The Phillies lost against the Astros last night by a score of 3-5 behind the obviously tired arm of Cliff Lee. 
Lee has pitched a career high 231 2/3 innings this year and is showing signs of fatigue.  Yesterday, he allowed 3 runs on 7 hits and a walk in 5 2/3 innings and was all over the strike zone, seemingly unable to command his fastball.  In fact, Lee has allowed 27 runs in his last 7 games after allowing only 3 runs in his first 5 games with the Phillies.  This is not good news for the guy who is likely to be our #1 pitcher in the playoffs. 

While Lee seems to be healthy though, other are not.  JC Romero experienced soreness in his previously injured forearm after only 1 game back.  Romero will seek a second opinion this week, but it does not look good for our #1 lefty in the pen.

Jamie Moyer, who has been wonderful in middle/long relief since being sent to the pen, is out for the year and will have surgery on 2 groin and 1 one abdomen muscles that he tore in the game on 9/29.  Moyer will be sorely missed in October.

Another long reliever who did a great job in the pen is Chan Ho Park.  Park is also out with an injury.  He attempted to pitch in an Instructional League game in Clearwater a few days back and felt a pull in the injured hamstring which means, his recovery time is still uncertain.

Add to that, Scott Eyre is pitching through a bone chip in his elbow.  He was effective in the clinching game on Wednesday, but how long can he go with that sort of pain?  That leaves the pen with only 1 lefty who is healthy and that is the rookie, Sergio Escalona. 

That means it is more and more likely that JA Happ will be moved to the bullpen for the post-season to add a lefty arm.  And that is really unfortunate, especially since he and Joe Blanton are the only 2 starters who have been consistent all year.  In fact, they are the only 2 starters who have recorded wins since 9/21/09 – the last 11 games.

Brett Myers is back, but he is rusty and will need some work to be ready for the post-season.  The Phillies need to get their pitching staff back on track and healthy if they are to go far in the playoffs.  We will see how it plays out over the last 3 regular season games; the Marlins are up…game time tonight is 7:05pm.

Photo by Jenn

 

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