BLOG: Pitching Dominating Headlines
By: Bill Campbell
The three home runs in one game by the Mets' Carlos Beltran and Toronto's Jose Bautista did much to electrify the offensive part of baseball, which has been in a springtime slumber.
Most of the headlines have been about pitching. Quality starts are everywhere. And while the Phillies' Roy Halladay looks like he can win every time he takes the mound, he cannot do that without some run support. Skillful pitchers like Halladay, Lee and Hamels look somewhat flat losing those low-scoring games. So the weekend power in both leagues was most welcome.
Beltran is a real kick for the Mets. He is a switch-hitter and his three homers in that one game the other night in Colorado went to left, dead center and right. Baseball teams have already recorded almost 80 major league shutouts in this young season and, if that pace continues, a new record will be set.
Nolan Ryan, now the president of the Texas Rangers, knows a bit about pitching in low scoring games. As a pitcher, he threw seven no-hitters during his glittering career and he thinks that ball clubs are just paying more attention to pitching these days.
"Every team is stocking up their farm systems with strong arm guys and I am not surprised," says Ryan.
The lords of baseball have to be a bit concerned because shutouts and low scoring mean less action on the field. Fewer runs mean fewer fans, although that is not the case at Citizens Bank Park.
But history tells us that the rules of the game have been changed in the past to produce more action not once, but twice. They lowered the pitcher's mound from 15 to 10 inches and they introduced the designated hitter – at least in the American League. When you really think about it, baseball has been concerned about scoring runs as long ago as 1919 when they came up with the livelier ball following the Black Sox scandal. Solid pitching is fine. But too much of it can get a bit dull at times.
This past weekend Halladay and Cliff Lee of the Phillies' talented staff looked just a little bit ordinary while working. The Phillies continue to lead the league, but are more than ready to welcome Chase Utley back. Pitching may indeed be where the game begins, but I think Charlie Manuel is ready for a bit more action.
A few words about a couple of third basemen. Scott Rolen came off the disabled list over the weekend to help the Cincinnati Reds sweep the St. Louis Cardinals. I well remember the first time I ever saw Scott Rolen. He was in a Phillies uniform and playing well. And I thought I was seeing the beginning of a Hall of Fame career. But he didn't like it here. He and management quarreled and were divorced. He was traded to St. Louis. Then came a game in May 2005 and a physical collision with a Dodger first baseman -- and a broken shoulder for Rolen. He has never been the same player. He had never visited the disabled list until that collision, but he has been on it five times since. His left shoulder has plagued him both at bat and in the field and probably cost him a superstar career. All it takes is one jarring injury for any athlete in any sport.
The other third baseman is also a former Phil of more recent memory than Rolen. In fact, he has a World Series ring, having driven in a run in the World Series of 2008 which allowed the Phillies to win. His name is Pedro Feliz who is back in the Philadelphia area -- but not with the Phillies.
After 11 big league seasons during which he hit .250, with 140 homers and made over 1,000 hits, he is now with the Independent Camden River Sharks, hoping some big league team will give him a call. He finished last season hitting .218 with the Cardinals and the Houston Astros, was picked up by the Kansas City Royals, but was released after hitting .167 in 24 spring training games.
Feliz is now 36-years-old and looking for a job after making millions in his career in the majors over the years. He might make $2,500 a month in Camden. But he just loves to play the game and his agent wanted to find a place for him that would be comfortable. He always liked it in Philadelphia and Camden is close by.
Speaking of good pitching, it would have been fun, as well as educational in a baseball sense, to eavesdrop on conversations over the weekend between Phillies GM Ruben Amaro and Manager Charlie Manuel.
The name of Vance Worley had to figure heavily in their chats. The 23-year-old right-hander has started two games for the Phillies, pitched in long relief and even as a set-up man. He has done everything they've asked him to do. His ERA is 1.13. But they're sending him back to Triple A.
The GM says he's a big league pitcher, but at the moment they need him in the minor leagues.
Amaro described the move as the Phillies putting the best interests of the organization ahead of the player's best interests. He said he explained the situation to Worley, "Called it a tough situation for him but sometimes a team has to be selfish."
Worley will be stretched out as a starting pitcher for now but he will be back. He has that kind of stuff.
