By FRANK WARD
DailyPhiladelphian.com Editor
The sound Joe Blanton hears outside his locker is the ringing of the bullpen phone — a signal he may need to hear before he gets into a game the rest of the year if he’s not careful.
Since his arrival from Oakland two years ago, Joe Blanton has eaten plenty of food and innings for the Phillies. He’s saved the bullpen and was a key to the team’s 2008 World Series title.
Kentucky Joe Blanton displays the motion that could have him joining the bullpen if he isn't careful.
In a league and city of “What have you done for me lately?” Kentucky Joe is on the verge of pitching himself out of the Phillies starting rotation. His latest outing — a five-run, five-inning performance against the Padres — increased his 2010 ERA to an unacceptable 6.07. Unacceptable for a team with championship hopes. Unacceptable for a guy who just inked a three-year, $24 million contract.
Granted, Blanton started the year on the DL with an injury to his oblique muscle, but the numbers just aren’t there for him so far this year. And, if he doesn’t pick it up soon, Charlie Manuel, Rich Dubee and Ruben Amaro are going to have a difficult decision in a few weeks when JA Happ returns from his own DL stint.
When the team reported for spring training, Blanton was penciled in as the third most consistent man in the rotation. Jamie Moyer and Kyle Kendrick were supposed to battle for the fifth spot, with neither garnering much in the way of expectations from baseball observers.
Fast forward to early June and both Moyer and Kendrick have clearly outpitched Blanton. Maybe he’s still hurting, and if that’s the case he should shut it down and get healthy.
However, there’s no denying that when it comes to himself, Moyer and Kendrick, he’s the one that could be on the outside looking in.
Since a brutal start to the season, Kendrick has worked hard to reduce his ERA from 17.47 after his first outing to a respectable 4.62. He hasn’t allowed more than two runs in three of his last four starts. To put it simply, Kendrick has calmed down and displayed the dominance he showed in spring training and, to an extent, the latter part of last season when he was in the Phillies bullpen.
Moyer, on the other hand, was viewed as a washed-up-waste-of-money after an injury-plagued 2009 season. All the 47-year-old-ageless pitcher has done is rack up an average 5-5 record with an unreal 3.98 ERA. Unreal because who would have expected that from him entering the year.
In addition, he’s tossed two complete games and has not allowed more than four runs since May 2. In fact, he’s only allowed more than four runs twice this year. Moyer’s not coming out of the rotation at this point.
Blanton has a couple weeks to regain his form and bump, most likely, Kendrick back to the bullpen. But, if Kentucky Joe doesn’t get his mojo back before Happ returns — and his first rehab outing is scheduled for Tuesday — then Blanton will be the odd man out.
