Monday, June 22, 2009

Who needs relievers? Clay Condrey to the DL

It had been four days since they sent a player to the disabled list so you knew the Phillies were due. According to ESPN, Clay Condrey will be placed on the DL tomorrow with an oblique strain, to be replaced by lefty Sergio Escalona on the roster. Condrey joins fellow bullpen arms Brad Lidge and Scott Eyre, along with Raul Ibanez and of course Brett Myers, on the ever-growing list of injured Phillies. Don't forget to also add to that list Ryan Howard, who is iffy to play tomorrow as he recovers from being sick.

The Phillies bullpen is now stretched completely thin, as they are without their closer, lefty specialist and now their most reliable arm in Condrey. Condrey doesn't have amazing stuff, but he has gotten the job done time and time again this season. His loss on its own wouldn't be that big of a deal, but when you couple it with the rest of the walking wounded, the Phillies bullpen is certainly running on empty now.

Maybe the Phillies just want to keep things interesting on their reality show, "The Pen"? Perhaps they want to get as many pitchers in their system a chance to be on television as possible.

As always, I have updated the roles for the Phillies bullpen. This is just my best guess as to how these guys will be used, at this point several relievers are going to be used in situations that they are not best suited for. Durbin is versatile so I listed him twice.

Long relief:
Chan Ho Park
Chad Durbin

Lefty who can go multiple innings:
Jack Taschner

Lefty specialist:
Sergio Escalona

7th inning:
Tyler Walker

8th inning:
J.C. Romero
Chad Durbin

Closer:
Ryan Madson

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