All posts by gregg

Bastardo to Philly, Baez to the DL,

Bastardo, Antonio

The Phillies announced today that Right handed relief pitcher Danys Baez was placed on the DL with back issue and LHP Antonio Bastardo was called up from AAA Lehigh Valley to take his spot on the 25 man roster.  Bastardo, 24,  has allowed runs in just one of his 20 appearances for the ‘Pigs this year.  Opponents are hitting just .190 against him and he is averaging over 1.5 K’s per inning pitched.  Although he has struggled in his limited time in Philly this year, Bastardo certainly can bring more to the table then Baez at this late stage of the season, a season in which Baez has struggled consistently from the beginning of the year.

Also, the effort by Mike Cisco last night starting for Reading must be noted, a game in which he threw a complete game shutout, striking out 10.

Lehigh Valley Roster Moves

7. Lehigh Valley

As mentioned in a prior post, Pitcher Nate Robertson was signed as a free agent and will be starting tonight for Lehigh Valley. He, along with Brandon Duckworth (who was on the DL with a calf strain) were activated today by Lehigh Valley.

Making room on the roster, the ‘Pigs placed 1B Matt Rizzotti (thumb) and RP Michael Schwimer (lower back strain) on the DL retroactive to August 24th. Both will be eligible to return on Tuesday August 31st, for the last week of the minor league season. Lehigh Valley will be going with 13 pitchers and 11 position players for the time being.

Lehigh Valley Weekly Report

7. Lehigh Valley

Lehigh Valley went 4-3 on the week, and are now 52-79 on the season, 27 games behind division leading Scranton as the 2010 season enters its final 10 days.

League Leaders (Hitting): John Mayberry is 7th in runs (68); Andy Tracy is 8th in homers (18); 9th in RBI’s (67); 2nd in walks (64); 8th in OBP (.374); and 7th in SLG (.489). (Pitching): Brian Mazone leads the league in losses (13), leads the league in starts (26), leads in the league in IP (154), is 9th in HR allowed (17), and is 8th in WHIP (1.22); Joe Savery is 5th in losses (11) Drew Carpenter is 7th in losses (10), is 7th in starts (24), is 8th in walks (49); Nate Bump is 7th in ERA (3.35); Scott Mathieson is 2nd in saves (24). Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

Phillies Sign Nate Robertson to a Minor League Deal

Transactions

The Phillies have signed LHP Nate Robertson to a minor league contract and have assigned him to AAA Lehigh Valley.  Robertson, a veteran of nine major league season pitched for the Marlins this year, going 6-8 with a 5.47 ERA in 19 starts before being released by the Marlins.  Following his time with the Marlins, he was picked up by the Cardinals organization and was 2-1 with a 9.45 ERA in AAA Memphis before his release. 

Robertson is expected to make his debut Thursday when he starts for Lehigh Valley against Scranton.  Robertson was a 5th round pick of the Marlins in the 1999 draft and had his best major league season in 2006 when he went 13-13 with a 3.84 ERA in 32 starts while accruing 208.2 innings for the Tigers.

Quick Notes

Savery, Joe

After one of his better outings of the season on the mound last night, former 1st round draft choice Joe Savery will make his hitting debut tonight, as designated hitter, batting 7th for Lehigh Valley against Rochester.

Hall of Fame closer Bruce Sutter has been hired by the Phillies as a Minor League Pitching consultant where he will work primarily in Reading and Lehigh Valley.  He will be in Lehigh Valley tomorrow evening.  A good hire considering the potential influx of young talent into the Phils bullpen over the next year or two.

‘Pigs Weekend Update

7. Lehigh Valley

A look at the ‘Pigs weekend with a few notes, transactions and probables attached at the end.

Friday–About as rare as a solar eclipse, the ‘Pigs won in both extra innings and by one run in their 7-6 victory over Pawtucket on Friday evening closing out their road trip. In what was their second biggest comeback in team history (5 runs), Lehigh Valley received excellent pitching out of the bullpen to keep them in the game and allow the victory in the 10th inning when none other than Dane Sardinha scored on a wild pitch and a throwing error. After a rough outing by starter Brian Mazone (4IP 6R,4ER), the combination of Gordon, Zagurski and Villarreal pitched 6 scoreless with Oscar Villarreal (3-3) picking up the win in relief. The ‘Pigs down 5-0 going into the 5th, scored 4 runs in the 5th to put them back in the ballgame with a two run double by Brian Bocock and an RBI single by Rich Thompson the big blows.  Bocock led the team offensively going 2-2 with a double, 2 walks, 2 stolen bases, and 3 RBI’s. Continue reading ‘Pigs Weekend Update →

Tyson Gillies Arrested

Gillies, Tyson

UPDATE: The Phillies have released a statement that reads, “The Phillies have confirmed today that Tyson Gillies was arrested on a drug possesion charge arising out of an alleged incident that was alleged to have occurred in June. Because this is an open case, we will not comment further at this time”. 

In what is certainly a new twist to the Tyson Gillies injury saga this year, Gillies was apparantly arrested early this morning by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office on a felony cocaine charge.  According to the St. Petersburg Times, Gillies was released on $2,000 bond at 10:52 this morning, after being arrested at 1:10 a.m.

Gillies was rehabbing his injured hamstring in Clearwater and had appeared in two Rookie League Games last week for the Gulf Coast League Phillies.  Gillies has missed a good portion of the season dealing with the hamstring issues and was recently shut down for the remainder of the season with a trip to Dr. James Andrews expected in order to look at the hamstring.

NOTE: While noting the obvious news worthy nature of this story to Phillies fans, please use respect in commenting.

Update —> James here. Matt Gelb has another article up with more information. So bizarre.

Lehigh Valley Weekly Report

7. Lehigh Valley

A 2-5 week for Lehigh Valley, who continue to play miserably and are 48-76, in 5th place of the Northern Division of the International League, 25 games behind division leading Scranton.

Leaders– Hitting–Andy Tracy is 2nd in walks (59)and 7th in OBP(.374). Pitching: Brian Mazone leads the league in losses (12), 4th in starts (24), 6th in IP(143) and is 8th in WHIP (1.21); Drew Carpenter is third in losses (10) and 7th in walks (48); Nate Bump is 6th in ERA (3.35); Scott Mathieson is 2nd in saves (22). Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

Utley Activated, Dobbs DFA

Transactions

In what can be described as a mild surprise, it is Greg Dobbs and not Domonic Brown losing their spot on the Phils 25 man roster with the activation of Chase Utley.  The fact that Dobbs continues to hit under .190 with next to no success pinch-hitting makes this a decision that is very difficult to argue with.  Brown, hitting .229 with a homer and 11 RBI’s since his call up will continue being used in his role as a pinch hitter and will give the Ibanez/Victorino/Werth combination a break against certain right-handed starters.  Dobbs must clear waivers before deciding whether he will accept this late season assignment to AAA Lehigh Valley.

‘Pigs Weekend Update

7. Lehigh Valley

Another 1-2 weekend in the books.  See below for the details, along with a few notes.

Friday–Lehigh Valley began a road trip in Rochester with a 5-1 loss on Friday evening.  It was fairly smooth sailing for starter Vance Worley (0-2), who had given up just a lone run until the 7th, when he left the game after giving up an RBI single to Eric Lis.  Oscar Villarreal entered and immediately(first pitch) gave up a three run homer, allowing two of Worley’s inherited runners to score, giving Rochester an insurmountable 3 run lead.  Worley’s line was 6.1IP 5H 4ER 1BB 7K.  The only Lehigh Valley run came in the 4th when a Cody Ransom sac fly scored John Mayberry who had doubled.  It was a big night for Mayberry who went 3-4.  Matt Rizzotti chipped in with two hits as well.  Lehigh Valley left 10 men on base and were 1-12 with RISP. Continue reading ‘Pigs Weekend Update →