Brett Myers will need hip surgery and there’s no reason to expect him back this season. If you’ve got him on your fantasy team (as I did), dump him immediately. The Phillies already have problems with their rotation, with Chan Ho Park and Jamie Moyer both struggling. They will be shopping around for a starting pitcher starting today. Expect a deal with someone before the end of next week. Brad Penny of the Red Sox looks like a possible target. If the Phillies weren’t the defending world champions and had nothing to lose, they might just take a chance with Pedro Martinez, who remains unsigned.
Brett Myers probably has a frayed labrum, which would require surgery and probably keep him off the mound until at least September. I did not go to Med School, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, so I can tell you that the labrum has something to do with the socket where the femur attaches to the hip. Apparently that joint is supposed to be spherical, but in most people it’s not spherical and it can lead to injury with repetitive use. So just sitting in your Lazy Boy eating potato chips all day and occasionally reading my ramblings is exactly what you should be doing to protect your precious labrum.
Myers has only been mediocre this season, so it’s probably not a huge loss to the Phillies. I did have him on my fantasy team, but I’ve got a good feeling about this guy I’ve brought in to replace him. He’s former All Star Dontrelle Willis, now playing for the Tigers, and I’ve heard he’s been pretty much lights out in the minors as he recovers from anxiety attacks that caused his career to fall apart. Let’s hope he can be a major league caliber pitcher once again and can fill in while Myers gets checked out by the specialists at the Bo Jackson Center for Hip Repair.
Call me a reactionary, but after watching Brad Lidge’s performance against the Yankees today and looking at what he’s done this season, I think he should just retire. Lidge gave up 3 earned runs in the 9th inning and recorded just one out as he blew a save and lost the game for the Phillies. He laid a fastball right over the plate for Alex Rodriguez, who pounded it out to right field for a 2-run homer to tie the game. Melky Cabrera would later drive in Robinson Cano for the walk-off hit — his second in the past 10 days.
Lidge’s ERA is now quickly approaching 10.00 for the season. I think at some point you’ve got to look at this guy who is supposed to close games for the Phils and realize that you can’t afford to allow him to give up a run an inning. The Phillies had played too well to give up a 2-run lead in the 9th inning.
It only took the Mets 2 hits to beat the Phillies by a score of 1-0 tonight. Of course, the Phillies only had 3 hits themselves against Johan Santana, who is battling Zach Greinke for the title of Best Pitcher in Baseball. There’s not much else to share about this game, other than the fact that Chan Ho Park might have pitched the best game of the last 5 years of his career. He looked a lot like that Chan Ho Park that came across the Pacific and baffled hitters while wearing a Dodgers uniform in the mid-90’s.
I don’t want to jinx anything, but journeyman starter Chan Ho Park is doing something through 3 innings against the Mets. Now if he can just do that through the other 2/3rds of the game, my fantasy team will look fantastic this week. The Phillies bats are looking weak tonight — they have just one hit against perennial Cy Young candidate Johan Santana.
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