Phillies Nation

Jeff Schuler of the Allentown Morning Call has reported the following:

Josh Fields‘ bags were packed and he was getting hugs. Asked if he was heading south, said with smile, ‘Not the man to ask that question.”

— jeff schuler (@jschulermc) May 21, 2013

Dave Brundage on potential Fields move: “I can’t comment on that right now.’ Best guess: look for Howard to go to DL

— jeff schuler (@jschulermc) May 21, 2013

Connecting the dots, it appears that INF Josh Fields, who went 3-4 and was a HR away from the cycle tonight in a 14-5 IronPigs win, and not Darin Ruf will get the call if/when Ryan Howard heads to the DL. Fields entered today’s game with a .272/.340/.457 triple-slash and undoubtedly raised that tonight with an outstanding night.

We will have more as this develops.

Phils fans braced for the worst and came away with a pair of “phews”. Carlos Ruiz will miss just 3-4 weeks with a strained hamstring while Ryan Howard is day-to-day with a “bum knee“.

Ruiz has seen action in 16 games since returning from his 25-game suspension and has struggled, striking out an uncharacteristically high 16.1%, walking an uncharacteristically low 5.4%, and hitting just .235/.286/.275 in 56 PA. Ruiz left yesterday’s game in the second inning after hearing a pop in his leg. The injury was initially described as a hamstring strain. Catcher Humberto Quintero joined the team today in Miami, filling the roster spot vacated by Mike Adams‘ trip to the DL.

Howard, as reported this morning, has been amongst the worst first baseman in baseball in 2013, ranking 26th in fWAR among first baseman who would qualify for the batting title and 49th among the pool of every player to play first base this year. The lefty-slugger and former MVP is hitting just .245/.282/.430 with just 6 HR in 163 PA. Howard received a cortisone shot yesterday and will see how he responds to it.

Analysis: Will it be a blessing in disguise to having Howard out? I’m not sure I would go that far but I will say this: it is difficult to be a less-statistically relevant first baseman than Howard has been this year. Any combination of Michael Young and Darin Ruf will provide an upgrade in production over what this Ryan Howard has provided. What I won’t do is write Ryan Howard off yet – yes, he has been a declining player who has not executed the proper adjustments to remain an elite player since 2009 but it is entirely plausible that this most recent dip in production has come due to injury.

The Phillies took an otherwise boring game and brought some excitement to those who remained in Citizens Bank Park on this dreary Sunday. With the team trailing 2-1, just having snapped their 16-inning scoreless streak, the Phils were staring down the barrel of Aroldis Chapman. Undeterred, Erik Kratz tied the game with a homer and Freddy Galvis won it with a line-drive shot that just cleared the left field wall.

The Ninth Inning

Delmon Young led off the ninth and promptly drew a four pitch walk from the flame-throwing Chapman. As we all know, D. Young is not the fleetest-of-foot; but still the choice to pinch-run with Cliff Lee is always a questionable one. Lee got caught in a rundown after Chapman attempted a pick-off. It was a poor baserunning move and Cliff knew it. He was visibly frustrated in the dugout as Erik Kratz stepped to the plate. After Chapman threw a few of his signature high-90s fastballs, Kratz zeroed in on one and delivered it to the left field seats. The crowd celebrated, but Lee’s pickoff was still fresh in their minds. Lee’s reaction said it all after the Kratz homer – he knew that would have been the win. Continue reading Phillies win on back-to-back walk-off; Howard and Ruiz MRIs

In a classy move, the injured Roy Halladay summoned reporters before tonight’s game so that he could offer some conciliatory words to Phillies fans.

Below is a snippet of Roy’s comments.

I’ve been thinking just the last couple of days. I just felt like I should address the fans. I know there is a lot of mixed opinions on pitching, not pitching, all that kind of stuff. I know there are people who are disappointed about how I pitched the last two years. I know there are a lot of people who are very supportive.

So, one, I just wanted to thank them for their support. And my heart goes out to all of the people who spend all of their money and go out to the games and don’t get to see what they want to see. I know I’m not the whole team. There are still a lot of guys out there and it’s a fun team to watch. But I feel bad that I’m missing the time that I am. I feel bad for the fans that I’m missing the time.

It’s tough. You feel an obligation to the organization, to your teammates, to the fans to try to go out and pitch. Especially on a competitive team that sells out. For me, that was a big factor. If I’m playing for a last-place team and there’s things going on, you maybe speak up. But we have a chance to go win a World Series and we have sellouts and fans have expectations. You want to do everything you can to try to make it work.

Really, that was a lot of the reason I tried to keep going. Like I said, I never really felt the pain. I just wanted to reach out to the fans, thank them for their support and apologize to the ones who pay the money and show up in the second inning and it’s 9-0. I apologize to the fans that I won’t be out there for three months.

I don’t feel like I have to apologize to the team because I think they know. I just want the fans to know that I’m thinking about them. I don’t take that for granted. I don’t take playing for Philadelphia for granted.

You can read the full transcript at Ryan Lawerence’s Daily News article.

The Phillies announced John Lannan was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained quadriceps tendon in his left knee. Lannan attributed his knee troubles to tendonitis to reporters after last night’s game.

There has been no corresponding move made yet but Adam Morgan is making quite the impression in Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Morgan has thrown five innings, giving up one earned in today’s start and now has an ERA of 1.42 in three starts.

Analysis: Will Morgan be called up to replace Lannan? Tough to say but probably not. Morgan was pulled today after five effective , but long (100 pitches) innings, not because of any news related to Lannan. He is not on the 40-man roster while each of the other IronPigs starters (Tyler Cloyd, Jonathan Pettibone, B.J. Rosenberg, and Ethan Martin) are. Morgan has outperformed all four pitchers and is among the best in the International League right now but Morgan did pitch today and Lannan’s next turn is Monday, which means Morgan would go on slightly short rest if he gets the call.

When I scouted him on April 6, Morgan used a fastball, change-up, and a slider to challenge hitters and induce weak contact. Morgan has Major League stuff, no doubt about it. The only flaw I found was his out pitch (slider) always came on 0-2 or 1-2 from 1-1. He varied his pitches early but looked to the slider away against righties every time the count when in his favor.

Mario Hollands

Lefty hurler Mario Hollands, who is on the disabled list for the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers, is not currently ailing and is spending time with the Phils’ extended spring training team until further notice. Pitching at four levels of the organization’s developmental system last season, the 24-year-old posted a 7-9 record with a 4.55 ERA and a .282 batting average against in 27 outings (18 starts).

Right-handed reliever Kenny Giles, who also opened the 2013 season on the disabled list for the Threshers, is dealing with an oblique strain. There is no known time frame for the Phillies’ 2011 7th round draft selection’s return. Last season, with Class A Lakewood and Clearwater, the 22-year-old tallied a 4-3 record with eight saves, a 3.51 ERA and a 12.18 K/9 mark in 39 contests.

Left-handed starting pitcher Nick Hernandez made his official return to the mound for the Threshers on Tuesday evening. Out since 2010 with repeated shoulder injuries, the 24-year-old had a very good outing for Clearwater, throwing five innings, allowing two runs (both earned) on five hits while surrendering four walks and striking out five opposing batters.  Hernandez, the nephew on MLB umpire Angel Hernandez, was a mid-season South Atlantic League All-Star with Lakewood in 2010, when he went 3-1 with a 1.61 ERA in eight outings prior to being sidelined. Continue reading Minor League Notebook: Injuries, Signings and Stats

As anticipated, Phillies outfielder Delmon Young will not be ready for the start of the season and will miss “a while” according to Charlie Manuel. On the bright side, Young reported to camp 30 lbs lighter according to John Clark of NBC 10 but comes to camp without any expectation of when he expects to play according to Ryan Lawrence. Young’s absence creates an opportunity for another outfielder to receive significant playing time to start the year in 2013.

Catching depth is needed in Spring Training to accommodate the proportionally large pitching depth that travels to Clearwater. The Phillies currently have three catchers on their 40-man roster, Erik Kratz, Carlos Ruiz, and Sebastian Valle, but with Chooch out, Valle will compete with the three non-rostered invitees for an early season cameo as the Phils back-up catcher. Of all of the non-roster invitees, this is the group that is all but guaranteed to produce a Phillie in 2013.

The Front Runner

Humberto Quintero

Quintero is primarily the front runner for the early season back-up catching role due to the amount of experience he has in the big leagues. Quintero has almost no bat (career .234/.267/.323) and despite the fact that he was on the 2004 Padres with Jake Peavy in his prime and the 2005 Astros with Roy Oswalt in his prime and Roger Clemens putting up a league-leading 1.87 ERA, Quintero didn’t catch those guys. He often served as Wandy Rodriguez‘s personal catcher much in the same way Brian Schneider was accidentally-on-purpose Vance Worley‘s personal catcher throughout 2011.

Continue reading 2013 Non-Roster Invitee Preview: Catchers

Throughout the off-season, we’ll be checking in with various players from around the Phillies organization to see how they’re staying in shape and how they’re keeping busy during the colder months. To kick things off, righty pitching prospect David Buchanan, the Phils’ 7th round draft selection in 2010, took some time to answer questions for the PhilliesNation.

Buchanan was an All-Star with Lakewood in 2011, when he tallied an 11-5 record with a 3.38 ERA in 20 starts before he earned a promotion to Class A Advanced Clearwater. In six starts with the Threshers, Buchanan had a 3-2 record with a 3.90 ERA.

The Georgia native, who is playfully referred to by teammates as “Buck Nasty”, spent 2012 with Double-A Reading and posted a 3-5 record with a 3.86 ERA and a 4.98 K/9 mark in 12 starts. Unfortunately, the 6-foot-3 190-pounder had his season cut short, when a recurring ailment in the middle finger on his pitching hand became too bothersome and surgery was required to repair a tendon.

Read ahead to check out what Buchanan said about his recovery, his off-season and plenty more.

-How is the recovery from the finger surgery going? Where are you in the rehab stages and have you been throwing again yet?

Finger is doing very well! I have had seven throwing sessions. I’m at a light 45 feet right now. But, my finger is getting very strong and feels good as new. Continue reading Off-season Check In: RHP David Buchanan