By FRANK WARD
DailyPhiladelphian.com Editor
For Kentucky Joe Blanton, the sands are sprinting through the hour glass quicker than Usain Bolt on a track. With JA Happ scheduled to get his first rehab start since going on the DL tomorrow, time is running out for Blanton to reestablish himself as a stone cold lock to remain in the Phillies starting rotation.
Let’s face it, Kyle Kendrick and Jamie Moyer, Friday’s game aside, have clearly outpitched Blanton. One of the more consistent pitchers the last two years, Blanton entered Saturday afternoon’s game with an ungodly 6.07 ERA.
Joe Blanton may be better in Greg Dobbs' slot on the bench than in the Phillies rotation.
He had a chance to stop the bleeding for the Phillies and put himself back in the mix to stay in the rotation, especially after Moyer gave up nine runs in one inning of work Friday.
Instead of shutting down the Red Sox and eating innings, Blanton left after four innings and 100 pitches with his season ERA at 7.28.
The man got slammed harder than a door on the wrong end of a teenage temper tantrum. He got drilled for 13 hits and nine runs. Again, he did all that in four innings.
At this point, you can’t count on Blanton and he may just end up being an expensive version of Danys Baez before long. When happ returns, someone has to go and it’s not going to be Moyer. And, honestly, how would you feel if Blanton stayed in the rotation and Kendrick got bounced to the bullpen.
Kentucky Joe may have one or two more starts to prove his worth, but at this rate, Ruben Amaro may have 24 million reasons to cry in his beer the next few weeks.
