As in Brennan.  One of the reasons I remain optimistic about this team is the return of Brennan King - since coming back from his thumb injury which kept him sidelined for 19 games, he’s only hitting .341 with 5 Home Runs and 11 RBI.  He smacked another one out yesterday, his seventh, in Ottawa’s 2-1 win in Toledo.  The Lynx have a nice little win streak going coming home, setting them up nicely for a four game set with Scranton, their home last year (or this year, depending on where you get your news).

Blog favorite Charlie Weatherby is another bright spot - he went five strong innings on Thursday, giving up only one run.  Recent “Scranton” call up, Landon Jacobsen was surprisingly solid last night, pitching six innings of scoreless ball.  The bullpen came through once again, limiting the Mud Hens to just one run.  Hopefully things will settle down roster wise and the guys will stay on track.  The addition of Yoel Hernandez is welcome news.

  Congratulations to J.J. on making the All Star Team - pity the baserunner that challenges his arm in Albuquerque.

It looks to be a fantastic weekend for baseball with the heat and humidity from earlier this week long gone (truth be told, I prefer the hotter weather).  Expect lots of noise from the birthday party suite tomorrow -  we’re celebrating Zak’s February birthday tomorrow.  We’re particularly fond of the “RO (pause) BER (pause) SON!!” cheer, so help out if you’re in the stands.

See you at the park!

Man, oh man.  The “eh?-P”, err, AP is really bringing it this morning -

“Philadelphia recalled catcher Chris Coste from Double-A Reading and right-hander J.D. Durbin from Triple-A Scranton. Durbin will start the first game of a day-night doubleheader Friday against the Mets. The Phillies optioned right-hander Yoel Hernandez to Scranton.”

A little respect is all we’re asking for, ‘kay?  I know I use terms like “brutal” and “obviously” too often, but that story is just obviously brutal.

<Sharp exhale>

Moving on.  So things get clearer from a roster standpoint - with the Phillies sitting 3 back of the first place Mets, J.D. is thrust into the middle of a very important (but probably not yet decisive) four game series.  Will J.A. Happ find himself in the same position tomorrow?  Considering that no one’s pulled the trigger on a deal to bring another SP to Philly, I’m going to go out on a limb and say “yes”.  Here’s hopin’ for both of them.

With Chris Coste back with the Phillies, will Ottawa shed a catcher?  My guess is that Tim Gradoville will be returned to Reading - if for no other reason than he could use the playing time.  Landon Jacobsen, whom I profiled (badly) here, has been called up to replace J.D., and as the “story” indicates, Yoel Hernandez has been sent down.  Other roster moves I missed include the call up of SP Ryan Cameron from Reading and a move down for Joey Hammond to the AA affiliate.  Poor guy; I have no idea how he’s worked out his living arrangements this year.

Zack Segovia continues to pick up steam, striking out eight over six innings in Reading’s 6-3 win over Harrisburg last night.   The Lake Monsters have slipped a little, losing their last three in a row - they now sit 5-5 for the season.

This is referred to as “stringing someone along”:
“J.A. Happ is getting the nod to make his Major League debut Saturday against the New York Mets. While fans are anxious to see the left-hander take to the mound in Philadelphia, his debut could be pushed back, if…J.A. Happ would figure to be ready for his big league debut. Phillies scouts have been watching him closely, looking to determine just when he was ready for a trip to Philadelphia or some other Major League city for his Phillies debut. After a discussion about Happ, the Phillies have decided that Happ is ready and the right choice to face the NL East leading New York Mets on Saturday.
The strange part of the move is that it wasn’t made with any great announcement or proclamation. Instead, the Phillies simply put a note on their pre-game notes Wednesday listing Happ as the starter for Saturday’s game when he’ll be opposed by Jorge Sosa (6-3, 3.79) as the two teams battle for the division lead. In other words, the Phillies are bringing up their top prospect to face their main obstacle to a division title and it rated just a mention on pre-game notes. Strange.

So, why might the Phillies not trumpet the move?

The Phillies are working the phones, looking to make a move to bring a veteran starting pitcher to Philadelphia and would slot him into Saturday’s game against the Mets. That is, if they can find one and make a deal; quickly.

Unfortunately for the Phillies, Tomo Ohka is the only potential move that looks doable before the Mets hit town. Ohka went 2-5 with a 5.79 ERA with Toronto before being released. The Cardinals assigned him to Triple-A Memphis and he seemed to be just as bad in his first start when he allowed four earned runs over five innings. He made his second start Monday night - yes, that puts him on the perfect path to start again Saturday - and pitched well, allowing three earned runs over eight innings of work. Where it gets interesting is that according to Ohka’s contract with St. Louis, he must either be added to the Major League roster by Thursday or he can opt out of his deal. As for the Cardinals, they are doing what they can to keep him around, but they don’t have a spot in the Major League rotation for him right now. They could talk him into staying and making a few more starts in the minors or they could simply take their chances.

One scenario would be for the Cardinals to decide they would rather have Ohka than Mike Maroth, who they added from the Detroit Tigers last week. That would leave them open to dealing Maroth to the Phillies, if they would be interested and at this point, their interest is only mild at best when it comes to Maroth.

Keep an eye on whether Ohka decides to trust the Cardinals and stay in their minor league system or whether he decides to cut himself loose and look for greener pastures in a place like Philadelphia.

Pat Gillick could simply look to the visitor’s clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park for another option, but he better move quick. The Phillies have asked about Kyle Lohse (3-10, 5.02) and the Reds are in the mood to dump salary and would quickly move Lohse in the right deal. The problem is that he is scheduled to pitch against the Phillies Thursday night, so if Lohse is the man, the Phillies literally have just hours left to swing a deal. Lohse is a free agent after the season and is owed about $2.1 million for the rest of this season, which could fit into the Phillies payroll options.

The Baltimore Orioles are also looking to make some changes and would move Steve Trachsel (5-6, 4.55). The Phillies have talked to the Orioles about Trachsel, who spent much of his career in the National League. If they were to get Trachsel, they would owe him just under $1.6 million for this season and would hold a $4.75 million option for next season. The Phillies and Orioles are no strangers and their discussions go back to last winter when they nearly hooked up on a deal to send Pat Burrell to the O’s, but Burrell refused to waive his no-trade clause.

For now though, Happ is the choice for the Phillies and will make his Major League debut in a key game against the New York Mets. Of course, if the right phone call comes through for the Phillies, Happ could be making his Saturday start not against the Mets, but against the Yankees; at least against their Triple-A affiliate when the Lynx host the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees north of the border.” (scout.com)

Nice.   You’re “the guy” we’re going to  J.A. - unless you’re not.  I understand that this is all a part of the game and that J.A. accepts that it’s just a possibility that he’ll have his MLB debut on Saturday, but still….

The other thing which is still very unclear is the whereabouts of Romero.  He’s on the Lynx roster, but according to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Todd Zolecki, he pitched a simulated game in the GCL just yesterday.

Suffice it to say: I don’t think we’ve got a good idea about who’s pitching for the Lynx right now.

I’m as confused as you are.  This was a story that I’d “double sourced” - J.D. Durbin was/is supposed to be on his way to Philadelphia for a Friday start.

From MLB.com:

PHILADELPHIA — J.D. Durbin’s early-season waiver odyssey has finally brought him to Philadelphia.

The right-hander will have his contract purchased by the team on Friday and will start start the first game of that day’s double-header vs. the Mets. Manager Charlie Manuel said after Sunday’s game that he planned to start Cole Hamels in the night game.

I wonder if there’s a difference between being officially called up, and, as the article states, being told you will be called up - i.e. “(Durbin) will have his contract purchased by the team on Friday…”. In any event, it seems odd that they would let him pitch last night - unless they didn’t want him going almost a week without pitching.

All of which is to say, I don’t know what the heck is goin’ on.

The bit in the article which didn’t catch my eye until this morning is troubling - at least from a Lynx perspective:

The Phillies still need a starter for Saturday’s game, and J.A. Happ appears to be the leading candidate. The prospect started for Triple-A Ottawa on Sunday.

So, in a little more than a week’s time we lose Clay Condrey, J.D. Durbin, J.A. Happ (tentative) and Zack Segovia. Matt Smith and Joe Bisenius are on the DL. Can you say “decimated”? Is it just me, or does anyone else find it a little odd that Philadelphia has only called on Ottawa for pitchers? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think any position players have moved up to the big club, even if it was for only a game or two. I suppose that this is an indicator of the depth of the Phillies roster outside of pitching, and the fact that hitting and defense haven’t been the problem for them this year; Exhibit A - last night they roughed up Homer Bailey’s Reds to the tune of 11-4.

Finally, even though they went on to lose in 12 innings, it was nice to see Howie Clark continue to contribute in Toronto. He came off the bench to pinch hit in the 8th inning last night, hitting a sac-fly that tied the game at 1.

(Patrick returns!) 

For a while there I thought I might have been a jinx. I managed to make it out to 6 of 8 games against the Columbus Clippers and Toledo Mudhens respectively. I was on vacation and even attended Thursday afternoons “getaway day” contest. Going into Thursdays game the Lynx had lost all 5 games that I was there for. Was I bad mojo? For the matinee, I took off my Mudhens wristband and slipped it into my back-pack. Bingo! The Lynx won in dramatic style in 10 innings. The curse was broken.

Hopefully the boys will turn their luck around on the road and in the future, I’ll leave any visiting team paraphernalia at home. Here are some images from this past homestand.

Brandon Watson of the Columbus Clippers breaks the International League hitting streak, arriving safely 43 games straight. Hat’s off to you, sir!

Jim Rushford out on a close play.

Toledo’s Henry Mateo doubles. Gary Burnham looks on.

Mudhens score.

Chris Roberson makes the game winning run. Dig the crowd reaction.

Celebrate! Lynx win.

See you June 30th. - Posted by Patrick Shanks.

Reviewing the headlines from Philadelphia’s win in St. Louis, I noted that not only did Brian Sanches have a great game (two “near-perfect” innings in relief), but Clay Condrey’s gone back up - apparently to fill Jon Lieber’s spot.   Unfortunately, the Lynx could have used him in yesterday’s heartbreaking loss to Columbus.  J.J. had a great game, going 3-4 with a double and four RBI, lifting his average to .259 (blogger: I know it’s a little thing, but I find it annoying when a hometown radio announcer can’t pronounce the names of players.  Granted J.J’s got a tough one, but come on.  Do your/some homework.)

The pitching debate continues over at scout.com:

“Los Angeles Dodgers famed announcer Vin Scully often says that if you want to make God smile, tell him your plans for the next six months. The Phillies made plans in April to deal a starting pitcher, since their numbers so deep. Now, as the season approaches its mid-point, the team seems a starter short. The team will soon compile a checklist of trade possibilities…just for starters…To the average baseball layman, the list appeared deep, powerful and versatile. Brett Myers and Cole Hamels to anchor a staff as the young and dynamic righty-lefty duo. The moxie of Jamie Moyer and the experience of Jon Lieber. Added to this Almost Fantastic Four were the righty slants of former San Diego Padre ace, Adam Eaton and 17 game winner Freddy Garcia.
Certainly, here was a group of starting pitchers that could withstand the advances of the New York Mets, slay the dragons from the Atlanta Braves and lay waste to any possible hindrances thrown their way by teams like the St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres or Los Angeles Dodgers.In fact, the staff was so deep that it appeared a mere formality to move the veteran Jon Lieber in a trade for either a relief pitcher or a young power hitting outfielder…“

The rest is available here, sans subscription.

PhuturePhillies also gets it’s two cents in - pretty close to my own in terms of picks.

*** UPDATE ***

News from the Reading Phillies site - Randy Ruiz has been promoted to Ottawa.  More later.

Came across this early this morning in the Reading Eagle.  Here’s the quote that I thought about during the morning ride in the hills:

“The slider, Segovia’s money pitch, seemed to dip in value at Ottawa. It looked to be back to its former luster Saturday, though, especially after Segovia escaped jams in the third and fourth innings…

“I’ve really struggled with my slider recently,” Segovia said. “It was good to throw a couple and get some swings and misses early. And then Coste, the way Coste kept putting it down, I saw that he had confidence.

“That gave me a little more confidence. He continued to go to it. It felt good. And then I fed off of it, trying to locate the fastball whenever I needed it, and that’s what got me through the seven innings.”  (Emphasis mine).

I really have to start paying more attention to the game when I’m there - what I have noticed is that for the most part, it seems that J.J. is calling his own games.  For certain batters, he’ll look into the dugout for a sign from John Russell or Rod Nichols, but to my unsophisticated eye that happens fairly rarely.  What I’m wondering is if both Zack and J.J. began to shy away from the slider as it became less effective - sort of a Catch 22 (i.e.  it doesn’t get used because it’s not working, but it’s not working because it’s not being used).

“Segovia is still struggling with location,” explained manager John Russell. “His stuff has been good but when he’s getting his pitches over, they get too much of the plate.”

Hmmm.  In any event, my feeling is/was that Zack’s only “problem” was confidence.  Here’s hoping for a string of wins to bring it (and him) back.

Today is the start of the East Nepean Little League championships.  Our boys went down 8-6 this a.m. and will play for the bronze at 4.

Gotta bounce….

*** UPDATE ***

And we’re back.  Don’t ask about the game by the way….  Lately my blog goals have been to get at least one post out a day - hopefully something meaningful.  Unfortunately, I’ve been really pressed for time this week and a lot of stuff has backed up.  There have been some very interesting developments up in Philadelphia.  It seems that the injury to starting pitcher, Jon Lieber, is worse than initially thought; he may require surgery and be lost for the season:

“With Lieber sidelined, the Phillies will need pitchers for one game of Friday’s doubleheader and for Saturday’s game against the New York Mets. Amaro said the Phillies likely will call up pitchers from the minors to make those starts.”

But just yesterday it was being reported that Eude Brito had been removed from the 40 man roster to make room for J.C. Romero, recently released by Boston.

“Amaro said Class AAA left-hander Matt Smith’s elbow injury is more serious than the Phillies believed, and there are few other options in the minors. And because Boston released Romero, the Phillies will have to pay him only a prorated portion of the major-league minimum salary ($380,000) if he gets called up, with the Sox on the hook for the rest of his $1.6 million salary.”

Hmmm. Curiouser and curioser. If I was a betting man, I would think that J.D. Durbin might get a shot. Unfortunately, Bubba Nelson flamed out when it mattered most; I believe Phillies assistant GM, Mike Arbuckle was in the stands on June 20 when the Mud Hens lit him up. Dark horse? Charlie Weatherby. Desperation move? Carlos Carrasco (in Reading). Not because I don’t think he’s a fine pitcher (one of the Phils top, if not the top pitching prospect), but because it would be rushing him - he just left Clearwater. J.A. Happ would be a strong candidate, but they’ve likely still got him on a low pitch count given his recent injury which takes him out of the running.

In any event, injuries and the trade deadline should make for a lot of movement and good blog material!

Sorry, took my foot off the gas today and turned my attention to other things - before I know it, it’s 7.20 p.m. and the blog’s still waitin’.  Just a couple of quick things for today/tonight - the weekend should give me some quality blogging time so I won’t shortchange some other planned topics.

Great start for the Vermont Lake Monsters (VLM) - they’ve opened up their season 3-0 out of the gates.  For those who don’t know, the VLM are owned by Mr. Pecor - also the owner of the Ottawa Lynx.  The VLM took two from the Tri-City Valley Cats (the Cats make Troy, New York, their home) on opening night and another last night to complete the sweep.  While I was poking around the VLM website, I couldn’t help but notice this bit of irony:

“Due to construction of a new parking area at historic Centennial Field, parking at the ballpark will be limited this season.The paved parking area at Centennial will be open during the entire season, but the dirt half of the parking lot will not be available until early August as construction is under way to improve that area of the lot. “

Parking lot “issue” notwithstanding, I’m envious. The people over in Winooski (near Burlington) certainly have a couple of things I covet - baseball and, reportedly, great cycling terrain. My curiosity has pushed part of our planned summer baseball trip through New York in 2008 (Cooperstown, Yankee Stadium, etc.) and some of the NY-Penn league cities ahead of schedule; we plan to head down for a weekend road trip to see the Lake Monsters sometime this year.

Heaven help them, can the “Unofficial Vermont Lake Monsters blog” be far off?

Sunset over Centennial Field.

ottawalynxblog.com is closing in on 10,000 hits.  Actually, by the time you read this, the counter on the right hand side of the page may well have ticked by that magical number.  April, May and June have been pretty special for the blog, with over 2,000 visits for April and May, with June on track for a new monthly record.  For some reason, Monday of this week saw the biggest single day ever with over 250 hits.  Believe me, I never thought it would get to 10,000 - in September of last year, I think the counter rolled by 300 for the entire month (and 280 of those were probably my own proof-reading visits).  I’ve never been entirely confident about or comfortable with the editorial content or direction of the blog (blogger:  This blog has a direction?), but my philosophy has been that as long as people keep coming (and I don’t get hammered by negative email), I’ll just keep pluggin’ away.   There have been many evenings and early mornings where I pause at the keyboard and think “Do you really want to put this out there?”, before hitting “enter”.   It’s usually a 50-50 proposition; a lot of stuff has been held back.

The question I’m most frequently asked is “Why do you do it?” and you would think that I would have a stock, scripted response by now, but I don’t.  Initially the blog served as a forum for me to vent some of my frustration about how the media was portraying the organization.  It let me “push back” - even if no one was reading.  The blog continued to evolve during the off-season, becoming a bit of a diversion to get me through a winter without baseball - I couldn’t have the game day experience, but I could write about it, remember and look forward with anticipation.  Presently it serves as a means to recap games, post photos and video, and to occasionally comment on the media.

If I’m going to be honest though, that’s all a bit of a “dodge”.  The real reason has been written here many times.  It’s contained in the 600 (ish) posts - sometimes explicitly, but usually between the lines.  And once more, in the interest of full disclosure, it’s in my nature to overthink things, and to see stuff that may not necessarily be there.  This is why I believe that the question people are really asking me isn’t “Why do you do it?” so much as it is “Why do you care?”.  Again: it’s all in the blog.  I’m not a terribly “deep” person - the answer’s pretty transparent.

Thanks again for stopping by!