Phillies Nation

In a bit of a shocker, lefty reliever Jeremy Horst is headed to the 15-day disabled list with an elbow strain. The corresponding move is the activation of starter John Lannan for tonight’s game against the Washington Nationals.

Analysis: This one came out of left field. On Saturday, I wrote that I anticipated Joe Savery to head back down to Lehigh Valley today. Instead, it is Horst heading to the DL. Horst’s effectiveness has varied this year: for instance from May 8 to May 27, Horst did not allow a run in ten appearances but from May 30 to June 15, Horst’s BAA was .429/.500/.679.

In his last outing, Horst threw 41 pitches in Saturday’s outing, the only time he has topped 40 pitches this year. The high pitch count likely played a big part in his strain.

According to Michael LoRé, the Phillies have recalled LHP reliever Jake Diekman and, in a corresponding move, have optioned RHP starter Tyler Cloyd to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Diekman will join the team tomorrow night in Denver.

Diekman, 26, has a 5.70 ERA in 30 IP for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs but has pitched well recently, giving up only one hit through his last five appearances, allowing no runs and striking out nine. Cloyd heads back to Lehigh Valley after a short five inning outing against the Twins where he gave up one earned but walked three and gave up six hits.

John Lannan will be activated from the DL Monday to fill Cloyd’s spot in the rotation.

As reported by Chris Branch, the Phillies have optioned Cesar Hernandez to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. While the move drew sighs yesterday on the Twitter-sphere, the move will allow Hernandez, who turned just 23 in May, to play every day in Lehigh Valley. There has been no corresponding move announced.

Analysis: Hernandez’s initial promotion came when Michael Young was placed on the bereavement list and he wasn’t expected to stay up past Young’s return. While with the Phils, Hernandez hit .250/.250/.286 in 28 PA. Hernandez is a .291/.349/.387 career minor league hitter and is 129 of 180 (71%) in career MiLB stolen base attempts. Hernandez definitely has Major-League talent and will be back up, but this is the right move if they didn’t have a spot for Hernandez to play every day.

The puzzling part of this is who will the Phillies call up to replace Hernandez? Michael Martinez, Darin Ruf, and Zach Collier are the only active 40-man roster position players not currently on the 25-man roster. Collier, 22, is hitting just .198 in Double-A Reading while Ruf, 26, is hitting .261/.337/.405 with just 5 HR. Martinez, 30, is the safest bet, having hit .436/.463/.692 in his last 15 games with the IronPigs.

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.