Phils starting pitching really heating up
by Scott Butler 6/6/09
Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. has been looking to upgrade the starting pitching all season long. And rightfully so. Until recently, the Phillies had one of the worst starting staff ERA's in the league, were not going deep into games, and were not improving. Then came the news that Brett Myers needed possibly season ending hip surgery.
Who would have thought that a week later we would be talking about how great the starting pitching has been?
The Phils starting staff still ranks second to last in the National League with an ERA of 5.34 and they still are a mile away from the next best ERA of 4.83.
But things are looking up. During the last 21 games in which the Phillies are 16-5, the starters are 13-3 with a 4.19 ERA and only 32 walks in 126 2/3 innings.
In the last 14 games they have a 9-2 record with a 3.13 ERA and 13 walks in 92 innings.
Even better, in the past 7 games they have a 1.50 ERA with 4 walks in 42 innings.
Part of the reason for this recent success is that Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer, and Joe Blanton are pitching as we expected they would. Hamels has returned to his ace form and Jamie Moyer is keeping the team in games. Joe Blanton has had a few tremendous starts. It's hard to tell if it is just a hot streak or if he is back on track, but it seems unlikely that he will revert to his terrible starts earlier this season.
As for the last two spots, J.A. Happ has been excellent in all three of his starts. I really do believe that he is a pitcher we can count on for the rest of the season. He is sure to decline a little as teams get to know him better, but I have no worries about Happ.
Bastardo...who knows? We are just gonna have to wait and see on that one.
The Phillies have the second worst starting staff in the league and are 11 games above .500 and 3 games up in the NL East. Just imagine what can happen if we start to pitch?!
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