Skip to main content

Blanton's Struggles No Reason For Panic

By
Lakewood pitching coach Steve Schrenk watches Joe Blanton warm up for an April rehab start


This season, as he recovered from an oblique strain, Joe Blanton showed up in Lakewood, New Jersey for a rehabilitation assignment slimmer and ready to prove himself worthy of the 3-year/$24 million contract extension he signed with the Phillies in January. He showed up more fit and with refined control, as he threw 2 solid innings for the A-level BlueClaws on 13 pitches, 11 of which were strikes.

Blanton was well known for being a pitcher who hadn't previously missed time with injuries and, when speaking with PhoulBallz writer Jay Ballz in April, asserted his desire to reach the 200 inning plateau once again this season, despite his late start, missing the entire month of April with the big league Phillies. Blanton's inning totals would regularly be in the 190-200 innings pitched range each full season of his career. He once reached 230 innings pitched for Oakland in 2007, when he led the American League in starts. Blanton is now on pace to pitch roughly 160 innings for the season, which is not bad considering the injury delay, but not near what Blanton wished his own output to be.

Blanton has just 2 quality starts (defined as an outing where a starting pitcher will throw at least 6 innings, and allow no more than 3 earned runs) in his 7 games in 2010. The Phillies have won just 2 games that Blanton has pitched in out of those 7 outings.


No longer performing as a successful innings eater, with a 1-4 record and a 6.07 ERA this season, perhaps Joe's real life eating habits that trimmed his waste size have had an effect on his performance on the mound. Could it be time to thicken Joe Blanton back up? On Phillies game broadcasts, phans hear nightly that "Nothing goes better with Phillies baseball than a Tastykake!" It might be time for the Phillie Phanatic's pal Kirbee Krimpet to pay Blanton a visit and return him to his previously pudgy status. Blanton had a career 4.21 ERA prior to this season.

Kidding aside, Blanton's ERA through his first 7 starts in 2009 was 6.86 and his record as 1-3. Over the 7 starts that followed, Blanton posted a 3.53 ERA and a 3-2 record. He finished 2009 with a 12-8 overall record and a 4.05 ERA. The ERA was an improvement over his total in each of the previous two seasons. So phans, rest assured that there is plenty of time for Blanton to right his own sleek and streamlined ship.


___________________________________


Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

By
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...
5 comments
Read more

Jason Knapp Q&A

By
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...
5 comments
Read more

Yankees Fans Misled By Pepsi Promotion

By
**** 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...
5 comments
Read more