Lost amidst all the doom and gloom of Phillies fans over the first few games of the season was how good the Phillies bullpen has been.
In the first game, the bullpen pitched 3 perfect innings in relief of Brett Myers. They didn’t allow a baserunner in their 3 innings.
In the 2nd game, in relief of Jamie Moyer, the pen pitched 4 innings of perfect baseball.
The last game of the Braves series saw the bullpen falter a bit. The pen gave up 3 hits and 4 runs in 5 innings of work.
Overall, that’s 12 innings of work with 3 hits and 4 runs. That’s very impressive.
The bullpen is going to be a major strength of this team again. It’s going to be tough to get through the first 50 games without J.C. Romero, but I think the team can do it. Jack Taschner, who brought his own ring to the Ring Ceremony yesterday, was a great pickup by the team in order to get through the first part of the season without Romero. The Phillies are going to have Taschner perform the way he has so far this season if they are going to get through the Romero suspension.
The Phillies need to get their offense in order so the bullpen can perform the way it should. With Ryan Madson coming in during the 8th and getting the game to Lights Out Lidge, this bullpen is great. Effectively, they bring the game down to 7 innings. That is huge for a manager.
The ultimate success of the 2009 Phillies will hinge on the pitching, both starters and relievers. The offense will come, it’s up to the pitchers to get this team in position to win.
-KK
(Photo courtesy of The Fightins’.)
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