Rodrigo Lopez gets Friday start vs. Mets

Carlos Carrasco, Drew Carpenter denied.

8 months ago WholeCamels 9 comments 0 recs |

Comments

In his last 85 games

Lopez has a 5.22 ERA. And that stretches back to 2005.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lopezro02.shtml?redir#2005-2007-sum:pitching_simple

/smacks forehead.

by Tommy Bennett on Jul 1, 2009 5:25 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Um…why?

Don't frack with me or you'll get a punch in the kidneys...you've been warned

by jemagee on Jul 1, 2009 5:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The fan in me wanted to see Carrasco — he has the highest upside of the bunch, and I’ve grown tired of watching a slew of #4 starters take the mound this year — but Lopez probably makes the most sense objectively.

Let’s look at the career numbers: 4.59 FIP in over 1000 IP, a fairly stingy 2.79 BB/9, and an acceptable ground ball ratio of 43.0%. He’s almost a full two years removed from Tommy John surgery, and his recent results in Triple-A have been outstanding: 3-0, 19 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 15 K in 21.0 IP. And for what it’s worth, BP’s translations peg him for a 4.20 ERA in the majors this year.

Carrasco might have come up and looked like Cole Hamels in his debut… or, more likely given his temperament, he’d have looked like J.A. Happ in his. And the way our bullpen’s been abused lately, the organization (probably rightly) figures that they can’t take a risk on a Carrasco flameout.

by PhillyFriar on Jul 1, 2009 7:05 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think it’s a fairly subtle diss at the Mets: “we care so little about you that we’re starting Rodrigo frickin’ Lopez.”

by dajafi on Jul 1, 2009 7:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

If only they could afford to think like that

Don't frack with me or you'll get a punch in the kidneys...you've been warned

by jemagee on Jul 1, 2009 8:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

so we can dip into AA to get Kendrick, but this doesn’t work this year why? I smell the veteran fetishism of Lord Vader aka Dallas Green.

by Wet Luzinski on Jul 2, 2009 5:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

We dipped into AA to get Kendrick because there were no other alternatives that year. These were the pitching stats for the 2007 Ottawa Lynx. The other potential alternatives for the rotation were J.D. Durbin (who they were already using), Fabio Castro (used him too, though it might have been later), J.A. Happ (had a 5.02 ERA and injury problems that year and was tried before Kendrick), Matt Childers (not a major league talent, 5.17 ERA), Zach Segovia (6.05 ERA), and Eude Brito (6.17 ERA).

This year, in contrast, we’re choosing Lopez, a former two-time 15-game winner in MLB who has a 2.03 ERA in his last five starts in AAA (3.91 overall), over Carrasco, who has a 4.06 ERA in his last five starts and is at 4.92 overall.

In short, we went with Kendrick because he was the best available alternative that year. We’re going with Lopez because he’s the better alternative this year. (I could see an argument for Carpenter, but I don’t see a strong argument for Carrasco.)

Also, the Phillies have shown exactly zero reluctance to give opportunities to young starting pitchers in recent years when the decision is merited (like it was with Kendrick). I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, but they just called Antonio Bastardo up and made him a starter earlier in this very same season. They also made Happ a starter this year. Dallas Green may suck, but the Phillies have not at any time in recent years manifested “veteran fetishism” in the specific manner that you’re accusing them of. I mean, they threw Robinson Tejeda into the rotation in the middle of a wild-card race in 2005. Eude Brito got starts in ’05 too. So did Scott Mathieson in 2006. If anything, they get criticized in the MSM/WIP media for giving youngsters too many opportunities instead of going out and acquiring veterans in midseason trades.

There’s also no evidence that Green has exerted much influence in the organization in the last several years. He hasn’t been in the news since around the time of the Rolen debacle. He’s now 74 years old and people tend to slow down when they get to that age.

by taco pal on Jul 2, 2009 6:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Whatever happened to Brito and Mathieson?

by NowWhat? on Jul 2, 2009 7:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Brito? Who cares? He was still in the Phillies’ system in 2007, then split 2008 between the Nats’ and Mets’ systems, but is not playing in any affiliated league this season.

Mathieson is currently doing well in rehab from his second TJ surgery, looking like he might actually be a useful player at some point in the not-too-distant future.

by phatj on Jul 3, 2009 10:33 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs