Phillies Bullpen Suffers A Big Loss

The Philadelphia Phillies took a huge hit when Major League Baseball suspended relief pitcher J.C. Romero for 50 games. Romero was punished using a performance enhancing drug that was on baseball's banned substance list. Apparently, Romero had been caught back in July, but had been negotiating with baseball for a more lenient sentence due to negligence by the team's trainer who told Romero the PED he purchased at GNC was okay to take. However, Romero refused to admit guilt in any scenario so MLB dropped the hammer on him. The suspension will cost Romero about $1.25 million dollars in salary, but more importantly the Phillies will have to get by without one of the key components to their bullpen for almost two months of the season. Last season, Romero has 24 holds for the Phillies and allowed just 41 in 59 innings pitched while striking out 52 batters and posting a 2.75 ERA. In 2007 Romero had a 1.92 ERA. The lefthander was counted on as both a setup man and also as a lefty s...