Yesterdays two split squad games against the Rays and Tigers were cancelled due to rain. The Phillies will take on Twins today at 1:05. J.A. Happ will toe the rubber for the Phils.
The first round of minor league designations were handed out and there are certainly surprises among those cut along with some that aren’t so shocking:
Yohan Flande: Not a surprise given his lack of experience, he never really stood a chance to remain with the big club. Having only made 13 starts at the double A level, where he finished with a 4-4 record, a 4.58 E.R.A., a W.H.I.P. of 1.44 and 50 K’s in 70 innings, Flande will need more seasoning before he is ready.
Drew Naylor: A native of Australia, Naylor spent all of 2009 in High A ball in Clearwater. He finished 8-11 with an E.R.A. of 4.22, a W.H.I.P. of 1.26, and 115 SO’s in 158 innings. Although he made strides last year, he is still a few years away from sticking at the Major League level.
Jesus Sanchez: Still only 21, Sanchez pitched all of last season in the Sally league and showed some promising results. Finishing 10-6 with a 3.44 E.R.A. and 1.36 W.H.I.P. and struck out 120 batters in only 136 innings, Sanchez averaged almost 8 strikeout per 9 innings pitched. Another young gun who shows promise but is still years away from the Phils.
Bill White: White is a non-prospect at age 31. He was most recently cut by the Rangers and Cubs although this is exactly the type of signing that could turn out to be beneficial for the Phillies. RAJ, having learned the value of signing a player to see what he’s got under Pat Gillick, makes these types of moves often. Sometimes it works and you get a J.C. Romero, other times you get Jose Mesa who has 6 fingers and zero left in the tank.
Joe Savery: Time is running out for this kid. The Phillies first round pick out of Rice in 2007, he already had spent a season trying to recover from surgery during his junior year in college. Savery has struggled at every level of the minors save for low A ball. Last year he was promoted to AAA despite an E.R.A. of 4.41. It’s clear that the Phillies thought they were drafting a polished college pitching prospect and their attempt to move him up the chain, despite limited success, shows they still believe in him. Don’t count me among those believers. This reminds me of when a team drafts a guy who wasn’t dominant in college but “if he could just put it together”, he’d be great. The Phils are refusing to admit to a first round blunder and I expect we’ll see Savery get a chance at some point this year just to drive the final point home.
J.C. Ramirez: One of the three players acquired for Cliff Lee, Ramirez is still young at 20 years old but has struggled to show promise. Last season at High A in the California league, Ramirez was inconsistent at best. Finishing 8-10 with a 5.12 E.R.A., it’s tough to see why the Phillies wanted him in a deal for an ace. He still has time to turn it around, but some progress must be shown this year for J.C. to legitimize himself as a prospect.
Phillippe Aumont: The crown jewel of the Cliff Lee deal, he was one of only 2 Phils to make Baseball America’s top 100 prospect list. He has looked good in his first few minor league seasons before struggling in AA last year to the tune of an E.R.A. over 5. However, it should be noted that since he only pitched 17 innings in AA, it’s too small a sample size to really gauge what he’s capable of at that level. The promising stat to take away from those innings in AA were the 24 K’s, which gave him an absurd 12.2 K/9. The phils want to give Phillippe a chance to start before relegating him to the bullpen as the Mariners did. I hope for his sake he succeeds, as he will always be looked at as the center piece of a deal that was very unpopular in Philadelphia.
Tuffy Gosewisch (C): One of three catchers sent down to the minors, Tuffy has shown very little in terms of the offensive side of his game. Promoted to AAA last year after Lou Marson was traded, “Gose” has an aggregate minor league batting average of .232. I won’t even bother posting the power numbers. The cupboard is bare behind Carlos Ruiz after trading two very good catching prospects in the last year.
Kevin Nelson(C): At 28, a career minor leaguer. Played 57 games between AA and AAA last year. Break glass in case of emergency type player.
John Suomi(C): See above.
Freddy Galvis (SS): He was promoted to AA last year where he hit under .200. However, at age 19, and already possessing a major league type glove, there is plenty of room for improvement and optimism. Will most likely start the year in AA reading, working on his hitting.
Quintin Berry (OF): Played a full season at AA last year and its safe to say, this kid is a burner. In 135 games, he only hit .266 but showed good plate discipline with and on base percentage of .355. Being on base so often allowed Berry to steal 48 bags. Howeve, it was his first full season in the minors where he stole less than 50 bases.
Tyson Gillies (OF): The last of the pieces acquired in the Lee deal, Gillies has been described as high energy guy who most of the veterans on the club really have seemed to take a liking to. Boy do the Phils love their speedy outfield prospects. In a full season in High A ball, Tyson hit .341 with an OBP of .430. Having only hit 9 home runs, he is clearly not a power threat but he did steal 44 bags and scored 104 runs in 124 games last year. You only hope he continues to show improvement as he is likely destined for AA this year.
Scott Mathieson: I saved Scott for last because this is the biggest shock of all the players sent down. All spring there has been talk of Mathieson competing for a spot in the Phils bullpen and potentially being a darkhorse to close for the Phils should Lidge and company falter. As unlucky as it gets, he’s already had 3 elbow surgeries which has delayed him from cashing in on his promise. He has shown flashes of dominance in the minors but struggled in his only major league action in 2006. In 22 games last year in the minors, he had an E.R.A. of 0.84, a W.H.I.P. of 0.90 and a K/9 of 9.5. This kid clearly has the stuff, can he make it back all the way to help the Phils this year?
Lastly, Brad Lidge threw his second live batting practice session this week and could be ready to face live game action in the upcoming week.
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