Bleacher Report - Articles by Patrick Gordon

Kendrick Falters Against Braves, Happ & Park Emerge As Favorites for Final Spot

Patrick Gordon — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:09:26 -0400

Kyle Kendrick’s hope of securing the fifth spot in the Phillies’ rotation took a significant hit on Wednesday following his third disastrous outing of the spring.

The 24-year-old right-hander was pounded for eight runs and 10 hits in three-plus innings in a 12-10 loss to Atlanta in a Grapefruit League game at Bright House Field.

Kendrick is 1-1 with a 14.29 ERA in two Grapefruit League starts. He also allowed four runs in two-and-two-thirds innings last Thursday in an exhibition against Team USA.

Kendrick is battling prospects J.A. Happ and Carlos Carrasco, and veteran Chan Ho Park for the final spot in the Phillies’ rotation.

“He’s probably got three more whacks at it,” pitching coach Rich Dubee said. "He's got to get people off his sinker. That's what got him here, but he's got to start getting outs with his secondary pitches.”

Kendrick began toying with a change-up to complement his sinker last season, but he wasn’t able to consistently throw the pitch for a strike. He lost his spot in the rotation to Happ in July and finished 11-9 with a 5.49 earned run average.

“It's easier to get up here than it is to get up here and stay up here,” Dubee said. “To stay up here, you've got to be able to make adjustments and change your game a little bit. Not that you're ever going to go away from your strength—that's what gets you here—but at the same time, you need to be able to adjust when people adjust to you."

The right-handed Park, who has pitched in 378 major-league games, and the left-handed Happ, who has nine games of big-league experience, have emerged as front-runners for the final spot in the rotation.

Happ has allowed two runs and struck out eight in eight Grapefruit League innings and Dubee has been impressed with the command of his fastball.

"Very deceptive," Dubee said. "He is hard to pick up...he has polished himself up a great deal these past few years."

Park declined an invitation to pitch for Korea in the World Baseball Classic so he could focus solely on making the Phillies’ rotation. His 2.57 earned run average in two spring appearances has impressed Dubee and manager Charlie Manuel.

“He’s showing me how much he wants it,” Manuel said.

Prospect Carlos Carrasco is also in the race but chances are slim that the 22-year-old Venezuelan will break camp with the club. He’s posted a 7.71 earned run average in three appearances this spring.

Last year was Carrasco’s second straight year at Double-A Reading, where he posted a 4.32 ERA before moving up to Triple-A Lehigh Valley down the stretch where he impressed with a 1.72 ERA in six starts.

As for Kendrick, he’ll likely be relegated to the bullpen if he falls short in his bid for a rotation spot.

“They just hit my mistakes," Kendrick said after Wednesday’s start. "I threw some good ( change-ups), I threw some bad ones. No excuses, nothing. I made mistakes and they hit them. What are you going to do?"

(Patrick Gordon is a freelance baseball writer and managing editor of the Philadelphia Baseball Review. For more stories involving Philadelphia baseball visit www.philadelphiabaseballreview.com)

Despite Scare, Several Phillies Star In World Baseball Classic

Patrick Gordon — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:56:38 -0400

General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. had a scare on Saturday when catcher Carlos Ruiz suffered a sprained neck in Panama’s 7-0 loss to Puerto Rico in a first round game of the World Baseball Classic in San Juan.

Ruiz was involved in a contact play at home early in the contest, and later flipped off his mask while chasing a pop-up and felt a pinch in his neck. He left the game after the sixth inning as a precaution and was later evaluated by Panama's trainer, who diagnosed the sprain as minor.

Ruiz was back in Panama’s lineup on Sunday for what turned out to be the nation’s final game of the tournament, a 9-0 loss to the Dominican Republic. He ended the weekend with a pair of singles in five at-bats.

"I don't want any of our players to get hurt," manager Charlie Manuel said. "Do I worry about it? There's nothing I can do about it. They have a choice whether they can go play and Major League Baseball definitely wants them to go play, so actually it can kind of be a tough spot to be in. But at the same time, I don't know what we do about it."

Counting Ruiz, the Phillies have ten players participating in the World Baseball Classic.

The most successful in the tournament thus far have been Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino. The duo has hit a combined .500 (5-for-10) for the United States in victories over both Canada and Venezuela.

Venezuelan pitching prospect Yoel Hernandez allowed three earned runs on a pair of hits and recorded just one out in Sunday loss to the United States.

Reliever J.C. Romero pitched an inning-plus and notched a win on Monday for Puerto Rico.

Elsewhere, Australian prospect Brad Harman scored four runs and collected three hits in the Aussies surprise win over Mexico on Monday.

Australian hurlers Drew Naylor and Scott Mitchinson and catcher Joel Naughton have yet to make an appearance in the tournament.

Matt Stairs finished the tournament hitless in six at-bats for Team Canada.

Chase Utley to Undergo Hip Surgery; Likely to Miss Opening Day

Patrick Gordon — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:20:21 -0500

Months of speculation about Chase Utley’s health came to an end on Thursday. The Phillies announced that the second baseman will need surgery on his right hip that could keep him sidelined until the first week of June.

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said in a conference call that the organization expects Utley to be "fairly close to ready, if not ready, by Opening Day.”

Amaro added that little can be projected until after the surgery, which is scheduled for next week.

Since the World Series ended, Utley has undergone several diagnostic tests on his hip. Phillies team physician Michael Ciccotti, of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital’s Rothman Institute, and Dr. Bryan Kelly, of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, recommended surgery.

The surgery will repair any bone or cartilage damage Utley may have. A full recovery may take six months, but that will depend on the extent of the damage. Regardless, Utley should be able to resume baseball activities in three to four months.

Utley was bothered by the hip for much of last season but never disclosed specifics or spoke to reporters about it. He finished the season with a .292 average and led all second basemen with 33 home runs and 104 RBIs. Of those 33 home runs, he hit just 15 from June onward and struggled through the postseason where he hit just .220 with a pair of home runs.

"I don't know if the injury itself had much to do with his second-half problems," Amaro said. "Could it have weighed on him mentally? Possibly. But there are a lot of factors here."

Phillies trainer Scott Sheridan said Thursday that the club was able to manage Utley’s discomfort during the regular season. He added that Utley reported symptoms of a hip problem as early as spring training, and that it became progressively worse as the year went on.

"He's a team player and a very tough guy, no question," Amaro said. "But the reality is, he's not a dummy. He's going to make the decision that's most appropriate for the club. If he was unable to perform, he would not have gone on the field."

As for replacing Utley, Amaro said the surgery will not impact their offseason plans. Possible interim replacements include utility man Eric Bruntlett and highly regarded shortstop prospect Jason Donald, who spent time at second and third in the Arizona Fall League.

"You don't necessarily replace an Utley," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "At the same time, our feeling is he's going to be fairly close to ready, if not ready, by Opening Day. A lot depends on how the surgery goes, how the rehab goes. This isn't an exact science, but we fully expect to have Chase Utley with us for the bulk of the season."

(Patrick Gordon is a freelance sports writer and Managing Editor of the Philadelphia Baseball Review which can be found at www.PhiladelphiaBaseballReview.com)

Ruben Amaro to be Announced as Phillies' General Manager

Patrick Gordon — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:10:12 -0500

The Phillies will announce Monday that assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. has been promoted to replace departing GM Pat Gillick, a source from the organization confirmed Sunday.

As the organization’s assistant general manager, Amaro had long been rumored to succeed Gillick, who was hired three years ago and had openly stated his intention to retire from baseball following this season.

A Philadelphia native and graduate of William Penn Charter High School, Amaro served as a batboy for the Phillies from 1980-83, and played for the organization from 1992-93 and 1996-98. He was drafted by the California Angels in the 11th round of the 1987 amateur draft and played for the Cleveland Indians and Phillies during an eight-year pro career.

A graduate of Stanford, Amaro joined the Phillies’ front office following his retirement after the 1998 season. He introduced closer Brad Lidge to the media last offseason and has been involved in numerous aspects of baseball operations in recent years. He interviewed unsuccessfully for GM jobs with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston and Baltimore.

Amaro, 43, beat out another internal candidate in Mike Arbuckle for the GM position.

Arbuckle, the team’s assistant general manager of scouting and player development, received word of the Phillies’ decision to promote Amaro in an hour-long meeting on Saturday with team president David Montgomery, a team source said Sunday. He resigned after the conversation ending a 15-year stint with the club.

Arbuckle, 58, deserves much of the credit for the organization drafting Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, Brett Myers, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Madson, and Chase Utley. He also played a role in the organization signing Carlos Ruiz and will likely take other front office staff with him to his next destination, rumored to possibly be Kansas City.

The Phillies won their first World Series title sine 1980 last Wednesday, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays in five games. Gillick, 71, announced in February that he planned to retire to spend more time with his family.

Prior to coming to Philadelphia, he led the Toronto Blue Jays to a pair of World Series titles and the Baltimore Orioles to two ALCS appearances. In three seasons with Philadelphia, the club went 267-219 and won two NL East titles.

(Patrick Gordon is a freelance writer and managing editor of the Philadelphia Baseball Review).

A Baseball Legend Passes: Mickey Vernon Remembered

Patrick Gordon — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:53:22 -0400

In an age where money and social status drive popularity, Mickey Vernon would not have been considered your typical athlete.

Widely recognized as one of the top ballplayers of the 1940s, the Delaware County native mixed charm and good nature with outstanding talent and was recently named one of 10 finalists being considered for induction into the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Veterans Committee in December.

If selected, the honor will have to be awarded posthumously, though, as the 90-year-old Vernon, who finished his 20-year big-league career with a .286 lifetime average, passed away last week at Riddle Memorial Hospital in Delaware County after suffering a stroke.

“What I think I’ll remember most about Mickey is what a quality person he was,” said Jim Vankoski, chairman of the Delaware County Athletes Hall of Fame. “He was a role model, a true gentleman, someone you can embrace. His baseball accomplishments are really secondary against what Mickey was as a person.”

Vernon began his playing career in 1939 and spent nearly 14 of his 20 seasons with the Washington Senators as a first baseman. He also played with the Red Sox, Indians, Braves and Pirates. He was recognized as an All-Star seven times and won a pair of American League batting titles in 1946 (.353) and 1953 (.337).

Vernon finished his career with 172 home runs and 1,311 RBI in 2,408 major-league games. He missed the 1944 and 1945 seasons because of military service with the Navy in the South Pacific during World War II.

Though Vernon never appeared in a postseason game, he did work as a first-base coach and played in nine regular season games in 1960 for the Pirates, who went on to defeat the Yankees in the World Series.

“He was this county’s role model, an example of how someone should act,” Vankoski said. “If you wanted to know how to do something, all you had to do was ask yourself how would Mickey have done it.”

Vernon returned to Washington in 1961 and managed the Senators for two-plus seasons and amassed a managerial record of 135-227. After his stint with the Senators, Vernon went on to coach and scout with several organizations at varying levels before retiring from the game as a scout with the Yankees following the 1988 season.

Born in Marcus Hook, Vernon attended Villanova in 1937, but dropped out during his first year after he was recruited by the St. Louis Browns. He resided in Media.

"Being selected for the Hall of Fame would be awesome. But it wouldn't be a dream come true, because the only thing I ever dreamt was to become a major leaguer,” Vernon said in an interview with the Delco Times in 1994. “The Hall of Fame would be icing on the cake.''

(Patrick Gordon is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia and is managing editor of the Philadelphia Baseball Review. Contact him at pgordon@philadelphiabaseballreview.com)

American League Wins: Francona Can Now Exhale Following All-Star Game Drama

Patrick Gordon — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 03:14:58 -0400

Putting aside the traditional pomp and circumstance of the mid-summer classic, Terry Francona found himself in the unenviable position of having to manage the American League pitching staff through a 15 inning marathon which lasted four hours and 54 minutes.

“You know, you wait a lot of your life to do something like this," Francona said. "And in the last two hours, it wasn't a whole lot of fun. I was very nervous. I actually was more nervous before the game than I ever thought I would be. You know, but an excitable, you know, nervousness. It was fun to be part of something so special. And then later on, [I] started to have panic set in."

Tampa Bay starter Scott Kazmir, having thrown 104 pitches on Sunday, was an absolute last resort for Francona in the 15th but Baltimore closer George Sherrill had already pitched two-and-a-third innings, surpassing his longest outing of the of the season.

“I hadn’t planned on bringing him in but nobody was left to use,” Francona said of his decision to call on Kazmir.

Kazmir kept the National League from scoring in the top of the 15^th and Michael Young hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning to give the American League a 4-3 victory over the National League in the 79^th All-Star Game on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.

Francona, and presumably the entire Tampa Bay organization, breathed a collective sigh of relief when Young connected for the sacrifice, scoring Justin Morneau from third.

"I mean, we got to the point where [Tigers manager] Jimmy Leyland saw Kazmir, came down to the dugout just to check, and I asked him if he could pitch," Francona said. "It wasn't a real fun situation. I mean, that's just it was you try so hard to win and get everybody in. I thought we excelled at that, because we used everybody. We did a great job of using everybody."

Following the infamous 2002 All-Star Game which will forever be remembered for ending in a tie, Commissioner Bud Selig vowed to make future All-Star Games mean something by awarding home-field advantage during the World Series to whichever league wins the mid-summer classic.

Even with the bullpens emptied, Francona and National League manager Clint Hurdle knew the game couldn’t end in a tie.

“We can sit here and think of the what ifs, but the what ifs didn’t matter,” Selig said after the game. “Everybody knew the ground rules. Everyone went in knowing and we’ve given them everything they’ve asked for. We’re up to 32 players. And, look, it all worked, and in the end we didn’t have to resort to [anything]. There’s no sense in playing a lot of what ifs, because everybody understood the ground rules. We were playing the game to its completion.”

Kazmir’s teammate Evan Longoria and eventual All-Star Game MVP J.D. Drew volunteered to take the mound if necessary.

“Drew might have been a little more of an MVP if we went a couple more innings,” Francona said. “He might have pitched. He’s been begging me a long time to pitch, and we almost got close.”

“I’ve given him a hard time for the couple years that I played for him,” confessed Drew. “If he ever runs out of pitchers, just give me a holler out here. I would have thrown some stuff up there. I got a little sneaky stuff here and there. I don’t know if I would have got anybody out, but …”

In the 15^th, Morneau hit a bloop single off Brad Lidge and Dioner Navarro followed with another base hit, leaving runners at first and second. A walk to Drew loaded the bases and Young popped a sacrifice fly to right field to score Morneau for the victory.

“If I had popped up to second, Morneau would have probably tried to score,” Young said. “I knew he was going to go but I was just hoping it was deep enough.”

If the American League’s offense had sputtered in the 15^th and failed to score the winning run no one is sure as to what would have happened.

“I’m not going to speak about what ifs because they make no sense but a tie will not happen again,” Selig said. “We’ve added players to the roster. We’ve done things. There have been a lot of questions about all that, but I really believe that the things that we did helped. I mean, if we hadn’t done them, tonight there’s no question there would have been a problem. But we did. And, look, it worked out.

“We were going to play the game to the end. We were playing to the end.”

(Patrick Gordon is a freelance editor / sportswriter based in Philadelphia. He currently manages the Philadelphia Baseball Review.)