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PhillyFan83: WS CHAMPS!!!

| 10:55 PM ET  07.01 |      Brett Myers left the Phillies clubhouse on Tuesday morning. He will not be returning for quite some time. The Phillies demoted their so called "ace" to Lehigh Valley to regain his form. Myers, who for the second half of last year was the Phillies closer, returned in 08 as a starter, mainly because of the addition of Brad Lidge. But for any pitcher, this switch is always tough. As a closer, he threw all he had. His mid 90's fastball, his change-up, a nasty cutter, and his best pitch, a 12-6 curve that was nearly unhittable. When he returned this year though, his fastball's velocity decreased in speed about 5 mph.

    Myers leaves the Phils with embaressing stats. He was 3-9 with a 5.84 ERA. He is scheduled to start Wednesday night, and proceed until the end of July in AAA. If the Phillies like the progress they are seeing from Brett, he will be called up by Auguest. If it gets worse...

   The Phillies are looking for a few things for Myers to work on in Lehigh. First and formost, his confidence. This guy can be a hot head. He can be stubburn at times and will get rattled. His confidence is arguably his biggest part in his game. It showed last year when he was the closer. They want him also to work on his fastball velocity, as well as mixing up his pitchers similar to the way he did in previous years.

    Myers, to his credit though, was classy about the move. He accepted the demotion and put his team first. He knows his job and knows what he needs to do to get back as the Phillies ace. They called up J.A. Happ who led the Eastern League in K's. 

    This wasn't the only option the Phils were looking at. Another option was put him in the set-up role in the pen. Already with the leagues best ERA for bullpen's, would this move stregthen or weaken the pen?

7th inning-Tom Gordon/J.C. Romero (lefty specialist)
8th inning- Brett Myers
9th inning- Brad Lidge

    If he had proven himself, the rich get richer as the combo with Myers and Lidge both on can be goodnight for offenses. But if he shows what he has showed us thus far, there's not much to believe he can regain his previous form over the years with a change to the pen.

    So with Myers off to AAA, the Phils can only hope it turns out for the best. A productive Myers will be huge for a playoff run by the Phillies.