Now that AL whipped
Phils, let’s talk Myers

In the Batter's Box
By Matt Godfrey

Just 11 more days till the all-star break.
Eleven more days to weather this storm until the whole league, minus those taking part in baseball’s all-star festivities, gets a week’s vacation from the daily grind of the game.
It’ll be a welcome respite for the Phillies, who have lost their last six series (not including this Atlanta Braves series, which wraps up tonight).
The Phils just finished getting their heads handed to them by the American League, as did most of the National League, during interleague play. The Phils lost all four series they played against American League teams.
The back end of the interleague stretch saw the Phillies offense start to kick it in gear again, with 16 runs scored during the Texas Rangers series.
The pitching, however, is a different story.
And tonight’s game could give us a better idea of what the Phillies are planning to do about their struggling "ace."
If the Phillies stick with their pitching rotation, then Brett Myers should pitch the series finale against the Braves tonight.
The key word in that sentence is "should".
Myers made it through just two innings of work in his last start, the shortest of his career. Even worse, he pitched to five batters in the third inning and got none of them out.
He gave up five runs in that two-plus-innings stretch, in what turned out to be an 8-7 loss for the Phillies.
Myers also has not won a game since May.
When asked by reporters about his struggling starter, manager Charlie Manuel was non-committal about the team’s plans.
The reason I am saying that tonight’s game could give us a hint to Myers’ future is that he may not be on the mound for his scheduled start.
With Monday’s off day, the Phillies could go a few ways tonight if they should decide not to put Myers on the mound. (Keep in mind that the decision already may have been made, since this column was written for deadline reasons before the start of the Phils’ series with the Braves.)
One way the Phillies could go is to just throw their real ace, Cole Hamels, tonight. This works out for the Phils and Hamels because he would be on his regular pitching schedule and the team wouldn’t have to make any changes.
Another way they could go is to patch together a game from the relief corps. I am not a big fan of this, but they could have Chad Durbin start the game — which he has done before — and throw three or four innings before giving way to his bullpen brethren.
That possibility is not the wisest move in my mind, because you’re asking one of the top bullpens in baseball to assume a different role. Too much could go wrong here.
The third option is to bring up lefthander J.A. Happ from Triple-A to make a spot start in Myers’ place. Happ came up last season in a similar situation but did not fare too well.
His numbers this season in Triple-A, however, make him the most likely candidate if the Phils were to go this route.
Either way they go brings up a strong argument that Myers could be done in the starting rotation, which I think would be a good thing.
For whatever reason, he has not been able to return to form after being used as a closer last year. Whether that’s because of his mindset, his work ethic or his desire to be a closer remains to be seen.
Right now he is a liability for the Phillies as a starter; they need someone who can complement the work that Hamels, Jamie Moyer, Kyle Kendrick and Adam Eaton are doing.
His move to the bullpen most likely would bump Tom Gordon, formerly known as "Flash," out of the setup role and give the Phillies an even stronger back end, should Myers find last season’s confidence out there.
If Happ comes up and throws well, he may get a second start.
Another possibility to watch is Kris Benson.
He made a start on Sunday, which, on paper, does not seem very intriguing, but Benson was quoted as saying he’s very pleased with his progress. He makes another start tomorrow and could be a viable option after the all-star break.
Just 11 more days, though . . . hopefully the Phillies can get their heads together. ••