Results tagged ‘ Kyle Kendrick ’
Blanton Is Back
Joe Blanton hopes to make something out of this season.
The Phillies activated him from the 60-day disabled list today. Blanton had been on the DL since May 23 (retroactive to May 16) with right elbow inflammation. Blanton, 30, made one rehab appearance with Class A Lakewood on Friday, pitching one perfect inning . Blanton was 1-2 with a 5.50 ERA in six starts for the Phillies this season. He will be pitching out of the bullpen the rest of the season.
Kyle Kendrick has been reinstated from the paternity leave list. Kendrick and his wife welcomed their first child, a daughter, over the weekend.
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Hamels Could Be Back Friday
Cole Hamels threw roughly 25 pitches in an important bullpen session this afternoon at Nationals Park. He said it went well.
He will throw one more bullpen session early next week and if that goes well he said he should rejoin the rotation Friday against the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park. Hamels missed a start this week because of inflammation in his left shoulder.
“Cole is moving along fine,” Rich Dubee said.
Cliff Lee, Vance Worley and Kyle Kendrick will face the Mets at home next week. Hamels would open the series against the Marlins with Roy Oswalt and Roy Halladay pitching Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
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Placido Polanco sounded optimistic he could be back in action Monday.
He has been on the DL since Aug. 7 because of a sports hernia. He recently received a cortisone injection and said today he feels “much better” than he had just a few days ago. He said he thinks he will be activated from the DL Monday.
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Jose Contreras had been scheduled to throw a bullpen session today, but that has been pushed back to Monday. Charlie Manuel called it a “setback,” while Dubee said Contreras simply felt he was not ready to throw off a mound.
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Lee Homers, Makes Sure Kendrick Knows It
Cliff Lee touched home plate, looked toward the visitor’s bullpen 360 feet away, brushed his right hand with his left hand like a bank teller counting out cash and smiled.
It was not a home run celebration.
It was a message to Kyle Kendrick, who was sitting in the bullpen, to pay up. Lee and Kendrick are in a home run competition and Lee had just blasted his second homer of the season in the seventh inning of last night’s 2-1 victory over the Dodgers. Lee said he thought about Kendrick “pretty much instantly” when the ball sailed over the right-field wall.
“It’s just a friendly wager,” Lee said. “It’s a little side deal.”
So what are the stakes?
“I think we’re going to keep that between us,” he said. “We can call it dinner or whatever you want to call it.”
Shortly after Lee’s homer Roy Oswalt called the bullpen to send a message to Kendrick, although bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer had to hang up because he was trying to get Ryan Madson loose.
Kendrick played off his mounting deficit. He trails, 2-0.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kendrick said. “He owes me.”
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Lost Opportunity
The Phillies went 4-2 on their six-game road trip through Toronto and Florida, but who would have thought they would have scored a combined 10 runs in their two losses?
You’d think it would be a 3-1 loss and a 1-0 loss.
A couple things from last night:
- Domonic Brown did not touch second base. He said so. I thought it was strange he had no reaction when Kerwin Danley called him out. I mean, if he knew he touched second he would have reacted in some way. I’m not saying he would have gone Jon Rauch on Danley, but he certainly would have expressed some shock or looked into the dugout or at Juan Samuel like, “Hey, what the heck just happened here? That is the wrong call.” But he just walked back to the dugout.
- Kyle Kendrick wasn’t happy about being pulled after five innings. Asked if he thought he had gotten enough from Kendrick, Charlie Manuel said, “I pulled him didn’t I?” I can’t read Manuel’s mind, but I’m guessing he had flashbacks to Kendrick’s previous start in Toronto. Manuel had Kendrick start the seventh with a one-run lead only to watch him allow a two-run homer to Jose Bautista.
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Big series before the All-Star break. The Phillies have the best record in baseball, but guess who is just three games behind them in the National League East? Since the Braves started the season 8-12, they have the best record in the National League (44-24). The Phillies are second (43-27).
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Kendrick, Halladay to Pitch Doubleheader
Rich Dubee confirmed Kyle Kendrick and Roy Halladay will pitch Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Florida Marlins.
Halladay will pitch the night game.
Here’s how the rotation lines up for the moment:
- Tuesday vs. Florida: Cole Hamels
- Wednesday vs. Florida (Game 1): Kyle Kendrick
- Wednesday vs. Florida (Game 2): Roy Halladay
- Thursday vs. Florida: Cliff Lee
- Friday at Seattle: Roy Oswalt
- Saturday at Seattle: TBA
- Sunday at Seattle: Hamels
It sure looks like Vance Worley lines up to pitch Saturday, although Dubee would not confirm that. The Phillies will need to make a roster move, of course. David Herndon could be optioned to make room for Worley. Kendrick could then return to his bullpen role. But stayed tuned on that …
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Kendrick to Start Saturday in Pittsburgh
The Phillies said earlier today Kyle Kendrick will start Saturday in Pittsburgh.
They had a spot available after optioning Vance Worley to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Because of a day off Thursday, the Phillies could have pushed their starters up a day and still had them pitch on normal rest, but in a long season Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee wants to give his starters an extra day to rest whenever possible.
Roy Halladay (91 1/3 innings), Cole Hamels (74 2/3 innings) and Cliff Lee (74 2/3 innings) entered tonight’s game against the Nationals ranked in the top 10 in the league in innings pitched.
Kendrick said he thinks he can throw at least 65 pitches Saturday. He is 1-1 with a 5.63 ERA in two starts this season. He threw five scoreless innings May 7 against Atlanta and allowed five runs in three innings May 19 against Colorado, when Joe Blanton learned he could not pitch because of an injured elbow roughly 20 minutes before the game.
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Phillies Add Grilli
The Phillies added another arm to their system with an agreement to a Minor League contract with right-hander Jason Grilli.
Grilli wrote Sunday on his Twitter account (@grillcheese49): “This Italian Stallion is FIRED UP about the City of Brother Love! Balboa workouts paid off and READY TO GO!!!”
Grilli is 18-18 with a 4.74 ERA in 238 appearances over eight seasons in the big leagues. He last pitched with the Colorado Rockies and Texas Rangers in 2009, when he went a combined 2-3 with a 5.32 ERA in 52 appearances. He did not pitch last year because of a knee injury.
Grilli will not be in big-league camp, which begins Feb. 14 in Clearwater, Fla. He will be in Minor League camp.
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Some contract details:
- Kyle Kendrick. One-year, $2.45 million contract. Awards bonuses: $25,000 for All Star; $50,000 for World Series MVP; $25,000 for LCS MVP; $50,000 for Cy Young or Rolaids ($25,000-2nd; $15,000-3rd).
- Ben Francisco. One-year, $1.175 million contract. Performance bonuses: $25,000 for 400 plate appearances; $25,000 for 450 plate appearances; $25,000 for 500 plate appearances. Awards bonuses: $25,000 for All Star; $50,000 for MVP ($25,000-2nd; $15,000-3rd); $50,000 for World Series MVP; $25,000 for LCS MVP; $25,000 for Gold Glove; and $25,000 for Silver Slugger.
- Justin De Fratus. $33,600 in Minors; $414,000 in Majors.
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Blanton Is Likely Staying
Just a few weeks ago it seemed like Joe Blanton would be pitching elsewhere in 2011.
But asked this morning if Blanton will be with the team this season, Ruben Amaro Jr. said, “I expect that to happen. Those things can change obviously. It’s not etched in stone. But we’re not forced to trade Joe. There’s nothing forcing us to do anything either way. And I’m not comfortable doing it. I don’t want to trade anybody. I like our club.” That is following comments Amaro made Tuesday to Ken Rosenthal: “He’s going to pitch for the Phillies, probably for the entire season.”
Amaro said he is uncomfortable trading Blanton because he likes the depth he provides. Should the Phillies trade Blanton and Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt or Cole Hamels suffer an injury, Kyle Kendrick and Vance Worley likely would be the team’s fourth and fifth starters. But with Blanton in the fold the Phillies have one of the best No. 5 starters in baseball.
The Phillies had shopped Blanton since they signed Lee to a $120 million contract in December because they need to create payroll flexibility. Blanton will make $17 million over the next two seasons. But teams that had been looking for starting pitching no longer are looking, which probably is the biggest reason Amaro is planning to keep Blanton. The Brewers acquired Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum. The Rangers signed Brandon Webb. The Tigers signed Brad Penny. The Nationals just acquired Tom Gorzelanny. There simply are few places for Blanton to land at this point, especially if teams are unwilling to take on most of his salary.
Kendrick Agrees to $2.45 Million Deal
Kyle Kendrick avoided aribtration today when he agreed to a one-year, $2.45 million deal with the Phillies.
The contract includes award bonuses.
Kendrick, who was eligible for salary arbitration for the first time, went 11-10 with a 4.73 ERA in 33 appearances (31 starts) last season. He is 35-24 with a 4.69 ERA in 93 appearances (83 starts) in his career.
Gotten a few questions about how the Phillies and Kendrick’s agent came up with that number. Well, it’s actually pretty simple. Look at some of the other first-year eligible pitchers out there and what they got from their teams: Detroit’s Armando Galarraga ($2.3 million) and Toronto’s Brandon Morrow ($2.3 million) are two examples. Arbitration numbers typically are about service time. A notable exception was Ryan Howard a few years ago.
Kendrick, 26, could end up in the bullpen if the Phillies do not trade Joe Blanton before the season starts. He could take Chad Durbin‘s role as the team’s multiple-inning middle reliever. But if the Phillies trade Blanton, Kendrick would be the favorite to be the fifth starter, although he would get some competition from Vance Worley.
The Phillies have no more players eligible for salary arbitration. They agreed to a one-year, $1.175 million deal Saturday with Ben Francisco.
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Here are the contract details for J.C. Romero and Delwyn Young:
Phillies in the Hunt for Lee
Could Cliff Lee rejoin the Phillies?
There is a chance.
I’m not sure how great that chance is, but sources confirmed reports today the Phillies are a legitimate suitor in the Lee sweepstakes. The Phillies almost certainly are offering less money than the Yankees and Rangers, but here is the ‘X’ factor: Lee absolutely enjoyed his time in Philadelphia in 2009 and in the past has indicated to teammates he would like to rejoin the organization.
But does he love Philadelphia enough to leave millions of dollars on the table?
“All I can say is I’m not going to comment either way,” Ruben Amaro Jr. said tonight of the reports.
The Phillies have nearly $150 million committed to 17 players next season, so they would need to clear payroll for Lee. A source said the Phillies have been shopping Joe Blanton in recent days. The source said the Phillies would be willing to eat some of Blanton’s salary to foster a trade. He is owed $17 million over the next two seasons.
(The Tigers are a team looking for back end rotation help, although it’s unclear how much salary they would take on.)
The source also said the Phillies have been gauging team’s interest in Kyle Kendrick and Raul Ibanez, who makes $11.5 million this season before becoming a free agent.
Lee was stunned last December when the Phillies traded him to Seattle. He did not want to leave, but at the time Lee’s agent indicated he would be incredibly difficult to sign to an extension. So the Phillies acquired Roy Halladay, who signed a club-friendly, three-year, $60 million contract to leave Toronto, and shipped Lee to the Mariners for three prospects.
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Todd Zolecki
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