Bunts and Balks (6/12)

The Phillies placed LOOGY Scott Eyre on the 15-day DL, with a strained left calf. As predicted in my previous post, Eyre was replaced on the roster by IronPigs LOOGY Sergio Escalona. Or, not. The Phillies recalled right-handed starter Kyle Kendrick from AAA, to take Eyre's place on the roster. Kendrick will work as a long reliever, for the time being.
(Another possibility would be to move Bastardo into the pen, send Kendrick back to AAA, and promote Andrew Carpenter into the rotation. Carpenter has been pitching much better for Lehigh Valley than Kendrick has, but he wasn't a good recall choice for Friday/the weekend, as he had started for the IronPigs on Thursday.)
Southpaw reliever Jack Taschner will take over the LOOGY role during Eyre's absence. (Egads, no! Taschner has reverse splits, and is more viable as a ROOGY. Taschner will, likely, remain in the "Taschner" role, pitching irregularly, and at inexplicable times.)
The Phils' don't, currently, have a viable LOOGY, as lefty J.C. Romero is the primary eighth-inning option, in Brad Lidge's absence. I'd expect to see Kendrick replaced by Escalona, or Bastardo replaced by Carpenter, to add a second lefty to the pen, in the near future.

The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (AAA) lost two more key players, as catcher Lou Marson and infielder Jason Donald hit the DL, on Friday. Donald is expected to miss a month, and Marson should return in two weeks. (Guess they won't be traded for Roy Oswalt, for at least a few more weeks.) It wasn't immediately clear what roster moves Lehigh Valley will make to cover for these losses.

The short-handed IronPigs defeated the Charlotte Knights, 3-2, in ten innings. The IronPigs had 12 hits, and 6 walks, but left 14 on base. The bullpen pitched six scoreless innings, with closer Tyler Walker getting the victory.

The Reading Phillies (AA) got demolished by the Harrisburg Senators, 11-0. Two R-Phils fans got married at home plate prior to the game, and the Senators ruined their memorable day with sixteen hits, and six home runs.

The Clearwater Threshers (A) were destroyed by the Jupiter Hammerheads, 7-2. It was a 3-2 game in the ninth, when Jupiter scored four runs. The Threshers had four hits, and made three errors. Not an ideal ratio.

San Diego Padres' starter Jake Peavy is expected to miss a month, with an injured right ankle. Toronto Blue Jays' starter Roy Halladay left Friday night's game against Florida, with a strained right groin.
Looks like the Phils will have to wait on a Halladay trade, or just go ahead and trade for Houston's Roy Oswalt.

The debut of "The Pen" is less than 48 hours away...