The Phillies bullpen has had its share of problems all year, but this past week has been particularly bad. Set-up man Mike Adams was placed on the disabled list with bicep tendinitis yesterday after having allowed runs in three of his previous six appearances. The Phillies had hoped to avoid having to put him on the DL, so they took it easy with him for a couple days, but they saw no improvement. Chris Branch reports that Adams will seek a second opinion with Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the doctor who performed surgery on Roy Halladay’s right shoulder.
Meanwhile, Mike Stutes has also been placed on the disabled list with bicep tendinitis. He had allowed four runs in two out of his three most recent appearances. Following Saturday’s outing, he could be seen in the dugout pointing at his arm, ostensibly identifying discomfort, but he insisted to the media he was fine. Phillippe Aumont has been promoted to fill the roster spot vacated by Stutes.
It’s been a bad week for the Phillies, who have also seen closer Jonathan Papelbon blow three out of his four latest save opportunities. They have baseball’s worst bullpen ERA at 4.67.
