Phillies Notes | Padres' Germano out for revenge

SAN DIEGO -

Justin Germano

is one who got away.

The pitching-thin Phillies put him on waivers in March, and the San Diego Padres claimed him on the 19th of that month.

Germano, who had to clear waivers again at the end of spring training to open the season in triple-A Portland, joined the Padres' rotation on May 8. He is 6-3 with a 3.55 ERA in 12 starts since his arrival.

The 24-year-old righthander faces the Phillies tonight at Petco Park.

"I'm looking forward to this," Germano said before last night's game against the Phils. "I was glad that it worked out this way. It's always good to go out there and throw well against a team that gave up on you."

The Phillies considered Germano comparable to pitchers Clay Condrey and Brian Sanches, and they already had six starters in Brett Myers, Freddy Garcia, Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer, Adam Eaton and Jon Lieber. They knew Germano would not make the 25-man roster, and he needed to clear waivers before they could send him to triple-A Ottawa. Germano, who had a 4.50 ERA in five Grapefruit League appearances for the Phillies, did not clear. The Padres were the only team to make a claim.

"I've been around for a while," Germano said. "I've been up and down, and when I was up I didn't have much success. I think people look at numbers and not how you progress. I don't light up the radar gun, either. They want to see 95 m.p.h."

The only puzzling thing is that the Phillies didn't try to push Germano through waivers at the end of spring training, when most teams have their rosters set.

Padres general manager Kevin Towers isn't sure why no other teams tried to claim Germano the two times he became available.

"I think it had to do with the timing," Towers said. "When somebody gets sent through that late, especially somebody out of options, sometimes it sends a bad message to claim a guy at the end of spring and all of a sudden he makes the club. If he would have had options, I imagine more clubs would have made a claim. But there were a lot of clubs looking for inexpensive young pitching."

Germano is just that, and right now the Phillies could have used him.

It's official. The Phillies signed their first-round draft pick, pitcher

Joe Savery

, to a contract for $1,372,500, which includes a college scholarship. Savery, 21, will report to single-A Williamsport today. The lefthander was the 19th overall selection.

Catcher

Rod Barajas

rejoined the team. His wife,

Stacie

, gave birth to a girl,

Aubrielle

.

- Todd Zolecki