Around the System–Relief Pitchers

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A second look at relief pitchers throughout the organization. Once depth filled, there is now reason for legitimate concern at the upper levels of the organization.  Williamsport and GCL are not included but will be on the next trip around.

Lehigh Valley

Phillipe Aumont, 24, Acquired from Seattle in 2009; 10 games, 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA and 2 saves; 9.1IP 9H 14BB 13K; 1.14 GO/AO; .250 opp. avg. .375 vs. LH, .150 vs. RH. Until Aumont is able gain an idea about where the ball is going, this is where he will stay.  Last couple of outings have been a bit better, but has walked 14 in nine innings since being sent down.

Justin Friend, 27, Selected in the 2010 Minor League Rule 5 draft; 25 games between Reading and Lehigh Valley; 4-2 with a 4.97 ERA; 38IP 36H 27BB 30K; 2.33 GO/AO; .250 opp. avg., 6.4BB/7.1K per nine; 1.66 WHIP;  .298 vs. LH, .182 vs. RH, .246 with RISP; 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA over his last 10 games. Friend has been very effective as of late but the walks have really inhibited his success this year. 

Cesar Jiminez, 28, Signed as a free agent in 2013; 19 games (3 starts); 3-1 with a 2.89 ERA; 1 save; 43.2IP 37H 14BB 42K; 1.02 GO/AO; .230 opp. avg., 1.17 WHIP; 2.9BB/8.8K per nine; .222 vs. LH, .233 vs RH, .250 with RISP; 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA in his last 10 appearances. Jiminez has pitched very well all year and has to be on the radar screen for the bigs if additional bullpen help is needed. 

Zach Miner, 31, Signed as a free agent in 2013; 17 games (8 starts); 4-4 with a 4.85 ERA; 1 save; 55.2IP 55H 23BB 33K; 1.89 GO/AO; .261 opp. avg., 1.40 WHIP; .276 vs. LH, .248 vs. RH, .274 with RISP. Miner has been adequate bouncing back and forth between the rotation and long relief.

JC Ramirez, 24, Acquired from Seattle in 2009; 27 games between Reading and Lehigh Valley; 3-2 with a 5.30 ERA, 2 saves; 37.2IP 41H 21BB 35K; 1.11 GO/AO; .275 opp. avg., 1.64 whip; 5.0BB/8.3K per nine; .354 vs. LH, .284 vs. RH, .259 with RISP; 2-1 with a 4.38 ERA over his last 10 games.  Ramirez has been extremely unimpressive, struggling with command consistently.

Mauricio Robles, 24, Signed as a free agent in 2013; 25 games; 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA between Reading and Lehigh Valley; 2 saves; 36.1IP 25H 19BB 43K; 0.79 GO/AO; .195 opp. avg., 1.21 WHIP; 4.7BB/10.7K per nine; 0-0 with a 1.74 ERA for Lehigh Valley. Robles is the leading candidate to go up if an injury occurs in Philly. He has been extremely effective and unhittable enough that his high walk rate has had a minimal effect. On the 40 man roster, without options…so if he goes up, he cant be sent back down without the possibility of losing him.

Greg Smith, 29, Signed as a free agent in 2013; 11 games (5 starts) between Reading and Lehigh Valley; 3-1 with 3.41 ERA; 37IP 37H 8BB 14K; 1.11 GO/AO; .259 opp. avg., 1.21 WHIP; 1.9BB/3.4K per nine; 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA in 8 games with Lehigh Valley. SMith has done everything asked of him after signing in May.  Far from spectacular, but gets it done at this level.

Reading

Bobby Bramhall, 27, Signed as a free agent in 2013; 0-1 with a 5.31 ERA in 11 games between Lehigh Valley and Reading; 20.1IP 24H 6BB 11K; 2.6BB/4.9K per nine; 1.49 WHIP. Innings eater.

Luis Garcia, 26, Signed as a free agent in 2013; 2-2 with a 1.88 ERA in 23 games between Clearwater and Reading;8 saves;  28.2IP 23H 8BB 31K; 1.32 GO/AO; .219 opp. avg., 1.08 WHIP; 2.5BB/9.7K per nine; 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA and 1 save in 8 games with Reading.  Garcia has pitched very well in high leverage situations.

Jay Johnson, 23, Signed as a free agent in 2010; 26 games; 0-2 with a 2.93 ERA; 2 saves; 27.2IP 21H 21BB 35K; 1.32 GO/AO; .198 opp. avg, 1.52 WHIP; 6.8BB/11.4 K per nine; .179 vs. LH, .209 vs. RH, .200 with RISP. If Johnson gets his “control” under control, the Phils may have something here…0-1 with an 0.90 ERA and .118 opp. avg over last 10 games.

Tyler Knigge, 24, Phils 12th round pick in 2010; 23 games; 2-2 with a 3.41 ERA; 2 saves; 34.1IP 31H 18BB 25K; 0.93 GO/AO; .237 opp. avg; 1.43 WHIP; 4.7BB/6.6K per nine; .211 vs. LH, .257 vs. RH, .154 with RISP; 0-0 with an 0.64 ERA and .128 opp. avg over last 10 games. Knigge struggled in April but has pitched very well lately with some pretty sigh expectations coming into 2013.

Hector Neris, 24, Signed as a free agent in 2010l; 19 games (8 starts); 3-2 with a 4.76 ERA; 58.2IP 61H 25BB 48K; 0.85 GO/AO; .268 opp. avg., 1.46 WHIP; 3.8BB/7.4K per nine; .308 vs. LH, .241 vs. RH, .218 with RISP; 0-1 with a 6.92 ERA in June. Neris has been struggling and bouncing back and forth between the rotation and bullpen has proven difficult.

Mike Nesseth, 25, Phils 17th round pick in 2010; 25 games; 1-1 with a 3.63 ERA between CLearwater and Reading; 39.2IP 41H 10BB 21K; 1.59 GO/AO; .279 opp. avg., 1.28 WHIP; 2.3BB/4.8K per nine; 1-1 with a 2.01 ERA in 15 games for Reading. Nesseth has thrown much better for Reading then he did for Clearwater. Lets see if he can keep it up.

Kyle Simon, 22, Acquired from Baltimore in 2012; 24 games; 1-2 with a 5.22ERA; 6 saves; 29.1IP 34H 14BB 18K; 3.31GO/AO; .288 opp. avg., .239 vs. LH, .319 vs. RH, .239 with RISP; 1.63WHIP; 4.3BB/5.5K per nine; 1-1 with a 5.91 ERA over his last 10 games.  Simon has been very disappointing this year. He worked his way out of the closers role and has been no more successful in a set up role.

Clearwater

Severino Gonzalez, 20, Signed as a free agent in 2010; 11 games; 010 with a 0.34 ERA; 26.1IP 16H 2BB 32K; 0.76 GO/AO; .174 opp. avg., .258 vs. LH, .131 vs. RH, .150 with RISP; 0.68 WHIP; 0.7BB/10.7K per nine; Who is this kid Sidd FInch? Dominant, and I am still trying to figure out who he is. The stat line is not made up.

Zach Grimmett, 23, Signed as a free agent in 2013; Recently signed and has thrown one inning without incident.

Jordan Guth, 22, Phils 9th round pick in 2012; 18 games (5 starts); 2-5 with a 3.68 ERA and 1 save between Lakewood and CLearwater; 51.1iP 46H 23BB 44K; 1.35 GO/AO; .235 opp. avg; 1.34 WHIP; 4.0BB/7.7K per nine; Has been far more effective as a reliever than starter and that is how he was used in college.  I expect Guth to be a main cog in the Threshers bullpen in the second half.

Colton Murray, 23, Phils 13th  round pick in 2011 draft; 25 games; 2-5 with a 4.29ERA; 7 saves; 35.2IP 29h 17BB 36K; 0.82 GO/AO; .216 opp. avg., 1.28 WHIP; 4.2BB/9.0K per nine; .196 vs. LH, .227 vs. RH, .225 with RISP. Murray has pitched better than his ERA indicates, although he is 0-2 with a 5.91 ERA in his last 10 games.

Ryan O’Sullivan, 22, Acquired from Dodgers in 2012; 28 games; 3-4 with a 2.52ERA; 3 saves; 39.1IP 38H 15BB 28K; 3.10 GO/AO; .262 opp. avg.; 1.35 WHIP; 3.4BB/6.4K per nine; .255 vs. LH, .266 vs. RH, .213 with RISP; O’Sullivan has pitched well in his predominant role as set up man.

Colby SHreve, 25, Phils 9th round pick in 2008; 19 games; 1-1 with a 3.58 ERA; 32.2IP 33H 18BB 22K; 0.79 GO/AO; .270 opp. avg., 1.55 WHIP; 5.0BB/6.1K per nine; .281 vs. LH, .267 vs. RH, .306 with RISP; 1-0 with a 1.15ERA in his last 10 games. Very good lately, but pedestrian numbers as a whole.

Juan Sosa, 23, Signed as a free agent in 2007; 20 games; 2-1 with a 4.86ERA and 2 saves between Reading and CLearwater; 37IP 31H 28BB 30K; 1.11 GO/AO; .233 opp. avg., 1.59 WHIP; 6.8BB/7.3K per nine; 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA (11 IP, 6 games) for CLearwater. Has been excellent for the Threshers since being sent down.  Brutal in Reading.

Lakewood

Geoff Broussard, 22, Phils 23rd round pick in 2012 draft; 17 games between Clearwater and Lakewood; 2-2 with a 4.98 ERA; 34.1IP 46H 4BB 32K ; 1.06 GO/AO; .317 opp. avg., 1.48 WHIP; 1.0BB/8.4K per nine; .357 vs. LH, .307 vs. RH, .257 with RISP; 1-2 with a 6.05 ERA in his last 10 games. Broussard was crushed last night (6ER in 1IP) which inflated his numbers, but that being said, he has been very hittable.  Excellent control has helped, but not enough.

Daniel Carela, 25, SIgned as a free agent in 2013; 5 games, 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA in 8 innings. Picked up as a free agent in May.

Delvi Francisco, 20, Signed as a free agent in 2010; 22 games; 1-2 with a 2.81 ERA; 2 saves; 32IP 28H 20BB 35K; 1.14 GO/AO; 1.50 WHIP; 5.8BB/9.2K per nine; .264 vs LH; .209 vs. RH, .196 with RISP. Francisco has pitched well with the high walk rate as a caveat. He has very good stuff and back end of the bullpen potential.

Steven Inch, 22, Phils 6th round pick in 2009; 25 games (2 starts); 1-3 with a 5.30ERA; 7 saves; 35.2IP 35H 23BB 20K; 2.33 GO/AO; .267 opp. avg., .220 vs. LH, .296 vs. RH, .320 with RISP; 1.62 WHIP; 5.8BB/6.0K per nine; 1-2 with a 2.93 ERA as a reliever. After being named to the SAL All Star team as a reliever, Lakewood made Inch a starter, which lasted two disastrous starts. Now back in the bullpen where he has done a good job.

Chris Nichols, 22, Phils 31st round pick in 2012; 7 games between Lakewood and CLearwater; 0-1 with a 4.05ERA; 13.1IP; .305 opp. avg;  Too small a sample size to judge.

Luis Paulino, 24, Signed as a free agent in 2007; 21 games between Clearwater and Lakewood; 5-5 with a 6.57 ERA; 2 saves; 37IP 50H 17BB 36K; 0.67 GO/AO; .327 opp. avg; 1.81 WHIP; 4.1BB/8.8K per Nine; 6 games for Lakewood; 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA. Was absolutely brutal in CLearwater (.360 opp avg). Has been ok in limited work for Lakewood since his demotion. 

Jeb Stefan, 23, Phils 22nd round pick in 2012 draft; 21 games; 2-4 with a 4.04ERA; 42.1IP 45H 17BB 41K; 0.61 GO/AO; .265 opp. avg; .286 vs. LH, .247 vs. RH, .273 with RISP; 1.47 WHIP; 3.6BB/8.7K per nine; 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA and .240 opp. avg over last 10 games.  Stefan has been slightly better than ok, but coming on as of late.

Zach Cooper, 23, Phils 15th round pick in 2012 draft; 15 games; 0-2 with a 4.88 ERA; 24IP 31H 16BB 23K; 1.00 GO/AO; .307 opp. avg; 1.96 WHIP; 6.0BB/8.6K per nine; Cooper has been on the DL for the last three weeks. It wasnt pretty before that.

23 thoughts on “Around the System–Relief Pitchers”

  1. Well timed post, considering the Adams to the DL move. I came here looking to see if there had been some kind of JC Ramirez hot streak I missed, but there’s nothing here to explain the promotion. I guess it’s more a function of Robles being out of options and Aumont being so screwed up with his command. Poor Charlie, his late-inning options are getting sketchier by the day.

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    1. At this point, I could care less if Robles is out of options. Let him sink or swim in the majors, because realistically where else do we turn? Horst had an MRI and he’s been beyond awful anyway.

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    2. If someone doesn’t start helping Charlie pretty soon, he is going to knock out Howard Eskin!

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    3. Robles is on the 40-man roster, and has already been optioned to AAA this season. He’s not “out of options” should they promote him, and then wish to option him later in the season. Options are used one per season – not one each time the player is optioned within a season.

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      1. I’m not sure what the situation is, I was just going on what was written in the post.

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  2. Ruben ought to trade Paps for prospects, and then sign Lincecum as his closer next year with Aumont as the 8th inning guy.

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  3. The bullpen situation really is very depressing. Almost every free agent Ruben has signed not named Papelbon has been a disaster. Even the Papelbon signing was not without fault – surrendering the draft pick, committing too many dollars for too many years. Luckily at least Paps has been great.

    As for the prospects, it seemed just 12-18 months ago, the discussion was how Aumont, DeFratus, and Diekman all had significant potential to be big league closers. JDF has been pretty good but his stuff is not nearly as electric as young arms other teams seem to call up fairly regularly, and Aumont and Diekman have struggled to improve command and have been mostly ineffective over the past two years. Schwimer is gone, Stutes has missed most of the last year plus and although he looks like a solid bullpen arm, I don’t really see setup or closer potential. The Phils traded Bonilla and Giles has missed the whole season. Even Bastardo has lost velocity and even though he has pitched pretty well, he’s not what he was two years ago.

    I fully understand that not all prospects work out, but what has become of a very enviable bullpen position in the organization two years ago is very upsetting. We all talked on this board about what a strength this would be for years to come and it has failed to materialize by a ridiculous amount.

    I’d love to hear thoughts on why.

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    1. I think we just need to be more patient with certain guys than we hoped we’d have to be. Aumont is a big guy who has trouble repeating his delivery and, because he doesn’t pitch a lot of innings, doesn’t get a whole lot of reps to work on it. The same goes for Diekman I think.

      As for Bastardo, and this is just from me watching on tv, it didn’t ever look to me like he had dynamite stuff. I thought a lot of his effectiveness came from deception, and maybe hitters are just figuring him out now. Maybe he hasn’t been able to adjust to their adjustments. And Stutes and De Fratus have missed significant time with injuries.

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        1. His average velo in 2011 was 92.5, and this year it’s 91.6. So, yes, he has lost some on his fastball, but not a ton.

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    2. DeFratus is going to have a lengthy major league career as a reliever. Absolutely no worries there. The balance of prospective BP arms seem to be consistent in one particular area – they can’t throw strikes. Hopefully Aumont can get it together but at this stage can we reasonably expect enough improvement in the control department for him to ever be a consistent setup man? Certainly possible, but I’d say its doubtful

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      1. stutes has really stunk lately. i was hoping he and defratus would bring some stability. i do agree with you about defratus.

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  4. Glad this topic has come up for discussion! The big club is a disgrace in its relief corps. And, the minors hold little promise of improvement from within.

    Contrast several other teams, like Atlanta, that have produced hard-throwing strike-throwing relievers as if they found a magic lamp they just rub and another shows up season after season. It seems that so may pitchers they draft or sign as FAs that they intend to be starters end up as relievers by default of not doing well as starters…and not do well.

    Can we name any superior relievers developed by this franchise in the last 5-6 years? Bastardo comes to mind…and that’s all it seems to me; and he is problematical from relief to relief.

    The way chosen by the Phils for sooo long is to sign good or better starters (who else developed besides Hamels?) plus a good closer and let the other innings take care of themselves. But we should know that games are lost all too often here in the 5th to through the 8th innings.

    The quartet of Howard, Rollins, Utley, and Hamels jointly grew at the same time to become a winning franchise for several years, but can we have any expectations that any such group is now on the way up?? Replacements are missing, and IMO this team is headed down for several years…unless the FO gains a hold of reality and restocks the team by trades to begin the process of saving the franchise from the depths for too many seasons ahead.

    And, it seemed to me at one recent time that the Phils free agent scouts for the draft and int’l baseball looked superior. Now, with the paucity of exciting players in this system, I’ve come to doubt that opinion…so much so that I am ready to declare them MIA…when compared to other orgs that find “wunderkinds” much more readily. Blame rests with mgmnt which has failed to acquire Latin America’s premier prospects, ended as “also ran.”

    It was easy to be a fan in the recent several years when shining gold play was on display at CBP night after night after day. Unless the FO makes the moves now needed, we are in far a long haul to regain respectability and competitiveness. In meantime. let’s find better scouts for better players.

    P.S. I note the present plan: draft/sign position players (see ’13 draft) at the topmost part of the draft, produce a good 8, and with the new TV money, fill the pitching requirements with free agent signings, because the pitching prospects throughout the system are NOT encouraging.

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    1. “Can we name any superior relievers developed by this franchise in the last 5-6 years?”

      Madson and Bastardo as established players. De Fratus, Aumont, et al still have time.

      “who else developed besides Hamels?”

      Myers, Kendrick, Worley, Happ (long enough to get us Oswalt), Pettibone is arguable at the present. Not counting any players we traded away, of course (which admittedly hasn’t yielded many starters anyways, but that seems more like a positive sign of our scouts knowing when to sell high).

      “But we should know that games are lost all too often here in the 5th to through the 8th innings.”

      As far as I’m concerned the 5-7 innings are still the responsibility of GOOD starters. And the Phils have been very good about spending top dollar for a setup man in addition to their closer. It hasn’t been particularly effective, but not for a lack of signing good pitchers.

      “but can we have any expectations that any such group is now on the way up??”

      No, I would say it’s not likely that we’re going to have players put up their level of production any time soon. But then again, it isn’t often that you develop the BEST SS in franchise history, BEST 2B in franchise history, arguably the best 1B in franchise history, and a top 5 SP in the Bigs. Let alone all at the same time. Plus it’s much easier to draft impact talent when you have a pick in, oh, the top 10 consistently. That doesn’t mean that we have no impact talent on the way up, though. Franco and Biddle are both impact prospects that are a reasonable way away from the majors. Not to mention the potential impact of Morgan, Martin, Joseph, and a handful of other prospects who could realistically take leaps forward (don’t forget that Gillies, Altherr, etc. etc. etc. have a boat load of tools still. Just one of them putting it together would drastically change our outlook).

      “And, it seemed to me at one recent time that the Phils free agent scouts for the draft and int’l baseball looked superior. Now, with the paucity of exciting players in this system, I’ve come to doubt that opinion…so much so that I am ready to declare them MIA…when compared to other orgs that find “wunderkinds” much more readily.”

      Zero blame lies with the scouts regarding LA prospects. Zero. It’s not because they weren’t identified by the scouts as talents. Those talents just signed elsewhere. Is that the fault of the management? Possibly, but it may just be that their competitive offers were rejected by the players.

      As for the draft, what “Wunderkinds” have we missed on in the draft, exactly? Harper? Trout? Machado? Strasburg? Bundy? Cole? Every single one of them was off the board by the time the Phils selected in their respective drafts. Trout was the only one of the bunch to make it out of the top three picks, so that also goes back to the Phillies, you know, winning.

      Complaining about the scouts is ridiculous. They have done an absolutely ASTOUNDING job of finding talent. How often do you think other organizations found Ryan Howards, or Domonic Browns, or Jonathan Singletons, etc. in the later rounds of the draft?

      “I note the present plan: draft/sign position players (see ’13 draft) at the topmost part of the draft, produce a good 8, and with the new TV money, fill the pitching requirements with free agent signings, because the pitching prospects throughout the system are NOT encouraging.”

      Really? The plan, to me, appears to alternate years drafting position players and pitchers. And as for not encouraging… Biddle, Morgan, Martin (even if he’s a RP, that’s a big time arm), Severino Gonzalez, Giles, Guellar, Watson, Milner (I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt until he proves he can’t start) just to name a few pitchers we have to be encouraged about.

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      1. Your kidding. I will give you one craig of stlouis. jackie bradley of redsoxs, lots of times teams find studs in top ten. sorry if you reserach your comments, you will see many. and you list in your argument dominic brown a first year player. who hasnt proven anything and a two time drug offender who isnt in the major yet.And when you dont have a first round choice , why not go the cuban or international route, your argument doesnt hold water, especially when you mention guys like happ, and worley, bad starting pitcher, there are a lot of guys like them in the minors, who dont get a chance, if you work for the phillies thats okay, but try to at least list the good players.

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    2. I am guessing this is Phillies chance to let Ramirez sink or swim. Obviously if he is not good they can demote him and pull him off the 40-man with no risk of anyone taking him. If he is somehow good, then all the better.
      Still think Robles should be the next guy called up from BP though.

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  7. Well JC did strike out the side with moving 95mph heat in his only MLB inning, so far, so good.

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