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.

From IronPigs Media Director Matt Provence, catcher Justin Dalles has been promoted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley from Lakewood. Dalles, 24, is a 6’2 right-handed catcher who has the distinction of being one of only a handful of players ever to be drafted four times. The final occasion Dalles was drafted was as a sixth rounder in 2009 by the Baltimore Orioles, whose farm system was led by current farm director Joe Jordan.

When I spoke to Joe Jordan in January at the Reading Fightins awards banquet, I asked if the recently-signed Dalles had a chance to compete for a starting role in the organization. Jordan responded by identifying Dalles as a player to watch this year in the Phillies’ minor league ranks. Dalles has an athletic frame behind the plate and a strong throwing arm – he has thrown out 31% of the runners that have attempted to steal on him professionally. He has hit only .228/.293/.334 across his minor league career, but excels at finding gaps with doubles.

Dalles is anticipated to be Steven Lerud‘s back-up while Humberto Quintero fills in for Carlos Ruiz with the Phillies and Tommy Joseph recovers from a concussion.

According to all the usual suspect beat writers and the Phillies, LHP Raul Valdes has been optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and RHP B.J. Rosenberg has been called to take his place. Valdes was at best mediocre in 2013 and at worst completely ineffective, with a 7.65 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP, allowing 10.8 H/9 IP.

Rosenberg, 27, has been mildly effective as a starter this year for the IronPigs, going 1-3 with a 4.30 ERA in seven starts. As Matt Provence points out, Rosenberg was sharp in his most recent start, picking up the win after seven scoreless innings pitched on 5/12 against Durham.

Despite his struggles, Friend will get another shot at Triple-A. Photo by Jay Floyd.

According to Director of Media Relations and Broadcasting for the IronPigs Matt Provence, Justin Friend, 26, has been promoted to the Triple-A Lehigh Valley. In ten games across Reading and Lehigh Valley, Friend has a 9.00 ERA and is struggling with control, averaging a walk an inning.

Also according to Provence, catcher Tommy Joseph has been placed on the 7-day DL with a concussion, retroactive to 5/7/2013.

Per confirmation from Fightins Director of PR Eric Scarcella, the Philadelphia Phillies have signed LHP Greg Smith. Smith, 29, is a 6’1″ lefty from LSU who spent parts of 2008 and 2010 in the Majors with the Oakland A’s and Colorado Rockies. In MLB 229.1 IP, Smith has a 4.51 ERA with 1.28 K/BB. Smith stays in the mid-to-high 80s and relies on precision from his fastball, change-up, curve, and slider.

In 2012, Smith posted a 3.97 ERA in 21 starts in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League with a 1.258 WHIP. Smith is scheduled to start tonight’s game for the Fightins against the Portland Sea Dogs.

Analysis: A solid pick-up, particularly considering how many arms the Phillies seem to be going through right now. Smith will fill in well for the Phils in both Double-A and Triple-A this year as needed as some of their prospects get a look.

Has #BiddleWatch officially begun? After further review, not likely. This move, to me, does not necessarily indicate to me that the Phillies anticipate using either a starter from Triple-A and promoting a Double-A player to backfill or, less likely, promoting a Double-A pitcher to fill Doc’s spot.

Reading just lost Tom Cochran to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and was using Hector Neris, primarily a reliever, as another starter. Brody Colvin is fresh off the DL and pitching well. This move was more likely in support of the Reading rotation rather than choreographing any other future move.

Slow start or Quintero’s addition? Either way, Gillies heads back to Reading.

According to Reading Fightins Director of Public Relations Eric Scarcella, CF Tyson Gillies has been demoted to Double-A Reading. Gillies, 24, has looked just short of lost in his first shot at Triple-A, hitting .148/.278/.230 in 73 PA and has been outplayed at every turn, at the plate and on the field, by outfielders Leandro Castro (.298/.322/.488, 3 HR in 88 PA), Darin Ruf (.266/.320/.489, 4 HR in 103 PA), Jermaine Mitchell (.265/.357/.510 in 56 PA), Steve Susdorf (.286/.355/.398 in 31 PA), and even sometimes-outfielder Michael Martinez (.266/.314/.297 in 70 PA). Gillies incredibly slow start is a major disappointment in what is his first season where he has not battled injuries.

In a semi-related move, Humberto Quintero has cleared waivers and has accepted his assignment to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He will likely serve as the back-up for 21-year old Tommy Joseph, who has raised his triple-slash line to .200/.257/.354 with 3 HR. According to the Express Times’ Michael LoRe, Quintero is due to report today but has not yet been officially been added to their roster. Quintero’s assignment likely triggered the Gillies-to-Reading move but it is uncertain at this time if the Quintero move directly caused Gillies’ demotion.

Cochran, no, not that Tom Cochran, will return to the IronPigs.

Per Matt Provence, lefty starter Tom Cochran has been promoted from Reading to Lehigh Valley. Cochran, 33, was 0-3 with a 5.73 ERA in Reading this season after posting 9-5 record with a 3.96 ERA last year for the ‘Pigs. Cochran will likely replace the rotation spot left vacant by Jonathan Pettibone; the IronPigs had been using a starter-by-committee system to this point, having Zach Miner and Cesar Jiminez start bullpen games.

In a corresponding move, righty reliever Justin Friend has been demoted to Reading. Friend, 26, set the single-season saves record last year at Reading, racking up 24 with a 0.23 ERA before earning his first shot at Triple-A baseball. Friend has struggled in 2013, posting a 7.07 ERA in 14 IP, struggling with increased walks (7.7 BB/9 IP v. a career average of 4.5) and decreased strike outs (6.4 K/9 IP v. a career average of 9.5). Headed into Spring Training, Friend earned consideration for the big league club as a non-roster invitee and was selected by the Phillies in the Minor League portion of the December 2010 Rule 5 draft from the Oakland A’s.

The Phillies are getting absolutely nothing out of their outfield. In 183 at-bats, Phillies outfielders are batting .219 with five home runs.

Ben Revere hasn’t gotten off the ground, Laynce Nix and John Mayberry are doing pretty much what you’d expect in one outfield corner and Domonic Brown remains the wildly inconsistent, baseball version of Evan Turner.

The Phillies’ outfield is as unsettled as it was months ago when the offseason was just underway. Of these four players, Revere has the longest track record as a starter and that was one full season in Minnesota. So it is odd today — as it was months ago — that the Phillies so easily gave up on Nate Schierholtz.

Schierholtz is hitting .350 with eight extra-base hits for the Cubs, who are paying him a measly $2.25 million. The Phillies had a chance to offer him arbitration but instead non-tendered him at the end of November.

It was a curious move at the time. The Phils had no regular outfielders, had to know a platoon would be utilized in one corner, and yet still parted ways and got nothing for Schierholtz. This despite his well above-average defense, his .287 batting average vs. righties since 2011 and his overall superiority to Nix.

The Phils’ reasoning? Nix was under contract already for $1.35MM in 2013. High-priced outfielders were still on the market, and they were still “players” for guys like Angel Pagan, Cody Ross, etc.

But it’s not as if the Phils have never eaten the final year of a bad, unnecessary contract. They did it in Danys Baez’s second year. They did it in Adam Eaton’s third year. If you didn’t want both players on the 25-man roster, Nix could have been moved or cut. To keep him over Schierholtz just because Nix had a small guarantee … well, that’s the kind of move that has gotten the Phillies to this place. It’s poor talent evaluation. Had Schierholtz not gotten hurt after being traded to the Phils, they probably would have kept him. But instead his track record was dismissed, and Ruben Amaro chose to go with Nix, the guy who has some power but never walks, plays worse defense than Schierholtz and doesn’t put the ball in play as much.

It just made no sense, and it continues to make no sense as the Phillies’ outfield gives them nothing. This is a poorly assembled team. Schierholtz isn’t some sort of savior, but he has 2.5-WAR potential as a platoon outfielder getting 70% of at-bats in a given season.

This 6-10 record, this pathetic offense, these situational struggles, they just feel like the culmination of years of myopic moves and strict adherence to an organizational philosophy that doesn’t mesh with winning in this day and age. Schierholtz is yet another example.

Amaro expressed shock on Monday that the Phillies had gone three (now four) games without a walk.

Why is he shocked? This is the only organization in baseball that doesn’t employ an advanced stats department, and he’s the one who built the team.

The Phillies announced that they have claimed center fielder Ezequiel Carrera from the Cleveland Indians and have designated center fielder Ender Inciarte for assignment in a related move. Carrera, 25, has a .255/.306/.347 career line in 384 career MLB plate appearances and is known for speed and base running. This is Carrera’s fourth major league organization in eight years in professional baseball after signing with the Mets as an 18 year old in 2005 out of Venezuela.

Carrera’s career lines, thus far, have likely been about the best case scenario of what the Phillies were expecting to get from Inciarte. Carrera has 187 steals in eight minor league seasons with a 73.91% success rate and is expected to be a late-inning defensive and/or base-running replacement.

CSN’s Jim Salisbury believes the Diamondbacks will re-claim Inciarte if no other team claims him off of waivers in between.

Jeff Schuler of the Allentown Morning Call is reporting that the Phillies have released Austin Hyatt. Hyatt, 26, was a 15th round pick out of the University of Alabama in 2009 and was steadily climbing the Phillies ranks before struggling mightily (2-7, 6.33 ERA, 1.630 WHIP in 11 starts) with the IronPigs. Hyatt was believed to be a rotation stopgap candidate as recently as Spring 2012, starting the Phillies Spring Opener but has since been jumped in the developmental ranks by Tyler Cloyd, Ethan Martin, Adam Morgan, Jonathan Pettibone, and others. Schuler speculates the IronPigs rotation will most certainly include Cloyd, Pettibone, Martin, Morgan, and B.J. Rosenberg, a sentiment echoed by Matt Provence, the voice of the IronPigs.