This was one of the more obvious moves. Despite all of Twitter and even the Phillies own broadcasters constantly remarking that Ethan Martin is better suited for the bullpen, the Phillies finally made such a move:
Ethan Martin to bullpen. Cloyd to take his spot.
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) September 6, 2013
Many remarked that Martin's strong velocity as he entered games and subsequent dropoff in later innings as he faced the lineup a couple times showed that Martin could have the potential to be a shut down reliever in late innings. The Phillies will start to see if he has that ability now.
Cloyd got a demotion to AAA not because of his performance with the big league club, but because of a roster crunch after a Martin start of just 2/3 innings led to an 18 inning game and a taxed bullpen. Cloyd ended up pressed into duty a day before he was scheduled to start, which led to the early return of Roy Halladay.
Cloyd is 2-3 with a 3.57 ERA in two different stints with the big club. Martin is 2-4 with a 6.90 ERA in seven starts for the Phillies.
