Aumont, Schwimer sent down
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Aumont, Schwimer sent down
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
(Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)
CLEARWATER, Fla. — The talent contained in Phillippe Aumont's right arm is obvious. So is the polish he still lacks.
Aumont was one of four pitchers sent to minor-league camp Tuesday morning by the Phillies. In addition, Michael Schwimer was optioned while David Purcey and Jeremy Horst were reassigned.
The 23-year-old Aumont is one of the team's top pitching prospects. He allowed four runs (two earned) in four innings on six hits and four walks. He did strike out four.
But after a shaky outing Saturday in which he allowed three stolen bases, threw a wild pitch and walked two, Rich Dubee bemoaned his current state.
"He's erratic," Dubee said. "Slow delivery to the plate. He's inconsistent. He has a great arm. Great stuff. But we have a little work to do there.
"He has to be more consistent with his fastball and his secondary stuff. He has to be quicker to the plate. Too much of a chance to be a track meet against him."
That work will come under the guise of Rod Nichols, the pitching coach at triple-A Lehigh Valley. But it's not unreasonable to suggest Aumont will be pitching in Philadelphia sometime in 2012.
Schwimer, 26, also appeared in four games and allowed two runs. He struck out five with one walk. He'll provide relief depth.
Purcey, a lefthander, allowed two runs in seven innings. He pitched for three major-league teams in 2011. Horst, acquired in the Wilson Valdez trade, had a 6.75 ERA in four outings.
The Phillies now have 41 players in camp. It's 38 if you don't count the injured Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Justin De Fratus.
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Comments (27)
Schwimmer did not impress me much last season - for a guy his size, he really didn't have much velocity. With limited "stuff", low 90s won't cut it. Aumont has serious upside, hopefully his can find some control/location for that nasty fastball.— CosmoK- Aumont looks like a pitcher who is still struggling to me. He is visibly uncomfortable on the mound in any situation where he falls behind in the count, and he rarely gets the first pitch over for a strike - a bad combination, particularly for relievers. One has to wonder when if ever, after all the years he has had to work on it, Aumont will figure it out. Hope he does, cause his "stuff is electric" as the baseball nerds like to say...— topwonk
- Aumont is the heir appearant after Contreras' contract is up after 2012. Again, he needs some work with mechanics, but the "stuff" is there. Schwimmer will not be the bullpen savior he was labelled last season. Hopefully, he can become a "Chad Durbin" type who is dependable, but won't be a 8th/9th inning guy.— drhoffman
- Loosing Utley hard to swallow. May have been best Philly player in last 65 years. Yes even better than Schmidt. Do you see any Philly hitting 5 HRs in world series but Chase. Chase is or was a winner...Why are people jumping on the Valdez deal. Wilson did well as a replacement but was a 250 hitter. Im hoping Charley moves Placido to 2nd and plays Wiggington at 3rd. Mayberry and or Brown will need to step up. Info on Contreras encouraging... In 2010 I felt Phills were an older team not an old team as many proclaimed. Health problems more the issue than being 31 or 32 as many were in 2010. No question there is a relationship between getting older and health issues. Now there are some saying we should have picked up Cuddyer who is 33 Y.O... To the blogger who sayid Mayberry not the body type for 3rd, Rolen 6.4 250lbs was considere one of all time greats defensively A-Rod 6'3 230. I can go on but why bother. I dont know if Mayberry can play 3rd in 2012 and if he has the arm but Howard with time will be our 1B and hoping Brown's talent will emerge for LF.— Don w
- Signing in to report abuse. — UncleStosh
- topwonk, Rich Dubee makes young pitchers uncomfortable.— EL Zorro
- He's still upset the organization traded away his son. — bearsfriend
- 6.75 ERA. We got Horstbleep for Valdez. Go figure.— dasher
- Here's the real rub going into the regular season... None of our middle of the lineup hitters have looked good in Spring Training to this point..Mayberry has yet to homer, Nix and Wigginton have also not flashed any power and Pence hit homers in his 1st 2 games and none since. I have the feeling that we better play "small ball" better than we ever have or it could be a very ugly start to the year..My confidence level is the lowest its been for the Phillies in a long long time.— bradco
- Don W, you can't be serious, can you? The GREATEST third baseman in MLB was Mike Schmidt, who played in Philly during the same time period. Ryan Howard, one of the pre-eminent home run hitters of this generation, obviously played during this time. Cut the b/s and take Utley off the high horse that many have put him on. Really good 2nd baseman when healthy, clutch hitter in the WS, but other than that, 6 solid years doesn't nearly come close to what other Phils, like Schmidt and Howard, have done.— beegal99
- Aumont will be fine. Phils don't want to put him on the big club now because it starts the clock on his ML time. I can see him in the late season call up.— beegal99
- I agree with beegal ... Schmidt was unreal and he was always the best 3rd baseman of his era and in the top 3 of all time. Utley was awesome and had a couple of great years, but c'mon, Schmidt was incredible . . . and still underrated!— CMattyG
Comment removed.- As much as I like Utley, he has not produced the career everyone expected of him. Don W., like beegal said...you must be crazy. I'm not even sure he is in the top ten best Phillie ever. I hate that his knees have betrayed him like this,but I'm afraid he is done.— dirttracker
- I feel like Aumont is going to be a good bullpen piece with a little more work. AAA is the right place for him right now.
As for Utley versus Schmidt - I love Chase but Michael Jack is in another universe. Best third baseman ever in my humble hometown opinion.
— s - If you have a child who plays baseball, you want him to play like Utley. I will say he is one of the best baserunners in Phils' history. Wasn't special in the field, good bat with power. It think people are attracted to his hustle and his quietness, however the quietness is also an issue. My guess is that he kept mum on how severe the issue is with his knees. IMO, that is not a team player and that is selfish behavior. Rightly so, because his contract is up season after this one. However I think it's disingenuous behavior.— beegal99
- ALLOW ME TO SAY THAT FOR SOME UNKNOWN REASON UTLEY HAS BEEN DEIFIED JUST LIKE DARREN DAULTON WAS....EACH HAD 3 OR 4 GOOD YEARS , BUT THEY WERE NOT ALLTIMERS!— DONDEN31
- Don W I watched Schmidt play he was hands down better than Utley. Utley was really good for a couple years but that's it. To say he is better than Schmidt is a complete joke.— mbutley
- Has JM Jr even played infield since little league? Of course, we could tell him to stand there and let the balls hit him like a hockey goalie. Don't forget Pat the bat was a 3rd baseman in college but didn't have the foot speed or reactions to play 3b. Don't let a little athleticism fool you...playing 3b is a diff world. Did you see whatshisname get smoked in the face yesterday? he's lucky that didn't cave his face in.— fuss77
- I certainly threw a few rocks toward Michael Jack in his playing days, and I love Utley as a player, especially in the post season, but to put Utley in the same category as Schmidt is silly— Abusedeaglesfan
- Aumont will be reprogrammed "...under the guise of Nichols" ??
Is that a good thing ? Is Nichols one of the good guise ?— NewMick314 - Who would you want up in a clutch situation Chase or Schmidt? Schmidt was a career 265 hitter. Mike over a short period was a 285 hitter great defense and over 40 homer potential. With the game on the line I would have prefered Chase at bat. Schmidt was also a very good base runner and smart player but not at Utley's level in either. Who had more talent I would go with Schmidt. On the other hand who would you describe as a winner? Both but I would go with Chase for that key at bat.— Don w
- As far as the Utley vs. Schmidt discussion - here are some numbers - just looking at HRs (from baseball reference) - Of Schmidt's 548 HRs 1.8% were game ending, 35.2% were go-ahead and 10% were game tying - so 47% of his home runs either won the game, put the team ahead, or tied the game. Of Utley's 188 HRs 1.1% were game ending, 28.7% were go ahead and 12.2% were game tying - so 42% of Utley's HRs were game winning/go ahead/game tying - close but not quite to Schmidt's level. Having been privileged enough to have seen both play in my life - Schmidt was better - hands down. Mike Schmidt is a Hall of Famer, Utley, even if he stayed healthy might have been good enough to make the Hall of Fame. With Schmidt there was no doubt.— psumet51
- Aumont has the baseball pitcher's equivalent of the PGA golfer's yips. There are plenty of talented golfers on the tour but very few actually crack the top 10-20 year in and year out, or ever! Aumont has game. He just freezes up, can't control it or produce when needed to. EVERY single time I have watched him pitch in person, I have thought to myself......he will never make it to the Majors. He just doesn't have what it takes regardless of what people say. He hasn't conquered his yips in spite of all he said the opening of camp about how he's learned to deal with the mental side of the game. I beg to differ. I've never seen a pitcher so routinely sqeeze the ball so tight and bury it in the dirt 3 feet in front of home plate as I have Aumont. Gotta conquer those yips, kid.— Mark1npt
- The problem with the Wislon Valdez deal is not the fact that he was so great. Its the fact they kept Mikey Martinez over him, when its obvious Wislon is the much better reserve player. Gavce good solid D, and did have a knack for getting some big hits. Phils traded him to try and stay under the luxury tax, but really, wasnt there another way to do this rather than keep Martinez over Valdez?— Big D phillies fan
- And next time I promise to do a spell check...Wislon...Gavce...eeesh— Big D phillies fan
- Aurmont is 23 years old folks, he'll be fine. Guys that big take a little longer to develop, right Roy?— gmr18901
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The Phillies Zone is the place for up-to-the-minute Phillies coverage from the Inquirer.
Matt Gelb
Inquirer Staff Writer
Bob Brookover
Inquirer Baseball Columnist
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