Here is your new spot for spring training prospect chatter. As always, check out the blueclaws blog, which has good coverage of the minor league ST games, and also be sure and watch for updates from Dave and Gregg from Clearwater.

One note and topic for discussion. In the limited looks I’ve seen of Michael Martinez, I think he’s going to make the 25 man roster. He can play 2B, SS, 3B and the OF positions. He’s not a world beater and doesn’t have a ton of upside, but his versatility should prove quite useful. Unlike the NRIs like Young and Barfield, Martinez can’t be optioned or re-assigned to the minors, and would have to be offered back to Washington. His speed and defensive flexibility should make him a nice fit, as the Phillies currently do not have anyone on their projected bench who would steal even 15-20 bases per season. With the Luis Castillo signing, Martinez might be part of a numbers game, but I think a spot is still there for him to take. On the Castillo signing, by the way, I’m a huge fan. Its a non-guaranteed minor league deal. If the Phillies like what they see, they add him to the 25 man roster and pay him $414K this season, with the Mets on the hook for the rest. If they determine he is in fact done, then they cut him and they owe him a very nominal amount of money. For a team with a $160+ million payroll, taking a risk like this is a no-brainer. Castillo had a fluky bad 2010 season, in terms of his batted ball data. He still draws walks and still makes contact. That’s the extent of his skill set right now, but he does come with extensive major league experience. The Mets apparently didn’t like his attitude/body language. To be fair to Castillo, if I was stuck on that team, I’d probably be pretty miserable too. The Phillies risk nothing here, but it probably means they didn’t feel Young or Barfield were a great bet to just step in and play every day.

I’d project the Phillies roster as such, with Martinez making the team

C: Ruiz, Schneider
INF: Howard, Castillo, Rollins, Polanco, Valdez, Martinez
OF: Ibanez, Victorino, Francisco, Gload, Mayberry

The Phillies could, of course, carry only 11 pitchers, which would make an awful lot of sense given the likelihood of their starters eating up a ton of innings and lessening the need for a long reliever, but that doesn’t seem likely. If they do carry 11 pitchers, either Young or Barfield could make the roster.

The AA and AAA teams both played in Dunedin today with the AAA team taking a tough loss 3-2 when Matt Anderson gave up a run in the bottom of the 8th.  Jason Grilli and Mike Stutes both continued pitching well this Spring, throwing two scoreless innings apiece. On the offensive ledger, CF Chris Frey and DH Tagg Bozied had two hits apiece, both of Bozied’s hit being doubles.

At the AA field, Tyler Cloyd opened some eyes as he started, throwing three scoreless, hitless innings, while striking out 5, dominating the Blue Jays AA team.  Cloyd, 23, the Phils 18th round pick in the 2008 draft struggled last season with an adjustment to the bullpen, pitching there at length for the first time in his career.  It seems as if the Phils brass may be trying to stretch CLoyd out as a starter, where he has seen success, first in college and then in 2009 in 26 starts between Lakewood and Clearwater.  The Reading rotation is starting to come into focus with the two “givens” being JC Ramirez and Austin Hyatt.  I haven’t heard much about Mike Cisco down in Clearwater, but I would assume that he projects as starter #3 in Reading.  The leading candidates for the last two spots in the Reading rotation are Josh Zeid and Tyler Cloyd, both of whom has extended scoreless outings over the last two days.

A few notes and observations from my day at the Carpenter Complex today.  Tyson Gillies was not in the lineup again today and was in the dugout massaging and pointing to an area below the back of his knee that appears to still be troubling him.  After a disappointing year last year and his lack of playing time this Spring, Gillies is clearly behind the regulars competing for jobs in Reading and Lehigh Valley.  A stint in extended Spring Training may be needed to get himself right before heading North.  Continue reading News From Clearwater →

Seven more cuts were made by the Phils this morning including pitchers Mike Stutes, Vance Worley, Dan Meyer, Juan Perez, OF Brandon Moss, SS Freddy Galvis and 3B Jeff Larish.  Worley’s name is the only name that is really even debatable at this stage as many believed he was in competition with Kyle Kendrick to be the long man in the Phillies bullpen, however, it appears the Phils believe he would benefit from regular starts in Lehigh Valley.  Stutes had performed very well and opened many an eye in Spring Training and many expect him to be among the first called up if bullpen help is needed in Philly.

Just some random notes from what I saw at the complex yesterday.  There were three games going on simultaneously, so I saw bits and pieces of all of them: Continue reading Dave’s Clearwater Observations, Day 1 →

Just some news and notes from the minor league games without even getting into wins and losses. I will be heading down to Clearwater this weekend and hope to post daily updates.  If there is anything or anyone specific who you would like to know about, feel free to ask in the comment section and I will see what I can do.

In the AAA game today, Matt Rizzotti went 2-4 with a run scored, Tim Kennelly played LF and went 2-3 with a homer and 2 RBI’s. On the hill, after Roy Halladay got his work in, Eddie Bonine gave up a run on 4 hits in his 3 innings on the hill.  He walked one and struck out 3.  Andrew Carpenter threw a 10 pitch 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn the save. Continue reading News and Notes →

For those yearning for some minor league information coming out of Clearwater, it should now be easier to come by with the start of the Minor League portion of the Spring Training schedule.  Reporting on the AAA group, they beat the Blue Jays 6-5 at the Carpenter Complex on Monday.  1B Tagg Bozied paced the offense, going 2-4 with a HR and 2 RBI, while 2010 Lehigh Valley OF Rich Thompson was 1-3 with 2 RBI and 2 SB. 

On the hill, Drew Naylor got the start and gave up 2 runs in his 3 innings of work, yielding 4 hits.  He walked 1 and struck out three. The most impressive pitching performance was turned in by Michael Schwimer who pitched the final two innings with a perfect line, adding 4 strikeouts in earning the save. Continue reading First Day of Minor League Games →

Time for a new place to discuss the latest happenings during spring training. And we’ll also put a bonus poll out there as well for your voting/discussion pleasure.

The full list of Phillies who have been re-assigned to Minor League camp has trickled out throughout today and it goes as follows: RHP Brian Bass, RHP Eddie Bonine, RHP ANdrew Carpenter, RHP Michael Schwimer, LHP Ryan Feirabend, C Joel Naughton, INF Tagg Bozied, INF Robb Quinlan, and OF Matt Miller. Quinlan asked for his release after being told he had been re-assigned.

Those Phils that were on the 40 man roster who were optioned today are: RHP Justin DeFratus, RHP Drew Naylor, RHP JC Ramirez, 2B Cesar Hernandez, SS Carlos Rivero, 2B Harold Garcia and 1B Matt Rizzotti. The Phils currently have 45 players remaining in big league camp, meaning 20 must be cut before opening day.