What to Make of the Jamie Moyer Situation

Jamie Moyer is an enigma. There have been points at the season in which he has looked as young as ever, tossing two complete game victories for the Phillies, and at times going into the 7th and 8th innings as well—something people doubted Moyer could do anymore because of the fact that he is 47 years-old. The formula, for the games in which he pitched deeper into the game, is simple. He maintains a relatively low pitch count by not walking many batters (there is a total of 1 walk between Moyer’s complete games), and works for quick at-bats. There are nights on the other hand where Jamie Moyer ends up looking like a man in above his head, seeming overwhelmed. Last night was one of these nights. Moyer was chased from the game early in the 4th inning, allowed 6 earned runs, and 2 home runs. This moved his ERA up to 4.88 on the season. This would lead one to wonder just how much longer Moyer can compete, not only at a Major League level, but this season alone. If this type of play continues (he has now allowed 13 earned runs in his last two starts and only had an ERA under 4 in the month of May [3.66], April saw an ERA of 5.25 and June was a 4.36) the Phillies cannot afford to keep trotting him out there on every fifth day, being in the heat of a playoff race.

Thus, the Phillies are faced with a predicament. In my last article I said that the Phillies will definitely be buyers at the deadline, and that they will likely target a starting pitcher. This is pivotal to their success, because they will not last in a playoff race with their pitching performing at its current rate, and staying put isn’t going to solve any problems. How much faith should their front office have in Jamie Moyer’s ability to last the entire season, especially after having thrown two complete games earlier in the year? Yes, they were complete games with relatively low pitch counts (105 and 95) but at Jamie Moyer’s age, that’s still a lot of pitches to throw. I don’t think it would shock anybody if Jamie Moyer continued to show signs of decline as the season wears on, simply because his arm might not be able to hold up for the rest of the year. At any rate, it is as about unsafe as you can be in a front office to rely heavily on the arm of a man who’s older than your GM. Therefore, they cannot continue to rely on Jamie Moyer, it’s irresponsible of management to do so. So, what are the Phillies to do?

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There are not many options. The most obvious option would be a trade, which would allow them to acquire a starting pitcher at the deadline, and thus move Moyer into a long-relief role, which they have done before. Another option might be to await the arrival of JA Happ from his minor league rehab stint, but he is still struggling in the minors, and this doesn’t seem a surefire option either. Phillies fans would love to see Pedro Martinez again, but there’s really been no news on that front in a while, and in this case the lack of news doesn’t spell good news at all. The Phillies, if they are unable to make a trade, will be stuck with the pieces that are currently in play for them, because there seems to be no real help on the horizon. This may not end well for the Phillies, if it is the case, because they absolutely will not make the playoffs if their rotation continues to pitch the way it does. This should be especially unsettling to Phillies fans as it seems to be the general consensus that their window of opportunity may be closing in the next few years due to the age of their core. This means there might not be many opportunities for the Phillies to make postseason runs for very long. Plus, with an underdeveloped farm system who knows when the next wave of future Phillies stars are going to emerge? This shows why it is extremely important that either the middle and back of the rotation step their game up, or Ruben Amaro needs to jump head first into the trade market and get whatever he can get, in order for this team to put together a run into October, because Jamie Moyer and company will just not cut it.

By: Steve Sabato
MLBCenter.com Philadelphia Phillies Correspondent

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