Hotcakes to go and other bullpen matters

I didn't think that my favorite newly acquired SoxandPhil would be Cliff Lee, Adrian Gonzalez or Carl Crawford.

Nope, I thought it would be Dennys Reyes. But a funny thing happened on his way to becoming the next El Guapo in my eyes - his deal with the Phillies fell through:

"We hit a snag," said Oscar Suarez, who is Reyes' agent. "So we just decided to push back."

Asked if it was health related, Suarez said, "It just didn't work out. We're back on the market. I don't want to get into details why."

Oh well, I guess it's up to Bobby Jenks to fill the role of beloved rotund reliever this year.

Speaking of whom, Christine wondered if Jenks means the end of Jonathan Papelbon. I guessed no. I even suggested that Papelbon, Daniel Bard and Jenks would be the kinds of arms Theo Epstein wanted for a closer by committee. I hadn't seen Peter Abraham's piece that said Papelbon would have been gone if Mariano Rivera joined the good guys, but that our incumbent closer will remain for now:

Fast forward to yesterday when the Red Sox signed Bobby Jenks to a two-year deal worth $12 million. That's big money for a guy who might pitch a lot in the seventh inning. But it's reasonable money for a guy who could be the closer in July.

Happy holidays, Pap. The Red Sox are sending shots across your bow faster than any of your fastballs.

Team sources said yesterday and again this morning that the Red Sox plan to start the season with Papelbon, Jenks and Daniel Bard in the bullpen. The Phillies have four aces, the Sox will have three closers.

Sounds like an interesting World Series matchup to me.

Brad Lidge, the mentor

Brad Lidge has had an interesting career, toggling between dominant and punching bag.

SoxandPhils beat writer Scott Lauber says his story can be a lesson for both of the guys at the back of the Red Sox bullpen, Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon, which is odd because you get the feeling that both the rising star and the declining veteran can't coexist much longer in the Red Sox bullpen.

But Lidge can relate to where each is in his career:

Lidge, now the Philadelphia Phillies' closer, knows the feeling. He took a back seat to Billy Wagner in 2003 and Octavio Dotel for the first half of the 2004 season. When the Astros traded Dotel in a three-team deal for outfielder Carlos Beltran, Lidge finally got his chance.

"You just have to be patient," Lidge said before Game 2 last night of the National League Championship Series, "and you really have to put in your mind that the team comes first. You have to sell yourself to that idea, and you'll get your chance."

*****

And if Lidge can recapture his dominance, he's certain that Papelbon can, too, as long as the Sox closer doesn't lose faith in his ability.

"For any closer, I think confidence is huge," Lidge said before last night's game. "Last year, I didn't get the results I wanted, and it definitely hurt my confidence. For me, you've got to go through a couple games where you feel like you're making (hitters) look silly again, and then, all of a sudden, you're like, 'Wait a minute, I don't even remember why this was so hard.'"

Series update: Lidge wasn't needed last night as the Phillies turned a game that was a tense duel for most of the night into a comfortable 6-1 win over the Giants. It's all tied heading to San Francisco. That was a real Phillies-type "no more fooling around" win, so I wouldn't be surprised if the next game in Philly is against an American League team.

Do or die

Trent was on the changing table tonight with a particularly ripe diaper. He looked at me and froze. We both knew what had to be done. There was no sense stalling, thinking or worrying. I ripped off the tape and took care of business.

I mention this because the Red Sox, who entered today trailing the Yankees and Rays by 5.5 games, started a three-game set in Tampa that many consider to be their last chance to stay relevant in 2010.

After a season of surviving a spate of injuries, it's amazing they're still alive. But this isn't a time to think about that. It's do or die.

Tonight, they did. Jon Lester held his own in a marquee matchup against David Price, just an unearned run on two hits and five walks with 10 strikeouts over seven innings. Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon shut the door in the 3-1 win. With the White Sox winning big over the Yankees, perhaps there's still a chance for the Red Sox to win this whole thing.

Of course, there is a big difference between changing a diaper and performing a big comeback: Trent's diaper didn't just learn that it would be without Dustin Pedroia for the rest of the year.

Phillies: They're playing late in San Diego. In the 5th, it's 1-1.

7th inning stretch

We're approaching the final stretch, and I hope today's 7th inning turns out to be a metaphor for the season.

Clinging to a 2-0 lead against the Empire, Jon Lester loaded the bases with no outs. You had the sense that this would be the moment the 2010 Red Sox would finally succumb after battling through so many injuries and facing very tough Rays and Yankees opponents.

But Lester struck out Curtis Granderson. Daniel Bard came in from the pen, and six pitches later, Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher also struck out. Bard gave up a run in the 8th, but Jonathan Papelbon nailed down the save.

The Sox are still kicking. Don't count out a SoxandPhils series, Trent says.

The Phillies are off today.

More cheese and questions answered

Yesterday, I busted on Clay Buchholz and his Crocs. Today, it's the Phillies' turn.

Phans have Phun with the Ph stuff, but it seems really cheesy for a coach to use it:

Impressed by the boldness and skill of his infielders, Sam Perlozzo is experimenting with a nickname for the group.

"I have a whole thing where I call them the Phearless Phour, with a ph," said Perlozzo, the Phillies' third-base coach who also oversees infield defense. "They don't back down off of any play, so I call them the Phearless Phour."

When I read that Jimmy Rollins wasn't aware of the name, I thought he would agree that it's stupid and put the kibosh on it. Nope:

"Phearless Phour?" the shortstop said. "Oh, no. That's good. I hadn't heard that."

So now, we can look forward to a bunch of capes and boundless marketing opportunities for the crusaders against all things hit on the ground.

Meanwhile, a story today finally explained why Jacoboy Ellsbury changed his uniform number from 46 to 2. Dan Shaughnessy provides the answer in an unusually good effort by him about the uniform changes for young 'uns Ellsbury, Buchholz and Daniel Bard.

"I'd always wanted No. 2," said Ellsbury: "I'd asked for it when I got called up, but I didn't realize it was Millsie's [bench coach Brad Mills's] number."
[...]
Ellsbury wore No. 2 in high school and again when he played for the Portland Sea Dogs. He wore 23 in college because a fifth-year senior had No. 2 at Oregon State.

The Sox issued Ellsbury No. 46 (made famous by Bob Stanley) when he came to the bigs late in the 2007 season. It looked a little goofy for a center fielder, but Ellsbury figured 46 was OK because it was double 23.

Buchholz - going from 61 to 11 - was actually more interesting in that he still feels that No. 21 would put additional pressure on him:

There was another option for Buchholz this year. His dad wore 21 when he pitched. Clay is a Texan. And No. 21 has not been issued by the Red Sox since Roger Clemens rode out of town."That would have caused me to answer a lot of questions," Buchholz said. "I didn't want a lot of the added stress that came with that number."

Man, I was thisclose to being able to unretire my Clemens jersey.

Phinally: We can all rest easy. Pat Burrell isn't blaming Elvis for last year's struggles:

When Pat Burrell finally had an opportunity to sit down and reflect on one the least productive years of his career, the Tampa Bay Rays slugger concluded he had no one to blame but himself.

Sure, a "slight herniation" of two discs in his neck contributed to a slow start in 2009, but the 33-year-old designated hitter also said he let the problem linger too long before getting the injury checked out.

Spring is on its way

We still have to get through the Super Bowl and some more cold weather, but there are some signs of spring today - 67 days before opening day.

Most notably is the fact that several of the SoxandPhils media have features on young players poised for a bigger role in 2010 or prospects who are a bit further away.

The Daily News took the first in-depth look at Phillippe Aumont, who will be compared with Cliff Lee and Kyle Drabek for the rest of his career. Also acquired with Aumont was Tyson Gillies - how did we not know before that he was deaf? Good human interest story. But Gillies isn't the top outfield prospect on the Phillies - it's still Domonic Brown, who told CSNPhilly.com that this will be the biggest year of his career.

For the Red Sox, Daniel Bard also has big aspirations, but he's glad to serve another year of apprenticeship under Jonathan Papelbon. And he knows the way to a Red Sox fan's heart is by a subtle-but-gratuitous shot at the Yankees:

Papelbon's crazed alter ego is known as "Cinco Ocho." Bard has one, too, but he's not sharing the name. Besides, his mound demeanor probably trends more toward the Mariano Rivera, keep-it-cool end of the spectrum.

"I don't show a ton of emotion," Bard said. "It's more of a focused intensity; not so much Joba Chamberlain-esque. Whatever works for you."

I bet Christine points out that he's also taking a shot at Papelbon.

Sox strike first

For 12 innings, our teams played like two evenly matched champions. In the 13th, Kyle Kendrick - just called up to replace the injured Scott Eyre - reminded us why he hasn't been in the majors yet this year. He imploded, giving up three and spoiling what was a great pitching performance from both sides.

Jon Lester and Joe Blanton were terrific. Each went seven innings. Lester struck out 11, Blanton seven. They left a 2-1 game to the bullpens. Ramon Ramirez got the ball in the 9th - Jonathan Papelbon looked quite pissy about his night off, especially after Ryan Howard tattooed one off his surrogate.

Christine is upset that a ball Greg Dobbs hit in the 11th was called foul instead of a home run. Initially, she agreed it was foul, but then started to change her mind. Once the Sox scored three runs, she was convinced it was fair and is protesting the final tally.

Finally got to see Daniel Bard. He has some control issues - he walked a batter and hit Raul Ibanez - but struck out three in his first major league save. His stuff is filthy - my arm is sore from Christine elbowing me every time I reacted to one of his pitches. I hope Papelbon noticed his future replacement before he spouts off to Terry Francona too much tonight.

Nickname for blown game?

As we watched Jack Taschner turn Brett Myers' 2-1 lead into a 3-2 deficit in the 7th inning, Christine decided he needs a nickname.

J.T. is too obvious, and we know already know a J.T.

I suggested Traschman.

She said he's not cleaning up other people's messes, but creating his own.

I said it's more that he's pitching like garbage.

My next suggestion, Tasch-hole, just drew a glare.

Any suggestions?

The Phillies wound up losing 4-2 - Brad Lidge gave up the final run - spoiling a solid outing from Myers. With hope, the Red Sox will fare better in their nationally televised game against the Rays tonight. Matt Garza vs. Josh Beckett.

It's got to be an error, but the Globe has Dustin Pedroia playing short tonight.

We'll be watching and hoping to report on a win tomorrow.

Oh, heard on ESPN radio this morning: "The Mets, like a drunk on a bar stool, woke up in first place this morning. The only question is how long before they fall off."

And, Javier Lopez is no more. Welcome up, Daniel Bard. Funny, I was playing Baseball Mogul the other day, and they had a picture of the old Braves catcher Javy Lopez instead of our now former reliever. Christine always gets the two J-Lo's confused too, along with every other Javier or Lopez who ever played Major League Baseball. {Sorry, some weird mental block from watching Javy for all those years on TBS and playing against the Phils.}

SoxandPhils swap

Aside from the fact MLB Network is broadcasting a Red Sox and Yankees spring training game, there's not much going on.

If Curt Schilling hadn't made his big announcement, yesterday's post probably would have been about this nugget in a Boston Globe story on our new backup catcher George Kottaras:

The Phillies have been talking to the Sox about prospect Lou Marson, but the price tag seems to be Buchholz or Daniel Bard and the Sox aren't going there.

It would be an interesting swap of prospects from a SoxandPhils perspective, but I don't think the Red Sox would give up either pitcher for Marson since they wouldn't deal either for Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Taylor Teagarden.

The last time our teams traded a player was Ed Yarnell in 2004 who was sent to the Phillies in a "conditional deal," according to Baseball Reference. I don't know what that is. The last real trade was Josh Hancock for Jeremy Giambi in 2002. Then we have to go back to 1996 for the last blockbuster: Heathcliff Slocumb, Larry Wimbley and Rick Holyfield from the Phillies for Glenn Murray, Lee Tinsley and a certain lad named Ken Ryan. I highly recommend clicking on his page.

Back to TV broadcasts: Last night, Christine thought I knew ESPN Classic was showing the bloody sock game. I didn't. By the time I tuned in, Curt had already left the game. Bronson Arroyo was pitching. I turned it on just in time to see Alex Rodriguez earn his slappy nickname.