It's Time for the Phillies to Give Younger Middle Relief Arms a Shot

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You could've pinned one of the losses that made for the Reds series sweep of the Phillies last month on John Lannan's quad, which helped Cincy plate six runs in 1 2/3 innings 12 hours before it put him on the DL. As for the other two, those were on Jeremy Horst and Phillippe Aumont.

In Game 1, Horst let two baserunners reach in three at-bats before intentionally walking the bases loaded in the eighth and handing it over to Mike Adams. The next batter, Brandon Phillips, smeared a two RBI single for the go-ahead runs in a 4-2 loss.

In Game 2, Aumont's command and a Ben Revere fielding error loaded the bases in straight at-bats for Zack Cosart's walk-off single for a 1-0 loss, like, 10 minutes into the pick-up of a rain-suspended game.

Both Horst and Aumont opened their innings with clean slates.

As for the finale, Raul Valdes didn't help much by serving five in 3 1/3.

Add in Chad Durbin, and you've got the four parts of the Phillies bullpen needing remodeling.

And even if it's coincidence that the Phillies are about to play these same Reds again, in a three-game set at Citizens Bank Park, proposing a roster redress isn't about three games. It's about the past 42 and next 120.

They don't hold leads. They don't stop routs. They don't strand runners. They don't throw strikes.

Makes it hard to justify not giving some younger talent a look-see, doesn't it?

Durbin's guaranteed contract, reputation for being a slow starter, and history with the organization make it tough to fathom them cutting him loose now. But if they did, would you blame them?

Valdes has no such short list of reasons to hang onto. He has options. He's also here to eat innings and make spot starts, both of which Mike Stutes can do. Drop one outing from his time at Triple-A this year, and Stutes has a 2.13 ERA. He's been scoreless in his last 10 1/3 spanning seven appearances, four of which he's gone five outs or more in. He was also a starter his first two years in the minors.

That brings up Aumont. Hopes that he'll be able to harness his 97 m.p.h. fastball and rectify what seems to be the biggest mistake in recent organizational history figure to be his sticking points. It also doesn't help that Jake Diekman, the only other guy in the system who can sniff high-90s, is having the same issue controlling it, walking 10.90 batters per nine for a 6.75 ERA at Triple-A this year.

But expanding the rotation to five starters again on May 21 necessitates at least one roster move, and if Valdes is ever to go, you'd have to think it'd be to call up Stutes. If they stick with Horst, it's probably because they have more patience than they can afford, and probably means they'll stick with Aumont, too.

That figures to leave Justin De Fratus the odd man out, which is a shame.

How it should be: Cloyd, Stutes, De Fratus, Aumont.

How it likely will be: Cloyd, and everything it's been.

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