Lidge Hopeful for Durbin's Return

As a new season, that Philadelphia players and executives alike feel is "World Series or Bust", approaches, all Phillies pitchers and catchers reported to Clearwater, FL for their entry physical examinations on Sunday, prior to the start of workouts.

The biggest story in all of Major League Baseball this off-season, the Phillies' pitching rotation, will jointly be on the field and answer questions from the media for the very first time on Monday. The return of Cliff Lee to Philadelphia completed what many say could be the greatest pitching rotation in modern baseball history, adding him to last year's group of starters, Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay, 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt and Joe Blanton.

With the rotation filled to the brim, the Phillies' bullpen has some potential vacancies. Reports out of camp on Sunday had closer Brad Lidge actively campaigning for the return of his close friend, pitcher Chad Durbin, whose contract with the Phillies was through after the 2010 season. It's understandable that a player might wish for a friend to return to the club, however, the organization must come before friendship. Lidge should realize that what's best for the Phillies is to get a some of their up-and-coming pitchers a considerable amount of experience this year.

Pitchers like Dave Herndon, Scott Mathieson, Antonio Bastardo, Mike Zagurski and possibly Justin De Fratus as well as Mike Stutes, plus others, will all be striving to make the big club this year. Experience for those hurlers will benefit the club more in the long run than giving innings, and millions of dollars, to Durbin.

Following the 2011 season, the only Phils reliever under contract is right-hander Jose Contreras. The Phillies have to provide big league innings to their deep collection of reserve arms in order to properly evaluate what they have for the future.

Allowing a guy like Mathieson, whom the Phillies have a lot invested in, after three elbow surgeries and years of recovery, to take on opponents at the highest level would enable the team to determine if Mathieson is still an asset that could be valuable in the future. Using any of the prospects listed would also allow the Phillies to save money on the team payroll, as the players without years of Major League service time would command much smaller salaries than a veteran like Durbin.

While the righty Durbin remains a free agent and Lidge feels Durbin's return is still a possibility, it's up to the Phillies' front office to realize the importance of not re-signing him and providing their young pitching depth a chance to develop further.

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Heroes- Fight of the Century

VS. It's a big day for your boy, Jay Ballz . No work, X-Men Origins: Wolverine premieres, our Phillies face the Metropolitans for the first time this season and tailgating for BOTH doesn't sound all that absurd to me. Anyway, I surveyed some qualified phans and got several opinions on how exactly a fight might go down if the mutant hero Wolverine faced off against Phillies hero Matt Stairs. Well known blogger, Chris, of I've Made a Huge Tiny Mistake , kept it real and said the following- "Wolverine has adamantium ( indestructible metal substance) claws, so that's a great advantage. Stairs' Wonder Bat is neutralized there. See, the problem becomes Wolverine's ability to recover (he has a regenerative power) faster. Stairs is merely human. Sure, he has a goatee, and goatees are great, but they're great for saving sauce, not for defeating mutants. I think Wolverine takes it in a fight to the death in about 15 minutes because Stairs simply doesn'...

Sunday School: Phillies History Lesson 71

Gene Kelly was the radio voice of the Philadelphia Phillies from 1950- 1959. Born in Brooklyn NY, Kelly pitched in the minor leagues after graduating from Marshall College in 1941. He would soon experience arm trouble, which ended his playing days. Kelly managed to continue a career in sports by turning to radio. When legendary announcer By Saam, who pulled double duty beginning in 1939 calling both Phillies and Athletics games, moved over to the A's side exclusively, Gene Kelly was the man who would fill the void and took over as the Phillies play-by-play man. The Phillies began broadcasting their games over the air in 1936, but until the 1950's, the broadcasters only attended home games and did not travel with the team. All road games were recreated, on the air, by the announcers who read a Western Union teletype account of the games from the studio in Philadelphia. During the decade of the 50's, Kelly was partnered with several different broadcasters, including Claude Ha...

Jealous Ones Envy

Joe Blanton continues to excel and prove his worth in the Phillies pitching rotation. In his latest outing on Sunday, Blanton threw 8 strong innings, striking out 6, while walking just 1 and surrendering 2 earned runs, improving his record to 7-4. This season in July, Joe is 3-0 over four starts with 22 K's, 5 walks and a 1.21 ERA. Over his last 6 starts, Joe's ERA is 1.94. As a member of the Phillies, Blanton has a 3.84 ERA after the all star break with a 5-0 record. The Phillies are 20-12 (.625 winning percentage) in games that Blanton has started, since being acquired last July. Combined this season against other National League playoff contenders St. Louis, Chicago and Los Angeles, Blanton has a combined 1.67 ERA in 4 starts with a 2-0 record. Blanton is on such a sizzling run that the Bowling Green Hot Rods, a Tampa Bay Rays farm team, will host a Joe Blanton bobble head give away tomorrow. Bowling Green will host Joe's mother, father and sister for the event, as Joe...

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