Blanton Returns, Opens Series vs. Cardinals

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St. Louis Cardinals (17-8) play at Philadelphia Phillies (14-10). Jaime Garcia (2-1, 1.04 ERA) starts vs. Joe Blanton (Career: 63-54, 4.21 ERA).

The Phillies desperately needed Sunday night's win against the Mets, especially after hitting a speed bump. The Phillies are off to a 2-0 start this May, and now welcome the team with the best record in the National League.

Joe Blanton, who missed the whole month of April due to an oblique strain, will make his season debut. Blanton struggled in a few rehab starts, but did not feel any pain. Blanton's first career stint on the disabled list might put him under 213 innings this year, his career average. The Phillies are hoping to get several innings out of him to avoid a struggling bullpen, but the Phillies will be watching his pitch count.

Throughout his career, Blanton has had success against the Cardinals. He is 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA against the Red Birds. He has even limited Albert Pujols to a .125 average in eight at-bats. The Phillies are happy to have Blanton back into the starting rotation, which has been iffy with the exception of Roy Halladay.

The Phillies' offense went cold towards the end of April, but have heated up with the weather. They pounded out double digits in the last two games, and would like to continue the trend against Jaime Garcia. The left-handed rookie has been the Cardinals' top pitching prospect, and has pitched well thus far. Garcia has kept base runners to a minimum, and has out-dueled the likes of Tim Lincecum and Johan Santana. However, the 23-year old has yet to face a lineup as potent as the Phillies -- and in a hitter's park in warm weather.

The Cardinals and the Phillies are two of the top contenders in the National League this year. It will be intersting to see how these two teams match up in this four game series.

PASA: Garcia

This series, Pitchers and Stomach Aches, is based on my new feature on Philliesnation.com, Decade's Worst Individual Pitching Performaces, otherwise know as DWIPP.

Freddy Garcia: “We got an ace,” everybody thought when the Phillies acquired Freddy Garcia from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez. That didn’t last long.

In the 58 innings he pitched, Garcia had a 5.90 ERA and 1.60 WHIP. In 11 games, he gave up 12 home runs. Opponents batted .318 and had an OPS of .942 off the right hander.

Garcia had a record of 1-5. The one win was infamously known as the $10 million win because of his salary.

His worst outing came in June, against the lowly Kansas City Royals. In 1.2 inning, Garcia managed to give up 6 runs. June was a pleasant month for Garcia. He posted a 15.43 ERA during the month.

Garcia may have been hurt before the season started, and the Phillies made a mistake by not giving him a physical when he was acquired. Garcia was eventually placed on the disabled list in with a shoulder injury.

Garcia signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets, however, he may not be in camp much longer. For the fifth spot in the rotation, Garcia is up against Tim Redding, Jon Niese, and the current front-runner, Livan Hernandez.

7 Down, 1 To Go; Other Updates

The Phillies avoided arbitration with reliever Chad Durbin on Wednesday, signing him to a one year, $1.635 deal.

For Durbin, a little over $1.5 million is reasonable. Durbin made just $900,000 in 2008, but his due to his performance, he deserved a raise. Giving Durbin too much money would not make much sense since 2008 was a career year for Durbin. He still has a high career ERA over 5. In 87.2 IP, Durbin was 5-4 with a 2.87 ERA during the 2008 season. The deal was just right. Not to high, not to low.

Toward the end of the season, Durbin faced a "dead arm" period and started to struggle. He managed to pitch through it.
The Phillies signed all their arbitration eligible players but one: Ryan Howard, who is still pushing for $18 million.

Prince Fielder is a similar player to Howard. Both have extreme power. The Milwaukee Brewers are close to signing the arbitration eligible Fielder to a 2 year deal that would be worth at least $18 million. Hear that Howard? Fielder is getting two years out of $18M.

Cole Hamels threw 3,914 pitches in 2008, leading the Majors. CC Sabathia, who was the 2007 leader (3,892), threw 3,912 pitches, finishing second. Brett Myers (3,718) was third. Joe Blanton (3,547) was 11th. The number of pitches includes the postseason, and for Myers, Minor Leagues.

Throwing as many pitches as these guys, it increases risk of injury. 10 out of 18 pitchers who reached the 3,400 pitch mark in 2007 had a serious injury in 2008.

Remember Freddy Garcia? Remember the hype around him when the Phillies got him?Remember how he made just 7 starts with the Phillies in 2007? Remember his ERA was over 5 in those starts? Remember how the Phillies gave him $10 million for one year?

Well, both New York teams are interested in him. The Mets and Yankees are the top front runners for him.

The Texas Rangers are close to signing Omar Vizquel. He agreed to a Minor League contract with a base salary of $1 million. The 41 year old is an 11 time Gold Glove Winner, and has played the most games at shortstop than anybody in MLB history.

Jeff Kent officially announced his retirement today. In 17 Major League seasons, Kent batted .290 with 377 homeruns. He had a career OPS of .856.