Road To 10,000 Losses: 9991 Down, 9 To Go

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies’ 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. The Phillies stand at 9991 losses, only 9 away from 10,000.

A lot has happened since the last time I’ve written about the Phils. (More on this absence tomorrow.) Basically, although the Phillies have climbed over .500, the season’s pretty much over because the Phils are one injury away from re-signing Jim Bunning and having him start every other game the rest of the season. And if that doesn’t work, they’ll have to sign me, and although I have a wicked curve, my fastball tops out at around 82 and I don’t have the control of Jamie Moyer.

Phillies starters Jon Lieber and Freddy Garcia are both on the disabled list and are probably both out for the season. Tom Gordon and Brett Myers are supposed to be off the DL soon, but, ah, yeah, we’ll all believe that when we see it. This leaves the Phillies starting rotation with three players, one of whom (Adam Eaton) has an ERA over five. The bullpen has Jose Mesa, Clay Condrey, Lefty Grove, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Cy Young and Lil Stoner (the best baseball name ever). Unfortunately for the Phillies, only one of those pitchers (Condrey) is alive, although Grove did pick up a win last week.

The bullpen is a mess, and now the starting rotation has somehow become an even bigger mess. The problem is, the Phillies had a guy who might’ve helped in the rotation this season. His name is Justin Germano, and he is 5-1 with a 2.67 ERA. How recently did the Phillies have him? Oh, they fleeced the Reds last season, trading Rheal Cormier for him. But despite going 2-0 with a sub-three ERA in Scranton after the Phillies traded for him last year and a 4.50 ERA in spring training this season, the Phillies decided he wasn’t in their plans and placed him on waivers.

As for the bullpen, Justin Miller was with the Phillies’ AAA affiliate this season and is now in the Florida Marlins’ ‘pen with an ERA just over three. The Phillies released him from Ottawa so they could sign more of Pat Gillick’s friends.

Anyway, the Phils are only 3.5 games back of the first-place Mets, which is pretty amazing considering the Phillies were 28-29 and 8 games back on June 4. Unfortunately, that a team averaging 5.09 runs a game in the National League is only three games over .500 is pretty amazing, too.

Oh, and here’s who’s starting the first game of the doubleheader Friday:

The Phillies, Durbin’s fourth team, claimed Durbin from the Red Sox on April 13, after Boston designated him for assignment. He spent Spring Training with the Twins, but was claimed off waivers by the Diamondbacks on March 29. He appeared in one game for Arizona, and allowed seven earned runs in two-thirds of an inning, compiling a 94.50 ERA.

Update: Yeah, I miscounted when I put my original post up. Stupid evolution, not giving me enough fingers to properly do simple arithmetic.

Oh, let’s update again: Jason Weitzel on Durbin: “Last season, managers rated his curveball as the best breaking pitch in the International League. Baseball America had him as the Twins 10th best prospect this season, which would probably [definitely—dmac.] make him a top 5-10 player in the Phillies’ system.” He might be able to pitch a nice game Friday, especially since the Mets won’t know what to expect. Hey, optimism!

Archives: Road to 10,000 Losses