Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay are pitchers on a level with very few other pitchers.
However, they can’t pitch every game so the rest of the pitchers in the Phillies starting rotation were Kyle Kendrick, Vance Worley, Joe Blanton and a variety of other pitchers.
Kyle Kendrick
Photo Credit: Steve Trapani
I have serious issues with Kyle Kendrick. I mean, I have written often about my despise for him and well, it’s still there.
However, I have to give credit where credit is due: Kendrick pitched pretty decently for the most part in 2012. (Pauses to stop the convulsions that accompanied with writing that statement.)
Ok, I’m back. And still alive, I think.
Kendrick bounced between the bullpen and the starting rotation all season, finally solidifying a spot when Joe Blanton was traded to the Dodgers.
He finished the season with 3.90 ERA and stepped up at times when the Phillies had serious needs. He pitched a couple of games with 5 or less hits including 1 Complete Game Shut-out. He definitely had a career year and for that I congratulate him.
And I beg Ruben Amaro Jr to break whatever hold KK has over him and TRADE HIM!!!
Photo Credit: PHL17.com
Vance Worley
Vance Worley had a very wrong direction season. After a spectacular rookie season that guaranteed him a spot in the star studded rotation.
Unfortunately, the Cinderella season for Worley was last year, not this one.
After getting off to a decent start, the season went down hill. He ended the season with a 4.20 and was pretty much a waste. He spent a good portion of May on the DL and when he came back, everyone could tell that there was still issues with is elbow.
For me, it wasn’t scientific, just clear, he wasn’t pitching right and he was costing the Phillies games that they really needed to win.
The Phillies officially ended his season on August 29th. He had elbow surgery not too long after that.
Here’s to hoping that 2013 will be more like 2011 and nothing like 2012.
Photo Credit: Steve Trapani
Joe Blanton
Joe Blanton was, well, Joe Blanton. Every player on the field new that he was going to give up about 4 runs a game and that the offense needed to go to work to win.
He did manage to win throw a complete game shut-out against the Atlanta Braves with just 88 pitches. I’m still not sure how that happened.
Blanton was traded the Dodgers in the beginning of August, and such ended his career on the City of Brotherly Love.
I am not quite sure how he managed without the Cheesesteaks and Wawa’s, for I am certain that he was a regular costumer.
Tyler Cloyd
Tyler Cloyd was a pitcher that Phillies fans were clamoring to see since the beginning of May. He had a fairytale season down in the minors, including pitching a 6 inning no-hitter in the first AAA game of the year, a game that he was suppose to be pitching for the Reading Phillies.
He was sent back to Reading, but did not last long before he was back with the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. Between the two levels, he accumulated a 2.17 ERA and a 15-1 record. Numbers that Phillies fans were drooling over.
Cloyd was called up to Philly when Blanton was sent packing and, well, he pitched. And when I say pitch, I mean, he threw a ball towards home plate and was sometimes successful and sometimes not.
He only started 6 games and went 2-2 with a 4.91 ERA. That’s what we call, not good.
I have no idea where Cloyd will be next season. As of now, he will be vying for a spot in the Phillies rotation, but he might also be trade bait. I’m not quite sure who will want him, but he will be dangled in some form.
Karilee Jeantet is Lead Contributor for A View From Section 116. Follow her on Twitter @kjeantet and @viewfromsec116 and e-mail her AViewFromSection116@gmail.com.
