From: seth@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (peter.r.clark..jr)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Phillys injuries
Date: 10 Apr 92 15:45:21 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: AT&T

In article <1992Apr9.210728.27107@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov>, frisbee@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov (Tyler Brown) writes:
> seth@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (peter.r.clark..jr) writes:
> 
> >They're paying Murph too much to sit him. He's gonna have to get real bad
> >before they bench him. I was just talking about this very problem with
> >Jeff Hildebrand earlier today. Remember that Jordan will also be back soon
> >and the original plan was to have Kruk play a little RF to get Jordan in
> >the lineup. So you're going to have Chamberlain, Dykstra, Amaro Jr.,
> >Murphy and Jordan through Kruk all vying for three spots in the lineup
> >and all too good to sit. Barring further injury the Phillies are going to
> >be forced into a trade by June, IMHO. The problem will be what to trade
>                                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> >for...but by June they should know what fine tuning they need. I think
>  ^^^          ^^^^                       ^^^^^^^^^^^
> >Dale Murphy will not be wearing a Phillies uniform at season's end...
> >
> 
> Fine tuning? June? Last time I checked, offense is, what, maybe half the game?

Offense wins games, defense wins championships. Pitching is part of defense.
I'll take a team with great defense over a team with great offense any day.
So no, offense isn't 1/2 the game. More like 1/3.
  
> It seems to me that two or three more decent pitchers might be kind of nice.

So what, with Kyle Abbott and Andy Ashby on the roster and Pat Combs and
Tyler Green down in Scranton, you think the Phillies should trade for more
starters? Trading Grimsley should have been enough to give you the picture.
This is a young staff. Except for Cox, Mulholland is the old man at 27(?).

> Right now it's Greene, Mulholland and pray for a power outage... Loss of
> DeJesus (maybe permanently), Mike Hartley, and the continued absence of
> Ken Howell bodes ill for the Phils.

Ken Howell? 31 years old and clearly injury prone. Forget him. He's gone
the day his contract is up. I'm more than confident that the current relief
staff is at least adequate. Barry Jones and Wally Ritchie should do the job.
Hartley will be a bonus when he comes back. Williams and Schilling should
do fine closing...if that's what the intend to use Schilling for...

> Coupled with key offensive injuries it
                                    ^
> looks like more-of-the-same for the hapless Phils. (And it looked SO GOOD
> just a few weeks ago...).
> 
> 				frisbee

Make that singular. Ricky Jordan was going to be a part time player anyway.
Dykstra is the only key offensive injury and from all reports he's only going
to be out for two weeks. Geeez, what the heck do you want? Amaro has been solid
in his two starts (no hits yesterday, but he was ripping the ball and got
robbed twice on good defensive plays...defense wins championships) and has
already made some fine plays in center. He'll be FINE until Lenny comes
back. Of all the things you mentioned, the only thing that really worries
me is Danny Cox. I think he's washed up. He can't go more than 6 innings
in a game. He's still got the ability to shut a team down (like last night)
but he could just as easily give up 7 runs in two innings. I really wish
Fregosi had gone with Combs. But on the other hand, it might not be such
a bad thing to have Combs in the wings to replace Cox instead of Cox waiting
in the wings for Combs...

The biggest problem for the Phils right now as I see it is defense up the
middle and lack of speed in the bases. And it would be nice to maybe have
one more guy who was a consistant get on base type of guy. Think about it,
though. Sure, they don't have a proven top HR hitter, but with Kruk, Daulton,
Murphy, Chamberlain, Hollins (who COULD be that guy anyway) and Dykstra
all chipping them in, plus Jordan if he gets playing time, this team is
going to hit about as many HR's as any other team. And with Dykstra around
for a whole season (most of one anyway :-) you HAVE to pencil Kruk in to go
over 100 RBI this year. Then there's Batiste who I guess I forgot about.
He'll be an important part of the offense...I'm too lazy to edit the part
above, you can make injuries plural again I guess...but I'm not sure what
he's going to do for the offense. He'll probably also get his share of
HR's.

At least, that's my not-so-humble opinion...

pete clark jr.
att!hos1cad!seth
 GO PHILS!!! 2-1...bring on those Bucs...