Phillies Nation

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.

On Sunday, the Phillies disposed of journeyman Yuniesky Betancourt because they have faith in Freddy Galvis. And on Tuesday, Galvis continued his spring tear, going 2-for-4 with a home run, his third of the spring, and three RBI in the Phillies 4-1 victory over Tampa Bay.

Galvis now has 12 extra-base hits in 70 at-bats during Spring Training, good for a .905 OPS. Any worries about his back injury from last season should be gone. He also played left field today, clearly without incident. The kid can do it all.

Kevin Frandsen also did work today, going 1-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Domonic Brown finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs, and a RBI.

Brown’s spring average climbed to .373.

It was a bullpen game for the Phillies pitching staff with Raul Valdes leading off and going three innings, allowing one run, while fanning five. Mike Stutes, Jeremy Horst, Colby Shreve, Antonio Bastardo, Steven Inch, and Jonathan Papelbon went the rest of the way holding the Rays scoreless.

Kyle Kendrick gave up one unearned run and struck out three over six behind homers by Dom Brown and Ryan Howard as the Phils won 4-1 at Bright House Field over the Yankees.

The Good

Phillies pitching was superb today, with Kendrick, Mike Adams, Jonathan Papelbon, and Chad Durbin combining for a two-hitter against most of the Yankee regulars.

Brown went 1-3 with a HR, bringing his triple-slash to .397/.465/.714. Brown’s .714 SLG in 63 AB leads all MLB players in Spring Training with 50 or more ABs and he leads all MLB players in Spring Training in ABs, hits, runs, and homers.

Areas Of Opportunity

Michael Young committed a throwing error. This was a good win, though.

Singleton, seen here as a Blue Claw in 2010, will face a 50-game suspension from Minor League Baseball. Photo by: Jay Floyd

Jonathan Singleton, 21, was suspended today for 50-games for violating minor league baseball’s banned substance policy after testing positive for marijuana. Singleton will miss the first 50-games of what likely would have been with Triple-A Oklahoma City. Singleton was sent to Houston in July 2011′s trade for Hunter Pence and was ranked the 34th best prospect in the game by Baseball America entering the 2012 season. He was ranked second in the Astros organization behind shortstop Carlos Correa in Baseball America’s Astros’ Top 10 after hitting .284/.396/.497 with 21 HR and 7 SB for Double-A Corpus Christi in 2012.

Singleton issued a statement through his agency:

I was informed today that I have tested positive for marijuana. As a result, I am being suspended for the first 50 games of the 2013 season. I accept the penalty and take full responsibility for my actions. I apologize to my parents, the Houston Astros and (general manager) Jeff Luhnow.

The Astros have been nothing but supportive of me and good to me in my short time with the organization. My hope is to use this as a learning experience and spend the rest of my career proving to myself and the baseball community that this was a lapse in judgment, and is not in any way indicative of my character or my dedication to baseball or to my team.’

The Tampa Bay Rays were in town on June 23 for an interleague series with the Phillies.  The ending to the game would go down as the arguably the most memorable finish to a Phillies game in 2012.

The Phillies had a comfortable 6-4 lead heading into the top of the ninth inning.  With Jonathan Papelbon on the mound, there was plenty of confidence that the Phillies would get the victory easily.

Let’s just say, it didn’t go as planned.

Continue reading Top Moment #2: Jim Thome’s Walk-off

Think back to last offseason. Armed with a sizable budget, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. couldn’t contain himself. He just had to spend. Jonathan Papelbon was the fortunate benefactor of Amaro’s generosity.

At the time, the deal was met with much criticism. Papelbon was, no doubt, a very talented closer with an established record of success. But the $50M deal Amaro gave him was the largest in guaranteed money ever given to a closer. Instead of waiting out the market, Amaro, in a fit of imprudence, had set it. As effective closers with a lesser pedigree signed much smaller deals, it became clear that the Papelbon deal was an overpay.

Now think back to April 2010, when an overzealous Amaro gave Ryan Howard a massive contract more than two years before he would hit the open market. Once again, instead of waiting out the market for a player, Amaro had established it.

Continue reading Amaro’s Patience This Offseason Should Be Praised

The Phillies are in serious talks with the Houston Astros and may be on the verge of trading for 29-year-old righthanded reliever Wilton Lopez, reports Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com.

If the Phils pull this off, it would be a great, under-the-radar trade. Many baseball fans haven’t heard of Lopez because he’s been trapped under the weight of the 100-loss Astros, but he’s actually been one of the game’s more reliable late relievers in recent seasons.

Since 2010, Lopez has a 2.64 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. He’s walked just 31 batters in 204.1 innings, and his strikeout rate has increased in each of the last three seasons. He’s in his prime at 29, and would come very cheap. He made just $515,000 last season and figures to make between $1-1.5 million in 2013.

This news comes a day after Ryan Madson agreed to a deal with the Angels and Jonathan Broxton re-upped with the Reds for three years and more than $20 million. For a team so close to the luxury tax, it makes sense for the Phillies to pursue a trade for a reliever than pay $8 million per year for one.

It will be interesting to see what the Phillies give up if they acquire Lopez. Last year at this time, the Astros fleeced the Red Sox by selling high on reliever Mark Melancon to acquire shortstop Jed Lowrie and pitcher Kyle Weiland.

UPDATE: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports that the deal is agreed upon. But there is no word that Lopez, who is reportedly in Philadelphia, has passed his physical. Stay tuned.

UPDATE (3:30 p.m.): Salisbury reports that the two sides are exchanging physicals and that the Phillies will trade “two players who have played in the upper levels of the minors if the deal is finalized.”

(More coming…)

2012 Eastern League All-Star Castro was a notable omission from the Phils' 40-man roster this year. Photo by: Ian Riccaboni

Yesterday, the Phillies added outfielder Zach Collier and right-handed pitchers Ethan Martin, Trevor May, and Jonathan Pettibone to their 40-man roster, protecting them from other teams selecting them in the Rule 5 Draft. The Phillies now have 38 players on the 40-man roster.

Players generally become Rule 5 Draft eligible when not on the 40-man roster and they meet the following condition: a player was signed at age 18 or younger and has accrued five years of Minor League service OR a player was signed at age 19 or older and has accrued four years of Minor League service. Not every player eligible can be protected and every player who meets the above criteria is eligible to be drafted by any other Major League team with room on their own 40-man roster. That team, however, must keep the selected player on their Major League roster for the entire season or either forfeit the player back to the team he was selected from or work out a deal to keep the player and thus demote the player.

The Phillies have had hits, misses, and players claimed from them in the Rule 5 draft. The Phillies have hit big twice in the Rule 5, with Dave Hollins in 1989 and Shane Victorino in 2005. They did OK with David Herndon in 2009′s Rule 5 but swung and missed badly in 2010′s Rule 5. Last year, the Cubs plucked Lendy Castillo from the Phils and kept him on their roster the entire year. Castillo, 23, pitched in just 13 games and posted 7.88 ERA. For a more extensive history of the Phillies and Rule 5, check out this article by Robert Cowie from Phillies Nation.

This year, there were a few notable omissions from being added to the 40-man. Let’s take a look:

Continue reading Three Phils’ Prospects Vulnerable to Rule 5 Selection

Collier is one of four added to the Phils' 40-man roster today. Photo: Jay Floyd

The Phillies announced today that outfielder Zach Collier and right-handed pitchers Ethan Martin, Trevor May, and Jonathan Pettibone have been added to the 40-man roster.

Collier, 22, was the Phillies’ supplemental first round pick, 34th overall, in 2008. The 6’2 lefty showed improved plate discipline in 2012, hitting .269/.333/.399 in his first year at High-A Clearwater. Collier had career highs in slugging and ISO and a near-career low in K%. Much of Collier’s improved power came in the form of his career high six home runs. Our minor league expert Jay Floyd just spoke to Collier on Sunday and the interview can be found here on PN.

Continue reading Phillies Add Four to 40-Man Roster

Bastardo had his ups and downs in 2012.

Antonio Bastardo–equipped with a new jersey number–assumed the role of set-up man for the Phillies in 2012. He had the second most innings (behind Jonathan Papelbon) among Phils relievers, but never quite reached the Ryan Madson level that the Phillies have been looking for in a set-up man.

He posted a 4.33 ERA and had a pretty high walk rate at 11.6% (and 4.5 BB/9). Even though his overall numbers were ‘OK’, he did not fare well when the pressure was on.

In high leverage situations, 17 runs, compared to a combined nine in medium and low leverage situations. In other words, he crumbled under pressure a decent amount of the time.

And when you are the team’s set-up man, you must perform under pressure, because the 8th inning is the more difficult inning a lot of the time in a close game. Which is why a good closer needs a good set-up man. Kind of like a sidekick—but not.

One thing that he really excelled at was strikeouts. He had a K rate of 36.2% and a K/9 of 14.02–both bests among Phils relievers and near the top in the NL as well. Both were good for top-5 among qualified NL relievers.

Going further, 13.6% of his pitches ended up with a whiff, which again was near the top in the league.

Grade: C … Overall, Bastardo was a decent part of the bullpen. He struck guys out, but also walked a lot of batters. He had a high ERA, but his FIP wasn’t nearly as bad. He cost the Phillies a handful of games and wasn’t a good enough set-up man for them. He’s going to have to do better if he wants to keep the set-up job.