Morning Wood: 70 Wins Edition

Source: Phillies.com

Someone might want to tell Hunter Pence that the Phillies will lose games every once in a while. Since his arrival on Saturday night, the Phillies are 4-0 and on the verge of their second consecutive sweep. This you know.

Let’s Wood.

The Phillies won last night, 5-0. Cliche alert: Kyle Kendrick was electric, painting corners deep into the thin Denver air. 

Here’s Kendrick talking about said outing. The video is courtesy of CSN, who continues to understand the benefits of selling ad space on embeddable videos (I’m looking at you, Eagles, MLB):

The big discussion, thanks to the anticipated return of Roy Oswalt, is Kendrick’s likely return to the bullpen. With Oswalt being put back on the roster, the Phillies not only need to move a pitcher to the ‘pen, but they also need to take a player off the Major League roster.

It’s at this point where we get our flip book on. If you want to read about removing a player on the roster, keep going. If you want to read about the Kendrick-Worley conundrum, skip ahead a few paragraphs. The choice, it is yours.

There are not a lot of options for who to send down… or release. The obvious choice is John Mayberry Jr., but, based on what he’s done lately, that wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense.

Michael Martinez can’t be sent down because he is a Rule 5 guy and would have to clear waivers. The Phillies don't want to risk losing him. Despite some issues earlier in the season, he has proved valuable of late.

That leaves Ben Francisco and Ross Gload. Francisco hasn't been good and has one minor league option remaining on his contract. He’ll likely be the one to go.

Back to Kendrick… He has a 3.19 ERA in 87 innings this year. Cliff Lee’s ERA is 3.14. Deep breath. Kendrick, however, has a very pedestrian WHIP (1.26) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (39K-27BB). That’s not good enough to bump Worley from the rotation, therefore KK goes to the bullpen.

Speaking of Worley (oh we’re just killing it with the transitions), the Vanimal joined Twitter (!).

Remember when, two days ago, I said I had a feeling that Pence and Worley would be buds? I can sense a bromance from a bathroom stall away:

In case you haven’t seen it six times yet, here he is talking about his first night as a Phillie. I’m not sure if it’s the mohawks or goofiness, but I’m convinced Pence and Worley are going to be buds.

Also, as reader Todd points out, Pence looks a lot like Roger Maris:

Indeed.

Finally, next Saturday, August 13th, Gary Maddox will host his annual BBQ challenge outside CBP. The event goes from 4:30-7 and is free to the public. A number of local joints will be serving up their meat. Yes and please.