Just a few brief discussion points
* Michael Durant is on fire. Durant just turned 21 in January, and while his pro career has been a disappointment to date, you gotta at least feel some sense of excitement over his 9/19, 2 HR start. Of course he’s also struck out 6 times and hasn’t walked. But yeah, 2 HR is nice.
* Jason Donald hasn’t played since being hit on the hand with a pitch. I’ve searched, I haven’t found an official diagnosis, I can only assume the Phillies are going to be cautious with him.
* Dan Brauer is back on the mound again, which is a good sign. I was really high on him heading into 2007, but his season was derailed because of injuries. He has labrum surgery in his past, which is always a worry, but hopefully he can remain healthy. If he does, and if the team moves him to relief, he could be on the very fast track. He’s already 24, so time is of the essence.
* Out of the shackles of pitcher friendly Lakewood, Adrian Cardenas is lighting the FSL up, going 13/29 with 3 2B to open the season. I pointed out last year that his home/road splits indicated he would see a bump in Clearwater, so far so good.
Phuture Phillies 
Given Cardenas’ start, maybe the following could be a bit of a discussion starter (purely for academic purposes. I realize we’re only one week into the season):
From what I’ve heard, the plan is to move him up slowly. If his torridity (is that a word?) continues, when would the Phillies promote him to Reading, and what type of stats would justify a promotion? Also, what would happen at Reading if he were promoted? Does Harman get bumped up to AAA, or bumped over to third.
Of course, they could always just promote Adrian to Philly now and trade Ryan Howard, possibly to Seattle for some organizational filler. 8^)
– Jeff
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If Durant keeps hitting like he’s been, he’ll need his own Player Profile.
Dom Brown a bit of a tough night on Tuesday. He was 2 for 5 with a GIDP and he had a 3 base error to tack on 2 Unearned runs. Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s a very good player. I like how Naylor didn’t lose his cool after the error and got out of the inning.
I hope Donald is okay. Bruntlett has 2 errors last night and didn’t look good. If Rollins is down for while (for any reason), someone like Donald could get the call. Do you think Gookie Dawkins is the answer?
Any guesses on when the Pigs will win their first game? I’m thinking 3rd Tuesday of next week.
Kendrick got racked last night. Errors and walks really killed the Phillies. The guys at AAA should be pitching their hearts out. Chiavacci pitched a heck of a game last night. I saw him in his only outing in ST against the Yankees. He looked really good. He only pitched against one major leaguer (Wilson Betimet) but he was ahead of batters and had them shaking their heads as they walked back to the dugout.
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I think I read that Donald has a lacerated finger and was day-to-day but I don’t remember where I read that.
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Squire you are right. I read the same thing on Reading Phillies website under the recap of the recent games played. I hope he is in the lineup tonight!
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Hi…
I just re-installed my hard drive on my computer and lost some bookmarks.
I am looking for the Phillies Draft Site that had listings
for every draft. http://www.philliesdraft.com is not working.
Can anyone please give me the correct site URL ?
Thanks
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SirAlden, if you are referencing the site JE ran, which I think you might be, then it no longer exists. He took it down a little while ago.
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I know Brauer is 24, but shouldn’t the Phils give him every opportunity to start before moving him to the bullpen? Assuming he stays healthy, it may even take him till the 2010 season to break into the majors, but it would be well worth the wait if he proves to be capable of pitching at that level.
Also, have we figured out yet if he was pulled after 3.2 IP the other night as a precaution? (Fingers crossed he wasn’t injured or sore).
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I have no evidence or source on this but it wouldn’t surprise me to see Brauer get Byrd’s rotation spot eventually. He’s not going to displace Savery-Monasterios-Bastardo or Garcia. In addition, if anybody gets hurt, I suspect Brauer is next in line. Brauer was fabulous in 2006 and started 2007 great before his injury.
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I’m not saying Brauer can’t start, but at 24, this is kind of an important season in terms of figuring out his role and what he’s going to be capable of doing.
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If Durant can stay hot, he can move up the organizational ladder fairly quickly. It’s not like we have great 1B to hold him back.
And seeing Cardenas rake is definitely good. When is his value high enough to get ourselves a good major league pitcher?
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Cardenas’ hitting seems to be his main asset…which ain’t bad to have.
IMO he is still w/o a position for OUR ML team. Unless Utley is moved to 1st base if/when Howard is not re-upped by Phils. That’s a “worst case scenario” IMO.
Why not introduce him to left field where he could fit if Burrell is not re-signed. A future outfield of Cardenas (LF), Golson (CF), and Brown(RF) seems very good. Very good hitting there!
Meanwhile, should Cardenas keep hitting so well he will have to be moved up to Reading at/before the 1/2 season mark…IMO.
Further, I believe his power will begin to show itself hopefully this season. Suspect he’ll unltimately hit 20-25/season…if not more eventually.
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I remember when they drafted Durant, seems like a long time ago. I know he was highly regarded at the time but he has been a disappointment so far. Perhaps the light has finally gone on, plus he is only 21. I have to also agree with everyone else though, Cardenas needs to be moved to LF
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Lakewood sure has a fine group of hitters, but the one going unmentioned on this blog is Michael Taylor. Not only is he bigger than Durant but he is much more athletic and a better defensive player and is putting up some nice numbers so far this year at Lakewood. He and Dominic Brown should make a nice lefty/righty combination as they both go up the ladder.
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Well speaking of Brauer, he came in out of the bullpen tonight. Absolutely blistered the first batter sending him down on 3 strikes, and then got the second to fly out on one pitch. He then gave up back-to-back singles to lefties right up the middle, and was pulled for a RHP. It seemed he was the “LHB” specialist in the game, and having failed against two was pulled.
The hits seemed to be seeing eye singles. Nothing that Brauer could have done better IMHO. I think Brauer is on track. He was only pulled previously for a RHP in a specific situation and not because of a pitch count. It was a seven inning game, and the skipper was looking for a win.
Razor Shines the Threshers’ manager this year is VERY intense, and has made some unusual decisions IMO this year. Unfortuantely the team is 2-5 so far. I think Shines will work out for the best in the long run, but so far his decisions have not panned out.
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How did Monasterios look? This is his second good outing to start the year. And that Adrian Cardenas is so hot right now.
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Monasterios looked terrific. He deserved a much better outcome for his effort than a 2-0 loss. This team just cannot get anything going offensively this season.
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Jeff, Monasterios has put up some unusual numbers in his two starts according to the game reports, 22 ground ball outs and only 7 fly outs but has given up three home runs which account for the only 4 runs he has given up. Who has been more impressive so far Carlos M or Savery?.
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Cardenas should not be moved to LF as long as he is at least an average infielder. His value is diminished significantly as a LFer. Good teams do not waste prospect value. If Cardenas is ready while Utley is still in his prime he should be traded.
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SS Jason Donald, who suffered a lacerated finger when hit with a pitch Monday at Bowie, missed games Tuesday and Wednesday and remains day-to-day. The finger was X-rayed and no break was diagnosed.
Rickey Branch Says:
April 11, 2008 at 8:35 am
Jeff, Monasterios has put up some unusual numbers in his two starts according to the game reports, 22 ground ball outs and only 7 fly outs but has given up three home runs which account for the only 4 runs he has given up. Who has been more impressive so far Carlos M or Savery?.
Answer: Antonio Bastardo
andyb says:
If Cardenas is ready while Utley is still in his prime he should be traded.
In a year or two, the Phils will have holes to fill in left and at first. No way do I trade a bat like Cardenas, especially as he won’t get you anywhere near a number one starter.
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Problem with Cardenas is that if he profiles in the majors as a .285 hitter with 15 HR power, that is below average for LF or 1B. He would need closer to 25 HR power to be a productive OF since he is not especially fast.
I love Cardenas as a prospect, but he helps the team more by staying at 2B or at the very least 3B. Developing prospects is all about helping the big club. If I want a .285 hitter in LF they can be found on the waiver wire or relatively cheap (ala Jayson Werth).
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if this team, the big club, howard 1st, utley 2nd, rollins ss, burrell in lf, victorino, ruiz, hamels, myers,kendrick, lidge. with the players coming up they will be a powerhouse for the next 7,8 years. with golson in the of , cardenas does he have the arm to play third, and most of all adding outman, carrasco, savery bastardo to the staff, wow. by the way does anyone see these guys in person, we only get snippets is bastardo better suited for relief ? and unless jaramillo has an unbelievable year he could be traded. for what i dont know, is he better than ruiz. the big question will be 3rd. can cardenas or donald play there. kudos to mike arbuckle. any thoughts?
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