Phillies place Madson on the DL

With the best offensive team in baseball coming to town, who needs a bullpen? The Phillies announced today that closer Ryan Madson has been placed on the disabled list with a bruised hand. Madson suffered the injury in late May against the Rangers and hasn't pitched since June 19th. Since his placement on the DL is retroactive, he could be back as soon as early next week.

To replace Madson on the roster, the Phillies have called up Andrew Carpenter. Look for Antonio Bastardo and Michael Stutes to continue to carry the load for a severely depleted Phillies bullpen. Let's hope every starter can go the distance against the Red Sox because the late innings could be a real adventure against that lineup.

Phillies dump Kendrick to minors

After his weak showing last night against the Cardinals, it was probably only a matter of time before the Phillies made this move: Kyle Kendrick has been demoted to Triple A. In his place, the team has called up Andrew Carpenter from Lehigh Valley.

Kendrick hasn't been terrible for the Phillies this season, posting a 4.82 ERA, but he also isn't someone you can rely on every 5th day, especially if you have a team trying to make a playoff run. The curious thing about the move, however, is that the Phillies really don't have anyone on the roster that can replace Kendrick in the rotation. While Carpenter was the pitcher called up, I can't imagine the Phils want to hand a rotation spot to a guy who has made one major league start.

If the Phillies don't have a trade in the works for another starter, the other likely scenario is that the team thinks J.A. Happ is finally ready to re-join the team. While Happ hasn't pitched particularly well in the minors in his rehab starts, the Phillies might feel comfortable enough in his mechanics to toss him back in the mix.

Either way, it looks like we won't be seeing Kyle Kendrick with the Phillies again for awhile. While he isn't to blame for the Phillies struggles this season, he also hasn't exactly helped.

Your 2010 Phillies Opening Day Roster

Finally, Spring Training is over and the Phillies are ready for the real games to begin. While the Phillies roster had basically been set for the last few weeks, the recent injury to Joe Blanton opened up an unexpected spot on the pitching staff. Enter Andrew Carpenter, the 24 year old with 6 innings of major league experience, who was recalled today. Carpenter has been a starter throughout his minor league career but the Phillies will ask hm to be a long relief man. I wouldn't expect him to get too much work in and wouldn't be surprised if he gets sent down after just a few games.

Your Phillies Opening Day Roster is set:

Infielders (6): Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Greg Dobbs, Juan Castro

Outfielders (5): Raul Ibanez, Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth, Ben Francisco, Ross Gload

Catchers (2): Carlos Ruiz, Brian Schneider

Starting Rotation (5): Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Kyle Kendrick, J.A. Happ, Jamie Moyer

Bullpen (7): Ryan Madson, Danys Baez, Chad Durbin, Jose Contreras, Antonio Bastardo, David Herndon, Andrew Carpenter

On the disabled list: Joe Blanton, Brad Lidge, J.C. Romero

Early pitching depth test: Phillies place 3 pitchers on the DL

The depth in the Phillies pitching staff will be tested early this year as the team placed 3 pitchers they are counting on in 2010 on the DL today. Two of them were expected as the Phillies finally made official what we all knew about Brad Lidge and J.C. Romero; the other was surprising considering it is Joe Blanton, who hasn't spent a day on the disabled list in his six major league seasons.

Lidge and Romero both weren't on track to start the season with the Phillies but neither is expected to be out for too long. In their absences, David Herndon and Antonio Bastardo will make the club and Ryan Madson will be the closer. The bullpen will definitely be shorthanded as the season starts.

As for Blanton, he will miss 3 to 6 weeks as he deals with a mild oblique strain. While this is good news for Kyle Kendrick, who jumps from the bullpen to the rotation, losing Blanton will be a blow, even if it's only for April. Since acquiring him in 2008, Blanton has been an anchor in the Phillies rotation, a guy that can be counted on every 5th day to go 6 innings and give up 3-4 runs. While Kendrick had a solid spring this year, there is no telling what the Phillies are going to get from him.

With Blanton going to the DL, a spot on the roster has opened up. The early word via the Phillies beat writers is that Andrew Carpenter will be called up to join the bullpen for Opening Day.

Losing Blanton hurts but it isn't crushing. He will only miss 4-8 starts right at the beginning of the year so it's hardly something that will hold the Phillies back for long, if at all. It's usually actually a good thing to get injuries like these out of the way in April and let guys get 100% healthy before they start their season. Of course, there is always the worry that an injury lingers all season long but Blanton has been nothing but healthy throughout his career so that might not be an issue with him. Lidge and Romero might be another story, though, hopefully their aches and pains don't turn them into question marks in the bullpen.

Condrey back to the DL, Kendrick, Register called up

Maybe the Phillies need to stop looking at starting pitching and start looking for bullpen help. Two days after the team placed J.C. Romero and Chad Durbin on the disabled list, the Phillies announced that they have added another bullpen piece to the DL: Clay Condrey. Condrey seemingly just came off the DL, but apparently his oblique strain is acting up again.

With the team up 5.5 games in the division, I still believe that now is a great time for the Phillies to rest their arms. If these injuries keep piling up, however, the Phillies will seriously have to look at adding an arm or two to a bullpen that is suddenly filled with very few pitchers that can be trusted.

To replace Condrey, the Phillies called up Steven Register from Lehigh. Register, who was claimed off waivers from the Rockies back in May, has very little major league experience, pitching in 10 games for Colorado last season. There can't be too much expected from him.

The Phillies also made one other move today, calling up Kyle Kendrick and sending Andrew Carpenter back to the minors. Not a very exciting move, since both bring about the same tools to the table, but perhaps the Phils wanted a fresh arm or someone with more MLB experience.

Once again, here are the latest bullpen roles for the team. There are definitely several guys in slots that are above their heads. Seeing Tyler Walker in a 7th inning role is frightening, the Phillies would be smart to look at Chan Ho Park in that spot.

Long relief:
Chan Ho Park
Kyle Kendrick

Situational Lefty:
Scott Eyre

6th inning:
Steven Register

7th inning:
Tyler Walker

8th inning:
Ryan Madson

Closer:
Brad Lidge

There goes the bullpen: Romero, Durbin to the DL

The bullpen has repeatedly been taxed all season long, going multiple innings after one Phillies starter after another has a short outing. That heavy workload has already forced Clay Condrey, Scott Eyre and Brad Lidge to be out for parts of the season, and now two more Phillies will spend some time on the DL.

J.C. Romero and Chad Durbin have both been placed on the 15 day disabled list. Romero hasn't pitched since July 19th, so he could be placed retroactive to that date, while Durbin pitched yesterday. Officially, Romero is out with a left forearm strain and Durbin has a right lat strain, but both pitchers are likely dealing with tired arms. With the Phillies up 6 games in the NL East and cruising, it's the right time to give the bullpen arms a rest. Losing each stretches the bullpen thinner, especially with Durbin's versatility and Romero's left-handedness, but if there was a time to rest the bullpen, it's now.

Called up in their places were Tyler Walker and Andrew Carpenter. Walker was just recently sent down to Lehigh and Carpenter was up early in the year and made a start against the Nationals.

The Phillies bullpen has been taxed all season long, so all of these injuries aren't surprising. The starting pitchers need to pitch their way deeper into games, or this 'pen could be completely worn out come playoff time. Of course, the acquisition of Roy Halladay, an innings eater, would be perfect. The strained bullpen also makes the signing of Pedro Martinez, a 5 inning guy, look puzzling.

As I like to do from time to time, I have updated the Phillies bullpen roles. These are just my best guess at what the roles will be for the bullpen pieces, although things like using Brad Lidge in a game where you have a 3 run deficit can still happen.

Long relief:
Chan Ho Park
Andrew Carpenter

Situational Lefty:
Scott Eyre

6th inning:
Tyler Walker

7th inning:
Clay Condrey

8th inning:
Ryan Madson

Closer:
Brad Lidge