Michael Schwimer gave the assembled media, Phuture Phillies included some of his time prior to the game this evening against Gwinnett. Schwimer has been simply dominant lately, going 1-0 with a 0.64 ERA in his last 9 games with a save.  During that same time period, Schwimer has thrown 14 innings, giving up just 2 runs on five hits, while striking out 23 and allowing just one of eleven inherited runners to score.

With his profile continuing to rise on the Philadelphia radar screen and after some early season struggles, Schwimer has turned it around, “I have to give credit to two people on that.  Rod Nichols had tinkered a little bit, a few weeks back with some of my mechanics to get my front side turned in a little more and get more closed off.  I felt I was opening up a little bit early and I was able to be more deceptive to hitters because of that…I also had a meeting with Chuck LaMar a few weeks back and he talked to me about my mental demeanor and being more aggressive…rather than getting to cute and trying to make certain pitches in certain counts.  Those two things have changed the way I have approached pitching this year and it has a lot of positives.” Continue reading Schwimer Focused…. →

In the first of what will be a series of roster moves the Phils have called up RP David Herndon and OF Domonic Brown, placed OF Shane Victorino on the 15 day disabled list and optioned RP Scott Mathieson to AAA Lehigh Valley.  Just 12 hours after GM Ruben Amaro told the assembled media that Brown would not be called up, that is just what happened and Brown is expected to be available this evening against Texas.  The swap of Herndon and Mathieson makes sense in that Herndon is fresh and can provide some immediate innings in Philadelphia if necessary, after the depleted bullpen threw, in essence, the whole game last night (including two IP by Mathieson).

P Joe Blanton is still expected to be placed on the DL, most likely over the weekend.  When that occurs, the likely move will be Vance Worley rejoining the Phillies rotation.  Herndon has pitched well in Lehigh Valley, going 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA and a save in 5 games, spanning nine innings.  He has walked one and struck out nine for Lehigh Valley.

Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that Roy Oswalt has been activated from the DL and will be starting tomorrow against the St. Louis Cardinals.  To make room on the roster, the Phils sent Vance Worley back down to AAA Lehigh Valley.  Sources in Lehigh Valley say that Worley will be starting tomorrow night when the ‘Pigs start their series against the Yankees in Scranton. Worley could not have performed much better then he did for the Phils, both in the rotation and out of the ‘pen in his several weeks with the big club.

In another roster move, ‘Pigs pitcher Jason Grilli has been placed on the DL with back problems.  Grilli threw 12 pitches yesterday before removing himself from the game with a back problem.  With both Scott Mathieson and Mike Stutes in Philadelphia, the Lehigh Valley relief corps is very thin with Grilli’s placement on the DL.  Grilli had been unscored upon 11 of his last 12 outings, currently throwing ten consecutive scoreless innings.

This question was raised in the comments section, if maybe the Phillies have an incentive to leave Brown in the minors for x amount of time based on salary considerations. The Phillies have shown a willingness to bring guys up in the past when they are ready and not worry about the clock. Brown is on the 40 man roster, so that isn’t a consideration. Let’s look at the facts. For determining Super 2 status, arbitration, and free agency, MLB functions under the “Service Time” metric, and it goes in years.

1 year of MLB service time = 172 days on the 25 man roster, or on the MLB DL during the season.
1 MLB season generally consists of 182 days.

Players with 2 years or less of service time are eligible to have their contract renewed for the MLB minimum (or an amount the team chooses) unless they signed a contract previously which guarantees them a different dollar amount. Players with more than 2 years of service, but less than 3 years of service who have at least 2 years + 86 days of service time are put into a group. Of that group, the top 17% are deemed “Super 2” players and are eligible for salary arbitration. Over the last few seasons, the cutoff for “Super Two status” has been right around 2 years + 140 days of service time. After you have 6 years of service time or more, you are a free agent. So, let’s apply this to Brown.

Last year, Brown accumulated 68 days of service time.
As far as I know, when he was placed on the DL in spring training, he did not begin to accrue service time, as that only counts if the player is injured during a regular season game, when service time is assigned. Thus, he currently has 0 days of service time in 2011. Lets assume he comes up on June 1 of this year and then never goes back to the minors.

2010 = 68 days of service.
2011 = 120 days of service. (1.016 years total)
2012 = 182 days of service (2.016 years total)
2013 = 182 days of service (3.016 years total)
2014 = 182 days of service (4.016 years total)
2015 = 182 days of service (5.016 years total)
2016 = 182 days of service (6.016 years total)

So Brown will be a free agent after 2016, if he doesn’t sign a long term deal first. The Phillies would essentially have to trim 17 days off of his service time in 2011 to prevent this from happening.

120 days (figured above, as June 1 being the target) -17 days is June 18th.

Update —> Thanks for pointing this out in the comments about the 1 year of service. I originally had this as my estimate, then thought I was wrong and changed. I’ve now fixed it. Much better.

Found this on YouTube — well worth watching.

Continue reading Domonic Brown’s RCF HR Video →

Subject, unfortunately, says it all. Gelb tweet.

The Phillies bullpen picture became a bit clearer this morning as RHP Scott Mathieson and LHP Mike Zagurski were both optioned to Minor League Camp.  Both should start the season in AAA Lehigh Valley.  Mathieson, 27, came into camp with a legitimate shot to make the team but performed inconsistently during his Spring outings. The inconsistency and some recent command problems most likely led to the trip back to the minors.  Mathieson pitched well in Lehigh Valley last season as the teams primary closer going 3-6 with a 2.80 ERA in 54 outings, accruing 26 saves and striking out 83 in his 64.1 innings.  Continue reading Mathieson, Zagurski Optioned →

Jake Borup, the Phils 23rd round pick in the 2010 was kind enough to give us some time as he enters his first Spring Training with the Phillies organization.  Borup, 23, had a very good year with Arizona State, going 11-1 with a 4.08 ERA in 15 starts, walking 26 and striking out 63 in his 81 innings of work.  After his assignment to Williamsport, Borup was one of the Crosscutters most dependable pitchers going 2-1 in 16 appearances (4 starts), earning 2 saves in his 47 innings of work.  Borup walked 13 and struck out 34, with an impressive 1.06 WHIP for Williamsport.

Borup entered Arizona State in 2006, and after taking two years off to complete a Mormon Mission, he came back strong earning Honorable Mention All Pac 10 honors last year as a sophomore. Borup throws his fastball in the high 80’s/low 90’s and has a good slider that he commands well.  After participating in the FLorida Instructional League, I would imagine that should things go smoothly in Spring Training, Borup could earn a spot in the Clearwater bullpen. Read below for the Q and A: Continue reading Jake Borup Interview →

In what has been a whirlwind week for Pitcher Drew Carpenter  (and with a scarcity of Minor League News), Todd Zolecki is reporting that the Phils have decided to move Carpenter to the bullpen.  This time last week, Carpenter had just reported to Spring Training as a member of the 40 man roster and most likely one of the top starters in Lehigh Valley.  With the acquisition of Brian Schlitter, who was added to the 40 man roster, Carpenter was first designated for assignment, cleared waivers, and is now back at camp as a reliever. Phils pitching coach Rich Dubee told Zolecki that ” We’ll try to simplify some things…Get him back to a fastball, cutter, split…We think he has enough stuff to get through a lineup one time.  Getting deeper was a little too difficult.” Carpenter, 25, was the Phils 2nd round draft choice in 2006 out of Long Beach State.

Continue reading Carpenter to the ‘pen →

My plan was to get my Top 30 prospects off the ground, but after spilling a glass of water on my laptop keyboard, I’m working on backup resources for a few days. My goal is to have the first installment (intro, prospects 1-3) up on Monday of next week. Until then, we’ll do an open discussion. The topic I wanted to throw out there is prospects facing key seasons in 2011. Essentially these will be prospects who, if they don’t have a big season in 2011, are in danger of falling off the map. So, discuss away, and I hope to be back up and running soon. Thanks.