Skip to main content

Blanton Speaks to the World


After Joe Blanton's rehab appearance with the Phillies single A club, the Lakewood BlueClaws, on Tuesday evening, he spoke to the media. Here's a run down of some things the injured pitcher had to say...


On the outing (2 innings, 2 strike outs, 13 pitches, 11 for strikes)...

I went out, good long toss, good bullpen. No pain with either one. If I had normal 5 days rest I probably would have thrown more pitches. I threw a lot in the bullpen and had a good long toss, so I'll just take that into my next rehab start.


On if he wanted to pitch another inning, as he undercut his expected pitch limit of 30 by shutting down the Hagerstown team on 13 pitches over 2 innings...

That was the plan, to go that far. I think I have an outing in a couple days, so...


On if he feels like he is ahead of schedule for a return to the big league club...

I think (the estimate for down time) was 3-6 weeks and I think the whole time we were shooting for the 3. Be optimistic....I've never been hurt before, so I didn't really know how to take it one way or the other, so that's what we were shooting for.


On if there have been lingering effects from the injury or soreness...

No. I threw two bullpens with a day off in between in Philly, and there was a day off before this one. I never felt any soreness from any of those and I never got stiff. Tomorrow will be another good test to see how I feel after some game action. Ya know, (I) put a little more effort level behind the pitches.


On his estimated return date with the Phillies...

It's kind of up to (the team). All I can do...is do what I can do, listen to the trainers and get myself healthy. My mechanics are pretty (much) there.


On his impression of FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood...

It was good. I was only out there a couple of innings, but....I've never pitched in "the SALLY League" before...so it looked like a really nice park and a good crowd and a really nice stadium.


On the extent of his next rehab outing...

I'll see what the plan is. Probably around 45-50 (pitches), about 3-5 innings. I'm just guessing.


On what he's been up to during the down time...

There wasn't a whole lot of days off. I've been doing a lot of arm exercises, from when I got hurt, so I kept my shoulder and elbow nice and strong. I've been playing long toss for a good bit too.


On if he feels the late start after the DL stint could help him in the long run this season, rest wise....

Not really. I've been a 200 inning guy. I haven't always gotten 200-plus, but I've always been around basically 194-197. Always like that, and usually as the season goes, I get better. I hope to still push to 200 (innings).


On who his favorite pitcher was growing up...

Nolan Ryan. Just tough-nosed...went out there everyday. You could see his intensity on the mound, that's what I always liked.



-----------------------------------

Read all about Blanton's Lakewood rehab outing by clicking HERE.

Check me out on the radio today, talking Phillies baseball with The Shore Sports Report. I should be on around 3:20pm with Mike & Joe. Tune in on WOBM AM 1160 and Fox Sports 1310 AM by the shore...or listen live on the web by clicking here.

Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

Yankees Fans Misled By Pepsi Promotion

**** Today, New York Yankees fans attended a Pepsi promotion in Times Square hoping for chances to win opening day tickets to the new stadium, but the tickets, which were difficult to track down due to poor organization on Pepsi's part, were actually for a game in June. Furthermore, the 250 pairs that were promised were actually only 100 pairs. The fans, who were made to sprint through traffic over multiple city blocks when locations for the promotion changed, quickly turned against the soda brand by pooring out their beverages and chanting anti-Pepsi phrases. Yankees fans are even threatening a boycott of Pepsi. An appearance by Yankee great Goose Gossage could not even settle the angry mob, as he had to be whisked away, as a precaution, according to the Daily News . Ooo , I'd hate to see what "the worst fans in sports" (Philadelphia fans) would have done to their free Pepsi cans and beloved reliever in that situation. Because this happened in a non-Philly city, th...