Opposing batters are batting close to 380 against phelps this year, but he is by no means garbage. He is useful against lefties and was very solid last year. Bump pitching 50 pitches the other day is not that big a deal because he was a starter he whole life up until he made it to the majors. Control is his problem which he will work on. The pen has done very well. Go marlins. Keep up the good work pen.

Yeah Bump got knocked around a bit last night. But from where I was sitting it looked like Fletcher was not only inconsistent, but had a very tight strike zone. Bump was trying to catch the edges with no help from Fletcher, so he ended up putting them over the plate. Bump doesn't have the movement of some other guys, so if he can't pick his spots...he gets in trouble.

 

Phelps made a mistake by leaving the slider up.....another 3-4 inches further down and it could have been a DP ball to Castillo.

The problem with Phelps is that though he is decent against lefties I think Perisho is becoming the LH Specialist especially is someone like Justin ayne solidifies the 7th inning slot. If Phelps is not the LH Specialist he will be forces to be long man and I don't thinkthat is his best role.

 

As for possible AAA additions to the Marlins:

 

Matt Blank 12.1 IP 0.89 WHIP, 1.46 ERA, 11 k's, 2 walks

Frank Gracesqui 11 IP, 1.00 WHIP, 2.45 ERA, 10 k's, 5 walks

Toby Borland 10.1 IP, 1.06 WHIP, 1.74 ERA 8 K's, 4 walks

Michael Tejera 12IP 1.07 WHIP, 2.77 ERA, 10 K's, 5 walks

Ben Howard 10.1 IP, 1.16 WHIP, 2.61 ERA, 8 k's, 7 walks

 

I have no idea who Matt Blank is other than some poor outings a few years back. Gracesqui had a fantastic spring. Do any of us have faith in Toby Borland? Howard I agree will be on our staff, but he needs to harness his control. We all seem to have forgotten abut Tejera very quickly. He could return at some point.

Keep your eye on Ben Howard - he may be in our bullpen before the season is over. Also, Wayne has put together some nice outings.

 

I still think Bump and Phelps are solid enough to keep their jobs, Phelps is our only lefty out of the pen. I am not sure what happened to Tejera Bump is nothing great and can be replaced, but I do like him. These guys just didnt throw strikes last night.

Didn't throw strikes? Why do you think they gave up hits? They did throw strikes but their location was off. The one walk Bump had was INTENTIONAL. Bump threw 10 pitches, 5 were strikes while at least four were for an intentional walk.

Can we all agree now that Nate Bump needs a trip back to AAA?

 

Once again he gets burned because he falls behind batters....he falls behind batters because he doesn't have the confidence to put batters away. I say that since Jack and Rosy seem to be very hard on Nate...that tells me they know he is getting away from his game.

 

Anyhow....it is time to make a move with Bump.

Fox's slider isn't breaking, that is a Coors problem I think. We'll see this weekend if his slider starts breaking again or not.

 

Bump has been recovering fine. He came in and got two key Ks and almost nailed down the third on Clayton, but he fouled off some pitches and guessed right on the fastball. Giving up a hit to Vinny Castilla isn't something rare, and everyone has bad experiences anyways.

 

Maybe this is the pen becoming human again. Maybe this is the pen just being affected by Coors Field. We find out starting on Thursday (or whenever our starters not named Oliver decide to let the pen pitch).

Fox's slider isn't breaking, that is a Coors problem I think. We'll see this weekend if his slider starts breaking again or not.

 

Bump has been recovering fine. He came in and got two key Ks and almost nailed down the third on Clayton, but he fouled off some pitches and guessed right on the fastball. Giving up a hit to Vinny Castilla isn't something rare, and everyone has bad experiences anyways.

 

Maybe this is the pen becoming human again. Maybe this is the pen just being affected by Coors Field. We find out starting on Thursday (or whenever our starters not named Oliver decide to let the pen pitch).

I agree with you on Bump, Fox should have been on the bench tonight taking a day off.

 

Jack sucked tonite.

Juanky,

 

No disrespect but you make it sound as if Bump was the victim of a bad break. He allowed all three runners he inherited to score and then gave up two of his own. No matter how anyone wants to frame it...that is the outcome.

Clayton had a smart at bat, fouled off two very good pitches with the count 3-2, and ended up singling on a pitch he knew was coming because Bump had to locate and Clayton was flicking the sinker off foul, waiting on the fastball. He had to get it eventually, and he did.

 

Vinny Castilla is a good hitter. Sorry. You don't hit cleanup for a major league team and suck.

 

Stuff happens. I still trust the pen.

We are all entitled to a different opinion on Bump and if he remains with the team I hope your are right and I am proven wrong. That being said, his past three apperances have provided these results:

 

5.1 Innings Pitched, 7 Hits, 7 Earned Runs

11.82 ERA

1.68 WHIP

 

And of course the inherited runners tonight were huge.

I personally don't even think he should have been pitching tonight. Send in Benitez, that is a closer situation. But w/e, better he goes through his bumps in the road now (no pun intended) then later when we are trying to pull away.

Bump, Phelps, Fox and all the guys we have are quality arms capable of getting guys out but McKeon needs to use them right.

 

There is absolutly no reason why Nate Bump should have come in Sunday after throwing 50 pitches on the mound (plus the amount he threw warming up in the 'pen) against the Phillies. He should have been well rested for Coors where his ability to induce groundballs (greater than a 2:1 ground to fly ratio!) would have been more valuable. That mistake hurt us Sunday when the Braves were able to blow up a 2-2 game, it hurt us this game and will continue to hurt us until Bump is given some time to rest and get his mechanics and control in order. Everybody else remember the last few years screaming when AJ and the cast were abused by Torberg? Overuse causes it! Once a pitcher's mechanics are off the chances of injury rise.

The same for Chad Fox last Wednesday (a game we won, but Fox pitched awful). Although I think confidence may be a factor for him. He seems to coast on it. Certainly not a good idea to pitch him in Coors with the light air affecting the movement on his pitches.

 

 

And again, questionable call by McKeon to bench Choi against the easiest lefty starter to hit in the league. Can't fault him on the baserunning errors, those were called by Cox.

Lemme just say as the starter of this thread...IT"S COLORADO AND IT"S ONE GAME!! We'll be fine...Bump shouldnt have been in and Mando should have been after Fox blew it. Chad will be fine...The team will be fine and it's our first bad loss of the season.....WHOOPITY FREAKIN DO....

I hate when people say "omg dont worry doods!" when nobody is actually freaking out. Of course we know its only one game.

 

 

Bump has exceeded at least my expectations thus far this season.

Agreed. Harris is a waste of space on our team. Cant field anywhere and can barely get the bat around. He was a mercy signing.

 

 

Damn thats pretty bad, but I think his usage has caused that. Nobody has hit a jack off him yet, which I like. Sounds like we have an intelligent baseball fan in Marlino. Post more often dood!

I agree that if anyone should be sent down it should be Harris, but I don't think we'll need a seventh reliever. Maybe in late May or June when off days are less common. Our bullpen has seen a lot of work recently because of some extra inning games and short starts from Beckett, Pavano and Willis. I don't expect that to continue. Anyways, we're having trouble finding Wayne and Phelps into games. And I don't even think any one but Perisho, Fox and Benitez pitched the first week of the season. A seventh reliever isn't really necessary. A rain out might. A strong 7 or 8-inning performance would.

 

I do think we need to address the lack of speed off the bench. And the lack of a good defensive middle infielder to spell Alex and Luiy. Bring up Valdez.

Harris = Mordi.

 

 

Mordi is more valuable.

 

 

Harris has done nothing on the field this year.

 

 

Perisho might do a damn good job this year.....Jury is still out.

 

 

Tejera is not better than Phelps and Perisho. That much I am pretty sure of.

 

 

When your lead pinch runner is Mordi.....you know you are lacking speed on your bench.