to refine his approach and develop him into a starter if he is durable enough.

Lou Marson was the catcher of the future for the Phillies.  Through 63 games, the third ranked ranked prospect is hitting for a .294 average and a .751 OPS in AAA.  During a brief stint in the Majors, he hit .235 with a .644 OPS.  Like Donald, Marson has been missing too many pitches, as he does strikeout a bit too much.  Will Marson be a top tier catcher in the Majors at some point?  No one knows, but the 23 year old has talent to go with his professional approach. 

Those are the prospects being sent to Cleveland.  A probable utility man, a power bully, a future three in the rotation, and a catcher.  Well, they are giving up something else as well, as someone is going to lose a starting rotation spot. 

Who will Lee replace?  It will not be Joe Blanton or Cole Hamels.  Rodrigo Lopez is slated to lose his spot to Pedro Martinez.  That leaves us J.A. Happ and Jamie Moyer.  Word is that Happ will get sent to the bully, but with Happ being arguably the best pitcher for the Phillies so far this season that will put some strain on things with the fans if Moyer falters or Lee does not come in smoking.

So in the end, what the Phillies gave up for Lee is hard to quantify.  This entry will be added to the “featured posts” section for easy reference next year when we revisit this deal.

Is Joe Blanton the Ace in Philadelphia?

Published
by
thesportsidiot
on July 21, 2009
in Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ, Joe Blanton, MLB, NL East and Philadelphia Phillies
. 1 Comment
Joe Blanton has been pitching extremely well of late, to the tune of a 2.44 ERA over his last nine starts.  Seven of said starts have been quality starts, meaning he has pitched at least six frames in each game.  With Cole Hamels pitching rather pedestrian of late, it poses the question who is the real ace of the Phillies?  Is it J.A. Happ, the “rookie” sensation who has yet to lose a game this season while posting a 2.68 ERA and seven wins?  Is it Jamie Moyer, the aged veteran who is old enough to be called Grandpa but yet still finds ways to pitch late into games, with eight quality starts over his last ten games?  Or is it Cole Hamels, who owns a 4.72 ERA and a 90:19 K:BB ratio?

In the end it does not matter who the “ace” of the staff is, it only matters that the Phillies are leading the NL East by 6.5 games and have won nine straight slates.  As a matter of fact, they have only lost one game since returning home from being swept in Atlanta on July 3rd.  So even though the Braves have only lost five games this month, they have still lost two games in the standings as the Phillies have only lost three.

Happ Placed in the Bully

Published
by
thesportsidiot
on April 6, 2009
in Brett Myers, Chan Ho Park, Cole Hamels, Fantasy Baseball, J.A. Happ, Joe Blanton, MLB, MLB Prospects, NL East and Philadelphia Phillies
. 0 Comments

J.A. Happ made the Philadelphia Phillies opening day roster, just not as a starter.  Dude is officially in the bully until Brett Myers loses his next four games in a row and is put in limbo, or until one of the other starters goes down for one reason or another.  It could be soon, too.

Cole Hamels will spend time on the Prior List this year.  I’ll be shocked if he does not.  Reason being his workload the past two seasons, and his elbow already showing signs of trouble this year.

Jamie Moyer is old.  Dude could break a hip anytime now.  Well, either that, or hitters could start teeing off on him like it’s batting practice.  I think he may actually throw slower than a batting practice hurler.

Joe Blanton is Joe Blanton.  He pitched well for the Phils last year, but I’m not sold on him yet.  Main reason being he is fat and awkward.

Chan Ho Park could get blown up at any point too.  Let us be honest here, this Phils rotation is not made up of all star talent.  What it is made up of, however, is just enough to keep the Phils in contention and let their offense and bully do the real work.  It was successful last campaign, so who am I to question the philosophy?

Personally, I would rather see Happ go to AAA and continue to stay in starter shape.  That way, when something goes wrong and they need him as a starter, he will be ready to step in and contribute.  Dude should probably be the three in this rotation as it is, but I can not dispute Park getting the five hole over him.

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