Opening Act? - Tuesday, July 29, 2008
191 Views :: 0 Comments ::  :: Michael Bradley The Phillies showed they mean business Monday, when they shipped Adam Eaton and his batting-practice fastball to the minors, hopefully for the next 14 months. Eaton will no doubt resurface in the major leagues, but he had better be treated the same as radioactive plutonium. In other words, he isn't to be used. Brett Myers got a taste of that tough love a month ago when the Phils gave him a three-week bush-league fantasy camp of his own. Now back in the rotation, Myers throws tonight against the sagging Nationals and needs to prove he belongs on the mound every fifth day in order to save his job from the clutches of J.A. Happ, who was recalled yesterday from the Iron Pigs. In his return from the minors, Myers was hardly impressive. Despite feeling strong, he was a mess in the first inning and didn't get through six, the new baseline for "quality.' (Writer's Note: What a joke the "quality start" is.) With the Phillies locked in a pennant race with the disgusting Mets and the rotting Fish, there is little margin for error. If Myers stinks it up tonight at Nationals Park, the Phillies should consider removing him from the rotation and putting him in the bullpen. As Brad Lidge's set-up man. Granted, the "rock star" quotient on an opening act isn't so great, unless it's at a big festival. In most cases, the first band on the stage is playing to a largely disinterested audience that is waiting for the headliner, in this case Lidge. But Myers isn't giving the Phillies too many options. He came to training camp unprepared to be a starter and then slogged through the first three months of the season as if he were an eight-year old forced to eat his spinach. Now that he has another chance, Myers had better make the most of it, or the Phillies just might put Happ in the rotation and let Myers pitch the eighth. It may not be as big a stage, but at this point, he doesn't have the luxury of demanding top billing. Myers gets another big gig tonight. If he doesn't wow the critics, it may be his last for a long time. |