GaryMrMets
06-02-2004, 03:12 PM
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/8815501.htm
Posted on Wed, Jun. 02, 2004
Rich Hofmann | On bright side, there's Millwood
WINNING IS the only really effective deodorant
in sports, but you would like to think that seven shutout innings from your starting pitcher isn't far behind.
Key phrase: you would like to think.
It is still May - no it's not,
it's June - but the glass is still
properly viewed as half full more often than not. That is true even on a night when your team leaves another hundred-or-so runners stranded in scoring
position, a night when you lose in 10 innings to the New York Mets by a 4-1 score.
Given that, the biggest news on this otherwise dreary night for the Phillies was that Kevin Millwood found the command that had deserted him in recent starts.
And the most important words spoken after the game were these, also by Millwood, after
he made an adjustment to his
delivery between starts and then saw how well it worked:
"It's hard to be real confident until you do it on the field. Right now, my confidence is as high as it's been in a while."
It was a masterful bit of work by Millwood, especially when you consider that he had allowed 15 earned runs in his last three starts (over 15 innings). A little perspective, and a little research, would tell you Millwood actually had a worse three-game stretch with the Phillies last June and pulled out of it - so there was no need for bridge-jumping.
At the same time, though, there was a mechanical problem - "throwing across his body," Phils manager Larry Bowa said - and there was an urgent need to fix it. And while that's just what Millwood and pitching coach Joe Kerrigan worked on doing in the days since his previous start, there was another complication thrown into the mix last night against the Mets.
Specifically, Millwood said he woke up with some kind of a bug, and really didn't feel right. And that, on top of the natural nervousness any pitcher would feel when making an adjustment to his delivery, undoubtedly made for a pretty long and pretty
rotten day for Millwood.
"Physically, I didn't feel the way I wanted to today," he said. "But these are the things you deal with. You go out there once every 5 days. To come out and use a bug as an excuse is not
acceptable, I guess."
So Millwood needed to pitch long and pitch well, and he knew it - especially seeing as how the Phillies' bullpen has been asked to carry too much of the load so far this season, and seeing as how the run-manufacturing plant has pretty much seen most everybody go on furlough lately. I mean, Millwood's five-game
hitting streak - he legged out a double last night - is tied for the current team high (along with third baseman David Bell).
He needed to pitch well, and that's just what he did: seven
innings, no runs, four hits, two walks, six strikeouts. He threw 99 pitches and, given his physical condition, Millwood said, "I thought getting through seven was a pretty good accomplishment."
Catcher Todd Pratt said Millwood had "good command on both sides of the plate," something that had been lacking in his recent starts. Watching from centerfield, Doug Glanville said, "I had a great view. He really hit his spots, had some life on the ball. It looked like he was making his pitches. That's what makes him our No. 1."
It cannot be emphasized how important it is for Millwood to be, in fact, their No. 1. Because even though it is only June, and even though the trade deadline is still weeks away, there are plenty of potential questions on the Phillies' immediate horizon. You wonder if they have a leadoff hitter. You wonder if they have a centerfielder. You wonder who is going to be the 12th pitcher they inevitably bring onto the 25-man roster.
Questions. There is still time for them to be answered satisfactorily by the people currently in-house - if Jimmy Rollins strings together a couple of weeks like he played last night in the leadoff spot (2-for-4 with a sacrifice); if centerfielder Marlon Byrd returns from his current sabbatical and starts hitting. But there isn't a lot of time, not if the Phillies are serious about this National League East thing - because history shows you the serious teams tend to act well before the July 31 trade deadline, not with the clock ticking loudly.
These are big weeks, then. And, well, nobody needs a
Millwood crisis thrown into the middle of this thing.
Which is why last night was so important, even with how it all turned out.
Posted on Wed, Jun. 02, 2004
Rich Hofmann | On bright side, there's Millwood
WINNING IS the only really effective deodorant
in sports, but you would like to think that seven shutout innings from your starting pitcher isn't far behind.
Key phrase: you would like to think.
It is still May - no it's not,
it's June - but the glass is still
properly viewed as half full more often than not. That is true even on a night when your team leaves another hundred-or-so runners stranded in scoring
position, a night when you lose in 10 innings to the New York Mets by a 4-1 score.
Given that, the biggest news on this otherwise dreary night for the Phillies was that Kevin Millwood found the command that had deserted him in recent starts.
And the most important words spoken after the game were these, also by Millwood, after
he made an adjustment to his
delivery between starts and then saw how well it worked:
"It's hard to be real confident until you do it on the field. Right now, my confidence is as high as it's been in a while."
It was a masterful bit of work by Millwood, especially when you consider that he had allowed 15 earned runs in his last three starts (over 15 innings). A little perspective, and a little research, would tell you Millwood actually had a worse three-game stretch with the Phillies last June and pulled out of it - so there was no need for bridge-jumping.
At the same time, though, there was a mechanical problem - "throwing across his body," Phils manager Larry Bowa said - and there was an urgent need to fix it. And while that's just what Millwood and pitching coach Joe Kerrigan worked on doing in the days since his previous start, there was another complication thrown into the mix last night against the Mets.
Specifically, Millwood said he woke up with some kind of a bug, and really didn't feel right. And that, on top of the natural nervousness any pitcher would feel when making an adjustment to his delivery, undoubtedly made for a pretty long and pretty
rotten day for Millwood.
"Physically, I didn't feel the way I wanted to today," he said. "But these are the things you deal with. You go out there once every 5 days. To come out and use a bug as an excuse is not
acceptable, I guess."
So Millwood needed to pitch long and pitch well, and he knew it - especially seeing as how the Phillies' bullpen has been asked to carry too much of the load so far this season, and seeing as how the run-manufacturing plant has pretty much seen most everybody go on furlough lately. I mean, Millwood's five-game
hitting streak - he legged out a double last night - is tied for the current team high (along with third baseman David Bell).
He needed to pitch well, and that's just what he did: seven
innings, no runs, four hits, two walks, six strikeouts. He threw 99 pitches and, given his physical condition, Millwood said, "I thought getting through seven was a pretty good accomplishment."
Catcher Todd Pratt said Millwood had "good command on both sides of the plate," something that had been lacking in his recent starts. Watching from centerfield, Doug Glanville said, "I had a great view. He really hit his spots, had some life on the ball. It looked like he was making his pitches. That's what makes him our No. 1."
It cannot be emphasized how important it is for Millwood to be, in fact, their No. 1. Because even though it is only June, and even though the trade deadline is still weeks away, there are plenty of potential questions on the Phillies' immediate horizon. You wonder if they have a leadoff hitter. You wonder if they have a centerfielder. You wonder who is going to be the 12th pitcher they inevitably bring onto the 25-man roster.
Questions. There is still time for them to be answered satisfactorily by the people currently in-house - if Jimmy Rollins strings together a couple of weeks like he played last night in the leadoff spot (2-for-4 with a sacrifice); if centerfielder Marlon Byrd returns from his current sabbatical and starts hitting. But there isn't a lot of time, not if the Phillies are serious about this National League East thing - because history shows you the serious teams tend to act well before the July 31 trade deadline, not with the clock ticking loudly.
These are big weeks, then. And, well, nobody needs a
Millwood crisis thrown into the middle of this thing.
Which is why last night was so important, even with how it all turned out.