The Phillies bullpen picture became a bit clearer this morning as RHP Scott Mathieson and LHP Mike Zagurski were both optioned to Minor League Camp.  Both should start the season in AAA Lehigh Valley.  Mathieson, 27, came into camp with a legitimate shot to make the team but performed inconsistently during his Spring outings. The inconsistency and some recent command problems most likely led to the trip back to the minors.  Mathieson pitched well in Lehigh Valley last season as the teams primary closer going 3-6 with a 2.80 ERA in 54 outings, accruing 26 saves and striking out 83 in his 64.1 innings.  Continue reading Mathieson, Zagurski Optioned →

Jake Borup, the Phils 23rd round pick in the 2010 was kind enough to give us some time as he enters his first Spring Training with the Phillies organization.  Borup, 23, had a very good year with Arizona State, going 11-1 with a 4.08 ERA in 15 starts, walking 26 and striking out 63 in his 81 innings of work.  After his assignment to Williamsport, Borup was one of the Crosscutters most dependable pitchers going 2-1 in 16 appearances (4 starts), earning 2 saves in his 47 innings of work.  Borup walked 13 and struck out 34, with an impressive 1.06 WHIP for Williamsport.

Borup entered Arizona State in 2006, and after taking two years off to complete a Mormon Mission, he came back strong earning Honorable Mention All Pac 10 honors last year as a sophomore. Borup throws his fastball in the high 80’s/low 90’s and has a good slider that he commands well.  After participating in the FLorida Instructional League, I would imagine that should things go smoothly in Spring Training, Borup could earn a spot in the Clearwater bullpen. Read below for the Q and A: Continue reading Jake Borup Interview →

In what has been a whirlwind week for Pitcher Drew Carpenter  (and with a scarcity of Minor League News), Todd Zolecki is reporting that the Phils have decided to move Carpenter to the bullpen.  This time last week, Carpenter had just reported to Spring Training as a member of the 40 man roster and most likely one of the top starters in Lehigh Valley.  With the acquisition of Brian Schlitter, who was added to the 40 man roster, Carpenter was first designated for assignment, cleared waivers, and is now back at camp as a reliever. Phils pitching coach Rich Dubee told Zolecki that ” We’ll try to simplify some things…Get him back to a fastball, cutter, split…We think he has enough stuff to get through a lineup one time.  Getting deeper was a little too difficult.” Carpenter, 25, was the Phils 2nd round draft choice in 2006 out of Long Beach State.

Continue reading Carpenter to the ‘pen →

My plan was to get my Top 30 prospects off the ground, but after spilling a glass of water on my laptop keyboard, I’m working on backup resources for a few days. My goal is to have the first installment (intro, prospects 1-3) up on Monday of next week. Until then, we’ll do an open discussion. The topic I wanted to throw out there is prospects facing key seasons in 2011. Essentially these will be prospects who, if they don’t have a big season in 2011, are in danger of falling off the map. So, discuss away, and I hope to be back up and running soon. Thanks.

Reports from the Phillies indicate that they have been extremely impressed with the work of Jonathan Singleton in the OF, and as a result, they expect him to begin next year playing LF in Clearwater.

Ready, set, discuss.

3B Travis Mattair, the Phillies 2nd round pick in the 2007 draft has made a decision to return to the baseball diamond after a one year “retirement”.  Excellent work over at http://www.phoulballz.com in picking up the story and interviewing Mattair.  Mattair, who is soon to be 22, spent both 2008 and 2009 in Lakewood and hit .236/.326/.333 in a disappointing 2009 campaign. In 450 AB’s, Mattair had 3 HR and 39 RBI to go along with 12 SB.

Mattair has placed himself behind the eight ball underperforming in 2009 and then with his self-imposed exile (trying to earn some minutes on the Boise State basketball team) last year, however, with that being said, he is a player who the Phils put a good deal of stock into at one point.  It should be interesting to see what Mattair can do to earn a minor league roster spot in 2011 after a full year away from the game.

Lehigh Valley reliever Michael Schwimer gave me an opportunity to ask him several questions which he has graciously answered.  We at Phuture Phillies, thank him for the interview.  As we have documented, Schwimer had an excellent year, first in Reading and then following his mid-year promotion, in Lehigh Valley. After successfully closing games in Reading, Schwimer was used along with Mike Stutes as the primary set up men for Scott Mathieson in Lehigh Valley.  Schwimer, who will be 25 entering Spring Training, was the Phillies 14th round draft pick out of the University of Virginia in the 2008 draft. In 2010 he was a combined 7-5 with a 2.85 ERA and 11 saves in his 48 appearances between Reading and Lehigh Valley.  Most impressively, he walked an average of just 3.2/9 innings while striking out 11.4/9. Opponents hit just .221 against him in AAA. Continue reading Michael Schwimer Interview →

Just a quick hit that Scott Mathieson left the Phillies today for Florida, to participate in the Florida Instructional League.  Mathieson who has been on the DL, will be rehabbing from his lower back strain as well as continuing his work on the splitter.

This is slightly old news now, a few days anyway, and it might have been mentioned in the comments somewhere, but I wanted to put a post up anyway.

Update –> Reading comprehension FAIL on my part. Hip labrum surgery. He’ll be back by ST. Should be fine. False alarm. Sorry.

Hi all. I figured that it would be interesting to do a live blog of Vance Worley’s start today, his first MLB start. We got a very brief glimpse of Worley a while back, as he pitched 1 inning in relief, but we’ll get a chance to see more of what he can do today in his first big league start. Worley has been solid this season at AA/AAA, logging 158 IP with a 3.36 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. His 6.78 K/9 isn’t eye opening, but its passable, and he’s limited his walks, with a solid 2.62 BB/9 rate. Check below the fold to find out what I’ll be watching for.

Continue reading Vance Worley live game log →