No Surprise... Blanton Game 4

by Ant on Oct 30, 2009 3:22 PM EDT

Charlie just announced in his press conference earlier that "Bazooka Joe" Blanton will be starting game 4 of the WS in CBP. Regardless of your aces and the lefty/righty talk, its kind of disappointing to see the probable NL Rookie of the Year, J.A. Happ not getting a start at all during the postseason.

Thoughts of this decision, more or less if C.C. ends up going on Game 4? (Very possible if Phils take Game 3 tomorrow)

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ehh…… i like happ and blanton i dont know what to say….only that i hope blanton doesnt get absolutley owned by the yankees lineup with arod, texeria, and posada

eff you we winning anyway

by eagleswin on Oct 30, 2009 3:28 PM EDT reply actions

Happ hasn’t pitched well lately, and as good as he was for a lot of the regular season, his ERA was outstripping his peripherals the whole time. I think that between Blanton and Happ, Blanton’s probably a marginally better choice.

That being said, we’ll be at a distinct disadvantage if the Yanks go with a 3-man rotation. Sabathia vs. Blanton is a pretty substantial mismatch, which makes Game 3 even more crucial than usual.

I still think Lee should have been lined up for 1-4-7, with Hamels 2-6, Pedro 3, and Blanton 5. Alas, that’s a moot point now.

by PhillyFriar on Oct 30, 2009 3:37 PM EDT reply actions

Unless you factor in possible decreased effectiveness of Sabathia by going on short rest.

For Who? My teammates.

For What? To Win.

How Much? Where do I sign?

by jonk on Oct 30, 2009 3:55 PM EDT up reply actions

he has gone on short rest the whole post season now. Hopefully it finally gets to him.

by Ben16 on Oct 30, 2009 4:50 PM EDT up reply actions

This is only his second game on short rest, and not consecutively. He had seven days of rest prior to Game 1 of this series.

by taco pal on Oct 30, 2009 4:59 PM EDT up reply actions

yea good point. Didn’t think about those days between the series.

by Ben16 on Oct 30, 2009 5:01 PM EDT up reply actions

I also think tonights game is a tryout for Hamels to see if they want to put him on a 3 days rest just in case. I have a feeling they might do it if they need to and pitch him over Pedro.

by Ant on Oct 30, 2009 3:42 PM EDT reply actions

CC will be going game 4 regardless

Sabathia at 80% is better than Gaudin, hell Sabathia at 50% is better than Gaudin.

Strikeouts are boring- Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.

by CasanovaWong on Oct 30, 2009 4:21 PM EDT reply actions

Gaudin in '08

by taco pal on Oct 30, 2009 4:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Gah!

What’s with pitchers and facial hair? He looks like Franklin with that rug on his face.

by doubleh on Oct 30, 2009 4:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Not real happy

What are we saving Cliff Lee for? He’ll have 6 months off in 2 weeks. The question is whether Cliff Lee on 3 days rest is better than Cookie on full rest. Personally, I’d go with Lee. More importantly, why is Charlie making the decision now? Why not wait until after Game 3. If we win tomorrow, I’m alot more comfortable with Cookie in Game 4. But if we lose, we are starting Blanton in the most pivotal game in the entire series… Wait, Charlie, just wait…

by Boundforbeach on Oct 30, 2009 5:03 PM EDT reply actions

Lee

Has never pitched on short rest in his entire career. You don’t take that risk now.

by doubleh on Oct 30, 2009 6:10 PM EDT up reply actions

When do you take that risk?

by phatj on Oct 31, 2009 7:34 AM EDT up reply actions

game seven when its all hands on deck

by SmilingJPhilsPhan on Oct 31, 2009 12:21 PM EDT up reply actions

Don't get the chance to do that

If Lee pitches Game 5, unless you want him on 2 days rest.

by GMan83201 on Nov 1, 2009 3:26 PM EST up reply actions

well, it’s Girardi’s roll of the dice to (now) take 2 of 3 in Philadelphia. And with how Burnett pitched in game 2, they could win it in Philadelphia, which is just a galling prospect.

And I’ll keep channelling memories of how Blanton carried this starting staff for much of the season, while wondering when this miserable rain will ever stop.

by Wet Luzinski on Nov 1, 2009 8:51 AM EST reply actions

does it scare any of you that Blanton is matched up with CC?

I mean, we can more than handle CC, we did it in Game 1! But, what if Blanton gets blown away by the Yanks. Then we are down 3-1 going into the last game of the series, and our chances of repeating looking bleak.

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by dolphin341 on Nov 1, 2009 12:33 PM EST reply actions

I'm a Yankee fan

and I think not pitching Lee is incredibly dumb.

A) Lee has been the best pitcher in the postseason. I say that as a Yankee fan and CC being dominant as well.

B) Even if he’s at 80%, it’s gotta be better than what you can expect from Blanton

C) By throwing Lee in Game 5 it means that Cole Hamels is slotted to be the potential Game 7 pitcher against CC.

Again, I’m glad the Phillies are doing this but I can’t for the life of me understand why they are. The only thing I can think of is that Lee really just might not be capable of handling short rest (which I doubt).

by GMan83201 on Nov 1, 2009 3:29 PM EST reply actions

on blanton

Blanton has really polished his change-up which could be a good out pitch against the lefties and if he can get his slider over for strikes against the righties he might fair better than you think. The Yankees haven’t seen him in over a year…that bodes well for him. He has 4 pitches to keep the Yankees off balance and this approach has yielded the best results the series.

by j reed on Nov 1, 2009 7:57 PM EST reply actions