Phillies promote first baseman
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Phillies promote first baseman
Daily News staff
The Phillies have promoted slugging first baseman Matt Rizzotti from Double A Reading to Triple A Lehigh Valley.
Rizzotti, 24, leads the Eastern League in hitting at .362, on-base percentage at .451 and slugging at .638. He hit 16 home runs and drove in 61 runs during his two months with Reading.
In the month of June, he hit .369 with 38 hits, seven doubles, seven home runs, 24 RBIs, and 16 runs scored over 27 games (103 at-bats) in the month.
He began the season at Clearwater, where he was hitting .358.
Combined for the season, in 107 games, he is hitting .361 with a career-high 17 home runs and career-high 71 RBI.
Comments (51)
he might not be able the handle the fielding duties of the AL DH (guy has NO fielding skills). waiting for him to cool off, but he just doesn't. his babip is near .400 but his line drive rate is right around 18%. hope he is for real, hes easy to root for. hes a big kid. 6'5" and kinda looks like Jim Thome.
Sounds like the next pc of trade bait to me. I think the kid Singleton in A ball will be the 1B of the future. He's only 18, and growing. Hey Ray99, the key to the race will be who blows LESS saves, Brad or Billy. Billy has 5 and Brad 4 so far.— duckman15
Comment removed.- Dull, you're another that should never be allowed to post on here from this day on. You're actually comparing a minor league player to Ryan Howard. Get out of the house and stop drinking during the day. Howard is a big league star and this kid Rizzotti (nothing against him) is a minor league player. Can you read this.... MINOR LEAGUE PLAYER. He's batting against guys like the Phillies got for Cliff Lee. PLEASE STOP!!!!!!!!! Howard=MVP,Rookie of the Year, Homerun King,All-Star, WS Ring. I can't even stand reading on here anymore. Please put down the cans of Bud people.— Phinally
- Phinally, someone gets my point.— captnjack
- Wow, this Rizzotti can hit for power and for good average....maybe he will be the next Ryan Howard.— Bill20
- If the Phillies could teach Pat Burrell how to play a serviceable left-field, perhaps they could do the same with Rizzotti to play left in 2012 after Ibanez.— smel4727
- The kid can hit. It looks to me the Phillies are showcasing him for a major trade next year for a reliever.— EL Zorro
- How serious does this mean Howard injury is?— GAphil
- Clearly Rizzotti is the second coming of Lou Gehrig which means he'll never get injured. Release Ryan Howard NOW!! Don't bother trading him, just get rid of him. Rizzotti hit over .350 in AA! In AA!! He's fantastic! Howard can't even go the whole season without getting hurt. Rizzotti can pitch every 5th day as well so we don't need Halliday either. He gave up a run the other night so clearly he's done. Release him!!!!— James TL
- He's 24 I believe. So unless he learns to play a new position, he won't be a Philadelphia Phillie. Singleton will be the man to replace Howard should he continue to progress.— kato24
- he can't catch, period = DH. he will be perfect trade bait to the AL for a top reliever next year.— MichaelZoe
- Minor League Update. In case you haven't noticed...with all the "talent pieces" RAJ "gave away", the Phillies minor leagues are blossoming with good talent. I've kept an eye on the minor leaguer's traded and honestly, except for Drabek, the others haven't lived up to their promise. Marson has been up and down to AAA. Luke Donald will be an average utility guy at best. Carrasco isn't what he was hyped to be...at least yet. And if you look at AA, A, and rookie ball, the Phillies minor leagues do have good position players and some realy intriquing pitching prospects. Oh..J Happ got LIT last night for Houston...1 innning...7 runs.— drhoffman
The Phillies need a reliable right handed batter off the bench who can also spot start at first. That doesn't mean he is ever taking Howard's spot. Howard is the best RBI man in MLB by a wide margin. He also is a hard worker who has lost weight and worked hard to improve his defense. Who knows if Rizzotti will hit AAA or big league pitching, but the numbers clearly show he deserved a promotion.- Bill Conlin was all over this!!— gambs
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