Just a very brief update today, as there is still some quality interaction going on in yesterday’s Blackley post. Most of the prospect action from now until the end of ST will be in the minor league games, which again are fairly meaningless. I’ve again fallen behind, but my focus is going to be on more player profiles, and just doing some general touching up around here to try and get things set for the season. If a major development were to occur, I’ll share my thoughts, but we’re just going with open ended stuff from now until the start of the minor league season.

Today’s topic of the day; which Phillies pitching prospect will log the most innings at the major league level this season?

Hat tip to commenter “John” for this. According to Scott Lauber, Blackley’s locker has been cleared out, meaning he has been offered back to the Giants. If the Giants don’t take him back, I believe he can be re-assigned to minor league camp. So, it looks like he’s not making the team right now in either scenario. Lauber also mentions that Knotts and Darensbourg were also re-assigned, again not shocking news, leaving the Phillies with 11 pitchers.

The Phillies have only 11 healthy pitchers left in camp (starters Brett Myers, Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer, Kyle Kendrick and Adam Eaton; relievers Tom Gordon, J.C. Romero, Ryan Madson, Chad Durbin, Clay Condrey and J.D. Durbin). So, for now, J.D. Durbin appears to have a spot on the team, even though he has allowed eight homers in 15-1/3 innings and has a 12.33 ERA this spring. And unless the Phillies acquire a pitcher via trade or through waivers, something GM Pat Gillick has said is a possibility, it appears they will carry only 11 pitchers until Lidge is activated, probably April 5.

That would mean they’ll keep 14 position players. Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Pedro Feliz, Eric Bruntlett, Greg Dobbs, Pat Burrell, Shane Victorino, Geoff Jenkins, Jayson Werth, So Taguchi, Carlos Ruiz and Chris Coste seem to have jobs locked up. So, the final spot would go to either Chris Snelling or Wes Helms. Snelling is out of minor-league options and would have to clear waivers to go to triple-A. If the Phillies can’t trade Helms, and it’s looking unlikely, he either has to stay on the roster or be released. The only other position player in camp is INF Ray Olmedo, and I’m betting he’ll wind up at triple-A Lehigh Valley.

If we’re able to trade Helms for an arm, that probably means curtains for either JD Durbin or Condrey, but based on The Real Deal’s spring performance, he’d likely be the one to go. After his trainwreck of a spring, he might pass through waivers. When Lidge is activated, that means Snelling will have to clear waivers, which is doubtful. Maybe he’ll be “injured”, and we can stash him on the DL.

I hate to keep harping on this, but we spent $100,000 this winter on 2 major league Rule 5 selections, and it now appears both are gone. In Holdzkom’s case, we didn’t get 25K back, because he was eligible for free agency. If the Giants take Blackley back, we will receive 25K in return, but will still be out $75,000 on Rule 5 picks. What are the odds that $75,000 could have been used to sign Brandon Workman last summer, or could be taken away from the draft allotment this summer? Lots of bad “small” moves eventually add up.

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.

Continue reading Jason Donald’s big day and other notes →

While many of us have been handicapping the chances of one of the young guys making the team, based on info passed on by Jayson Stark, it looks like maybe none of them will make the team. Stark says

Teams that have spoken with the Phillies say they’re frantically searching for two relievers to add to their middle-innings mix. But they have so little to trade — aside from Wes Helms, who has attracted just about zero interest — they’re likely to just see what’s out there on the waiver wire or the out-of-options bargain bin. Nevertheless, they’ll almost certainly do something. One baseball man reports that when he asked a member of the Phillies’ organization this week whom the 11th and 12th pitchers figured to be, he was told: “They’re not here yet.”

Emphasis added by me. So. The bullpen locks are Lidge, Gordon, Romero, Madson and probably Chad Durbin, considering his contract. That means the two spots they are referencing are currently being battled for by JD Durbin, Blackley, Rosario, and Condrey. There’s no question that dumping Helms to make room for a new reliever would be beneficial, but only if the reliever was actually good. The ramifications for the minor league side of this is, none of the 4 guys above can be optioned down. Blackley would have to be returned to the Giants unless a deal could be brokered, a deal that might involve Helms. Rosario, Durbin and Condrey would all have to pass through waivers. Rosario would probably be claimed by a team like Baltimore with zero playoff aspirations. Durbin has been waived/claimed about 343 times in the last year. Condrey cleared waivers both times last season and was allowed to be optioned up and down because of it.

I posted this elsewhere, but its my simple defense for Clay Condrey.

Last season he ranked #4 among Phillies relievers in WXRL

Romero — 2.220
Myers — 1.647
Madson — 1.643
Condrey — 1.640

I made a case for him last year, and I’ll make the same case for him now. He got absolutely bombed in 5 outings, and all of them came in lopsided games.

5/19 v TOR — 0.2 IP — 6 ER — 3 H — 3 BB — 0 K
5/27 v ATL — 0.0 IP — 3 ER — 4 H — 1 BB — 0 K
6/1 v SFG — 2.0 IP — 5 ER — 4 H — 2 BB — 1 K
8/22 v LAD — 2.2 IP — 5 ER — 9 H — 0 BB — 0 K
9/17 v STL — 0.0 IP — 4 ER — 4 H — 0 BB — 0 K

In those games, he was either brought in when we were way behind (TOR, SFG, LAD) or way ahead (ATL, STL) and in the LA and SFG games, he was basically just used as the whipping boy to avoid having to use another reliever.

5G: 5.1 IP — 23 ER — 24 H — 6 BB — 1 K
34G: 44.2 IP — 5 ER — 37 H — 10 BB — 26 K

His ERA in the 5 outings was 40.59 with a WHIP of 5.90. I think that would skew anyone’s numbers.

His ERA in the 34 other games was 1.02, with a WHIP of 1.06.

If the Phillies are going to find 2 relievers from outside the organization in the waiver bin, the odds of both of them being better than Condrey aren’t very good. I have a bad feeling about all of this.

As my #1 fan pointed out in the comments of another post, a Philly.com article today mentions Mach’s absence from minor league camp, with Steve Noworyta mentioning that he’s expected back at some point. I’m still not holding my breath, and it still doesn’t change my criticisms of the pick at the time, and whats transpired since. Just passing along the info.

I’ve been meaning to post this, but keep forgetting. If you’re curious about the results of the minor league spring training games, you can see them on the Reading Phillies website, by clicking here. These games are almost completely meaningless, basically just for guys to get their work in. Its still nice to see a good outing from Joe Savery (1 ER in 5 IP) and Travis d’Arnaud chipping in with 2 doubles.

Slow news day today, and I have some other obligations (like, my actual job), so I’ll keep this one short. The Phillies re-assigned Jason Jaramillo and Pete LaForest to minor league camp, meaning that Chris Coste is the backup catcher and will make his first opening day roster, unless he gets hurt. As you may remember, Coste was on the verge of the same feat 2 seasons ago when the Phillies traded for David Dellucci, making Coste the last guy sent to the minors.

I also wanted to take a moment to recommend Coste’s new book, The 33 Year Old Rookie. The kind folks at Ballentine Books (thanks Katie) were gracious enough to supply me with a copy. I’m about half way through, and it really does give you an appreciation for the life of a minor leaguer, and the obstacles you have to overcome to make it to the majors. Coste is a good writer, he doesn’t go overboard, but he does a great job conveying his feelings and emotions about a wide array of situations he’s faced. You know I don’t tell you what to buy and do with your dough, but if you like the Coste story, and if you ever had aspirations of playing baseball professionally (or any other sport really), then I’d recommend you pick this up. You can get it at Amazon.com, and I’m sure it will be in bookstores soon, if it isn’t already. I receive nothing for you clicking the link and buying it, I just thought I’d pass along the info for those who weren’t aware.

Happy Tuesday.

First, we have the Travis Blackley situation

“I honestly don’t know,” the lefthander said after pitching a scoreless ninth inning yesterday against the Reds, “but it feels like it.”

Blackley, a Rule 5 selection from San Francisco, had been competing for the No. 5 spot in the rotation, but he has pitched just three innings combined in his past two appearances and said he has been using the warmup routine of a reliever.

“I normally would take 50, 60, 70 pitches before a game as a starter,” Blackley said. “I’ve been throwing 40 here, and they want me down to 30.”

Hmmm. So I guess we can scratch Blackley off the list for the #5 spot. But with the Phillies desire to carry a 2nd lefty in the pen, you’d think he’d have an advantage over a guy like Youman or Castro, who both have options.

Continue reading Monday roundup →