Yet Another Bullpen Blow - Condrey to DL

According to ESPN's Jayson Stark, the Phillies bullpen may take yet another hit as RHP Clay Condrey is rumored to be headed to the 15-Day DL. Rumor also has it that Condrey's roster spot will now be taken, at least for the time being, by none other than LHP Sergio Escalona. How long Escalona would remain in the majors (this time) may depend on when RHP Brad Lidge returns. Lidge is scheduled to make another rehab appearance for the AAA IronPigs (Pigs... made of Iron... ) on Tuesday, and depending how that goes, he'll probably be back with the Phillies by the end of the week. Lidge said he felt great about his last outing with AA-Reading, in which he threw a scoreless inning and struck out two in fifteen pitches. Lidge's return could mean a very short stay in the majors for Escalona, but with a depleted bullpen, they could also keep Escalona in the majors and send down C Paul Bako. Condrey is able to throw multiple innings, and with their starters proving unable to go deep into games, they may want all the arms they can get. Neither Escalona or Lidge are multiple innings guys, though getting Lidge back does take RHP Ryan Madson out of the closer position and back into regular bullpen duty. Madson is capable of pitching multiple innings need be. 

The bright side (potentially) in all of these injuries is that if none of the injuries linger, Lidge, Raul Ibanez, Scott Eyre, Condrey, and Ryan Howard (who will most likely be back on Tuesday after his battle with the flu) will all be fresh and at the top of their games. This doesn't solve the problem of the lack of starting pitching (Brett Myers won't be coming back anytime soon), but they could focus on trading for a starting pitcher and not have to worry about patching up their bullpen.