There are a lot of people out there complaining about the Phillies pitching staff. IT HAS BEEN ONE GAME! I know it’s frustrating to fight back to tie the game up, only to give up 5 runs in the 9th inning, but people are being awfully quick to say that the season is already over, and that our bullpen and rotation are terrible. Well I did some looking, and there aren’t any free agent pitchers out there who would help any, and also, the Phillies aren’t really in a position to trade right now. I doubt any moves will be made until June barring a release or trade of Wes Helms once Brad Lidge returns.
Akinori Otsuka may look like a good pick up by the #’s, but he missed the 2nd half of last season with arm injuries.
Here is the list of free agent pitchers:
Relief Pitchers:
(Name, Handedness, Age, 2007 ERA, 2007 IP)
Antonio Alfonseca: R, 35, 5.44 ERA, 49.2 IP
Jose Mesa: R, 41, 7.11 ERA, 50.2 IP
Akinori Otsuka: R, 36, 2.51 ERA, 32.1 IP
Brad Salmon: R, 28, 4.13 ERA, 24 IP
Aaron Sele: R, 37, 5.37 ERA, 53.2 IP
Bob Wickman: R, 39, 3.58 ERA, 50.1 IP
Starting Pitchers:
(Name, R/L, Age, 2007 Record, 2007 ERA, # games 2007)
Roger Clemens: R, 45, 6-6, 4.18 ERA, 18 games
Freddy Garcia: R, 31, 1-5, 5.9 ERA, 11 games
Rodrigo Lopez: R, 32, 5-4, 4.42 ERA, 14 games
Eric Milton: L, 32, 0-4, 5.17 ERA, 6 games
Russ Ortiz: R, 33, 2-3, 5.51 ERA, 12 games
Justing Thompson: R, 34, 1-1, 3.38 ERA, 2 games
Jeff Weaver: R, 31, 7-13, 6.2 ERA, 27 games
David Wells: L, 44, 9-9, 5.43 ERA, 29 games
My advice to all the anxious fans is to wait it out. Last year, the Phillies had a terrible April and they turned it on in the following months and ended up coming out on top on the NL East. The offense appears to be there, as shown by J-Roll, and Utley going deep to add to the 6 runs scored yesterday. 6 runs should usually put you in line for a win, it just didn’t work that way yesterday. Brad Lidge will return Saturday, and hopefully having him at the anchor of the bullpen will make everyone else relax and find their roles.
