Jamie Moyer: At 49 years old, Moyer continues to defy all odds and has worked his way back into the game as a member of the Colorado Rockies’ rotation. He’s 2-3 with a 4.20 ERA in eight starts after being away from the game for more than a year. How can you not admire this man’s drive?
J.A. Happ: Once upon a time, fans didn’t want to give up Happ as part of a trade for Roy Halladay, and were also upset at losing him in the Roy Oswalt deal. It looks like the lefthander isn’t so special after all. He was a disaster last year, going 6-15 with a 5.35 ERA, and this year he’s off to a 2-3 start with a 5.72 ERA.
Brett Myers: Myers has been flourishing in his return to the closer role in 2012. He’s converted nine of his 10 save opportunities, and has only given up three runs and eight hits all season. He’ll be highly sought after at the trade deadline, when the Astros will once again be sellers. His lone loss on the season came against the Phillies earlier this week.
J.C. Romero: After receiving his release from the Phillies a year ago, Romero failed to break back into the majors after signing on with several teams, but this year he temporarily got a spot in the Cardinals bullpen. He was excellent in his first nine appearances, giving up just two runs, six hits, no walks (?!), in six innings. However, in his last appearances he got shelled for seven runs on eight hits, earning him another release.
Michael Bourn: Bourn has been what the Braves expect him to be; a player that can set the table and hit for average. The outfielder is batting .337 with eight doubles, 11 stolen bases, and 20 runs scored. He’s started every game for Atlanta this season.
Vincente Padilla: A decade ago, Padilla was considered one of the top pitchers in the Phillies’ rotation. My, how far we’ve come from those days. Padilla has struggled to stay in the majors over the last three seasons, but he’s currently a reliever for the Boston Red Sox. He’s appeared in 11 games, and is 1-0 with an ERA of 5.40.
Scott Rolen: You think Placido Polanco is done? He’s not half as cooked as Rolen. The former All-Star third baseman is hitting just .174 with two homers and 11 RBI’s in 92 at-bats for the Reds. He’s now on the disabled list.
Wilson Valdez: A lot of Philadelphia fans cried when the Phillies shipped the popular utility man to Cincinnati in a trade. Guess what? There really isn’t much of a difference between Valdez and Freddy Galvis. Valdez has played in 13 games, hitting just .187 with two RBI’s in 30 at-bats.
Bobby Abreu: Now in the twilight of his career, the former slugger struggled and was released by the Angels. He’s since signed with the Dodgers.
Raul Ibanez: Ibanez has given the Yankees what he gave the Phillies in the last two seasons; low batting average, but decent power and run production in a part time role. He’s hitting .263 with seven homers and 22 RBI’s.
Rod Barajas: This guy just won’t go away. Every year he latches on with a different team, and performs poorly until he steps up to the plate against the Phillies. He’s having a terrible year, batting just .188 with two home runs and three RBI’s for the Pirates.
Kevin Millwood: Millwood is another guy that I have hard time understanding why he continues to get major league work. He won a job in the rotation of the Seattle Mariners, and is 1-4 with a 5.04 ERA.
Kyle Lohse: Lohse is off to a great start for the Cardinals, with a 5-1 record and a 2.70 ERA.
I believe the Yankees will trade for Closer Brett Meyers who would probably do well in the Yankees environment.. Yankess lost Rivera for the Season, now have Set-Up Pitcher Robertson hurting and on the DL and have rafeal Soriano who has good stuff but hasn’t quite proven himself yet as a Yankee..
I would like to see a check-in with prospects that the Phils traded away. So frustrated to see Gio in Nationals red knowing that they traded him and Gavin Floyd for GD Freddy Garcia.
finally a phillies article, nice run right now, the roster needed something, and these call ups seem to have breathed life in the team, Myers has closer mentality but questionable stuff
Phillies are quietly playing much better ball here recently..
They are hittimg better as Mayberry and Polanco have upped their average quite a bit the last coupld of weeks … now if Rollins can start hitting up top of the order would be a huge help since Pence,Ruiz have been hot most of the Season
If they can get consistent Bullpen appearance by the 7th/8th Inning Pitchers they could just hang around until they get some players back or make a trade to improve the power capability of their line-up.. The Phils are beating teams they shoud beat like the Padres,Astros adn Cubs, for the next 23 Game Stretch will go a long way in determing who good this Team can be
They play Red Sox & Nationals at home, then play at St Lous Cardinals for 4 games and finish the road trip with 3 game at the Mets
Then they come home for 7 games verus the Marlins and Dodgers (4 game series) and then travel to Baltimore for 3 game and all this by June 10th with 1 off day scheduled… So by June 10, if the Phils can get on a run and go like 15-8 in these 23 games , they should be in great shape.. These are all quality teams who happen to be playing pretty good ball right now so the Phils need to be playing good baseball ..
Gonna be tough to get Freddy Galvis out of the lineup. His defense is great and his quietly having a nice year for a rookie at the plate.. Very impressed. He keeps getting better and better at the plate. Juan Samuel was asked if he could play 3rd, he said Freddy can pick um at any spot in the infield. When Utley comes back Freddy should be playing 3 days a week at SS, 3rd and 2nd. No need to wear down Utley, Rollins or Polanco.
Freddy Galvis not only is superior to Dom Brown in the field but with his 11 doubles and 235 avg he also is better at the plate. Someone really dropped the ball on this Dom Brown eval.
Phils should packaged D Brown last year while his Upside Value was still considered pretty good, now the cat is out of the bag about his limited talents,upside and potential to be an everyday MLB player.. It’s just not there..
‘Correction.. .Should say “should have packaged D Brown last year” … Carry on…
bugs, that’s a top 3, all time bad trade there! EESH!! That still gives me the bubble guts & nausea.
dagg, I agree 100% with everything you said. Thus another of the long list of reasons, that the Rollins re-signing, was a brutal mistake. I said it many times already, AMARO NEEDS TO BE FIRED!!! ASAP!!!!
BTW, other than Bourn & maybe Lohse, that is some list of turds, right there! WOW, what septic swimmers!!! LOL!!!