With the groin injury to Raul Ibanez, the Phillies once again have recalled RF John Mayberry from Lehigh Valley.  Mayberry, 25, figures to play at least against lefties, and maybe a bit more with Ibanez out of the lineup for at least the next 15 days and probably longer.  In his brief stint with the Phils, Mayberry hit .222 with a homer and 3 RBI’s in 9 at bats.  He has struggled since being sent back down to Lehigh, hitting just .121 over his last 10 games, with 10 strikeouts in 33 at bats.  These next several weeks will be critical weeks for Mayberry, solidifying his status as the teams fourth OF next year, or opening the door for consideration of other candidates.

The trickle down effect on the Phils system could be interesting as well.  Is it time to call up Michael Taylor? Or, would the Phillies prefer he continue playing in the winning atmosphere established in Reading this year? Continue reading John Mayberry Recalled →

I figured it was only a matter of time until someone hijacked the draft thread to discuss this, so this is a pre-emptive strike.

Clearwater’s Dom Brown, one of the Phillies top positional prospects, will be out for three to four weeks after fracturing the fifth finger on his right hand after getting hit by a pitch Monday night.

“He’s got a slight fracture and that’s too bad because he’s been playing and swinging the bat well,” Phillies director of minor league operations Steve Noworyta said. “We’re going to have to hold off with him for a little bit.”

Doesn’t seem like a big issue. Link here.

Jim Salisbury gives his take on the Phils’ ongoing search for starting pitching and the chances of certain players leaving the system.

Link

He hits some on the head and misses wildly on others (i.e. Travis D’Arnaud).

Feel free to discuss.

Ruben Amaro and Dallas Green were among those in attendance as Kyle Drabek took the hill at First Energy Stadium for his first Eastern League start. The weather kept many people at home, but those who witnessed this performance did not come away disappointed.

Continue reading Drabek’s AA Debut →

The draft is next Tuesday, and I hope to have my mock draft polished up and published on Monday, so look for that. I wanted to make two points though in the meantime. The first point is that everyone who writes for this site does it purely because they care about the Phillies minor league system. No one here gets paid, there are no ads on this site (a service to you), and there is no money. The style that someone uses is their style, and anything they contribute is more than you’d get if it was just me writing one or two articles a week. To criticize these people for providing you a free service seems unfortunate to me. If you know of a better website out there for your Phillies minor league news, by all means check it out regularly. But please refrain from the ticky tack insults of the contributors here. 99% of the folks here are excellent, the 1% who try to stir the pot are sometimes just the loudest. If there’s something you want to know about a player or an affiliate, by all means ask the person who writes the report, but if they’re unable to find out, don’t hold it against them. That’s just silly. Check below for more…

Continue reading Update →

John Mayberry, Jr. is not in tonights starting lineup, the first time this year he has not been in the lineup that I can recall.  Pablo Ozuna is in the lineup, as is Miguel Cairo, who will be playing third base.  As of late this afternoon, the Phillies had not yet announced a roster move and Mayberry was still in Allentown, at Coca Cola Park, but seems as if he may not be around long.

In Andy Martino’s article today in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Charlie Manuel mentioned the possibility of a right handed bat being called up from AAA Lehigh Valley for the weekend series against the Yankees to DH.  It seems right now, that John Mayberry is the leading candidate, with a darkhorse candidate being Pablo Ozuna who is coming off a 13 game hitting streak and hitting .298 thus far this year.  Ozuna has very good speed and major league experience but is not on the 40 man roster.  Mayberry is certainly more of the long ball threat, but his 40 strikeouts in 133 at bats or of concern.

Chance Chapman, who has been fantastic for Clearwater so far this year, going 3-1 with an ERA of 0.77 in 11 appearances was called up to Reading yesterday. Continue reading Daily Discussion →

Already for the Phillies Minor League affliliates with losses in both Lakewood and CLearwater.  Kyle Drabek did pitch well, however, going 6.1 innings and giving up only one earned run on six hits. He walked one and struck out nine. 

This evening, Antonio Bastardo on the hill in Reading, with Kyle Kendrick and Carlos Carrasco pitching in Allentown, in their doubleheader.

Jason Donald is  getting his first start of the year at third base tonight.  Newly acquired David Newhan is at SS, with Carlos Ruiz, back in the lineup once again catching and hitting 7th. Unfortunately, Donald made an error on his first chance at third, but is making up for it at the plate, with two hits and an RBI, thus far on the evening.