Yesterday the Tigers beat the Phillies 6-2, as JD Durbin did what JD Durbin does. Greg Golson picked up another hit in his only AB, and Brad Harman went 1/3 with an RBI. Jason Jaramillo’s struggles at the plate continued. You have to wonder if he’s pressing a bit, and if he knew he had a shot to make the club as the backup in ST over Coste, whom we know the org doesn’t trust. Jason Donald went 0/1 and committed his 2nd error of the spring. JA Happ pitched 2 innings, allowing 1 run on 3 hits, and Lincoln Holdzkom went an inning, allowing 1 run on 1 hit while striking out 1 and walking 1.

I missed this article from a few days ago talking about Greg Golson. He says something of interest, when asked about trying to help the Phillies this season at some point;

Golson would love to help the Phillies at some point, but he is focused on the present.

“I got in trouble a couple years ago trying to get somewhere else when I was in Lakewood,” he said. “For two months, I thought I was in Clearwater, and I was in Lakewood.”

Either he’s bad with geography, or he realizes its important to remain focused at the level you’re at and let promotions and demotions sort themselves out.

Two articles for you today. First, this article talks about Savery’s much better performance in his second outing and how he’s handling himself so far. He seems like he has a good head on his shoulders (which was evident in the Q/A he did for the blog a few months ago) and understands he has work to do, but he knows where he wants to get to, which is good. Also, an article talking about the Phillies presence in Australia. It offers up an in depth look at the Phillies efforts in Australia, and highlights guys like Travis Blackley and Brad Harman, while also indicating Harman’s signing bonus at a mere $10,000. We all know the Phillies began investing in Australia because it was cheaper than the Latin American market, but guys like Harman are starting to give hope that it wasn’t just a cheap route, but also a productive route.

Based on my early impressions, I think Blackley has a good chance to make the team, either as a long man or the #5 starter. If the Phillies don’t think they can keep him out of spring training, I wouldn’t be shocked to see a deal brokered with San Fran.

edit, Blackley was with the Giants last year, not Seattle. Good catch

Yesterday the Phillies beat the Pirates 3-1, with Joe Savery leading the charge.

Savery: 2.0 IP — 2 BB — 1 K
Outman: 3.0 IP — 3 H — 2 BB – 2 K
Bisenius: 1.0 IP, — 2 H

Jason Jaramillo’s struggles at the plate continued, albeit in only 1 AB, and someone actually retired Greg Golson

Jaramillo: 0/1
Golson: 0/1

I have video of Saturday and Sunday’s games, I’m going to dice it up and will eventually post it on the respective players profile pages.

Please, Pat and Charlie, if you are reading this, DO NOT DO THIS. This article talks about Carrasco’s hot start this spring, and his desire to remain with the big club. Putting him in the rotation would be a mistake, unless the team plans to leave him there, for better or worse, and we know they are not in a position to do that. I wouldn’t mind Carrasco competing for a middle reliever spot, not mopup duty, where he can get regular work and be broken into the majors in that fashion, but I don’t think Manuel would trust him, much like he didn’t trust Castro when we got him and had to keep him on the roster. Carrasco needs to either be starting every 5th day in Reading or Allentown, or pitching 2-3 times a week out of the major league pen. Please don’t yo yo him around when he’s not ready for the rotation in the bigs.

Just a quick rundown of the performance of our prospects in the last 3 games

Friday, 5-4 win over Pittsburgh

Jaramillo, 0/2
Happ, 2.0 IP — 1 BB — 1 K
Bisenius, 2.0 IP – 1 BB

Saturday, 9-3 loss to the Yankees

Golson, 1/1 — 1 HR
Harman, 0/1
Jaramillo, 0/2

Sunday, 7-7 tie vs the Yankees

Jaramillo, 0/1
Golson, 1/1 — 1 SB
Carrasco: 3.0 IP — 3 H — 3 K
Holdzkom: 1.0 IP — 2 H — 1 uER — 1 K

Greg Golson is on FIRE.

As some of you may have found out, yesterday was not kind to Joe Savery and Josh Outman, both making their first spring training appearances.

Savery: 1.0 IP — 4 H — 5 ER — 1 BB — 2 K
Outman: 1.2 IP — 5 H — 4 ER — 0 BB — 2 K

Also making his debut was Rule 5 pick Lincoln Holdzkom. He also had a tough time throwing strikes, but came away unscathed.

Holdzkom: 1.0 IP — 1 H — 3 BB – 1 K

And finally, Jason Donald got his first taste of spring training. He went 1 for 2 with a run scored, committed an error at SS and also started a double play. Jason Jaramillo went 0 for 1 with a BB

Continue reading Rough day for the kids →

The Phillies started off their Grapefruit League campaign with an 8-1 win over Cincinnati. Carlos Carrasco pitched a perfect 8th inning, which is nice to see. No other real prospect action yesterday, but a good start for Carlos. He’ll probably stay with the club for a few weeks before being re-assigned to the minor league complex. There was also an article written yesterday about Carrasco’s unfortunate circumstances off the field earlier this winter. We’ll hope that everything gets sorted out in that regard.

I’ve also completed the Quintin Berry profile page, so check that out. It’s good to have baseball back.