All of Those Quality Starters

Welcome aboard, Randy. You’re next, Vicente.

Prior to last night’s appearance against a good hitting NY Mets team, Randy Wolf had struggled in his first two outings, his numbers inflating the Phillies starters’ overall ERA. Not anymore. Wolf used his assortment of big, slow curves, sneaky fastballs and change of speeds to hurl shutout ball through eight plus innings. Then he allowed three straight singles and a run to begin the ninth inning and was relieved by Tim Worrell.

Wolf’s performance was critical to him as well as the team. The Phillies only left-handed starter and senior member in terms of tenure on the club, Wolf is being counted on heavily. This outing was vintage Wolf as he kept Mets’ hitters off balance all night until he tired to open the ninth inning.

By the way, Worrell came in with two runners on and yielded a 3-run homer to Cliff Floyd making the game close. For his less than impressive effort, Worrell recorded a save. Something needs to be done about that sort of miscarriage of statistics. And something else needs to be done about Worrell’s ineffectiveness. The sight of him coming into a game hardly inspires confidence anymore.

Tonight, Vicente Padilla makes his 2005 debut following a lost Spring with biceps tendonitis and a stint on the Disabled List to open the season. Padilla will be watched very closely in his first few starts. If he falters, Gavin Floyd’s stint in the bullpen, a terrible decision in the first place, will be over and Padilla’s time in a Phillies uniform may be drawing to a close. In today’s Philadelphia Inquirer, Jim Salisbury writes that those close to Padilla, a very small group by any standard, say he looks sharp and is ready to fulfill his potential.

Padilla has suffered many of the same problems that plagued Brett Myers prior to this season: a short fuse and shorter attention span. Myers has made huge strides in both departments and is off to a tremendous start. Now comes Padilla’s turn to prove he can shrug off adversity, maintain his composure and learn to pitch not just throw. If he comes through, the Phils will be faced with a pleasant dilemma, namely, what to do with all of these quality starters.