The Phillies announced last evening that Jared Cosart will be shut down for the rest of the season after suffering from continued elbow soreness.  He last pitched on June 26, and visited with Dr. James Andrews, a week or two ago.  The good news from the visit with Dr. Andrews, is that the elbow does not require surgery. Cosart, 20, was 7-3 with a 3.79 ERA in his 14 starts this year.  Opponents hit just .224 against him, and he was striking out well over a hitter per each inning pitched.  The Phils hope to have him ready for the Florida Instructional League in the Fall.

The ever evolving Phillies injury situation took another turn for the worse today with Ryan Howard being placed on the 15 day DL with his sprained ankle.  To take his place on the Phillies roster, the Phils called up OF John Mayberry, 26,  from AAA Lehigh Valley.  Mayberry, a right-handed bat,  has been up and down this year for Lehigh Valley. In his 383 AB’s, he is hitting .258/.321/.410 with 12 HR 54 RBI and 13 SB.  He has hit lefties at a .319 clip, while hitting only .240 vs. rhp. He has a 7% bb rate, while striking out at a 21% rate. With the lefty heavy Phils lineup, Mayberry may see a start or two in the OF, while first base looks to be a platoon between Ross Gload and Cody Ransom until Howard returns.

Discuss it here.

He records the final out of the first inning.

Go!

It was under different circumstances than most expected, but the name most believe is currently the #1 prospect in baseball, Domonic Brown, received the much-anticipated call to the majors this afternoon as Shane Victorino was placed on the DL with an oblique strain.

Brown, 23, was hitting .346/.390/.561 in 107 AB’s with AAA Lehigh Valley.  He had 5 HR and 21 RBI to go along with 5 SB in 6 attempts. Overall on the year, Brown has hit .327/.391/.589 with 20HR and 68 RBI in 343 AB’s.  Additionally, he has stolen 17 bases in 24 attempts. His walk rate is 10%, while striking out at a 19% clip.  Continue reading Domonic Brown to the Majors →

Michael Schwimer was kind enough to give me a few minutes of his time prior to the Lehigh Valley game on Sunday evening, one day after he pitched 2.2 scoreless against Norfolk, extending his scoreless to streak to six outings since his promotion from AA Reading.  Here is what he had to say about a number of issues…

On his most recent outing..” I felt good…pitches were good, the fastball had good late life, the slider was biting pretty good, my change I could throw whenever I wanted to, late in counts and had a good tail.  Important for me on the change up is the location rather than the movement…I throw a four seam change so it comes out like a four seam fastball…I go for location and I go for speed differentiation.” Continue reading Michael Schwimer Interview →

It continues in Philly, with Vance Worley, 22, getting called up to the big club one day after Jamie Moyer went down with an elbow strain and Andrew Carpenter lasted one outing (3IP, 3ER) in his latest attempt with the Phils.  Carpenter was optioned back to AAA Lehigh Valley.  One other notable transaction today, from a Phillies perspective had Nelson Figueroa getting picked up on waivers by the Houston Astros.  Worley the Phils 3rd round pick in the ’08 draft has been very strong as of late going 3-0 with a 1.17 ERA in his 3 July starts for AA Reading.  On the year he is 9-4 with a 3.20 ERA.  He has thrown 112.2 IP, allowed 114 hits, walked 36 and struck out 83.  Opponents are hitting .264 on him for the year with a WHIP of 1.33.

An interesting move to say the least when the presumption was that JA Happ was pulled from yesterdays start for Lehigh Valley after 3 innings in preparation for a possible weekend start for the big club.  That could still happen, but this is interesting nonetheless.  And let the talk continue….

The Phillies optioned starter Kyle Kendrick to AAA Lehigh Valley after a very rough outing for him against the Cardinals last night that featured multiple mound visits by Rich Dubee.  Called up to fill in Kendrick’s roster spot is right hander Drew Carpenter.  It is unclear righ now if Carpenter will take Kendrick’s turn in the rotation.  Kendrick, who the 3rd best ERA in the Phils starting rotation, joins Lehigh Valley having gone 5-4 with a 4.82 ERA in 18 starts for the Phils.  Carpenter has been consistent for Lehigh Valley, going 7-6 with a 3.41 ERA in his 18 starts.  Certainly an interesting move in light of the fact that JA Happ sits in Lehigh Valley as well.  Happ has not yet put together a solid start for Lehigh Valley struggling at least mildly in each outing.

The most common question I get when people e-mail me is “What do you think of pitcher X” or “what is pitcher X’s upside”. I figured that this would be a good spot for me to talk a bit about how I look at pitchers, what I focus on, and why, and then to also talk a little about my theory on starting pitching designations in the majors. Hopefully this will answer some questions that people have, or just serve as a good discussion on player evaluation. So check below and we’ll get started.

Continue reading On rotation spot designations, upside, and velocity →

Just a brief note that Lakewood closer Jordan Ellis, 24 was promoted to High A Clearwater.  Ellis although old for the league has pitched very well, going 3-3 with a 2.47 ERA in 33 games to go along with 11 saves.  In his 43.2 innings of work, Ellis has allowed 31 hits, walked 17 and struck out 55.  Opponents were hitting just .200 against him, and his WHIP in Lakewood stood at 1.09. Going to Clearwater along with Ellis is Catcher Torre Langley, 22.

New faces on the Lakewood roster are Catcher David Doss along with LHP Kyle Carr who was the Twins 12th Round pick in the ’08 draft.

The ranks of the infirm have finally started to dwindle, with another activation from the disabled list by the Phillies, this time catcher Carlos Ruiz. To make room on the roster, the Phils designated catcher Dane Sardinha for assignment.  Sardinha filled in admirably, even knocking a few homers out of the yard during a time where both Ruiz and Brian Schneider were suffering through injuries.