Aumont will be a reliever again
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Aumont will be a reliever again
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
Really, the only way to categorize Phillippe Aumont's first season in the Phillies' system is that it was a lost year. He was the highest rated prospect that came from Seattle in the Cliff Lee trade last off-season and the tall Canadian righthander had trouble dealing with the pressure that came with that label.
At the same time, he was also handed the task of shifting from the bullpen -- where he had spent all of 2009 -- to becoming a starter. The Phillies wanted to stretch Aumont out so he could work on his secondary pitches. They also had Aumont change his arm slot.
So the 21-year-old had a lot on his plate. He probably started a level too high and his 11 games for double-A Reading were simply disastrous. In June, the Phillies demoted him to single-A Clearwater, admitting their mistake of pushing Aumont too far.
Now, they will attempt to correct another one.
Aumont will be a reliever again in 2011, Phillies assistant general manager Chuck LaMar said.
"That's where he's comfortable," LaMar said. "We wanted to start him last year and we did. His results weren't very good. But we put him in that position. I felt bad sometimes for the kid. He wants to relieve. He feels comfortable relieving. That's what he did in Seattle."
The Mariners had Aumont change his arm slot before the 2009 season to go more over-the-top, so his fastball would play bigger as a reliever. This past spring, the Phillies told Aumont to go back to his three-quarters arm slot, which he used as an amateur.
They also had Aumont rely more on his sinker than that four-seam fastball. Seattle, thinking Aumont was better suited as a power reliever, had it the other way around.
So it'll be interesting to see what changes Aumont keeps.
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All three of the prospects exchanged for Lee were in big-league camp last spring. But this year, it'll just be J.C. Ramirez, who is on the 40-man roster. Both Aumont and Tyson Gillies will be in minor-league camp.
That wasn't done for any specific reason, LaMar said. Aumont and Gillies were around last spring because they were new to the organization and the Phillies wanted their major-league staff to have a look.
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The Phillies and Braves will play in baseball's annual Civil Rights Game on May 15 at Turner Field. Both teams will wear throwback jerseys from the Negro Leagues and many events are planned.
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Working on a Sunday story that will detail the competition the Phillies are planning for their younger pitchers to fill out the bullpen this spring. After the quest for a rightfielder, this figures to be the most intriguing storyline this spring.
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Just 31 days until pitchers and catchers report.
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I said this months ago! Aumont has to be groomed as Lidge's heir apparent.— UncleEddie- worst trade in the history of baseball, great job rube, luckily you saved your legacy by getting lee back— tooltime
- now this kid has now excuses. time to step up— NovaNation1024
Comment removed.- I believe he meant, "no excuses". — The Pack Leader
- Wow and just think back to when the Phillies gave up Roy Halladay and then he went to the Blue Jays then was demoted to A ball. How many of you would have said get rid of him. I don't see where the kid had any excuses, the Phillies coaches put a lot of pressure on a 21 year old kid. He will develop and grow into a fine ball player. Look at Roy and he fool us all.— cahris
- Hahaha. Maybe he can DH
- He'll be fine. I'm glad he's going to get a chance to just work with the fastball and the power curve. We'll see if they move him back into his old mechanics.— Mike P
- It's difficult to find fault with the Phillies philosophy lately but the one area in which they never seem to get anything right is finding and developing young, power arms out of the bullpen. It seems as if every team in the league has three or four(usually latin) young relievers that come in and throw 97 or 98 mph with closer stuff. We never find them and when we do, we try to turn them into Clay Condrey clones and make them throw 92 mph sinker/slider garbage.— guyguy4
So basically, we flipped 3 good prospects for 3 crappy ones, but we got Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay together for 4 years at least.
I think the trade has a real chance of being a success even if Aumont only turns out to be a serviceable reliever. If Tyson Gillies can stay off the nose candy and stay healthy he is impressive. A serious contact hitter and speedster he could be the leadoff hitter that has been missing from this roster since Jrolls MVP season.— KINGOFZED- Can he play cornerback?— blchops08
- tooltime--it was not even close to being the Phillies' worst (Ferguson Jenkins trade & Ryne Sandberg to name just 2 worse)-that trade brought us Oswalt, for Gillies was flipped to Houston who then traded him to Toronto. And Aumont is still young. too early to tell whether he will amount to anything.
- Tyson Gillies wasn't traded to Houston in the Roy Oswalt deal, Greg Golsen was. — SMOKEY811
- Also incorrect. Greg Golson is a Yankee. Anthony Gose was traded to Houston, and subsequently flipped to Toronto. — UncleEddie
