Charlie Manuel still sticking with Brad Lidge as closer
While team doctors have recommended that injured pitcher Brad Lidge rest for three-to-six weeks due to a strained right rotator cuff, Phillies manager announced Wednesday that he will stick with the righthander as his closer to start the season.
“Lidge is still our closer,” Manuel said. “I’ve always looked at him as our closer. A significant injury ain’t gonna change that.”
Manuel would later say that if Lidge starts to struggle as the closer that he would consider using either Jose Contreras or Ryan Madson to help prop Lidge up on the mound while he tries to pitch.
Inexperience proves costly as Halladay allows walk in debut
The Phillies offense was able to bail Roy Halladay out of a fifth inning walk as the staff ace’s lack of experience caught up to him in his postseason debut.
Halladay looked visibly shaken as he struggled with his command against Reds outfielder Jay Bruce, but superb defense and several clutch hits propelled the Phillies to a 4-0 win in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.
“Roy’s a professional and will be just fine for us,” manager Charlie Manuel said when asked if he was concerned about Halladay. “I just told him to try and put this outing behind him and forget about the walk. No one expected him to be perfect out there.”
Manuel added that with the experience Halladay gained in his first start, he should have the confidence he needs to “learn from his mistake and pitch better in his next start.”
Werth: Hitting not affecting focus of becoming a free agent
Jayson Werth strongly disagreed with Phillies manager Charlie Manuel that his hitting is starting to affect his main focus of becoming a free agent after the season.
“I think it’s hard not to get distracted by having to go up there and hit every night,” Manuel said when asked if Werth’s hitting could be a distraction from thinking about all the money he’s going to make as a free agent. “He’s been in the zone lately, completely focused on signing a long-term deal this winter. But sometimes his mind just wanders to working the count or how many outs there are.”
Werth spoke Thursday about Manuel’s comments and reiterated that his focus is on hitting the market and nothing else.
“I bust my hump out there every day trying to imagine what it would be like to own a small island with the money I’m going to make,” Werth said angrily. “Thinking about who has the ball is the last thing on my mind, I can promise you that.”
Phillies offense continues to struggle against pitching
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda carried a no-hitter into the 8th inning against Philadelphia as the Phillies offense continued its lengthy struggle against pitching Monday night.
“We’ll be fine,” Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins said of the team’s offensive drought. “We just need to improve in situations against pitchers that throw pitches. We’re not concerned though.”
Manager Charlie Manuel said Tuesday that while he does not plan on benching any players if the drought continues, he will continue to pinch hit for rookie Domonic Brown “in any future situations against pitching.”
Manuel moves red-hot Ruiz to 12th in batting order
Citing a need for a clutch bat in the bottom fourth of the batting order, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel decided to move the red-hot Carlos Ruiz to 12th in his lineup for Tuesday’s game against the Astros.
“He’s been one of our best hitters this year,” said Manuel of Ruiz, who is third on the team in batting average (.297) and second in on-base percentage (.389) and bats in front of the pitcher on most nights. “We’re just lucky to have such a great, clutch hitter at the very bottom of our lineup.”
When informed by the home plate umpire that he could not bat Ruiz 12th in the lineup, Manuel stated he was “totally fine with 11th, then.”
Danys Baez warming up after apparent prank call to bullpen
Phillies reliever Danys Baez has begun to loosen as a result of what appears to be a prank call to the bullpen made by manager Charlie Manuel in the top of the seventh inning.
“Get Baez ready,” Manuel reportedly joked to head coach Mick Billmeyer. “We need him in the game, ASAP.”
According to dugout sources, Manuel is ready to continue the charade by bringing Baez into the game to pitch to several batters while he makes a second prank call to have David Herndon get loose.
Several Phillies players call out sick of hitting
The Phillies announced that they will likely be without most of their lineup for tonight’s game against the Cardinals after at least 11 players called out sick of hitting this morning.
“You’re only supposed to get like five sick of hitting days a year but Jimmy’s gotta be pushing 50 by now,” said manager Charlie Manuel. ” I know they’re genuinely sick of hitting, but there are plenty of people out there sick of watching them hit and yet they still watch. These guys are gonna have to suck it up and start showing up to work again.”
Sources close to the Phillies are also expecting reliever Danys Baez to call out sick of pitching again any minute now.
Charlie Manuel hikes pants all the way up
In what might be the worst case of ‘old guy waist’ in recent memory, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel decided to hike his pants all the way up on Monday.
“If the kids want to wear their trousers around their ankles, that’s up to them,” said Manuel. “But the proper way to wear uniform bottoms is at the waist, just below the chin.”
Manuel also announced plans to start wearing house slippers and falling asleep during games.
Oldest man in baseball pitches like oldest man in baseball
Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer, who is baseball’s oldest player at 47, made headlines on Friday for actually pitching like you’d expect a 47-year-old man to pitch against a major league team.
Moyer allowed nine runs while recording only three outs against the Red Sox after pitching like a man in his prime in his previous six starts (2.76 ERA over 42.1 innings).
“He’s been pretty good for us lately and you kind of forget about his age for a minute there,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said of Moyer. “But then he gives up nine runs and you’re like ‘oh yeah, why is he still playing?’”
While the Phillies are hoping that Moyer regains his 45-year-old form, the team is also concerned with Joe Blanton, who has pitched like a 86-year-old with glaucoma and a touch of the gout.
Manuel holds another meeting to figure out where the remote is
Just days after he held a closed-door meeting with his team to discuss their current hitting woes, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel held a second meeting on Friday to figure out what kind of person just walks off with the remote.
According to members of the team, Manuel repeatedly talked about “how ridiculous this is” for about 30 minutes and then reminded everyone for an additional 20 minutes that “it’s one of those TVs without any buttons, so it’s completely useless without the remote.”
Manuel met with GM Ruben Amaro on Saturday to discuss possible roster changes as a result of the lost remote. Though no moves have been made yet, Manuel hinted that Greg Dobbs’ job may be in jeopardy, but added that “it has nothing to do with the fact that he’s one of baseball’s worst players right now. I just think he’s the one that lost the damn remote.”