Bullpen justice

Am I the only one who has noticed that Chad Durbin hasn't pitched well enough to be in our bullpen? He had a 6.75 ERA in July and -- unlike red hot Chan Ho Park, who has allowed a thrifty 2 ER since June 24th and posted a 0.68 ERA in July-- hasn't had a streak all year.

When the Phils add Brett Myers and Pedro Martinez to the roster, it is likely to be Rodrigo Lopez who gets the bump. Is that fair? Durbin has walked 33 in 48 innings. That's 1 less BB than Joe Blanton in 126 innings.

Tyler Walker (2.76 ERA) and Sergio Escalona (2.84) have clearly been more effective than Durbin. More troubling, Durbin hasn't been reliably effective since July of 2008, over a year ago. In Aug. '08, his ERA was 4.32. In September, it was 6.94.

Yet, in a tie game-- out of habit, perhaps-- Durbin is still the guy Charlie Manuel is most likely to give the ball to. Is that logical?

I argue that Lopez, Escalona, Walker (whose 9th inning strikeout today was clutch), Myers, perhaps even Pedro (we'll see) deserve a roster spot over Durbin. I doubt it will play out that way.