Kuzul

Vance who?

Vance Worley was selected in the third round of the 2008 MLB Amateur Player Draft.

He became one of the Phillies’ top pitching prospects, and perhaps the top pitching prospect after Kyle Drabek, son of former Cy Young Award Winner, Doug Drabek, was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in the Roy Halladay deal.

After pitching his way through the minor leagues, he made his major league debut in a relief appearance v. the Colorado Rockies, pitching a scoreless ninth inning and recording two punch-outs. In his first major league start he was a victim of lack of run support even though he only allowed two earned runs with six hits.

In his short big-league career he is 1-1 with a 1.38 ERA.

Worley features a two-seam and four-seam fastball, a slider, curve ball, and cutting fastball. He’d be in a rotation with four great starters to take the pressure off him. He’d learn from great starters and be the young infusion that the aging Phillies may need.

The choice of the fifth spot could be an inconsistent Joe Blanton, or a very inconsistent Kyle Kendrick. Blanton and Kendrick had a combined 20-16 record with 218 K’s. However, each had a ERA over 4.70 (Kendrick—4.73 and Blanton—4.82). 

Big Joe Blanton is 30 years old and Kyle Kendrick is 26, but Worley could be a better pitcher in the long run, but only time would tell.

On a side note, if you don’t put him in the rotation, put him in the ‘pen. I mean, anyone—or anything—is better than Danys Baez.

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Tampa Bay Ray fans are watching their team fall apart by the seams of Matt Garza‘s 95 mile per hour fastball.

The Chicago Cubs have acquired SP Matt Garza, a minor league pitcher and OF Fernando Perez for a plethora of young players including OF Sam Fuld and RHP Chris Archer, the 2010 Minor League Baseball Pitcher of the Year.

Garza, who threw a no-hitter in 2010, went 15-10 with a 3.91 ERA while being the Rays No. 1 starter. Now, he can pack his bags, as he now moves to Wrigley Field.

Garza had an up-and-down season, yet carried the staff of the Rays into the playoffs. He joins a pitching staff with Ryan Dempster (15-12, 3.85 ERA), “Big Z” Carlos Zambrano, who, just like Garza, had an up-and-down season with a stellar second half of his season going 8-0 with a ERA under 2.00.

Tampa Bay now gains young talent in Archer, a young OF in Fuld, C Robinson Chirinos, OF Brandon Guyer and SS Hak-Ju Lee. All are considered long-term talent two to three years down the road and they may be important parts of the Rays’ youth movement to go along their own bunch of talented young players.

The Cubs‘ rotation now features potentially Garza, Dempster and Zambrano, a formidable rotation to win.

The Rays’ rotation now features potentially James Shields, Jeremy Hellickson and David Price.

If the Cubs could get into the thick of things in their division, could they pull it out?

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The latest NL Cy Young Award Race, depending on who you talk to, may be already under lock and key, or wide the bleep open.

Here are the pitchers who may win the NL Cy Young Award….

*Note: They are not in a certain order, as in 5 to 1, or 1 to 5, they are just leading candidates in the Cy Young Race. At the end, there will be honorable mentions for excellent pitching performances of this season, NOT Cy Young Award Candidates*

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Joe Blanton, the pitcher most notably remember for hitting a homerun vs. then Tampa Bay Ray, now White Sox Pitcher Edwin Jackson.

Blanton has had his fair share off up and downs, but I’m here to let you know if his ups and downs, may produce an up or down for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Blanton consistently throws a high-80s to mid-90s fastball, with a straight change-up, a slider, and a 12-6 Breaking Ball in his repertoire, has been having his trouble this year. Blanton suffered a strained oblique in Spring Training, and was on the Disabled List to begin the season.

Since his return to the Phillies’ roster, he has been the No. 4 starter behind Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Jamie Moyer.

Since then, the Phillies have placed Moyer on the Disabled List, and acquired Roy Oswalt, who we all know can play left field now as well as pitch.

Blanton has been terrible in the first Inning, as since the All-Star Break, Blanton has a ERA (Earned Run Average) of over 10 in the first inning, allowing one HR, and three walks. 

Although in his latest three starts vs. San Francisco and two vs. Houston, he has dimmed down the first inning fireworks, but can his fireworks show start to explode again?

Assuming Blanton pitches in the playoffs, would he pitch both as a fourth starter and a long reliever?

With the struggles of relievers J.C. Romero, Danys Baez and sinkerballer David Herndon, does Blanton’s performance affect the roles of not only Kyle Kendrick, the fifth starter in the Phils’ rotation, but of the bullpen pitchers of Romero, Baez and Herndon?

So, after considering that, consider Blanton all time in postseason play is 2-0, pitching 34.2 Innings, with a 3.89 ERA and 30 Strikeouts. So, it seems Blanton can hold his own on the mound, but does the Blanton-of-old return?

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