Bitching, Pitching, and More Bitching

I swore I wasn’t going to comment on this, because it’s just so god damn stupid, but maybe it’s the rain or something, because here I go.

By now, everybody’s worked up over Peter Mucha’s article in the Philly Inquirer about how statistically, there couldn’t be 2 million people at the Phillies World Series parade last year.

Instantly, it was taken as an insult.  I’ll be honest.  I don’t care. I was there.  I wouldn’t have cared if I was the only one there, but obviously, that wouldn’t happen, because this town loves its team (all the time).

What I’m sick of is the fluff pieces.

Aww, I know.  It’s the offseason.  You don’t have a ton to write about.  Who cares about the minor leagues?  Who cares about injuries?  Who cares about transactions and scouting reports and the business of baseball?  It’s raining and writing is so gosh darn hard.

But when you work for a newspaper that has “Philadelphia” in the title, it’s probably one of your more idiotic ideas to write a piece that calls a lot of the people at the parade liars.

So, now a Facebook group has been set up to gather the 2 million people that were there!  This has officially become the most fruitless cause in history. There’s no way people who didn’t go to the parade will join the fight for… truth… or whatever is supposed to be gained from this.

Then again, you might say a fluff piece is also an article that’s talking about other fluff pieces.

Pitching!  Got to get some of that.

With the gripping reverence the Phillies seem to have for Kyle Drabek (and for good reason), its hard to imagine that there could be a whole bunch of more pitching talent down in the farm system.  Some believe that with the way Ruben Amaro dumped a pile of prospects on Cleveland’s doorstep for Cliff Lee, any chips left to trade are few and far between. But the talent that’s down there is what we want for ourselves.

And with good reason.

Jesus Sanchez, who was added to the 40-man roster for Spring Training, had done his deal of impressing, being converted from a catcher and all.  But also skipping over here in the Bobby Abreu trade was Carlos Monasterios, whose space between fastball (91-94) and change-up (low 70s) is like the difference between a comet and a frisbee.

Frankie Piliere, a three-year MLB scout, mentions Carlos’ control as the biggest issue keeping him from a stellar major league career.  At 22, he is more than ripe for the picking.

And then there is the terrifying story of Scott Mathieson, whose mere twinge of arm pain after an appearance for the Phils back in September of ’06 led him to two Tommy John surgeries.  The latest one came in May of 2008, but the Phillies are saying he could show up to pitch in 2010 (far from definite, as I repeat, two Tommy John surgeries).

The fact that they can even flirt with the idea is impressive.  After tearing it up (as in “doing well,” not “tearing up his muscles”) in some appearances for Reading, Mathieson exited the season 4-0 with an 0.84 ERA.  Just the kind of guy a GM looking to improve his bullpen would turn to.  With the slight exception being a risk of injury.

STRAY BULLETS

Jay Mariotti opened his column about Tiger Woods’ accident with the phrase “Stupid me.”  Finally, something we can agree on.  God, he’s an idiot and a terrible writer.