The Zo Zone

Love ya, Todd, but Sheridan's right about Eaton. Why risk it everty fifth day? Also got a huge laugh out of Stephen A. Smith's piece on Howard as third this year for MVP behind Fielder and Braun. Big man is hitting .200 in the 15 games since Utley went down. He's frankly, fourth on the team as MVP behind Rollins (your pick), Utley, and Rowand. And should we throw in Kendrick?

Putdown the Kool-aid, gang, he's been a disappointment all year - every time he has a good game, he cools off the next four or five. My sister's probably pissed after reading this, but Jimmymack did get to call somebody "assface."

PS: Vuk was the man.

I went to the game last night and it was really frustrating. As bad as Eaton was (& he was horrible), I can't even point the finger at him for the loss. The game turned in the 5th. After scoring 3 runs off Cormier, it was 1st & 3rd with no outs. Granted the new pitcher was better than Cormier, but for Howard AND Rowand to strike out in this situation is unacceptable. The Phillies should have easily scored at least one more run there. All they needed was a fly ball to the outfield from either their #4 or #5 pitcher.

I know Charlie is being talked about as manager of the year, but I had issues with Eaton leading off the bottom of the 3rd too. I know Eaton hits .224 and the bench is thin, but he looked horrible in the top of the 3rd and couldn't get an out in the 4th. His night was over.

There is the difference in the game. 2 less runs for the Braves in the 4th and 1 more for the Phillies in the 5th.

It comes down to fundamentals and strategy... AGAIN.
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On another note, I had the misfortune of sitting in front of the most obnoxious fan I have ever had the misfortune of listening to. And it was a Braves fan. The fans in Atlanta aren't as vocal as this knucklehead who was obviously trying to get a rise out of people. Philly fans get such a bad rep, but there are some bad fans out there from other places! (Section 316 in case anybody was wondering.
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Lastly, Todd congrats of hitting 300+ comments on your Meyers song post.

I think the only pitcher I would pull Eaton for would be JA Happ. His last 3 starts have been very good at Ottawa:
Inn H R BB K
6.0 5 2 3 6
6.2 1 0 1 8
7.0 2 0 0 7
If they pulled Eaton from the rotation they wouldn't need a replacement till Sat. and Happ next start is Monday so hw would be right on schedule assuming he has a 4th straight good start. Happ was pretty impressive in Spring Training so his recent success is probably not a fluke, more likely he figured out what was causing his problems and unlike Eaton has been able to make adjustments. Obviously the unknown in Happ is a better bet than the "known" in Eaton which is terrible. The only problem is what do you do with Eaton, but I'm sure if they decide to mtake this route they'll come up with something.

Why not bench him? It worked out well with the Pat Burrel situation, when he was benched. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would rather have Burrel in clutch situation,instead of Howard. I do now . Gentleman, a perfect example of how overated a Home Run hitters, truly are. Who'd you rather have ? Jeter or A-rod ? Utley or Howard ? Schmidt or Rose? How many many champioship teams has "Juice" Bonds,played for? Home Runs are like Slam Dunks in bball ! Everybody loves to see them. They still only count as 1 basket, and 1 run. Maybe , I was off base on Vuc comments, I don't think so. Hey Jimmie, you enjoyed that Mass card bit. You, really should loosen that tie a bit!

Second the motion on Happ. Happ is major-league ready, he's been lights out in his last few AAA starts, and this ought to be a no brainer considering the situation. Eaton can move to long relief.

What I think about Eaton is he's having a (bad) season. He's better than this, and it's possible he'll come back to the level he's pitched in past years, but that'll happen gradually if it happens and not by hopes and prayers and magic wands. Meanwhile, the Phils are in a pennant race and they need to give Happ (or possibly Castro or Durbin) a chance.

Eaton should go on the DL to open up a roster spot for somebody, ANYBODY to fill his spot in the rotation. Is Mrs. Moyer a righty or a lefty? even she could do better.

To be honest, Eaton makes me sick.

24 Million for 3 years, and he can't figure out whats wrong. His starts have been pathetic for a professional. One quality start in his last ten starts, ZERO in his last seven??

These kind of numbers are beyond inconsistency. The man cannot pitch, and its costing us our playoff race. We are only three games out in the East and one in the Wild Card, and you can attribute those games and more to Eaton's horrendous pitching.

Oh, and let's not forget that quote from spring traing about how we shouldn't be concerned about his pitching because "he wasn't getting paid for what he did in February and March."

This is what we have to deal with every five days of a pennant race.

Everybody is spot on about Eaton. Essentially, Manuel said all along that he can't bench Eaton because he is making $24 million over three years. While moving to long relief would be a major blow to Eaton's ego, he seriously is costing us our pennant race. Think about it...if someone, anyone besides Eaton had turned in 3 more quality starts over his last seven opportunities (not even past the 6th, just QUALITY starts!) we would be possibly tied with New York right now. Enough of this "coulda, shoulda been" stuff. Get Eaton out of there. Pull a Barajas and put him on the "DL."