Andrew Carpenter kept his solid pitching going for the Threshers on Wednesday night by picking up a complete game win for his 14th victory of the year. The all-time Clearwater record for wins in a season is 15, and with at least three if not four more starts on tap before the season is over Andy has an excellent shot at eclipsing that mark.
Andrew was a member of the Western Division All-Star team, and since the all-star break he owns a record of 7-2 with a 1.95 ERA allowing opponents to hit just .228 against him.
With the win tonight the Threshers closed to within 1/2 game of the division lead with nineteen games remaining in their season. Clearwater has not made the playoffs since 1999 when we had players like Geoff Geary, Johnny Estrada, Nick Punto, Jason Michaels, and Eric Valent on the squad. For those of us down here in Clearwater it would be a welcome change to make a playoff run, especially considering the team has finished at or near the bottom of their division every year since becoming the Threshers and moving to their new facility.
Hopefully I can look back on this season someday and name six or seven players from the team who are playing in the majors like the 1999 Clearwater Phillies team produced.
Phuture Phillies 
Swept: looks like Carpenter is on the David Wells weight management program; or does the camera just add pounds?
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I think the phillies just take the “fill in his frame” mentality a little too seriously. Carpenter is heavy, Zags is heavy, Segovia is heavy… Are there more? probably.
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I just looked at Clearwater’s stats, and there is some potential for a bunch of future MLB players on this roster. Bronco Zagurski has already made it. From the rotation, Carpenter, Carrasco and Outman all look like they are on track – the latter two possibly by next year. There are some quality bullpen arms in Savage, “Bear” Hill and Wiley (a wiley, savage bear? I’ll take it!). As for the bats, Donald, Marson, and probably Golson (hey, hey finally drew a walk last week at Reading!). Looks like a pretty decent squad.
– Jeff
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OK, so who holds the record with 15 victories?
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That pic looks a little distorted to me, but he’s listed at 230 so there’s no doubt he’s a big boy.
I don’t think it’s really accurate to say that’s typical of the Phillies though. They generally prefer the ultra-skinny tall guys. Kendrick, Floyd, Hamels, Happ, Carrasco, Elizardo Ramirez – all beanstalks.
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Carpenter is putting up numbers that demand we take him seriously among the team’s better prospects. I remember, from James’s assessment and other sources, reading that his stuff isn’t especially spectacular. But he seems to “know how to pitch,” and his strikeout rate is better than, say, Segovia’s, even when Zack put up the big win numbers last season. Where do we think he stands right now within the organization?
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Shouldn’t Carpenter be up at Reading by now?
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Don’t get too excited about this kid! Let him finish the season in Clearwater and invite him to spring training, then let him start in Reading. I guarentee he is in Philly by June 1st 2008.
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He’s somewhere in our Top 10 in terms of prospects.
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Any info on D-Arby and why he’s still doing so poorly? Its great to see the year that Berry has put together. He’s at .324 with 50 steals at the moment, very impressive. Also, I still can’t figure out whether Bastardo is for real but those stats are eye popping with 80 ks in 80 innings with a low whip.
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Ezequiel Astacio holds the current wins record of 15 from 2003, the last year the team was the Phillies as opposed to the Threshers.
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First of all… although Andy is a big guy, that picture isn’t exactly flattering.
They should leave him where he is this season… this is his first year of full season ball and he needs to build his confidence. Give him some innings and start him in Reading next year. He is still young and has time to develop his pitches. He does seem to ‘know how to pitch’ as was said, but you also have to look at Lou behind the plate and the way he is able to convince his pitchers that they can beat the batter. Andy has to be profiting from that to some degree.
Now, next question Jeff… what is the Florida State League record for wins?
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