For all the critics out there that are openly expressing their disapproval of Joe Blanton and his current standing on the team, have you not followed Blanton throughout his career?
Blanton has, and will most likely, never get off to a fast start in any of his future seasons. His two highest ERA month’s during his seven-year career are none other than the first two months of the season: April (4.98) and May (5.61).
His worst winning percentage per month also occurs in the first two months — 7-12 in April and 9-16 in May.
Once June rolls around and the games actually mean more than they do early on, Blanton becomes a much different pitcher in terms of effectiveness and more importantly, winning percentage.
From June to September, Blanton’s career records by month are impressive — no losing record in any of the summer months.
From June to July, Blanton has compiled a respectable 24-20 record and 4.18 ERA. His counterpart, Cole Hamels, has a 18-17 career 
record and 3.74 ERA between those two months.
Although, Hamels is a much better pitcher than Blanton, he isn’t any better when it comes to the summer months of the season.
Blanton owns a tolerable resume between June and July, but he boasts a superb 31-12 record in the final two months of the season. His .470 winning percentage during the months of August and September rank him ahead of none other than Cliff Lee (.452) and Hamels (.440).
The stats are there to back up Blanton down the stretch, yet fans are quick to judge him when he struggles in just TWO games this season. Yes, it’s never good allowing the Nationals and Mets to tee off on you, but that doesn’t mean you have to exile Blanton. Every pitcher has a game or two where they just don’t have it (i.e. Cliff Lee vs. the Braves, Cole Hamels vs. the Mets).
And for those who believe Antonio Bastardo deserves a shot in the fifth spot, do you not remember his 6.46 ERA in five starts back in 2009, or his 4.34 ERA last season in 18.2 innings pitched?
Bastardo has shown a lot of guts this season coming out the pen and has certainly shown improvement with his nine strikeouts over 5.2 scoreless innings this season. If something is working, there is no need to change it, especially if it involves a pitcher who has struggled mightily in prior seasons.
It’s hard to go from Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Lee and Hamels to Blanton, but if the Phillies win at least three of the four games that the ‘Phour Aces’ start, then the Phillies will be in no trouble this season.
I mean, the Phillies are 10-4 at the top of the NL East and hold claim to second best record in the National League behind the Rockies. There’s no reason fans should be throwing Blanton overboard just yet.
Just wait, the Blanton Express will start rolling around once the weather warms up.
For the Record,
It will take more than a “few fans” to toss Blanton overboard..
Blanton will be fine, He’s averaged 180 + Innings in each of the last 5-6 years
Instead of writing an article, why didnt you just comment on it in the “Is it time to give up on Joe Blanton” post? I mean thats basically where the idea came from to write this article right?
Why don’t you just call your fellow blogger a retard by name? We all know you want to.
The “Bus” is warming up… C’Mon Joe, bare down and get the job done…
Did the fans judge him on two games? I think you need to read the article on THIS website YESTERDAY about giving up on Joe Blanton. Skip right to the comments section, and read up. You will see many of the same stats and ideas right in there from FANS DEFENDING BLANTON. Who is so quick to toss him out of the rotation? What radio stations do you clowns listen to? Also, like how you compare Joe Blanton and COle Hammels summer months, and say blanton has better stats. You put the stats up there, and then say they are better?????? Hammels was the BEST PITCHER IN BASEBALL from the allstar break for the rest of the season. BEST PITCHER IN BASEBALL unquestionably. Better than Halladay Oswalt Lee Jimenez EVERYONE. NEVER ever compare hammels and Blanton again. Hammels gives up a mere HALF A RUN less. 3.74, very respectable. 4.18, not so much. They score 1 run when hammels pitches. He had 11 starts where he gave up 1 run or less last season, yet was a .500 pitcher. not his fault at all.
Blanton pitched a great game last evening only to be let down by the Offense,
The Phils caught a bad break on line-drive hit by Polanco which turned into a double play after going off the Pitchers back..
The Bad-at-Bat of the Game goes to S VIctorino in the 9th with Orr at 2B and only 1 out, you cannot Strike out (Pitcher was wild and rattled and was missing the strike zone by a good foot) and what does Victorino do, he swings at a high fastball at his eyes… The Phils Bullpen is beginning to show signs of not holding leads as they have now given up leads in 2 of the last 3 games… Hopefully they will snap out of it in tonights contest.. But Victorino really failed miserbly at that at-bat against a shaky Pitcher, you have to put the ball into play somewhere…
Phils bullpen as a whole is fine — Kendrick is just horrible. How do you have a wild pitch, error, walk, hit batsmen and multiple hits all in one inning? The guy was just atrocious.
Victorino and Rollins had a chance to win the game in the 9th and blew it..
It should have never come down to Kendrick in the 11th/12th Innings..
I am curious to see how this Phils Line-up begins to hit as they go up against better teams,pitchers and bullpens now..
Paulman — it doesn’t matter who they face right now, they are in a slump. It happens. They do need to get out of this slump asap tho.
It’s a long season Birdo and the key is to stay away from the long droughts,the deep slumps, but with the Phils Top 4 Pitchers, they should be able to win a low-scoring games even when they are not hitting well as a team and a game last evening was a perfect example of taking advantage of a good Performance by Blanton..
The Brewers are a damn good team, it doesnt get much better than them. I dont know who these better teams you are talking about is Paulman. Padres? Giants? Rockies? Cardinals? All of these teams are in different divisions bro. The Phillies need to be a better team than the Braves Nationals Marlins and Mets, and I dont think there is any question they are. You act like these pitchers they are facing are slums. They scratched and clawed last night, and if not for the bad break you mentioned, the game may have turned into a route as they would have had 1st and 3rd with one out a runner across and Jroll at the plate with howard to follow. Also in the 9th if victorino looks at an easy pitch to pass on, the whole game is different. Their offense is fine, starting pitching superb, and a Bullpen who will get the job done. I dont see anything to worry about at all.
It takes blanton some starts to get going.. we don’t need greatness from the man anyway, he’s in a very good spot, now if he was our 3rd id have a lot to say buut he’s our 5 and there isa a lot more year left no reason to worry