Saturday, May 17, 2008

Werth Hits 3 HR; Scott Rolen Still A Jerk


The Phils trounced the Toronto Blue Jays last night at Citizens Bank Ballpark by a score of 10 - 3. The game featured 3 home runs by CF Jayson Werth, including a grand slam in the 3rd inning. Jamie Moyer pitched into the 7th inning before giving way to the bullpen and he picked up his 3rd win on the season against 3 losses.

It is refreshing to see how Charlie Manual is finding interesting ways of getting Jayson Werth into the lineup. You could see there wasn't much of a defensive dropoff with the athletic Werth in CF as opposed to the speedy Shane Victorino from when Victorino was injured. Furthermore, Victorino was considered a top notch defensive right fielder when he played there last year, because of his arm and ability to track balls. Neither player seems to mind the position switch so much according to an article from PDN's David Murphy, and I actually hope it turns in to a platoon-like situation, with Victorino, Werth, Jenkins, and Dobbs all getting their starts in those outfield positions when the time comes for their particular skills to be employed. I especially applaud the extended play of Werth, who, throughout his young career has displayed good skills, but has had a hard time staying out of the trainer's room.

Also of note in last night's game was Ryan Howard getting another hit to bring his average to .188. The series against Toronto continues today with Adam Eaton going against ex-Marlin AJ Burnett.

Scott Rolen Still Hates Us

As you may be aware, the Toronto Blue Jays are the latest stop for diva 3B Scott Rolen. This is after he annoyed Tony LaRussa in what Rolen called "baseball heaven" to the point where the Cardinals probably accepted a lesser player in trade in Troy Glaus. After 5 or so years have passed, you think Rolen might have matured to the point where he can wax philosophically about how his time ended here in Philadelphia in such a way that maybe the fans can understand things a little better and maybe get over the circumstances of how Rolen left town altogether.

Not a chance.

ESPN 950's Dan Schwartzman attempted to interview Rolen last night and Rolen, despite his polite demeanor, wanted nothing to do with talking about his time in Philly. Rolen was described as "wagging his finger" everytime the topic of his time in Philly came up. It's sort of frustrating for Philly fans because we all wanted to like Rolen, but apparently, Rolen doesn't now, nor has he ever, felt compelled to talk about things through the media to enable fans to understand him a little better.

As ESPN 950 plays that interview all weekend, Rolen can expect to be booed for the remainder of the weekend.


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