Thursday, May 23, 2013

Subscriber Services |

Thursday, May 23, 2013

The Phillies Zone

Archive: March, 2009

Phillies sign Rodrigo Lopez

POSTED: Thursday, March 5, 2009, 3:32 PM

Andy Martino

A late afternoon development: the Phillies have signed RHP Rodrigo Lopez to a minor league contract. Lopez is pitching for Team Mexico in the WBC, and will report to minor league camp after Team Mexico is elimated, or emerges triumphant from, the tournament. Lopez has pitched for the Orioles and Rockies, did not pitch in the majors last season, and is 65-65 in is career.

18 comments

Rollins says he's okay; Victorino may be sore later

POSTED: Thursday, March 5, 2009, 12:10 PM

Andy Martino

We members of the media caught up with Jimmy Rollins after he took batting practice for Team USA this morning, and he said not to worry, he feels fine. Reports yesterday had Rollins complaining of a sore back, but he said this morning, “it was my rib, not my back.” Apparently, he has periodically felt soreness in a rib towards the top of his back over the past few years. He tweaked it again last November, and it has acted up a bit this spring after he swung before stretching a few days ago. But he stressed that it is no big deal. He is leading off and playing shortstop for Team USA this afternoon.

“He’s fine,” said Team USA manager Davey Johnson. “If you watched the game (yesterday, when he played nine innings and hit a two-run double), you can tell he’s fine.”

In news that might be more alarming to Phillies fans, Rollins revealed that starter Kyle Kendrick plans to plant one of his sinkers in Team USA’s Shane Victorino’s “booty.”

Kendrick faces quite the lineup today—Rollins, Derek Jeter, David Wright, Chipper Jones and Dustin Pedroia, to name a few—so it will be challenging, but also will be a chance to impress as he continues his audition for the fifth starter spot.

10 comments

Today's lineup

POSTED: Thursday, March 5, 2009, 9:29 AM

Andy Martino

Here is the Phillies' lineup for today's 12:05 game against Team USA, another exhibition within the exhibition season--so the stats and results don't count. Lou Marson gets a chance to start, and Marcus Giles, trying to display versatility, can show how he handles third base.

Giles 3B

Bruntlett CF

2 comments

3/4 Wrap

POSTED: Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 8:29 PM

Andy Martino

The major stories of the day have been blogged along the way, but to quickly revisit them: Cole Hamels’ 2009 debut went smoothly, as the ace threw 24 pitches in two scoreless innings. He allowed two hits to Team Canada and walked one. After the game, Rich Dubee said that Hamels will start five more times before opening day. Much more on Hamels in a column from Jim Salisbury tomorrow.

The Hamels news is expecially positive for the Phillies given the spring that Johan Santana is having. It occurs to me that the NL East could come down to whose ace gets injured, and whose stays healthy. We’ll have to keep our eye on Hamels all season because of the 787 billion innings he pitched last year, and the Mets are probably very nervous about Santana, who keeps waffling on the severity of his injury (or disagreeing with the team about it). If either of these guys misses serious time, their team will be in trouble. Santana is clearly the bigger concern at this moment.

The next most newsworthy development was that Jayson Werth is swinging harder in BP, and Charlie Manuel says he’ll start Werth in a B game Friday.

And a somewhat surprising item moved on MLB.com today. Buried in the middle of this story, Jimmy Rollins says that he has been experiencing discomfort in the left side of his back since late last season. But Rollins then played nine innings today for Team USA against Toronto and went 1-for-5 with a double, a run and an RBI, so don't freak out. He's due to face the Phillies in an exhibition tomorrow, and he will be asked about this.

Oh, and here's a weird one for you: because the Phils played Team Canada, today's game was considered an exhibition within the exhibition season, so the stats and result don't count. Now for a zen riddle: if Cole Hamels makes his spring training debut in a game that wasn't a spring training game, does Cole Hamels still need to make his debut?

Some of you have requested reports on the minor leaguers who are in big league camp right now, so don’t say I never did nothing for you.. Here’s a partial list, with more to come in days ahead:

John Mayberry: Well, we know he has power. Mayberry launched a home run really, really deep into left field today, during the Phils’ 9-2 win over Team Canada. Pitchers in the bullpen time told me that the ball bounced once on the pedestrian walkway at the very back of Bright House Field and skipped out of the park. Mayberry is making a case to be a righthanded bat off the bench, but before we draw any conclusions, let’s remember that he is facing a lot of minor league pitching, and hasn’t proven he can get on base, hit offspeed pitches consistently or avoid striking out too much. I’m not saying he can’t do these things; I’m just saying we haven’t seen it yet. Mayberry posted a .330 on-base percentage in four seasons in the Rangers system, and struck out more than 100 times in each of the past three years. So we’ll see.

Jeremy Slayden is swinging well. He went into today’s game 5-for-10 this spring with two doubles and a home run. He hit a three-run homer in his only at-bat today. I didn’t see today’s dinger because I was in the clubhouse talking with Scott Eyre after he came out of the game, but I feel confident in telling you that he hit it well and it cleared the fence.

Anthony Hewitt continues to struggle, with no hits in four at-bats. He waved at a third strike today in his only time up, which is pretty much the issue: he doesn’t make contact. A terrific athlete who Phils’ scouting exec Chuck Lamar raved about Monday, Hewitt, 19, has a long way to go, if he ever gets there. But he’s 19.

Jason Donald is having a quiet camp, hitting .133. Donald is often mentioned as a prospect, but he will be 25 in September. This is an important year for him, because most players are who they are by the time they turn 26. Not all of them, but most.

We’ll keep this going as camp continues. Have a good night.

11 comments

A smooth beginning for Hamels

POSTED: Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 1:29 PM

Andy Martino

In his first outing of the spring, Cole Hamels allowed a leadoff walk to Team Canada’s Adam Stern, followed by a single to Corey Koskie, before getting Joey Votto to pop up and Justin Morneau to hit into a double play.

In the second inning, Jason Bay flied to center, Matt Stairs grounded to first, and Luke Carlin singled. With two out in the inning, the drama mounted as the great Stubby Clapp stepped to the plate…and grounded to first.

We’ll talk to Hamels later, of course, but his delivery has seemed typically smooth and easy. He said Monday that he wasn’t worried about results, but in his first two innings, the results were fine.

UPDATE: Hamels' day ended with the great Stubby Clapp encounter. We heard from Team Canado PR, by the way, that Stubby's real name is Richard, and that his father and grandfather were also called Stubby.

13 comments

Werth getting closer

POSTED: Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 12:15 PM

Andy Martino

Checked in with Jayson Werth about an hour ago, after he had finished taking swings in the batting cage. The right fielder, who suffered a mild strain in his right shoulder during BP on Friday, said has been taking "light and easy" swings in the cage for several days, and starting swinging a little harder today. "I'd been swinging, but I hadn't been hacking," he said, adding that today he came closer to the latter. He says he may take live BP tomorrow, and doesn't yet know when Charlie Manuel will put him in the lineup, but Werth estimates that it will be a matter of days, probably Friday. He added that throwing is no problem.

4 comments

Today's lineup

POSTED: Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 9:43 AM

Andy Martino

Good morning from Bright House Field, apparently named for the 9:30 A.M. sun pointed directly at my eyes in the press box. Here is the lineup for today's 1:05 game against Team Canada:

CF Eric Bruntlett

2B Miguel Cairo

11 comments

Phillies talking to Ohman?

POSTED: Tuesday, March 3, 2009, 3:16 PM

Andy Martino

The Phillies continue to monitor the free-agent market for lefthanded relievers and have kept open lines of communication with Will Ohman, his agent Page Odle said Tuesday.

Odle, reached by the Inquirer, said that the Phillies made an offer last week, though he would not characterize it. It’s possible the offer was for a minor-league contract with an invite to spring training. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. would neither confirm nor deny the offer.

Ohman, 31, was 4-1 with a 3.68 earned-run average in 83 innings for the Braves last season. A six-year veteran, Ohman has a career ERA of 4.16.

Odle said that Ohman turned down the Phils’ offer last week, but quickly made a counterproposal, and the parties communicated as recently as Monday. “Will is interested in playing for the Phillies,” Odle said, adding that Ohman was considering offers from at least three other teams, including the Mets.

With J.C. Romero suspended 50 games for violating the league’s policy against performance-enhancing substances, the Phillies are looking for a lefty reliever to temporarily fill Romero’s late-inning role. Scott Eyre, a lefty specialist last season, could assume the late-inning role, or the team could sign a free agent such as Ohman, Joe Beimel or Dennys Reyes (one of those pitchers could also assume Eyre’s role if Eyre were to move to the later innings). The agents for Beimel and Reyes did not return phone calls yesterday.

33 comments

3/2 Wrap

POSTED: Monday, March 2, 2009, 8:54 PM

Andy Martino

Here’s the wrap from a day of Phillies baseball (I would have blogged sooner, but someone locked the door to the men’s room in Dunedin Stadium after the game ended, so I had to drive back to my hotel in Clearwater before writing. Too much information?):

Anyway, the Phils played two games today, an “A” game against the Blue Jays in Dunedin, which I attended, and a “B” game in Clearwater, against still more Blue Jays, which Jim Salisbury attended. Got that? As I mentioned in earlier posts, the Dunedin game featured another look at fifth starter candidates J.A. Happ and Carlos Carrasco.

Happ allowed a two-run homer on a 1-2 pitch to Adam Lind in the first before settling in to pitch 2 2/3 scoreless innings. He said later that he was mostly focusing on his cutter and changeup, and generally felt good about the pitches (the homer was on a fastball that Happ left over the plate). He does not have a good feel for his curveball right now, so he threw only about five or six of them. “I can’t find it,” he said of the curve. “So today I worked on my fastball and changeup.”

Carrasco, with refreshing candor, offered an admission you don’t often hear from baseball players: that he was distracted by Eric Bruntlett’s three-base error in the fifth inning. Bruntlett dropped a fly ball with one out and none on, after Carrasco had retired his first four batters, and the inning exploded from there. A double, a walk, home run, and on and on….in just a few minutes, five runs scored. “I lost my focus,” Carrasco said. Charlie Manuel noted that he was glad to see that after Carrasco lost his composure, the young righty was able to regain it and pitch a perfect sixth.

Also in Dunedin, Ryan Howard and LF Jeremy Slaydon homered, and RF John Mayberry drove in two runs. Mayberry, a righthanded hitter trying to make a lefty-heavy team, is batting .353 in four games. One of you asked in the comments if the five home runs in the game came as a result of Florida winds—good question, and yeah, pretty much. It was a chilly, windy day, and the ball seemed to be really carrying, for what that’s worth.

Over at the B game, Jayson Werth played for the first time this spring and went 0-for-2. Werth strained his right shoulder Friday, so that fact that he played was good news, right? Well, maybe. Werth struck out looking twice, and said later that he did not plan to swing, and just wanted to see live pitching. That was a new one on me, at least. This wasn't a simulated game, it was an exhibition. Manuel said that he’s not sure if Werth will play in the team’s next game, on Wednesday. So keep an eye on that one.

***

I spent some time this morning with Anthony Hewitt, the first-round pick from last year who endured a difficult first year in pro ball. Hewitt batted .197 for Clearwater of the Gulf Coast League last year. He struck out 55 times in 117 at-bats, and made 7 errors in 33 games at third base, a new position for him (he played shortstop at Salisbury High school in Connecticut).

Despite Hewitt's rough start, the organization still holds him in high regard. Ruben Amaro and one of his top scouting guys, Chuck Lamar, remain effusive in their praise for Hewitt’s skills, potential and personality. Hewitt is only 19, a very hard worker earnestly trying to improve. He has spent a lot of time this spring talking infield skills and strategies with Jimmy Rollins, whose locker is nearby. I did a story on Hewitt after he was drafted (he is originally from Brooklyn, just a few blocks from where I lived until last week), and, in reporting that piece, asked Rollins what it would take to switch from short to third. Jimmy’s face lit up as he broke down the differences in angles and footwork; the guy loves to talk about stuff like that, which can only be good for Hewitt. Lamar said that Hewitt was moved to third because he has the power to hit like a corner infielder. Much more on this in tomorrow’s paper.

Tomorrow is a rare off day for the players, and Cole Hamels pitches Wednesday. Have a good night.

11 comments

Rough day for Carrasco

POSTED: Monday, March 2, 2009, 2:50 PM

Andy Martino

After entering the game in Dunedin with a 1-2-3 fourth inning, fifth starter candidate Carlos Carrasco allowed five runs on two homers (Kevin Millar and the great Brad Emaus), a double, a walk. His inning was made no easier by Eric Bruntlett's three-base error (he dropped a fly ball) in center. As I type this, the Phils' Jeremy Slaydon homered in the top of the sixth, and Jason Donald singled to left.

7 comments