This is your opening day second baseman. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE

It is really good that the Phillies can pitch.  It looks like more bad news about the second baseman.  Apparently that “chronic injury” thing is no joke as Chase Utley was shipped to an unspecified specialist to help him deal with the fact that BOTH of his knees are broken.  This is the type of bad news that makes the Ryan Howard ruptured achilles injury seem a little less permanent.  People return from achilles injuries, they do not recover from chronic conditions.

It looks like Freddy Galvis will be the opening day second baseman.  He drove in two runs today and has been pretty impressive this spring.  The problem with Galvis centers around the fact that he will be attempting to replace one of the best offensive second basemen of all time.  I usually make some sort of snarky comment about the fan base overreacting to something that isn’t that important.  I think we are all justified in doing some freaking out about this one.  It seems that we have seen the last of Chase Utley; elite baseball player, or maybe even a baseball player at all. (more…)

The Phillies dropped him (and Kyle Kendrick) from the NLCS roster, in favor of Chan Ho Park and Eric Bruntlett. That’s old news.

What’s new about it is that Brett’s contract explodes this coming winter, and his newfound teenage-like angst is possible fuel for a release.

Let me rewind here for a sec and say that I wasn’t confused by the roster move, but I wasn’t jumping for joy.  I saw Kendrick pitch a few times after his return late in the season and he wasn’t awful.  Stellar, actually.  I was impressed.  Park comes and goes, and Bruntlett’s… another bat, at the very least (the very, very least).

But the switch didn’t have the biggest impact on me, when I think about each of the four players involved and their contributions throughout the year.

Although when the announcer said during one of the NLDS games that “the only bench player Charlie Manuel’s got left is Paul Bako,” I realized maybe Bruntlett could serve a purpose.

Maybe.

But clearly, Brett was under the impression that missing most of the season to repair himself was a ticket to the playoffs, no matter what kind of performances he laid down prior to the postseason (*Ahem* 6.43 ERA in 8 games *Cough*).

“They said I wasn’t sharp. I disagree. They told me my curveball was sharp. That contradicts itself. But whatever. I’ll stay around and support my teammates.”

Uh huh.  Brett, I think it’s entirely possible for one of your pitches to look sharp, while you as a whole do not. You may have set the table real nice, but none of it matters if the kitchen’s on fire.

Cue A Simple Plan's "How Could This Happen To Me?"

It’s not at all surprising if Brett’s decided to put on his sad face for this.  Do I understand where he’s coming from? Yeah, that sucks, man.  Really, it does, and I’m sure it sucks even more for you because you’re the one it’s happening to.

Injuries are taking their toll on your already inconsistent pitching, and it’s time to realize maybe, for now, you aren’t the sniper you were a few years back.

And right now is when the Phils are trying to win another World Series, so you’ll have to excuse the club if they want to go with who they think is going to benefit the team the most.

And not that it’s relevant, but let’s not forget about that one time he punched his wife.  In the face.  In public.

Which didn’t lead to any sort of turbulence within the organization.

If this is how Brett Myers ends up leaving Philadelphia, then… sorry, dude, but the Phillies didn’t strain your upper-back muscle.