With yesterday's game rained out, we turn our attention to the Phillies 8-4 loss to the Twins on Saturday. There was nothing good that came out of this game pitching wise. Cole Hamels was roughed up for his second consecutive outing allowing 5 earned runs in six and a third innings of work. Jose Contreras was hit equally as hard as he surrendered 3 earned runs in less than a full inning of work, incluing a home run to Jim Thome.
At the plate, Matt Schnieder and Greg Dobbs both had 2 hits and an RBI a piece. One of Dobbs' hits was a home run, his second of the spring which also drove in his 6th run of Grapefruit League action. Dobbs, perhaps starting to realize that his bench spot could be in jeapordy, has responded by raising his spring average to .342.
Back to Hamels and Contreras for a minute. Although this was Hamel's first official loss of the spring, his ERA ballooned to 5.57. Although it was only a few weeks ago, it is starting to seem like reports of how great Cole looked was forever ago. Contreras is also struggling. His ERA now sits 7.15 for the spring and it also looks like the failure to sign Chan Ho Park could really come back to bite the Phillies, especially in the early going with Lidge and Romero expected to start the season on the DL.
In transaction news, John Mayberry, Ozzie Chavez, Dane Sardinha, Joe Bisenius, and Brad Wilkerson were all sent down to the minors. None of these really come as a surprise. Mayberry is an all or nothing type hitter. He has tremendous power but strikes out way too much to ever be more than some pop off of the bench. Chavez and Sardinha were only up to spell the regulars. Wilkerson didn't even play last season and Bisenius has gone from starting the 2007 season on the opening day roster to a throw away player.
Ed Wade: You have to love this guy. There was an article on philly.com today about how Wade was responsible for a bunch of the players on the Phillies 2008 World Series roster and how he helped shape the team. He mentioned his failed attempt to trade Ryan Howard for a "good, young player". This is no secret that this player was Kip Wells who is neither good, nor was he young at the time. He also discussed how he turned down Utley, Madson, and Bourn for Barry Zito. Wow, that one is even worse. A trade offer like that could only happen when Billy Beane realizes he can totally fleece a GM such as Wade. He could smell the blood in the water and for once Wade was smart enough not to pull the trigger.
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