Well the Phillies will be happy to say that their second big right hander Joe Blanton is back and ready to go. For the first month of April Joe Blanton was placed of the DL with a left oblique strain and from there the Phillies knew their pitching rotation was going to be tight. Filling Blanton's shoes was young Kyle Kendrick who will still be in this rotation with the injured J.A. Happ with a sore forearm. Kendrick's ERA is a 7.61 which isn't what the Phillies were looking for after looking pretty good in spring training. Now that Blanton is back that is just a step the Phillies will need to remain in first place (14-10) in the NL East by a half game over the New York Mets.
Now everyone I have no idea what Joe Blanton will bring to the table tonight. After an injury with what Blanton is coming off of you never know what you’re going to get from him. He hasn’t pitched a big league game since last October in the fall classic and in 2009 he was one the Phillies go to guys with an ERA of 4.05, 12 wins, 8 losses, and 163 strikeouts. I'm sure pitching coach Rich Dubee and manager Charlie Manuel would like to see Joe Blanton go about 6 innings with close to 100 pitches and maybe 1 earn run and 5-6 strikeouts. Just have to hope for the best in this stage and see what happens because this game won't be easy to pitch in.
Blanton's come back will not come easy on Monday Night going against the first place St. Louis Cardinals (17-8) in the NL Central by 4 and half games over the Chicago Cubs. Blanton will have to deal with a monster line-up with catcher Yadier Molina, center fielder Colby Rasmus, right fielder Ryan Ludwick, left fielder Matt Holliday, and the best player in the game big boy first baseman Albert Pujols. Pitching for the Red Birds is Jamie Garcia with a ERA of 1.04, 2 wins, 1 loss, and 17 strikeouts and his start won’t be any easier then Blanton. Pitching against probably the best line-up in the NL with besides the loss of short stop Jimmy Rollins, center fielder Shane Victorino, left fielder Raul Ibanez, right fielder Jayson Werth, second baseman Chase Utley, and the Phillies top gun that they locked up for 5 to 6 years for 125 million first baseman Ryan Howard. Don't miss the Phillies - Cardinals at 7:05 p.m. It’s going to be a show down in Philadelphia!
Seth Lempert, for Beyond Baseball.
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