According to the Jeff Schuler of the Morning Call, Catcher Paul Hoover will be recalled Thursday by the Phillies to fill the role as third catcher for the month of September. Hoover, 33, has played more of a role in Lehigh Valley then originally expected with the trade of Lou Marson, and has been solid, hitting .253 with 1 HR and 28 RBI in 73 games this year. Hoover has thrown out 23% of runners trying to steal on him this year. As is typical in September, especially of the #3 catcher, expect extremely limited playing time (if at all for Hoover).

The Phils will need to make a corresponding 40 man roster move to make room for Hoover.

Update (from phuturephillies)–> Joel Naughton was designated for assignment. This seems like a risky move.

Update: Lehigh Valley relief pitcher Steven Register was also removed from the 40 man and designated for assigment today.  This move was necessary because of the activation of Antonio Bastardo from the 60 day DL.  Bastardo was assigned to Reading (AA).  Register will now have to clear waivers prior to returning to the Lehigh Valley bullpen.

Jack Taschner is likely to be the first recall made by the Phillies as the eligible playing roster expands to fourty today.  Taschner, after struggling in his first few outings has pitched well in Lehigh Valley, going 0-2 with a 2.08 ERA in 20 appearances.  Opponents hit just .213 against him, his WHIP was right around 1.20 and he recorded two saves.  With Scott Eyre the only lefty in the bullpen, Taschner should give some relief to Eyre.

I would expect more news as the week progresses and the minor league season reaches their conclusion.

The Phillies have placed Kyle Drabek on the inactive list after throwing 158 innings this year.  It was stressed that Drabek is not injured, he is simply being shut down after reaching what the Phils set as his inning limit. The 21 year old righty was 4-1 with a 2.48 ERA for Clearwater.  He threw 61.2 innings and walked 19, while striking out 74.  Opponents hit just .218 against him in “A” ball.  After his promotion to AA Reading, Drabek went 8-2 with a 3.64 ERA in 15 starts, throwing 96.1 innings.  He walked 31, struck out 76 and AA opponents hit .252 against him.  In five August starts, Drabek was 1-1 with a 5.02 ERA.  I would look for him in the Lehigh Valley rotation to begin next year.

With September 1 quickly approaching, decision time comes once again for the Phillies, this time to decide who from the minor league system warrants a September recall.  As we know, there are a number of factors in addition to minor league performance that are considered in the decision making process.  The current 40 man roster, along with the cost of $67,000 per player in salary are probably the considerations on the forefront of managements mind.  In order to recall someone who is not on the 40 man, space must be cleared, by removing a player, subjecting them to waivers.  The other alternative is moving someone from the 15 day to the 60 day disabled list (i.e. Bastardo), which means that even though they are on the 40 man, their spot doesnt’t count against the 40 man. 

Looking at the 40 man roster, I would anticipate a first move of moving Bastardo from the 15 day DL to the 60 day DL, effectively creating one spot.  The 40 man roster spots of Joe Bisenius, Brad Harmon, Joel Naughton, and maybe even Drew Naylor appear to be in some jeopardy depending upon how much help the Phils decide they need.  All four have been disappointing, Bisenius and Harmon certainly much more so than Naughton and Naylor. Continue reading September Call Ups →

Michael Taylor was named IL  player of the week for the week ending August 16, after a week in which he hit .417, including hitting for the cycle. the first time that has been done in Lehigh Valley history. Additionally, Taylor became the first IronPig to record two OF assists in the same inning.  Taylor has missed games both Sunday and Monday after suffering an oblique injury.  He is currently being called “day to day”.

In Reading, Mike Stutes was named EL Pitcher of the Week for the same time period after two starts in which he allowed just 1 earned run over 13 innings.  Stutes, 22, was the Phils 11th round pick in the ’08 draft. He struck out 15 over those 13 innings.

8/14/09–Michael Taylor and Andy Tracy continued carrying the Lehigh Valley offense as they opened a series in Buffalo with a 12-6 win. A four run first inning was highlighted by an RBI Single by Mike Cervenak, RBI double by Andy Tracy, and RBI single by Taylor.  The ‘Pigs added another run in the 3rd on another RBI single by Michael Taylor.  After Buffalo cut the lead to 5-3, the ‘Pigs added a run in the fourth, two in the fifth (Mayberry, 9th homer), and four in the sixth (Taylor (5) solo homer, and Tracy(20) 3 run homer), making the lead 12-5 and putting the game finally out of reach.  Rodrigo Lopez (6-4) made his first start since returning from the Phils and was not sharp, going 5 innings and giving up 5 runs (4 earned) on 11 hits.  Jake Woods continued doing whatever the club asked of him, pitching 4 innings in relief to earn his 2nd save. Rich Thompson was 2-4 with 3 runs scored and 2 stolen bases (21,22), while both Andy Tracy and Michael Taylor had multi hit games as well. Continue reading ‘Pigs Weekend Update →

With the season reaching its final three weeks, Lehigh Valley went through another mediocre week going 3-4, and have watched their chances for a playoff berth continue to dwindle with their 57-61 record.  They are 9.5 games behind dvision leading Scranton, and are 8.5 games out of a wild card spot.  Taking this weeks look at ‘Pigs among league leaders, Andy Tracy is 4th in homers (19), 3rd in RBI’s (72), and 2nd in walks (54), Mike Cervenak is 9th in RBI’s (59), Rich Thompson is 9th in stolen bases (20).  On the mound, Drew Carpenter is 4th in wins (9), 5th in ERA (2.86), 7th in IP(126) and 6th in homers allowed (14).

Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

Brian Rosenberg, 23, was promoted from (A) Lakewood to (AA) Reading on Friday, jumping over Clearwater.  Rosenberg was dominant for the BlueClaws this season, earning 19 saves with a microscopic 0.89 ERA in 50 plus innings of work. The 6’2 RHP from Kentucky was a 13th round pick out of Louisville in the 2008 draft.

Before a couple quick daily notes on the goings on outside of the Lee trade I wanted to chime in as well with my opinion.  The Lee deal was a no-brainer based on what the Phils gave up.  Not to minimize the talent that Carrasco, Marson, Donald, and Knapp have, but the Phillies acquired a top of the line pitcher and a much needed bat without giving up the four names that they, as well as many pundits covet most (Drabek, Happ, Taylor, Brown).  While significantly upgrading their rotation and their bench, they have also given themselves more financial flexibility next year in taking on Lee’s contract rather than Halladay’s, money that potentially could be spent before the August 17 deadline to sign draftees to bolster problem areas within the system, as well as re-signing some key components from the team this year.

While Carrasco’s talent at times wins the wrestling match with what is going on in his head, the head games he plays while pitching may or may not continue, changing the perspective on his value. Marson has big league talent, but at a position where there are legit future prospects in the Phils system, and value must be given to get value.  Donald is an extremely hard worker and has a very good head on his shoulders but his future value is more than likely limited to super sub status, based on what we have seen in the last couple of years.  Knapp is the big question mark.  Guys that throw 98 mph do not come along every day. Again, however, being at least two years away from being major league ready giving up Knapp makes sense in an attempt to capitalize on the massive amount of talent collected in Philly vying for back to back titles.

Continue reading Daily Discussion →