Phillies Bullpen Nightmares Continue

I disagree with Marcus Hayes on some of the points made in the Inquirer today.

Rob Thompson is to be lauded for the way he has shifted the Phillies in the order to get the most out of them. However, his management of the bullpen has not been good. There is no one who I see, watching the Phillies, whom you can say you have significant faith in when it comes to holding a lead or, for heaven's sake, closing. Hoffman is the closest thing to someone you can have "some" faith in. No one can have any faith in the rest of them; they seem shaky.

Maybe things are improving. Kimbrel is really only effective with two days' rest, so why put him in the ninth inning? Dominguez is totally unreliable and downright undependable too. He almost gave the game away. These 5-4 wins could easily go the other way against a good team, as the Braves showed.

It is my opinion, though I have never examined him, that Lorenzen is done for the season. This is another fateful decision by Thompson. By letting him go for the no-hitter and undergo a ridiculous pitch count, including two innings that he didn't have to absorb, he ruined the trade deadline acquisition who was supposed to help the starting rotation and also, perhaps, be the reliever that Phillies fans could count on.

That he will be neither this season is a huge mark against Thompson.