The Phillies announced the signing of two pitchers today, Ty Taubenheim and Josh Fogg.  I am not quite sure where Fogg fits in after being released by the Mets but the 33 year old Fogg  may be fighting for the last job in the Phils pen or be headed to Lehigh Valley.  Last year pitching for Colorado, Fogg was 0-2 with a 3.74 ERA in 24 games (1 start).  He had an uncharacteristically good WHIP of 1.13, as opposed to his WHIP the rest of his major league career which hovered between 1.45 and 1.55.  Fogg’s signing could certainly have some impact on Rule 5 pick David Herndon, who has had an extremely impressive Spring, giving up his first earned run yesterday. Fogg is a veteran of nine major league seasons who has a career mark of 62-69 with a 5.03 ERA and 1.46 WHIP.

Taubenheim, 27, was a 19th round pick of the Brewers in the 2003 draft.  He has spent the last two seasons at AAA Indianapolis (Pirates), starting 38 games   Last season, Taubenheim was 7-9 in 26 games (19 starts) with an impressive 3.65 ERA.  He walked 37 and struck out 63 in his 106 innings of work, with a WHIP sitting at 1.36. The 6’5 righty has seen Major League action in ’06, ’07’ and ’08, most prominently with the Blue Jays in 2006, appearing in 12 games.

Some info on the Lehigh Valley and Reading rosters, with most information coming courtesy of Jeff Schuler, the Lehigh Valley beat writer for the Morning Call.  The following players were transferred from the Lehigh Valley roster to the Reading roster: Pitchers Mike STutes and Jason Stephens, Catcher Kevin Nelson, 3B Brandon Pinckney, 1B Brian Stavisky, and OF’s Kevin Mahar and Mike SPidale.  SS Ozzie Chavez who was re-assigned by the Phils to Minor League camp was assigned to the Reading group. Continue reading News and Notes →

I would like to start by thanking everyone for taking the time to respond to my earlier post.  I received good constructive criticism along with helpful ideas for the future.  Also a lot of you took the opportunity to ask interesting questions, so since many of you wanted to see more Q&A,  here goes…..

Continue reading Spring Training Mailbag →

The Phillies released twelve minor leaguers today as Minor League rosters begin to take shape with one week to go before opening day.  Those released from the organization include:

Pitcher Joe Bisenius–The Phils 12th round pick in the 2004 draft who went from legitimate prospect status to the list of releases over a period of three years.  He suffered from injuries, control issues and inconsistency which led to his ultimate release. Continue reading 12 Released by the Phils →

OF John Mayberry, Jr, was optioned to Triple A Lehigh Valley, while Catcher Dane Sardinha and SS Ozzie Chavez were re-assigned to Minor League Camp today by the Phils. Mayberry was a good Spring, hitting .289 with a homer a 6 RBI’s in his 38 AB’s. Sardinha hit .154 this Spring.  Chavez  hit .200 in his 25 at bats and will fill a middle infield spot in Reading or Lehigh Valley depending upon needs.

Notes: Harold Garcia, who played almost exclusively at 2B last year in Lakewood, played SS in the High A game yesterday.

—Yohan Flande was hit hard in the AA game, giving up 7 runs over 4.2 innings.

—Scott Mathieson threw 2 scoreless innings, without allowing a hit in the AAA game.

I’m short on time today, but I wanted to post an open discussion thread on the Lakewood/Clearwater rosters, since we did something similar for Reading and Lehigh Valley a little while back. So, what do we think the starting lineup and pitching staffs will look like?

Also, someone started an NCAA-style tournament of Phillies blogs, and phuturephillies has advanced to the Sweet 16, and it looks like my next matchup is today, so go here and vote if you want to.

With the bases loaded and two out, Michael Schwimer was summoned in to try and put out the fire. And sure enough, he did, striking out Gregor Blanco on what looked like a hard slider on the outside corner. The ESPN gun had him at 91-93, and the slide came in at 85 mph. Congrats to Schwim.

David Herndon threw a messy scoreless inning, but in fairness to him, Laz Diaz (and his awful strike zone) was behind the plate and appeared to squeeze him a number of times.

Left Handed Relief Pitcher Mike Zagurski was optioned to Minor League camp today, leaving Antonio Bastardo as the last man standing in the competition for the LOOGY poisition in the Phils bullpen.  Zagurski came on strong at the end of last season pitching in Reading after missing a good deal of time recovering from surgery.  Bastardo, 24, pitched very well in the Minors last year before coming up and making several spot starts for the Phils before being shut down with shoulder problems.  Bastardo seems to have recovered from his shoulder issues and spent the Winter pitching in the DOminican League.

I figured a post like this (and one looking at guys I’m worried about) would be a good topic as the season gets close. I’m not really sure if “breakout” is the word I’m looking for, but basically I’m putting together a list of 6 players (3 position players, 3 pitchers) who I feel will take steps forward in 2010. Either this means they are rebounding from a poor season, or they are going to surpass expectations this season. I won’t include guys on my Top 30 list, since I obviously feel highly about those guys anyway and I’ve discussed many of them at great length. I’m going to use this piece as a way to talk about a few guys that I maybe haven’t given as much time to. So check below and we’ll get started.

Continue reading Breakout candidates for 2010 →

Three more Phils were sent from Major League Spring Training to the Minors late yesterday.  SS Brian Bocock, 1B Andy Tracy and Relief Pitcher Ehren Wasserman all were re-assigned to Minor League camp, leaving the Phils with 35 on their roster.  Both Wasserman and Tracy are expected to be on the Lehigh Valley opening day roster with Bocock’s assignment a bit more of a question mark depending on the Phils needs throughout the system.