After a long battle this spring between 47-year old Jamie Moyer and the much younger Kyle Kendrick, the winner has been declared in the race for the Phillies’ fifth starting-rotation spot.
And the winner is?  Jamie Moyer.  You cheated and read the headline!  He was named the starter Tuesday after a 5-2 loss to the Houston Astros.
Everyone continues to count out the old man and the old man continue to prove everyone wrong.  Moyer pitched extremely well this spring, even going 6 2/3 against the New York Yankees on Friday and giving up just one hit.  That brings his spring ERA to 0.77 in 11 2/3 Grapefruit League innings.
Kendrick pitched well, but he had to be a lot better than Moyer to get that final spot.¬† He’ll be moved to the bullpen, but as baseball seasons go, surely someone will get hurt for a period of time and Kendrick will be needed as a starter.
“I’ve always liked Kendrick, and I’ve seen a lot of improvement in his pitching since last year,” Charlie Manuel said. “He had a real good spring, and I’m sure he’s going to get to pitch quite a bit this year.”
If Kendrick can help in the bullpen, that would be phenomenal.¬† I’m still not sold on the bullpen with Lidge recovering from an injury and the loss of Chan Ho Park.¬† It could just be that Kendrick is more important to this team in the bullpen than as a starter.¬† I’ll still take that.
