Minors stuff: Pettibone, Colvin, Brown
ATLANTA — As the focus slowly shifts toward 2013, we will attempt to do the same here at The Phillies Zone. So on a lazy Saturday, here are some minor-league notes...
Minors stuff: Pettibone, Colvin, Brown
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
ATLANTA — As the focus slowly shifts toward 2013, we will attempt to do the same here at The Phillies Zone. So on a lazy Saturday, here are some minor-league notes...
PETTIBONE MOVES UP: Benny Looper always thought Jonathan Pettibone could move the quickest of the heralded starters that spent 2011 in single-A Clearwater. He was not the most hyped, but he was the most polished.
"We've thought highly of him," said Looper, the Phillies' assistant general manager. "We thought all along we had a good group in Clearwater last year. We thought he was the guy who could pitch better than the other guys. The other guys may have some more power stuff, but he has a good arm. A good change-up, an above-average fastball. We've thought all along he had better command and might move quicker. We talked about that a year ago."
Pettibone, ranked No. 4 in Baseball America's evaluation of the Phillies' system, was promoted to triple-A Lehigh Valley earlier in the week. The 22-year-old will make his debut Monday in Syracuse.
He posted a 3.30 ERA for double-A Reading, one season after a 2.96 clip at single-A Clearwater. He is not a strikeout pitcher (career 6.4 K/9 in minors) and doesn't really do anything flashy.
The results, so far, have come. Since June 1, Pettibone has fanned 39 and walked only six.
"He's pitched very well," Looper said. "I think it's time for him to go to the next level and be challenged by more veteran hitters. It's a good move for him and us."
CONFIDENCE FOR COLVIN: To replace Pettibone in Reading's rotation, Looper said Brody Colvin will receive a promotion. Colvin, originally viewed as the Clearwater pitcher with the highest ceiling, repeated single A in 2012 with mixed results.
His strikeout rate has improved from a season ago (7.9 to 6.0 K/9) but walks have increased, too. Since a five-game banishment to the Clearwater bullpen, Colvin has a 3.48 ERA in 51 2/3 innings as a starter. He has struck out 51 and walked 18 in that span.
The Phillies are still high on him.
"His last game wasn't very good but he's had several good outings," Looper said. "We think we need to get him out of there. He'll show you three 'plus' pitches. Three of them. We think it might help his confidence a little bit. We think it's the right time."
QUITE A DAY FOR BROWN: The IronPigs played a doubleheader Friday and Domonic Brown went 4 for 7 with a walk and a run scored while playing both left and right field.
And he made this catch, which earned him the No. 2 spot on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays:
Brown is hitting .393 (13 for 33) with two doubles and a home run since returning July 16 from a knee injury. He has a .772 OPS in 56 games for Lehigh Valley in 2012.
Be sure to check out The Inquirer's weekly minor-league package on Sunday. There are stories on Trevor May's freefall and Justin De Fratus' comeback.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
Nice diving catch by Brown. My guess is that we will see him up here next week during the Nationals series. Victorino and/or Pierre will be dealt by Tuesday and they will need another outfielder. Give Brown either the LF or CF position and let him sink or swim. The Phillies really have no other choice at this point. They ain't making the playoffs. Brown can show them what he can do with no pressure.— Roy_Halladay
I wonder if Glass Brown got hurt on that play. What's it gonna be? A sore neck?— ronin32- I wonder if Glass Brown got hurt on that play. What's it gonna be? A sore neck?— ronin32
If this team doesn't get younger soon, the Braves and Nationals will leave us in a cloud of dust, as if they haven't already.- Amaro would have been fired with all the dumb Trades and signings by any other Owner in Baseball. Polanco mid 30's....back up Wiggington (1B/OF); Fontenot (2B);Orr (?); Fransen (2B/SS). Why sign 20+ million pitchers and sign 5&10 fielders???— tulsaphil
- Its mind boggling that Brown and Cloyd aren't on the big roster. Of course, Ruben the retread master Amaro is the GM. No place for youth an enhtusiasm here. He'd rather watch Jimmy Rollins joggin to first base.— wo_fat
- Hopefully this team keeps Pierre and trades Blanton and Victorino for some help and bring up Brown and Cloyd...the only thing that scares me about Brown is that he is brittle!
- Ronin32....you beat me to it! Very surprised he isn't on the DL after that play
- I go to Reading frequently. There are some good young players in the system. although its early, I think Cody Asche could end up being very good. Valle is a stud. Hernandez should be a major league caliber 2B, real quick bat. I love Tyson Gillie's tools, but he is apparently working on personality issues. Not sure about Ruff, suspect he will get moved up to AAA next year, could end up being another Overbeck/Rizzotti. James and Abreu could develop too. The problem with the GM is he doesn't understand the need to continuosly infuse the team with youth. I don't want to be the Yankees and Amaro is doing a horrible impersonation of the Yankee GM. Stay tuned.— wo_fat
- i think its time to pull brown up. trade either lee or pence for prospects, maybe even both. get a young pitching prospect, 3rd baseman, and one or two in the outfield. also relief pitching. id also try to get anything possible for polanco and victorino after landing the replacements. you still have the vets in ruiz, howard, utley, rollins, hamels, halladay, and papelbon and mix them in with young talent gained through trades along with vance, galvis, and brown. when galvis comes back, he can back up both utley and rollins and eventually take the job from one of them— HDemetriou
- Package Lee and Victorino to Texas for Olt.— butchcat
- Darin Ruf has been taking some games in LF. He needs to get some reps out there. He has the bat, big time, as does A baller Murphy. These guys have to get off the 1B game to get their bats in the line up at the top.— drhoffman
- I find the bashing of Amaro by some as totally nonsense. Ruben has brought us Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, Pence, Papelbon amongst others. We knew going into this year we'd have some offensive issues without Howard and Utley.. What no one knew was that Halladay and Lee would have total meltdown years coming after excellent seasons. Things happen in life and sports that just cant be predicted or planned for.. Give it a break people, and look forward to a better 2013 when the team is healthier.— bradco
- Get Brown up here!! no, I don't have high hopes but what else is left for him to do in triple A? and, someone else already made the best point. At least this season he can play without the pressure of contributing to a playoff team. Get him up here and start seeing what you have or don't have in him. Do we really need to spend all offseason hearing how the phillies aren't sure if Dom Brown can take one of the outfield spots? Find out right now while you still have 60 games left.— Sewellmatt
- Sewellmatt is right, the guy has been in the minors for too long, it's time to throw him in the deep end and see if he can swim. It's not like they have Mickey Mantle up here, Pence is their best OF, and his limitations are limitless as Danny Ozark would say. This team has to get young fast in a number of positions; if nothing else the presence of several young kids may get the veterans thinking about being easily replaced if they don't compete a little harder. And yes, I think competing is part of the problem; how many other baseball teams had all of their 33 year old players who aren't named Chooch suddenly become all washed up at once? Halladay, Lee, Rollins, Utley, Howard, Victorino all finished? I doubt it. Polly's 37, him I get, the rest of them need to pull their heads out of their rear ends. I wouldn't even mind them reaching for that AA guy Asche, yeah, it's early for him, but at 45-55, who cares? And that Cisco guy has an ERA of 1.00, on this team that would make him king. Bring him up. I've had it with the main guys half effort every night.Trade, RAJ, do it gleefully and heartlessly.Let's see something other than the same old same old.— drbob1
- Colvin looked good in recent starts after several games in the pen up until his last start with Clearwater. With Schneider catching he could not locate his fastball at all in that game. Maybe he missed Rupp behind the plate. His fastball sat at 90 mph and topped at 92 mph on the Dunedin scoreboard. He had two strike outs that I can recall that came on 78 and 82 mph breaking balls. I would image they are getting him qualified at AA to pitch in the Arizona Fall League.— Dull
- Brown is athletic enough to make those kind of plays. It`s the every day plays a major leagher has to make that has people wondering.— Christo1CG
- Pretty good review, wo_fat. I like James and Hernandez at Reading, I think they have the most upside. Ruf is another Rizzotti, I'm afraid. Agree someone like Pierre or Shane is leaving and it is time to try Brown again if he can play the field anywhere near the guy who made that catch.— PhillySubsMac
- forget giving us these updates about Pettibone, Colvin, Cloyd and the rest, Amaro sees them only as trade chips he can package for the next veteran that excites him. As @wo-fat wrote, infusing kids onto the team and into the lineup simply doesn't get him off; he'd much rather joggin' Jimmy for the next 3 - 4 years. That's what makes Rube tick, knowing he can accumulate seasoned veterans with great pasts.— advantasux
- The Twins had 12 rookies on their roster last year. They lost 97 games. Is that what you want? Younger does not mean better. — mwcnabb
- butchcat, are you serious? You would give up two proven all-star players for a guy who is in AA? You have to be nuts. If they traded Vic and Lee to Texas they should get Hamilton back.— Paul SoTX
- No sense in bringing up Brown as long as Manuel is the manager he will kill his confidence like he did the last time. Manuel ruins everything and everyone he gets his hands on. What a loser— gates2012
- @ Gates, Oh that's rich! Manuel is responsible for "ruining" Dom's confidence! Waaaah! Is it Charlie's fault he has mental lapses running the bases? The manager's fault he took bad tracking routes to the ball? The manager's fault he has the loopy golf swing slow as molasses through the zone? You think the manager wanted him to fail? Charlie is to blame for his injuries? Maybe the scouting was wrong or Scott Boras whispering in his ear? Seriously, gates2012...take a look at what Harper has put together at 19. Maybe the kid needed more time and AAA was the best place for him? Enough with the blame...he can either handle it or he can't. Sometimes it boils down to execution.— Special Agent Fox Mulder
- if texas wants to keep their pheenom shortstop then why not trade lee to texas for olt and a prospect-and that's bargain-basement- so add the provision of swapping shortstops,....so in essence its rollins and lee for andrus and olt and a prospect and that's really not a bad deal for both sides,....turn around and trade pence, brown and maye for garza and soriano with cubs picking up all but 2 mil of soriano,....trade balnton to contender, keep victorino and polanco and trade wigginton to Oakland for a midlevel prospect,....sign bourne in offseason,....keep nix and mayberry and galvis,....victorino goes to right, polanco holds down third for a year and moves to second when uttley leaves, bourne to center— SyddBarrett
- Trading lee to Texas makes sense for the Phils, the Rangers and lee. Let's get er done!— Fritz and Alice
- Bradco....you hit it right on the nose. If Howard and Utley were here from the start this season would have been different. All the little league stars and fantasy GM's that comment on here have no idea of the human element in the game. It doesn't matter if it's little league or pro ball baseball is as much a mental game as a physical game and some years it's hard to get them together. Most people I know who continually rip the manager and GM are the same guys that complained when their little league manager didn't play them or never went out for HS ball or quit because the coach didn't know what he was doing.
Last years colapse by the Braves didn't doom them for this year. The Phis have enough talent in their system to come back as contenders next year.— Wheel 
Package Brown in a trade. His smoke and mirrors hot streak at Lehigh right now just may be enough to fetch a real player for a guy we all know is a dud.
