Jarred Cosart looks back on time as one of Phillies' 'Baby Aces'

THE FOURTH NOTE listed on the Phillies' game information packet available in the press box at Citizens Bank Park yesterday was headlined with a nickname. "The Fightin Five," it said, referring to the starting rotation at Double A Reading, the home of the Fightin' Phils and five of the top starting-pitching prospects in the organization's farm system.

Entering play yesterday, the quintet of Aaron Nola, Zach Eflin, Jesse Biddle, Tom Windle and Ben Lively had a combined 1.89 ERA in eight games.

A few flights down from the press box was a pitcher who remembered the last time a fancy moniker was placed on a Phillies minor league rotation. Marlins righthander Jarred Cosart, who starts against Cole Hamels and the Phillies tonight, was part of the Class A Clearwater rotation dubbed "The Baby Aces" 4 years ago.

"When I was with the Phillies, I didn't really know how the business side of it worked," Cosart said yesterday afternoon. "I thought I was going to be a Phillie forever."

Cosart, a 38th-round pick in 2008, was in the Phillies organization for a little more than 3 years. He was traded to the Houston Astros before the trade deadline in 2011 in the deal that brought Hunter Pence to Philadelphia.

Cosart was traded again last summer to the Marlins. The 24-year-old righthander went 4-4 with a 2.39 ERA in 10 starts with Miami last season and is 0-1 with a 4.76 ERA through two starts in 2015.

"At the time, they were trying to win a World Series," Cosart said of leaving with fellow prospects Jon Singleton and Domingo Santana in the Pence trade 4 years ago. "A lot of that is done with experienced players and, in my situation, Hunter was one of the best outfielders and still is - he's very clutch, he knows how to hit in the postseason. There's no hard feelings. I enjoyed every second of my time I was with the Phillies."

Cosart visited Citizens Bank Park with Miami last September, but his turn in the rotation did not come up. He'll make his South Philly debut tonight.

"Obviously, it's the team that drafted you, gave you your first opportunity - it'll be cool," said Cosart, who first visited Citizens Bank Park after he was drafted. "I came here and watched them play the Mets. I saw a lot of fights in the stands. Some of that craziness. I'll always remember that, and my first spring training in Clearwater, and just coming up here and checking out the field, all those things after you're first drafted."

Only one of the four other "Baby Aces" is in the big leagues: Trevor May, traded to Minnesota in the Ben Revere deal, is 1-1 with a 4.76 ERA with the Twins. Brody Colvin was released from the Phillies organization last summer; Julio Rodriguez was involved in a minor league trade in 2013; and Jonathan Pettibone, the only one who remains in the organization, is working his way back from shoulder surgery in Clearwater.

Chad Billingsley hasn't pitched in a major league game in 737 days, so it probably not too surprising his path to jumping into the Phillies' rotation within the next few weeks encountered a detour.

Billingsley was scratched from his scheduled start on Monday at Triple A Lehigh Valley with what Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg called "a little side ache that was bothering him."

Sandberg was asked whether that meant it was an oblique or rib-cage injury, which could be problematic.

"No," the manager said. "More of a stomach issue, a virus."

Sandberg wasn't sure when Billingsley would get back into the IronPigs rotation.

Billingsley, 30, has undergone two elbow surgeries since April 2013. He threw five scoreless innings last Wednesday in Lehigh Valley's 8-5 win over Syracuse.

After the game, Billingsley said the plan was for him to make three more rehab starts before rejoining the Phillies.

Barring a setback, Domonic Brown will rejoin the Phillies within a week.

Brown hasn't played a game in a Phillies uniform since March 19, when he left a spring-training game in Tampa against the New York Yankees with a left Achilles' injury. Brown was placed on the 15-day disabled list before the season with left Achilles' tendinitis and began a minor league rehab assignment on April 9.

Minor league rehab assignments for position players cannot last longer than 20 days, so Brown will have to rejoin the Phillies by April 29 (next Wednesday) unless he is deemed unhealthy.

"He's played games in a row in Lehigh Valley," Sandberg said. "I'm not sure that he has a hit yet, but he's playing nine innings, he's playing days back-to-back, three or four in a row, and all that. He's accumulating some at-bats."

Could he join the Phillies sooner than next Wednesday?

"It's kind of up to him when he finds his stride to get hot with the bat," Sandberg said. "I think that would be important for him."

Brown was only 1-for-13 in his first three games with the IronPigs. He hit .294 with a double and a home run in six games at Class A Clearwater earlier this month.

Brown went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts last night for the IronPigs.

Blog: ph.ly/HighCheese