Romero eligible to return to Phillies; Eyre contemplating retirement at season’s end
By Jonathan Atwood on June 3rd, 2009 9:34 AM |
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Phillies’ reliever J.C. Romero is eligible to join the team Wednesday, as his 50-game suspension for banned substances officially ends.
Romero was arguably the Phillies best reliever in 2008, aside from the perfect Brad Lidge, with a 2.75 ERA.
How will Romero fit into a bullpen that is already about a third of the way through the season? Manager Charlie Manuel addressed that topic last week.
“Chan Ho Park, [Chad] Durbin, and [Clay] Condrey . . . can become two-inning pitchers for us,” Manuel said. “Then we have [Brad] Lidge, [Ryan] Madson, Romero, and Scott Eyre.”
Absent from that list were lefties Jack Taschner and Sergio Escalona. Chances are, one of them will be sent down to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to make room for Romero.
With Madson and Lidge firmly entrenched in the eight and ninth innings, respectively, and Eyre performing as a late inning left-handed specialist, look for Romero to slide right into the seventh inning slot. Durbin, Condrey, and Park are able to pitch multiple innings and largely do not see action late in the game.
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Speaking of Eyre, the veteran lefty said yesterday that he was “more than 90 percent” sure that he would retire at the end of this season.
Eyre has played for six different teams over 13 seasons and will be a free agent at the end of this year.
“My wife is probably ready for me to be home,” said Eyre, who has two sons, ages 8 and 10. “I’ve been playing for 13 years, and it’s basically all she’s ever known. We’ll talk about it at the end of the year, but as of now I would say, yeah, I’ll retire.”
Eyre has a record of 0-1 with an ERA of 2.84 in 12 2/3 innings so far this season.
