GaryMrMets
07-27-2004, 07:19 PM
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/9251375.htm
Posted on Tue, Jul. 27, 2004
Rich Hofmann | Madson injury means deadline just moved up
MIAMI - The baseball trade deadline, tattooed on our civic consciousness, is Saturday. But there is no rule that you have to wait until the end. You can make deals along the way, as needs become evident. Really, it is permitted.
That Ed Wade needs to do something to help his team has been evident for a while. He needs several pieces, even if he won't acknowledge it out loud. For weeks now, we've all seen the Phillies' need for a starting pitcher, and another reliever, and a centerfielder (in that order). The assumption all along was that, if nothing else, Wade would come up with the reliever to bolster a bullpen teetering on the edge of overwork.
Well, teeter became totter sometime after 9:30 last night, when the Phillies announced that righthander Ryan Madson has an injured right hand and is "99 percent" certain to be going on the disabled list after an examination in Philadelphia today. Josh Hancock is headed in from Scranton to take Madson's place.
And, well, you wonder:
Is one reliever enough now?
And is Wade too late?
When someone stated the obvious - that Madson's loss would be big for this bullpen - Phils manager Larry Bowa said:
"What do we have now? Three Triple A pitchers from Scranton? We've got [Brian] Powell, [Geoff] Geary and Hancock. So, we'll see what happens."
No hiding his feelings, then. No happy-facing. When it was said that it would be hard for the Phillies to compete with this bullpen and this upcoming schedule - last night's 11-3 massacre at the hands of the Florida Marlins was the first game of a 13-game, 2-week road trip - Bowa said:
"Not my area. I just do the best I can with what we have."
And, well, there you have it. At this point, with this bullpen - remember, closer Billy Wagner has been unavailable since Friday and is still working his way through a left shoulder problem - yesterday isn't soon enough for Wade.
And, in the meantime, Madson wonders. He hurt the hand when he banged it against the outfield wall on Sunday while shagging at Citizens Bank Park. He said it wasn't that bad, and he did get Sammy Sosa out to end the top of the ninth in Sunday's game. But when he woke up yesterday, the hand was swollen and stiff. Bowa said the injury was probably to a ligament between Madson's ring finger and pinkie.
"I have no idea," Madson said. "I'm just going to see what [the doctors] say in Philly.
"I feel like I'm letting down the team...I just want to be out there for them."
There is no passing off this Madson business as some little thing, because the kid has been outrageously good for the Phillies so far. He survived spring training and came north as the long man in the bullpen and, in a half-season, earned the confidence of his manager and his team.
Madson's ERA in relief is 1.19, which was the lowest among
National League relievers going into last night, and his 60 1/3 innings were second-most. He is a legitimate rookie of the year candidate, if there can be such a thing out of middle relief. That aside, though, Bowa had come to lean on Madson in tougher and tougher situations, and the kid had continued to respond.
"Sixth, seventh, eighth," Bowa said before the game, trying to describe Madson's elevated role. "If we have a lead in the fifth and need two innings, or if we're tied in the fifth...He's really the only guy who's flexible enough to pitch two innings [in a close game]."
Because, even though he has a seven-man bullpen, Bowa has two distinct classes of relievers. On the one hand, there are Wagner, Tim Worrell, Rheal Cormier and Madson - they're the four guys Bowa seems most willing to use to protect a lead. Then comes Roberto Hernandez, who's been better lately. Then comes Geary, who hasn't been better lately. Then comes Powell, who has been invisible lately - until last night, anyway, when they dragged him out of the shadows to mop up (one inning, three runs).
That this has come very close to overtaxing the Worrells and Cormiers is obvious. The question has been there for weeks, unasked and unanswered: If you have guys in your bullpen you can't use except to mop up, why are they there? Now, take away Wagner and Madson and it becomes official: The Phillies cannot survive this road trip without some immediate bullpen help. The stretch here is too hard, and too crucial - 13 road games in 14 days in four cities. And the Braves have now moved 1 ½ games ahead.
The trade deadline is no longer Saturday, not if the Phillies are serious about this thing.
Posted on Tue, Jul. 27, 2004
Rich Hofmann | Madson injury means deadline just moved up
MIAMI - The baseball trade deadline, tattooed on our civic consciousness, is Saturday. But there is no rule that you have to wait until the end. You can make deals along the way, as needs become evident. Really, it is permitted.
That Ed Wade needs to do something to help his team has been evident for a while. He needs several pieces, even if he won't acknowledge it out loud. For weeks now, we've all seen the Phillies' need for a starting pitcher, and another reliever, and a centerfielder (in that order). The assumption all along was that, if nothing else, Wade would come up with the reliever to bolster a bullpen teetering on the edge of overwork.
Well, teeter became totter sometime after 9:30 last night, when the Phillies announced that righthander Ryan Madson has an injured right hand and is "99 percent" certain to be going on the disabled list after an examination in Philadelphia today. Josh Hancock is headed in from Scranton to take Madson's place.
And, well, you wonder:
Is one reliever enough now?
And is Wade too late?
When someone stated the obvious - that Madson's loss would be big for this bullpen - Phils manager Larry Bowa said:
"What do we have now? Three Triple A pitchers from Scranton? We've got [Brian] Powell, [Geoff] Geary and Hancock. So, we'll see what happens."
No hiding his feelings, then. No happy-facing. When it was said that it would be hard for the Phillies to compete with this bullpen and this upcoming schedule - last night's 11-3 massacre at the hands of the Florida Marlins was the first game of a 13-game, 2-week road trip - Bowa said:
"Not my area. I just do the best I can with what we have."
And, well, there you have it. At this point, with this bullpen - remember, closer Billy Wagner has been unavailable since Friday and is still working his way through a left shoulder problem - yesterday isn't soon enough for Wade.
And, in the meantime, Madson wonders. He hurt the hand when he banged it against the outfield wall on Sunday while shagging at Citizens Bank Park. He said it wasn't that bad, and he did get Sammy Sosa out to end the top of the ninth in Sunday's game. But when he woke up yesterday, the hand was swollen and stiff. Bowa said the injury was probably to a ligament between Madson's ring finger and pinkie.
"I have no idea," Madson said. "I'm just going to see what [the doctors] say in Philly.
"I feel like I'm letting down the team...I just want to be out there for them."
There is no passing off this Madson business as some little thing, because the kid has been outrageously good for the Phillies so far. He survived spring training and came north as the long man in the bullpen and, in a half-season, earned the confidence of his manager and his team.
Madson's ERA in relief is 1.19, which was the lowest among
National League relievers going into last night, and his 60 1/3 innings were second-most. He is a legitimate rookie of the year candidate, if there can be such a thing out of middle relief. That aside, though, Bowa had come to lean on Madson in tougher and tougher situations, and the kid had continued to respond.
"Sixth, seventh, eighth," Bowa said before the game, trying to describe Madson's elevated role. "If we have a lead in the fifth and need two innings, or if we're tied in the fifth...He's really the only guy who's flexible enough to pitch two innings [in a close game]."
Because, even though he has a seven-man bullpen, Bowa has two distinct classes of relievers. On the one hand, there are Wagner, Tim Worrell, Rheal Cormier and Madson - they're the four guys Bowa seems most willing to use to protect a lead. Then comes Roberto Hernandez, who's been better lately. Then comes Geary, who hasn't been better lately. Then comes Powell, who has been invisible lately - until last night, anyway, when they dragged him out of the shadows to mop up (one inning, three runs).
That this has come very close to overtaxing the Worrells and Cormiers is obvious. The question has been there for weeks, unasked and unanswered: If you have guys in your bullpen you can't use except to mop up, why are they there? Now, take away Wagner and Madson and it becomes official: The Phillies cannot survive this road trip without some immediate bullpen help. The stretch here is too hard, and too crucial - 13 road games in 14 days in four cities. And the Braves have now moved 1 ½ games ahead.
The trade deadline is no longer Saturday, not if the Phillies are serious about this thing.