Playoff series begin for both Reading and Lakewood this evening with Mike Stutes throwing for Reading, while Matthew Way gets the nod for the BlueClaws.  The Reading series is best of five, while the Lakewood series is best of three.

Lakewood suffered a bit of a blow with Justin DeFratus being placed on the DL with the ever popular oblique injury. 

I am a little bit suprised that the Phils have not added another player or two to the roster of the big club as injuries and lack of bench production continue to be problematic for the Phils.  While the potential possibilities certainly are not game changers, adding Andy Tracy a power hitting left handed bat seems to make some sense.  With Greg Dobbs out another week to 10 days and Matt Stairs not having had a hit since the all star break, the addition of someone like Tracy who gives you a quality at bat seems to be a no brainer. Additionally, with the injuries in the ‘pen, the addition of Mathieson and/or Escalona seems to make some sense.  That still may happen when the Reading season concludes.  The addition of either Mathieson or Tracy would mean a corresponding 40 man roster move would be needed.

Both Kyle Kendrick and John Mayberry, Jr. have been called up by the Phillies and will be in Houston today when the Phils play the Astros.  The timing is somewhat odd, as Kendrick had been scheduled to start today in Lehigh Valley and was in Allentown yesterday.  With Shane Victorino being a bit banged up, Mayberry gives the Phils another outfield bat and has been swinging it relatively well for the ‘Pigs recently hitting .303 over his last 10 games. Kendrick has pitched extremely well lately, going 3-0 with a 2.14 ERA in his last 3 starts for Lehigh Valley.

Andy Tracy, originally part of the Lehigh Valley starting lineup on Sunday against Buffalo was a late scratch.  No reason was given why.  Tracy, who is in a race with Shelly Duncan of the Yankees organization for the International League lead in RBI’s (95), may be able to give the Phils a bit of punch as a lefty off the bench with Greg Dobbs still on the DL, and Matt Stairs hitless since the all star break.

A couple of quick talking points to get the day started:

–The struggles of Vance Worley continue in Reading during the second half of the season with another very rocky outing last night in the 12-6 Reading loss.  Worley went 5 innings and gave up 10 runs (5 earned) on 11 hits, including 3 homers.  Since the all star break, Worley is 1-6 with a 7.61 ERA in 9 starts. 

–Huge games for both Travis D’Arnaud and Jim Murphy who had 4 hits apiece in the 9-3 Lakewood victory last night.  After a slow start to the season, D’Arnaud had hit .304 with 5 HR 32 RBI and 7SB since the all-star break.  It will be interesting to see where the Phils decide to start him next year.

–Six shutout innings from Phils 12th round pick Nicholas Hernandez (8-1) who gave up just 2 hits and struck out 8 in the 4-1 Williamsport win last night.  Hernandez lowered his ERA to an impressive 2.70 in his 15 starts.

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 →