Morning Report: Bullpen trouble haunts Phils
Another night, another late-inning pitching meltdown for the Phillies, right?
Another night, another late-inning pitching meltdown for the Phillies, right?
Not necessarily. Let's be honest about last night's 3-2 loss to the Pirates.
This one can't be laid exclusively at the feet of J.A. Happ, who certainly pitched well enough to win. It can't even be laid at the feet of Charlie Manuel.
This loss was partly attributable to the fact that clutch hitting has disappeared from the Phils' repertoire.
But it was mainly a hangover from the Brad Lidge-Ryan Madson calamity. Right now, Manuel's confidence in his two former late-inning stalwarts is nonexistent. On merit.
So he had to try to bleed another inning out of Happ.
Under the happy circumstances of last fall, Happ would have left after the seventh inning, having thrown about 100 pitches. (He threw 114 for the game.) Madson would have pitched a perfect eighth. Lidge might have put the leadoff batter on but would have blown away the next three and, voilà, a 2-1 Phillies victory.
But this isn't the halcyon fall of 2008.
And the bullpen emergency is being exaggerated by the evaporation of clutch hitting. (Apologies to Ryan Howard, who does chip in once in a while with a moon shot to save their behinds.)
Raul Ibanez, who is down to .281 for the season, left three men on base last night. Don't castigate the leftfielder, though - so did Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino.
Ibanez was hitting .312 when he went on the disabled list on June 17 with a strained left groin, which he still appears to favor while running. He hit .258 in July and has hit only .213 in August. He has only one home run and four RBIs this month. His average has dropped from .295 to .281 in the last 11 games.
Ibanez is a good enough hitter, so there is room for optimism that he can shake his slump.
The bullpen doesn't have as much hope.
Iverson's future. Uh-oh. The news about Allen Iverson's signing with Memphis may have been premature.
Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace, who was quoted by ESPN.com on Wednesday as confirming the team's interest, yesterday wouldn't even confirm he had talked to the Web site.
Meanwhile, the debate over whether Iverson can still play effectively goes on.
Billy King, the former 76ers general manager, is among those who think it's over for the Answer.
"Everything is about Allen, and it can't all be about Allen at this point in his career," King told the Charlotte Observer. "He's no longer that intimidating figure who can just blow by everybody. So he's got to do other things, and I'm not sure he will.
"Allen never made the people around him better, because it's always about Allen."
King also said he believes Iverson is so stuck in his early career mind-set that it's too late for him to reinvent himself at age 34.
"Iverson's personality is to say, 'I can still do this. I can take all the shots and stay out late and do everything I did in my 20s,' " King said.
