Blow Up the Bullpen

I’m no fan of Charlie Manuel when it comes to managerial skill, but GM Pat Gillick has hung him out to dry with regard to the state of the Phillies’ bullpen. The eighth inning of Monday’s Opening Day game at Shea Stadium was only the latest and most blatant implosion by the Phillies’ sagging relief corps. Two walks by Geoff Geary, who had no confidence in throwing his fastball even on three-and-oh counts, coupled with a Jimmy Rollins error and a wild pitch, turned a one-run lead into a blowout loss against the Mets. In fairness, Geary did pitch well last year, but he’s never been used as a late-inning reliever, which requires a different kind of stomach. Jon Lieber is also out of place in the bullpen; he’s a career starter who relies on sinking the ball over the span of several innings, not coming in out of the pen and throwing high-octane fastballs from the first pitch. Ryan "Mad Dog" Madson remains an enigma. He has the stuff (very good fastball and curve) to dominate, but might not have the personality or make-up preferred in a late-inning reliever. That leaves Tom "Flash" Gordon all by himself, and at the age of 39, he can’t be expected to register two-inning saves on anything more than an occasional basis.

Gillick needs to move quickly to address Philadelphia’s bullpen quagmire. Late-inning losses are not only the most discouraging kind of defeats, but they’re also the most likely to raise blood pressures throughout the City of Brotherly Love, never known for its patience when it comes to its professional sports teams. That’s just not a healthy atmosphere for a team that has never advanced to the postseason in the new millennium and seems to have more than its share of fragile psyches. A team that is expected to contend simply cannot wait on an undermanned bullpen, not in a division that has the Mets and an upgraded set of Braves. Gillick should trade Lieber for the best relief pitcher he can find, be it a Matt Guerrier (part of that deep Minnesota bullpen) or Chris Britton (currently toiling for the Yankees’ top farm team in nearby Scranton). Failing that, Gillick needs to give serious thought to signing Dustin Hermanson and/or Ron Villone off the waiver wire. Both pitchers have track records, if not particularly young bodies, on their side. Both might benefit from pitching fulltime in the National League, rather than against those pancake-stacked American League batting orders.

Throughout baseball, we often hear the cliché, "You shouldn’t make change for the sake of making change." In the case of the Phillies’ bullpen, that might not be the case any longer.