Giles Released, Mayberry and Carrasco sent down
And the roster continues to settle. The Phillies have released INFMarcus Giles, who was attempting a comeback after missing the entire 2008 season. P Carlos Carrasco and JOF ohn Mayberry Jr. have been optioned to Triple-A, and P Mike Koplove and INF Pablo Ozuna have been told that they will not make the opening day roster, but will travel to Philadelphia for the exhibition series against Tampa Bay.
Giles Released, Mayberry and Carrasco sent down
Andy Martino
And the roster continues to settle. The Phillies have released INF Marcus Giles, who was attempting a comeback after missing the entire 2008 season. P Carlos Carrasco and OF John Mayberry Jr. have been optioned to Triple-A, and P Mike Koplove. OF Jason Ellison and INF Pablo Ozuna have been told that they will not make the opening day roster, but will travel to
These moves simply confirm what had become obvious. Giles batted .167 and lacked the defensive versatility of Miguel Cairo, who looks like he'll be the righty bat off the bench--unless the team makes a trade, which they'd like to do. The fast recoveries of Chase Utley and Pedro Feliz essentially ended Giles' audition.
Koplove has pitched well (1.23 ERA), but as a righty in a righty-heavy bullpen, faced long odds. The Taschner trade was not good news for him. Mayberry's and Carrasco's need for further development was clear. Ellison and Ozuna were always headed for Triple-A, barring injuries to someone else.
Comments (72)
I like Happ as much as everyone else does, but I am not sure everyone realizes how good Park has been. If he is truly competing for the 5th starter's spot, he has flat-out won it. I know Happ has pitched pretty well, but Park, including today, has now pitched 20 2/3 innings, 2.61 ERA, 25 K, 2 BB. That is near dominance. I know Happ has acquitted himself well this spring, but if the Phillies indeed promised Park he would be competing for the 5th starter's spot, ignoring that performance and putting him in the 'pen would be disingenuous, to say the least. He has flat-out won this competition.— RollinsWasRight- Giles had a great preseason. Reid is running the Phils.— Nezhy
- Truth: The phils will go with 12 pitchers 9at least after the 3rd week) Therefore they can only have 5 on the bench. there is no room for both Stairs and Cairo. You can argue Stairs is a better fit for the team, but I disagree. I like Cairo's ability to play multiple possistions as well as hit righthanded. As for pitching, I think Happ deserves the starting place, but even if he isn't, he makes the team in the pen and mejewski makes it as the player to fill in until Romero returns. If Happ starts then the New guy from the Giant's makes the team along with Park in Pen and Mejewski is in AAA I don't think Brunlett is a starter, but I'd rather him hitting well then at .219 like last year— jeff gross
- Nezhy: Giles batted under .200 trying to win a place as a PH fielder. he also make too many errors. cairo, on the other hand, had a very good spring— jeff gross
Comment removed.- I think park has pitched great all spring. My concern is if he can last into teh deeper innings. We don't need a starter to go 5-6 innings but one who can go into the 7-8th inning on a regular basis all season. I'm just not sure this is park, given his history.— jeff gross
- Correction - Chan Ho Park this spring, including today - 21 1/3 IP, 20 H, 25 K, 2 BB, 2.53 ERA, 1.03 WHIP ---- again, he's been better than pretty good; he's been dominant. I don't believe they can ignore that.— RollinsWasRight
- RWR: today, in his last or next to last start before the regular season he pitched 5.2 innings. I don't know what his pitch count was, but it couldn't have been that high, yet they felt a need to take him out. That is what Im afraid of. If this had been Happ pitching he could have gone into teh 7th probably. Notice that Durban came in and gave up an HR right away. This is why I prefer happ, not because I don't apreciate what Park has done this spring— jeff gross
- jeff - I understand your concern, but what makes a rookie with all of 5 ML starts more of a sure thing to pitch deep into games? I would think the experienced ML pitcher trying to resurrect his career would stand a better chance than a rookie would to pitch into the seventh inning with any consistency.— RollinsWasRight
- They pulled him with 2 outs, bases empty, having just struck out the last hitter he faced. He was clearly pulled due to those goofy-low spring pitch counts, not because he was tiring or struggling. The fact that Durbin threw a cookie to the first batter he faced is no reflection on Park...He could just as easily have done that with two and the bases empty in the 7th. And remember, Park has missed a Spring start due to a sore hammy, so he is a little behind Myers, Moyer and Blanton in terms of how high his pitch limit has grown. I don't believe Happ has pitched 6 full yet this spring either, much less into the 7th or 8th.— RollinsWasRight
- It looks like Stairs is going to come north for a few weeks if the Phillies decide to go with 11 pitchers. They will try to trade him in the meantime, I suppose. There is no need for him unless they trade Jenkins, which I like better because he is the best player overall. And for the 5th spot, I’ve been saying from the beginning, I like Park because he brings experience (he has won 18 games once and 15 twice, I believed). Also I like the fact that he is righthanded (don’t like the idea of having 3 lefties in the rotation) and he hasn’t disappointed so far. It seems that he rediscovered his fastball (in the mid 90’s) and has developed a killer changeup with the help of Moyer. As for the last spot of the pen, it depends on how the new guy throws. His numbers are not good. I don’t care if he is a lefty; I rather keep Koplove or Majewski. I like Happ but I don’t think the Phillies want him in the pen, which could mean he starts in AAA unless the new guy is really that bad and they want to go with another lefty.— EL Zorro
- Oh yeah, Park's last two IP were his strongest of the day, and he retired the last 7 hitters he faced. Clearly he "needed" to removed, and cannot pitch deep into games, and was not pulled due to it being Spring Training, and them having pre-ordained limits on him. <--- sarcasm, by the way.— RollinsWasRight
- Zorro - agreed. Although, I would think they will give Taschner a shot, just because he is LH, and if he fails, then try to replace him with Koplove or Majewski. Personally, I like Majewski best - for the same reasons you like Park. A few years ago he was a pretty strong set-up man, then had some arm troubles, but has looked this spring like he has his old stuff back, and I would like to see if he can regain his form, because when Majewski is right, he is the best of Koplove, Majewski, Taschner, Park and Happ (in a bullpen role, that is).— RollinsWasRight
- Soemthing also to consider with Park---since he is really aiming to be a starter this year and if the Phils decide on Happ; what might that do to Park's psyche? Something Dubee might have to contend with.— KarenA
- Karen - especially if he feels he won fair and square, and got screwed (which, if I was him, is exactly what I would think, considering how good a spring he's had)— RollinsWasRight
About this blog
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
Search this blog:
Classifieds:
Site Services:
Partners:
Powered By:
