Phillies Reassign Ten to Minor League Camp

Last night, the Phillies reassigned lefties Adam Morgan and Joe Savery, righties Ethan Martin, Jonathan Pettibone, J.C. Ramirez, and Kyle Simon, catcher Tommy Joseph, third baseman Cody Asche, infielder Michael Martinez, and outfielder Zach Collier to minor league camp. Collier, Martin, and Pettibone’s reassignments are active Monday.

None of these reassignments were particularly surprising: in our non-roster guide, the players out of this group that had the best chance to make the club out of camp were Morgan and Joseph at F-minuses. Martin and Pettibone likely had about the same shot but, along with Collier, their chances were not assessed because they were invited as part of the 40 man roster. The rankings were not based on talent but rather purely on odds that they would make the big league club out of camp.

For some players, their Spring performances opened up a lot of eyes: Joseph hit .462 (6-13) with two doubles and a homer while Asche .357 (5 for 14) with two doubles. In an interview with Todd Zolecki

, Ruben Amaro believes Joseph and Asche have, at the very least, a shot to contribute to the Phillies next year and left the door open cracked just wide enough if there’s an emergency while pointing out their developmental youth: “Next season, maybe. Maybe. Not 2013 necessarily. It’s a possibility. It’s hard to tell. A lot of it will depend on how they continue to advance. Neither one of these guys have played Triple-A baseball.”

In the same piece, Charlie Manuel was very impressed by Joseph and Asche: “They need a little more experience. But at the same time they’re more advanced than I thought they were … than I expected. Very much so.” Manuel also noted that he believes Martin, Morgan, and Pettibone will be Major League pitchers and that Savery and Martinez were not in consideration for any of the final roster spots.

The moves leave eleven non-rostered invitees in camp and 36 players who are on the 40-man roster. The most intriguing name still in camp from the non-roster invitees may be Justin Friend, whose impressive performance last year in Double-A got him a look in Triple-A. Friend combined for a 1.33 ERA in 50 appearances between Reading and Lehigh Valley last season while setting Reading’s single-season saves record.