Phillies on the Late Show With Mat Latos

Share

It's never a bad time to head out to San Diego for a few days, whether you're coming off a few straight home wins or a series loss to the Brewers. It's really quite lovely out there.

The Phils will open a four-game series at Petco Park tonight with Roy Oswalt taking on Mat Latos. A quick look at the matchup annnnd a picture of our favorite sign currently sitting outside a random bar in New York, after the jump.

RoyO is making his first start since leaving his last turn a bit early after tweaking his back. Through 6 IP in each of his three starts, Oswalt hasn't allowed more than 2 ER in any outing. But, with a history that includes some back issues, we're watching to see if he's fully recovered from the spasms that locked him up last time out.

Latos is 0-2 with a 5.84 ERA, which is surprising given two things. One, Latos had a breakout season in 2010, with a 2.92 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP in 31 starts. Two, his 2011 WHIP is just shy of 1.00 at 0.97. With only two starts' worth of a sample size, we shouldn't be reading much into stats just yet. Latos started the season on the DL with a right shoulder strain, and after a solid start in his debut, he gave up 5 ER on 4 hits in 6.1 innings last time out. In 12.1 innings pitched, Latos has given up just 8 hits, but 3 of them have left the yard. Just WAIT til he has to face Sultans Shane and Placido...

Latos is a good young pitcher, and it's doubtful that 5/6 of his baserunners will score tonight, as was the case in his last start. Still, while correction is on the way for Latos at some point, it may not come in his third start of the season. Padres fans may yet have another appearance or two to worry about his 2010 inning spike and any residual fatigue.

And now completely unrelated, courtesy of reader NYPhilsPhan, the sign sitting outside Brady's on 2nd Ave right now: 

Ya know what I did the last time I was at Petco Park? I watched the Mets lose. Boom, related.

Contact Us