With both Roy Halladay and now Jose Contreras looking at long term stints on the DL, the Phils are awfully thin on the mound considering who is on the DL already (Stutes, Herndon, DeFratus). With no pitcher near ready to come off the DL, the Phils will have to take a look at the Lehigh Valley roster for help.
The possibilities: The Phils are going to need a long man, presuming Worley comes off the DL to take Halladay’s spot in the rotation. The most likely candidate for promotion appears to be Dave Bush. Bush has been very consistent for Lehigh Valley, going 4-3 with a 2.61 ERA in 10 starts. He has walked just 8 in 58.2 innings of work and held the opposition to a .186 average with RISP. Bush had an out clause in his contract set for yesterday. With how well he has pitched, I presume there has been some discussion with him about a call up, as he apparently chosen not to exercise his option.
Scott Elarton, who had been outstanding early on, has struggled more recently, most likely removing him from the short term radar screen. Darkhorse is Tyler Cloyd who has been consistently good this tear.
If Worley is not quite ready yet, I would think that the Phils send Erik Kratz back down (they are carrying 3 catchers), have Bush take Halladay’s rotation spot in the short term and bring up a second pitcher from Lehigh Valley bullpen. The most likely candidate at this stage appears to be Michael Schwimer. Schwimer has struggled pitching for the Phils and recently had one of his very few poor AAA outings, however he is on the 40 man roster and if Worley is not ready, the Phils will have to make at least one move opening a spot on the 40, and maybe hesitant to make two. Phillipe Aumont is not currently an option as he is one mediocre appearance removed from the DL himself. A darkhorse candidate for the bullpen is BJ Rosenberg (Would require a 40 man roster move). Rosenberg has not yet gotten his major league shot, and has pitched extremely well for Lehigh Valley as of late, going 1-0 with a 1.45 ERA over his last 10 games. Rosenberg, a 13th round pick out of Louisville in 2008 has help opponents to a .091 average with RISP during his tenure in AAA this year.
Phuture Phillies 
The Contreras injury looked nasty – after his MRI he may go straight to a 60 day DL. If not him, there are other 60 day DL options.
To me, I think Worley replaces Kratz, Bush replaces Savery, and Rosenberg replaces Contreras. Next week when Thome comes off DL, I believe Orr gets optioned. Mini Mart probably gets activated and optioned to AAA. don’t see the Phils optioning Fontenot, Galvis, or Luna at this point.
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Orr cant be optioned. He would have to clear waivers
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I agree that Bush is the most likely candidate to get a couple starts until Worley is ready. Worley recently said he could throw 45 or 50 pitches, which is only 3 innings or so. Seems smarter to give him more time to rest/heal until he can go deeper. Until then, it’s probably Bush.
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Zolecki says Contreras to 15 day DL and Schwimer back up. Nothing still on Worley v. Other starters.
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Let’s hope I’m wrong about Schwimer not being ready to help the Phillies right now.
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Ken, Schwimmer will be the long man and the other decisions will be determined by the health of Joe Blanton and Vance Worley.
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I think Tyson Brummett may get his chance now. I do not expect Bush to be called up as a short term relief solution for two reasons. Unlike Brummett, Rosenberg or Cloyd, he cannot be optioned back to the minors. Also, the Phillies should want to keep him stretched out as a starter. He’ll get called up very soon if Worley takes a turn for the worse, fairly soon if they move Blanton to the bullpen, DL, or another team (which could be after his next start), or later if something happens to Hamels, Lee, or Kendrick. Utley or Howard can be moved to the 60-day DL to call up Brummett, Rosenberg, or Cloyd. Schwimer or Aumont are not ready to help the big league team right now.
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Schwimer recalled to big club. What will be the domino effect for LV, Reading,Clearwater, etc?
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My guess is either Justin Friend or Mike Cisco to LV (I hope Friend but think Cisco) and Colby SHreve to Reading. Just one mands thoughts
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I am guessing Friend and Knigge…..just my 2 cents
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Soler now a free agent. Would signing him count against our salary this year and luxury tax?
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Not sure….but IMO go for him anyway. In some circles he is a top 25 prospect.
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if swimmer is our best option, we are in trouble.
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Hands down – Tyler Cloyd. Time to bring in the young guns and let the coaches do their jobs. Now if Domonic Brown can stay healthy, play a decent outfield, and hit for .300 at LV.
Hypothetical: Which of the SP at Reading would you call up to the big club. It is not unheard of heck Kendrick did it and stuck. Hamels had a short minor league career and it all worked out.
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John, hypothetically I would go with Jonathan Pettibone as he is the the type of pitcher who could succeed at CBP. Just my thoughts.
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Jim Salisbury says Contreras has both a UCL tear and a flexor tear, and his season is over. I imagine that means his career is over too. Although even a lay person could see that based on his reaction after throwing the pitch.
So, he goes to the 60-day DL and that clears a 40-man roster spot. … When Worley comes back presumably Kratz goes down.
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The Schwimer move may not be long term. He hasn’t pitched in two days and 3 days ago he only threw 9 pitches. It’s possible Papelbon and Bastardo are unavailable or limited today so they may have gone with Schwimer just because he has, as Wheels would say, more bullets in his arm than anyone else, should something crazy happens today or tomorrow. Sorry nowheels
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does anyone know when the rosters for short season are going to be posted?
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After the upcoming draft
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No, the day they begin playing games, usually.
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Doesn’t it seem like Schwimer always comes out throwing a bunch of offspeed stuff? Maybe if he used his fastball a little more he wouldn’t have so many problems walking guys.
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It seems like he’s afraid to challenge guys, which isn’t a good way to pitch. Hopefully he overcomes that because he’s proven in the minors he can get people out.
He’s got a good enough arm to be more than the AAAA pitcher he’s played like.
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To me Schwimer is going to have to develop an additional pitch to at least throw left handed batter offstride. They at the major league level tend to feast on his stuff. He needs to add some deception because the fastball is good but not great and his breaking stuff is average.
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