“Since I became a utility player, I wanted to have all that experience,” Blanco said. “I’ll be able to talk to my grandkids and tell them, ‘Your grandpa played everywhere in the big leagues.’ That’s part of life, right?”
Blanco recorded the final out of the eighth inning in a 14-1 loss to the Braves.
His pitches were clocked in the low-70s and labeled as knuckleballs, though in actuality they were fastballs that were just really slow. Matt Adams crushed one of the pitches for a two-run homer before Tyler Flowers popped out to end the contest and probably Blanco's pitching career.
The only positions he's yet to play during his big league career are catcher and center field.
"A pretty cool thing to accomplish," Blanco said.
Bullpen Implodes
Luis Garcia and Adam Morgan surrendered a combined nine runs in the loss while Joely Rodriguez walked a pair and gave up a hit over two-thirds of an inning. The bullpen ERA of 4.74 ranks 26th in baseball.
The Phillies demoted Rodriguez immediately following the contest, his ERA sitting at 6.33 over 27 innings.
Neris Out
Adding to the drama surrendering the bullpen, manager Pete Mackanin announced prior to Wednesday's contest that Hector Neris was out as the Phillies closer. Pat Neshek will fill the role for the immediate future.
"He needs to work on his splitter," Mackanin said of Neris. "He needs to get that pitch back to where it was before so he can be effective."
Thursday's Series Finale
Phillies right-hander Ben Lively makes his second career start on Thursday as the Phillies close out the series in Atlanta. The 25-year-old made his big league debut on Sunday against the Giants in Philadelphia, where he allowed four hits, one run and three walks in seven innings.
The Braves will counter with right-hander R.A. Dickey (3-4, 5.10 ERA).
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