DL: Phillies assistant general manager Mike Arbuckle was quoted as saying that you probably would have been drafted much lower had you not changed your motion, because people would have been afraid of the injury factor. What are your thoughts on that?

JO: I think that was an assumption made under faulty information. What I was taught actually took stress off of my arm, so there wasn’t full comprehension on how my motion worked. Using a vertical arm position freed up my rotator cuff and enabled the use of the larger pectoral and abdominal muscle groups rather than the smaller deltoids and various other shoulder muscles. It used my lats to slow my arm down rather than just the posterior deltoids, and because those are larger, stronger muscles that can withstand more force it took a large workload off of my shoulder muscles. And eliminating the leg kick in lieu of a normal walking step, I was expending less energy to get the same production from my body, while sparing my throwing arm much of the wear and tear associated with pitching.

This is just another in the long line of instances where because something “doesn’t look right”, a guy is downgraded or given less attention, even though what he is doing might be working just fine. It’s good to see Josh has been able to climb the ladder and progress as a prospect while basically learning how to pitch again from scratch.

Word came down from Philadelphia Thursday to shake up the Double-A club’s pitching staff, with Josh Outman and Fabio Castro sent to the bullpen.

The move of Castro isn’t a surprise: All but one of his 26 appearances with Philadelphia over the last two seasons have come out of the bullpen.

For the 23-year-old Outman, however, it’s big news since he’s been projected as a starter and a potential member of the rotation in Philadelphia.

The order to get him accustomed to coming out of the bullpen signals that the Phillies see him helping them, and soon. He could very well be in the big leagues by mid-June.

“They feel like the need in the major leagues (right now) is for a left-handed reliever,” said Phillies minor league pitching coordinator Gorman Heimueller. “I think he suits that (role). I have no doubt that he’s got the stuff to do it.”

Veeeeeeery interesting. If the goal is to break Outman into the majors as a reliever, with the ultimate goal of having him start next season, then I like this move. If they have already given up on him as a starter, then I don’t like the move at all. Only time will tell.

Brian (Philly): Carlos Carrasco or Josh Outman?

Jim: Beginning to think the answer to that one should be Outman.

Now this strikes me as somewhat strange. I don’t mind someone liking Outman a bit more, but nothing in their comparative numbers this year would indicate Outman should pull ahead of Carrasco, as Carrasco was again ranked higher by BA heading into this season.

Carrasco, Age 21: 11.0 IP — 8 H — 4 BB — 14 K — 2 HR — 0.55 GO: AO
Outman, Age 23: 17.0 IP — 18 H — 8 BB — 19 K — 0 HR — 0.68 GO:AO

The only statistical advantage Outman has over Carrasco is a few more groundballs at this point, and Carlos has allowed 2 HR. But Carrasco is 2 years younger than Outman, which is a really big consideration in this debate. Outman’s fastball is good for a lefty, with plus velocity, but his control is a real work in progress, as it has been since he came out of college. Carrasco hasn’t done anything to diminish his stock this season, and Outman hasn’t really blown the doors off just yet. Both guys still have work to do, neither guy is ready for the bigs just yet, and 2-3 starts is hardly a telling sample size. Anyway, its nice to see Outman is liked in the talent evaluation circles, but I still think Carlos gets the nod, at least until we have a significant 2008 sample worth analyzing.

By now, I’m sure most of you have heard about OF Greg Golson hitting the tar out of the ball. After 8 games, Golson’s batting a tidy .323 with three doubles, a triple, and seven steals, all while tying for the team lead in runs scored with five. It looks as if his winter spent with Charlie Manuel has helped Golson up his game. However, before we sing his praises and worship him as the savior of the Phils minor-league chain, it’s important to note that his OBP is only .344, while his K-BB ratio is 8-1 on the young season. Golson’s going to have to get on base more often before he can really display one of his most impressive tools — his speed. His season is certainly one to keep an eye on as he looks to possibly earn a call-up during September.

As far as other hitting prospects go, shortstop Jason Donald is hitting .350 for the year with a double, a triple, and 3 RBI. However, as is the case with Golson, his K-BB ratio is awfully high (6-1). However, he’s second on the team in SLG% at .500. Leading the team in SLG% is OF Jeremy Slayden. Slayden has one home run on the season to go along with two doubles, a triple, and 3 RBI. He’s been somewhat of a mystery during his tenure in the Phillies system after being selected in the 8th round of the 2005 Draft out of Georgia Tech. He’s just one of many Phillies prospects at double-A that have the potential to really turn around the fortunes for the Phils minor-league system.

Finally for hitting prospects, C Lou Marson has been having an impressive season thus far. He’s batting .304 with two runs scored, two doubles, and 2 RBI. He’s shown the most patience at the plate of any Reading Phillie, with a 7-5 K-BB ratio.

As far as pitching prospects go, starter Josh Outman has been the most impressive so far. In two starts spanning 11 innings, Outman is 0-1 with a 1.64 ERA and a K-BB ratio of 13-6. Despite those solid numbers, opponents are hitting .292 against him. His WHIP currently sits at 1.81, so it’s fairly apparent that he not only needs to find the strike zone, but also needs to induce more ground balls and trust his defense behind him in order to keep runners off base. We all know Outman’s got electric stuff, so hopefully he can lower his WHIP and keep striking guys out. However, it’s early in the season and he could just need a little refining in his mechanics.

Nipping at Outman’s heels for most impressive pitcher on the team is talented righty Carlos Carrasco. CC has started one game and lasted five innings, striking out 7 while walking 2 and only giving up 3 hits. His ERA currently sits at 1.80, and batters are hitting just .188 against him. For a pitcher some of us lost a little faith in last season, this is an excellent way to start the year for Carlos. As one regular has pointed out, when Carrasco gets promoted, there tend to be growing pains and his stats fall off from what is expected, then he goes on to start the season back on track. With any luck, Carrasco will continue this trend and probably be one of the first in line to be called up should the big team need an emergency starter.

On the other end of things, starter Andrew Carpenter has been among the biggest disappointments. With two games started and 9.2 IP, he’s 1-1 with a 6.52 ERA and has given up 16 hits on top of 4 walks, which puts his WHIP at 2.17. He’s given up 7 earned runs while only striking out 6 batters. Methinks this is an injury, but without being able to make it to any games, it’s difficult to tell. Keep an eye on him as the season progresses, he might be up for a DL stint.

Hat tip to frequent reader/commenter dajafi, who posted this over at TGP.