Jason Donald is the talk of the town after belting two home runs in the Phillies 15-7 win over Toronto. The home runs came off one time fireballing prospect Brandon League and journeyman John Parrish, not exactly Eckersley and Koufax, but still, a really good performance. Donald isn’t making the team out of spring training, but if he continues to rake, he’ll show the Phillies that he is more than just the utility player they are projecting him to be. It seems that he’s a lock to start at Reading alongside Brad Harman, in what should be an interesting double play combo.
* The Phillies also found a way to alleviate one tough bullpen decision, putting Francisco Rosario on the 15 day DL. I’m not insinuating that Rosario isn’t hurt, he might be, but this at least delays the decision the team needs to make on him, as he is out of options and would have to remain on the 25 man roster. Mike Zagurski and Scott Mathieson were also placed on the 15 day DL, but those moves were expected. Zagurski might be going for the record for longest recovery time from a hamgstring injury.
* As you now know, I have a soft spot for Clay Condrey. It looks like he has a decent shot to make the team. This article indicates that Condrey likely has a spot, while Vic Darensbourg, Travis Blackley, JD Durbin and Gary Knotts are fighting for the final spot. If I had to handicap it, I’d say the odds are; Blackley 49.5%, Durbin 48.5%, Darensbourg 0.5%, Knotts 0.5%, Blackley with the slightest of edges because he’s left handed, and without a 2nd lefty, Romero’s arm will probably come flying off sometime in mid June.
Phuture Phillies 
Donald had a weekend to remember by also going 3 for 4 on Saturday against the Blue Jays AA farm team according to the R-Phillies minor league report: ” Jason Donald finished the game 3-for-4 with three doubles, one RBI and one run scored.”
In fact the four Phils minor league teams swept the hapless Blue Jays farm teams on Sat. Let’s see how they all do today and tomorrow against the future Yanks.
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That Reading team should be chock-a-block with interesting prospects who might or might not grow up to be anything special (Donald, Harman, Marson, Golson). You could probably put most of their projected rotation in that category as well.
I think Condrey’s ticket is all but punched. If it is between Blackley and Durbin for the last spot, I’d be sorely tempted to take Real Deal north; his stuff is just much better, and while his command stinks, so does Blackley’s. Your lefty point is valid, but by June Zagurski should be ready for second-lefty duties, saving Romero’s arm. And I recall that Madson has a good reverse split, so situationally it wouldn’t be illogical to use him against the likes of McCann or Delgado. (That these are perhaps the best two lefty-only hitters in the division also suggests that this might not be all that big of a deal, though there are switch-hitters, e.g. Larry Jones Jr., whom it makes sense to turn around.)
But the truth is I’d rather hold onto Chris Snelling than either of them.
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I still think they’ll DL Lidge to start the year to give them an extra week or two to trade Helms rather than just dropping him and I also still think they’ll keep Darensbourg over Durbin and Blackley. I don’t see anything in Blackley and Darensbourg is a veteran left hander who can get major league outs. Snelling shows me nothing. He’ll go to AAA and be ready in case of an injury.
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That was exciting what Donald did. I would not discount the pitching. League throws super hard with amazing, Maddux-esque type movement. Jason needed a good eye and a very quick bat to launch that shot. He also hit it where it was pitched, a great indication of his ability to spray the ball with authority.
Given his remarkable consistency since being signed, I wonder if the performance gap between Donald and Cardenas is as big as their ratings and wrie-ups indicate. Both look like they could handle 2B/3B/SS, with Donald the edge in fielding and maybe a passable major league SS. Then they both hit for gap power and avg, maybe Cardenas a 20-25 homer guy and Donald a 15+ homer guy. Could wind up being in similar roles or with similar position options when their bats are ready and it comes time to asign them a role on the big team (3B?).
Bill Mueller or Craig Biggio (Manuel’s idea) seem like reasonable comps for Donald.
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I really have not seen Donald play (I stopped watching TV yesterday right before his homer binge), so I cannot comment on his abilities, but I don’t think you can comp him with Biggio at this point, or even Mueller. But there might be something there.
What I like is that there are three players in the minors who are middle infield types and can really hit (Donald, Harman and Cardenas). This is important because I predict that if the Phils don’t sign Howard to a long term deal in the next year or two, they will trade him (they’d be crazy not to if he’s not going to stay in the long run), Utley will shift to first, and one of the younger guys can play second and/or third (I don’t think Rollins is going anywhere for the present time, at least until Freddy Galvis is ready).
Watching the minors should be a lot of fun this year.
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Catch, I agree with you. Hard to compare someone to a very good ballplayer like Biggio when they haven’t hit above A ball. I like Donald. If you really works with the leather, I think he’ll be a great trade chip or they’ll have to find a spot for him.
I also think Howard will not be there long-term. He’s extremely valuable but he could be cost prohibitive in a few years. I don’t want to see him go and I don’t know how you get fair value for him. But if Cardenas, Harman and Donald come along nicely, it will be easier to trade Howard for anything we want and need.
In any event, AA could be a lot of fun to watch. I live in CT so I can see Reading play when they play the Rock Cats in New Britain. I hope I get to see them before they move up to AAA. I won’t see the Iron Pigs play.
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Umm, when I comp a guy, the comparison is to the TYPE of player he is, not the overall track record. In this case, Donald is a reasonably consistent fielder, will most likely not embarass himself as a major leaguer in the field, but not stand out either. Solid contact ability, with some ability to drive the ball. Not a 30 or even 20 HR guy at this point, maybe a classic #2 slot guy like a Biggio or Mueller if everything falls into alignment. It’s simply a projection of the the type of role he MIGHT play.
No need to go overboard with the critique and imply that I am calling Donald a hall-of-famer or even a major leaguer. He may never even make the majors. His MLB success will all depend on health, his mental approach, opportunity and whether his talent today translates to major league pitching. But today he looks like that TYPE of player in terms of physical approach and ability at the plate, his #2 slot characteristics and his fielding position options.
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Parrish struck me out in Little League, so heaven knows I’m not in a position to denegrate Donald’s performance yesterday.
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Catch, I agree that the most likely scenario is to ship Howard out, but why on earth would you move Utley to first. Utley has worked himself into a very good defensive second baseman. Also, he has the body type to be able to handle that position for years to come (I don’t see Utley putting on significant weight any time soon). Finally, Utley’s offense would be severely compromised if he was a first baseman. Sure, he is putting up sure-fire hall of fame numbers right now for a second baseman, but his offense would play significantly less at first.
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^Burrell could be re-signed and moved to first instead. Then move one of Donald/Cardenas/Harman to 3B and one to LF.
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Looks like we DO have more in Donald than the “experts” have said…even at his entre to AA ball.
Should he shine at Reading as he did at Clwtr’s last 1/2 season, he would become a viable candidate for 3rd base pending Feliz’ exit when his two year contract is up. It is likely that Donald has more arm than Harman for 3rd base since he’s had to make the long throw from the SS pocket tween SS and 3rd base. Whereas Harman–rumored to have played SS in Aussie-land, but since playing pro ball has played almost entirely at 2nd which requires less of an arm than 3rd.
Cardenas may be a realistic choice for LF…since his infielding range has been questioned…but his hitting seems on the way to being special, including power predicted.
And, who knows, Mattair may take 3-4 years to be viable for 3rd…on the condition that he develops as hoped with his great athleticism and “potential.”
Now…in the meantime, the team’s emphasis SHOULD be on pitching!! In drafting, especially, since the core of the team seems ready to remain (Howard excepted) with good additions and supplements arriving along the way.
Just get best pitching possible!
Besides, would we rather have a righty-hitter at third base…???>..given the Howard-Utley tandem…?…and the strong possibility of Cardenas playing LF…alongside Golson??…with Dom Brown in RF, also a lefty hitter.
Now, that MY idea of a terrific OF..assuming on track development by all…plus Cardenasd making a good adjustment to LF.
Wow!
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It looks as if there is more to Zagurski’s problems than
just a hammy. Phillies are reporting that he may now
need TJ surgery.
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I like Donald. But the stat that stuck out at me when taking a brief peruse over at the Baseball Cube was the 110Ks in 490 ABs. Ks are a significant red flag, especially when a player is a bit old for the league he’s in. Makes me wonder about his everyday potential.
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11% BB rate should alleviate some of those worries.
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Plus, I believe Donald’s ops was over .900 last year, and was possibly the highest in the Phils’ minor leagues for 2007.
As for Zagurski, he needs Tommy John surgery to fix a hammy injury? That must be one helluva muscle pull! 8^)
– Jeff
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The point about moving Utley to first is a very legitimate one. I am not saying that’s what they should do if Howard leaves, but I think that’s what may happen. If he can remain at second and play the position well, they are much better off. If he slips at second, however, I think he’ll end up at first because he has never been a capable third baseman and they want his leadership presence in the infield. But, would they be wasting his bat a little bit a first? There’s no question that’s the case.
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Our team as a whole will suffer moving Utley to first, chances are Utley is only going to improve defensively the next couple of years, we have already seen him improve year to year…
Losing that type of production from second base and not being able to replace it while keping production in or around the same at first base, is a big step backwards….
we all hope both will be here for a while and lead us into the playoffs a few more times, but realistically if Howard does leave for whatever reason, it would be a lot easier to try and replace his production at glove at first than it would be to move Utley there and take on the same task at Second…..
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