Myers Out, Bastardo Up, Peavy-watch

As everyone now knows, Brett Myers has likely thrown his last pitch in a Phillies uniform. It's definitely sad to see Myers go out like this and all, but it's not all bad. Myers was our #2 guy, no doubt. But now, we're going to get to see Antonio Bastardo tonight in his big league debut against Jake Peavy, a perennial Cy Young candidate who has a small chance of ending up as Brett Myers replacement within a month or two, if he has no problem pitching 3,000 miles from his nice Cali home and doesn't mind playing for a team that has fans that actually give a damn.

Bastardo likely won't be the permanent replacement for Myers for the rest of the year unless he pitches great. I would expect him to get a few starts until the Phils either make a trade or until they decide that having 4 lefty starters isn't a good idea and make another call up. I still expect Kyle Kendrick to be in the rotation before too long, but he's gonna have to show them something special, otherwise Andrew Carpenter will be in the rotation.

Regardless, I'm excited to see Antonio Bastardo pitch tonight. He's been hot this year, and frankly, I'd love to have a jersey that says "BASTARDO" on the back of it eventually. Jake Peavy will probably talk to reporters tonight after the game about his chances of coming to Philly. He said he'd wait til after his start to talk about it to the Philly reporters. I don't know if I really want Peavy, though. Sure, he's a great pitcher but he seems content pitching for a losing team. I don't want that, I want a guy who wants to win. I'd take Roy Halladay in a heartbeat, and it'd be great if we could make a move towards him without giving up the farm plus Victorino or Werth.

It should be fun to see how this plays out...

The Booing of Brett Myers

It's not secret that Brett Myers may be a little bit of a head case. He's one crazy son of a bitch. When he's good, he's as good as they come. When he's bad, well, you know...

He looked good in the opener for the first, oh, 2/3 of an inning. Then that single by Chipper and a moonshot by McCann. And then Francoeur and Schafer went yard in the 2nd frame. And then he settled back down again, and was good for 4 more innings.

Now, I'm not saying that these Phillies should get a free pass on booing all year long or anything, but booing Myers early in that game after giving up a few long balls? It's game 1 of 162. They just won a world title like 5 months ago. And you're booing in the 2nd inning? Come on, I know it's Philadelphia, but really? Sure, it wasn't everyone. It was the booze talking for a lot of them. And I'm sure The Bank was chock full of bandwagon "fans." But that's not what Myers needs.

Now, I'm not saying Myers needs to be patted on the back and have his tears wiped away and for us to tell him he did his best and everything is gonna be ok, but all booing is going to do with this guy is hurt. It's not gonna help him. Give him a few more starts. Give it til May or June. If he's got an ERA of 6.00 and is only averaging 3 innings per start, ok. But if he gives up a few homers and is shaky in the first or second inning but still is able to turn in quality starts, let it slide. He's not our ace. He's a great #2, but he doesn't need to pitch like Hamels for us. He doesn't have to go 7 innings with 2 ER and 8 Ks per start. If he can go 6 with 3 ER, that's just great. We've got a great bullpen and one of the best back end combos in the game to close it out in the 8th/9th. So, if Myers turns in 6 innings, we've got plenty of guys to work the 7th before the Bridge to Lidge, and Lights Out himself.