The Zo Zone

Charlie Manuel has taken quite a beating since he became Phillies manager.

Larry Bowa never would have done that ...

Jim Leyland never would have done that ...

Lou Piniella never would have done that ...

I'm not saying Manuel is baseball's greatest tactician, but I would be interested to see Bowa, Leyland, Piniella, Connie Mack, Casey Stengal, Earl Weaver or Sparky Anderson try to win with the Phillies' current bullpen. The Phillies just placed Tom Gordon and Ryan Madson on the disabled list. That leaves Manuel with Brett Myers, Geoff Geary and Antonio Alfonseca in the back and Francisco Rosario, Fabio Castro, Yoel Hernandez and Clay Condrey in the front.

The Phillies entered the season with a thin bullpen.

They're Olsen twins-thin today.

Manuel is terribly shorthanded. Take a look at what happened in yesterday's 9-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. Manuel used Rosario, Castro and Hernandez in situations they never would have been used just a couple days ago. But because of the injuries, because Alfonseca was unavailable and because he wanted to keep Geary and Myers in his pocket in case the Phillies tied or took the lead, he had little choice.

Phillies general manager Pat Gillick said Thursday that the trade market is cold right now. Pitchers are dropping like flies and pitching is a precious commodity. So don't expect any outside help anytime soon.

In the immediate future, it's hard to pin this team's troubles on Manuel.

*

Ryan Howard is hitting .198 with four home runs and 17 RBIs. In 91 at-bats, he has struck out 37 times (40.7 percent of his at-bats).

*

The Phillies' four, five and six hitters -- Howard, Pat Burrell and Wes Helms -- have just five home runs.

*

The Phillies have taken heat for using Gordon, despite the fact he never was 100 percent to start the season. The beat writers (asking the tough questions) asked Manuel why they didn't go to Myers earlier if they knew Gordon wasn't at his best.

"We were trying to get him to the point where he got completely healthy," Manuel said. "That's what we were trying to do. We felt that if we monitored him right that he was going to get there."

*

The Inquirer's Sunday baseball column.

*

Thanks to Mills Chapman, who suggested Yuet Lee in Chinatown. Good stuff. I'm on the road quite a bit, so if anybody has some good restaurant suggestions, feel free to post them. But as somebody who sees fried, greasy foods in the press box on a regular basis, something a little more -- how should I say? -- healthy would be nice. That said, if it's really good -- the word's greatest deep friend Oreos, for instance -- I'll check it out. Maybe.