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Long before my idea of a Chan Ho's Banjos fan group could take the region by storm, like I once thought it might, Chan Ho Park guy continues to struggle. Park allowed 7 earned runs and walked 6 batters, in 4 2/3 innings pitched on Friday in game 1 against the Metropolitans. Park's season ERA stands at 8.57, over 5 starts. Park seems to be pitching himself out of the Phillies' rotation. But, who might be the answer to fill his spot? Prospect Carlos Carrasco is still winless at triple A Lehigh Valley, and has had rough times in his last two outings. He has a 4.50 ERA and 31 strike outs and a 1.23 WHIP in 26 innings, over 5 starts. Reliever "Jay" Happ has a 3.52 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP in 9 appearances this season. Kyle Kendrick is earning himself consideration with a 2-1 record and a 2.77 ERA over 5 starts for Lehigh Valley. Time will tell what the team will do with the 5th spot in the rotation. ************** Links from around my bloggerhood- Swing and a Long Drive...

Once again, in conjunction with IronPig Pen and Swing and a Long Drive , it's a World Baseball Classic feature! This week, we're each announcing our picks to win the entire tournament, while making some points against the others' choices. My choice to be the Champions of the World (Baseball Classic) is Team USA. This year's American squad is plenty different than the 2006 team. With only 2 offensive players on this year's team that played on the 2006 team (Chipper Jones, Derek Jeter), the face of the team is brand new. Speed on this version of Team USA is much improved also. In 2006, USA only had 2 stolen base attempts and just one of those were successful. In the first round of 2009, stolen bases have not yet come into play for the Americans, but as the tournament moves on, and competition is tougher, speed will be a factor. Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, David Wright, Curtis Granderson and Dustin Pedroia are all stolen base threats, not to mention solid overall ...

The World Baseball Classic begins tomorrow, when Pool A gets things popping at 4:30AM Eastern. In conjunction this week, and next, with Swing and a Long Drive and The IronPigPen , we're going to glance over our picks for who will advance to the 2nd round of the WBC. The easiest pick in the bunch, to win their pool is Japan in Pool A. The defending WBC champs easily have the best roster in this bracket. Also, Japan may very well have the best starting pitching duo in the entire Classic. Yu Darvish and Daisuke Matsuzaka are likely to be a knockout 1-2 punch on the mound, especially in Pool A. Most of you should be familiar with "Dice-K", but if you haven't heard of Darvish...you should be watching Japan closely. The 6'5" fireballer is just 22 years old and already is winning awards in Japan. He also has completed back-to-back seasons with both double digit complete games and an ERA under 2. Other major leaguers on Team Japan are Kenji Johjima, Ichiro Suzuki, K...