Phuture Phillies

Another week, another Phillie makes the grade

Donald has quietly had a productive first full season in the big leagues last year, hitting .310/.409/.447 in 238 plate appearances with low Class A Lakewood and .300/.386/.491 in 336 plate appearances with high Class A Clearwater. The success has carried over into 2008 for Donald, who in 23 games is hitting .337/.444/.470. Donald is a selective hitter with a line-drive swing, but some scouts question whether he will be able to stay at shortstop or whether he has the hitting tools to ever become more than just a utility man. In an organization that boasts Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley in the middle of its big league infield—and with Utley signed through 2013, Rollins through 2010 with a club option for 2011—it’s not quite the ideal situation for Donald, but he is increasing his value with every productive game.

Again with the utility player tag. Sometimes BA underrates until its too late, but we’ll see where Donald ends up at the end of this season.

There will be a chat at BA at 2:30 Eastern.

Its Monday Morning Ten Pack time

Antonio Bastardo, LHP, High-A Clearwater (Phillies)
Bastardo can be seen as one of those “is what he is” kind of players: a short lefty with average velocity. However, beyond his left-handedness, he’s also got fantastic command and a killer changeup. That’s enough to make him some kind of prospect, and he’s on a roll with the Threshers, striking out 13 over eight two-hit innings yesterday—his third double-digit strikeout game in five starts. Currently sitting with a 1.17 ERA and 47 Ks in 30 2/3 innings, Bastardo is starting to get some attention as something more than just a future lefty lefty specialist, though he still has that in his back pocket, as lefty batters are currently 3-for-37 with 23 strikeouts against the 22-year-old Dominican.

I think KG is getting a little carried away with the “excellent command”, but Bastardo is getting noticed. Move over Cole Hamels….

Baseball America’s weekly wrap up of the best performers of the week comes out today, and Antonio Bastardo makes the team photo.

IN THE TEAM PHOTO

White Sox 1B Brandon Allen hit .381/.435/.952 with three homers this week for high Class A Winston-Salem, though he remains strikeout prone and a bit rough at first base . . . Phillies LHP Antonio Bastardo struck out 12 in a seven-inning outing this week for high Class A Clearwater and is among the top five in the minor leagues in strikeouts, with 34 . . .

Hey, not bad. There will be a chat at 2:30 Eastern, so if you want, try and get some Phillies questions answered.

I’m going to create a special little category on the left side along with the other features specifically for cataloging the appearances of Phillies prospects in Kevin Goldstein’s Monday Morning 10 Pack, as well as the Baseball America Hot Sheet, which I believe will be coming out on Friday’s now. Joe Savery popped up today

Joe Savery, lhp, High-A Clearwater (Phillies)

On a prospect level, it was the pitching matchup of the day on Sunday, as Lakeland and super-stud Rick Porcello paid a visit to Clearwater, who countered with their 2007 own first-round pick in Savery. While Porcello pitched well again, and got hurt once more by bad defense and occasional control lapses, Savery stole the show with eight shutout innings that included four strikeouts and 14 ground balls. After three starts, Savery has given up just two runs over 20 innings while limiting batters to a .217 average. While Carlos Carrasco is off to a fine start at Double-A, Savery’s left-handedness and groundball tendencies just might have him looking like the better prospect by the end of the season.