Philadelphia Phillies storyline: Guns, young and unsung

With Roy Halladay on the bump, the Philadelphia Phillies don’t have many remaining outs to get. That stated, Rube Amaro has a collection of green studs in the ‘pen and at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. How many will make the grade?

TAL’S HANDY CAPS

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Check out: Philadelphia Phillies storyline: Reassembling the red pinstripes

CAP-SIZE HINDSIGHT: 3-1 Triumph

TYPE	PLAYER	REASON
The Crystal Champagne Toast	Cliff Lee	Four-Star Performance
The Penthouse	Cliff Lee Jimmy Rollins	Worked Out Of A Runner-At-3rd One-Out Jam In The 2nd Fired 7 3-Hit Innings An RBI Single To Tie The Score At 1 In The 8th
The Kangaroo Courthouse	Ty Wigginton	Thrown Out Rounding 3rd To End The 2nd
The Whitehouse	Cliff Lee	Reached his 200th K In The 5th

This is an article that got buried by the end of the sellout streak, and I decided to publish an updated version.

The Final Out

NITECAP INSIGHT

Bullets Aplenty:

Amaro will have $13.5M to spend after commitments, achieved incentives, a buyout, and dollars for the 2013 trade deadline, which is broken down in my recent article marked above. In between his biggest need for a third basemen and his current outfield holdovers, there are the young relievers before the hammer. Third base is an outside-the-organization player, while the trio in front of the warning track is a no-choice gamble. The section with in-house solutions that will fill some of the openings is the bullpen.

Chase Utley Provides The Offense In The 8th With His Rocket Over The Stands and Into The Bullpen

There are 6 seats after Jonathan Papelbon with 2 being filled by the present 8th-frame options: Antonio Bastardo and Josh Lindblom. The 2 best of the rest should leave 2 open spots for free-agent acquisitions. Going with 4 youngsters is not a comforting feeling, and even 3 is only slightly less foreboding. This group consists of Michael Stutes, David Herndon, Michael Schwimer, Jeremy Horst, Jake Diekman, B.J. Rosenberg, Justin De Fratus, Joe Savery and Phillippe Aumont.

There is a lot of additional firepower in this arsenal. Working from the bottom up, Aumont has a 3.63 ERA with 13 saves at Lehigh Valley, but has a 2.31 ERA for his last 10 appearances. He will probably be a September callup with Savery, De Fratus and Diekman. Savery was decent half the time, the effective Diekman was limited to 1 or 2 batters, and De Fratus spent most of the year on the DL after his fine final month (MLB) in 2011. Stutes and Herndon won’t return until spring training.

Magic Juan’s 8th-Inning SB

The first of 3 to watch is Rosenberg, who had 2 solid opportunities against 2 contenders. He may have fixed a few things at Lehigh Valley before his reactivation. Horst was the reliever the GM dealt Wilson Valdez for in the off-season, and he has earned Cholley Manuel’s trust. Schwimer’s stats below are after he received a major overhaul from pitching coach Rich Dubee. He, also, has earned their faith in him.

Amaro does not need a $13.5M third sacker–Polly Polanco made $6M. $7.5M should be able to pay 1 set-up man for the 8th and 1 or 2 other pieces. You want to know where Rube will spend money? Watch the young wings in the ‘pen, and judge how confident they make you feel.

Ryno Bangs A 2nd-Inning Two-Bagger

There are many outcomes that can happen in the relief corps from a total bust to a top-tier closer. Then, there are the ones in the middle with 1 tour of excellence for the club or another after struggling here. 1 of 6 make it from signing to the show, while half succeed in the majors after achieving it at Triple-A. In recent summers there have been a number of recognizable names: Ryan Madson, Bastardo, Geoff Geary and Stutes. Brian Sanches (the Fish), Sergio Escalona (the ‘Stros), Zack Segovia (the D-backs) and Mike Zagurski (the D-backs) found roster slots on other teams. Then, there were the ones who did not make the leap to the bigs for more than a cup of coffee. Drew Carpenter, Scott Mathieson, Yoel Hernandez and Joe Bisenius hit the ceiling at Lehigh Valley.

Five had success of varying degrees, four are on the bubble, and four topped out at AAA. Zagurski, Segovia and Stutes are borderline, while Schwimer fits in that category also. The basic yardstick is 1 of 2 will complete the jump from Triple-A to the MLB. If Schwimer is one of 3 that accomplishes that, two more would come from: Diekman, Rosenberg, De Fratus, Savery or Aumont. This is the strongest class of relievers from the minors for the Phils that I can recall. By 2014, the red pinstripes will have dominant homegrown endgame arms.

HURLER	ERA & GMS	INN & H	R & ER	BB & IBB & SO
RHP Michael Schwimer	1.54 For 22	23.1 - 14	6 - 4	9 - 2 - 27
LHP Jeremy Horst	1.29 For 14	14.0 - 10	3 - 2	3 - 0 - 03
RHP B.J. Rosenberg	0.00 For 02	03.1 - 01	0 - 0	0 - 0 - 04
RHP Justin De Fratus (AAA)	1.93 For 09	09.1 - 07	2 - 2	1 - 0 - 07

The General Loads A Bullet At The Bank On August 5 Against The Diamondbacks

PRECAP PITCH

Cliff Lee:

He is 2-1 with a 3.07 ERA, going 7 plus innings in 5 of his last 6 efforts. In St. Louis around late May, his line was: 7 complete, 8 hits, 3 all-earned runs, 3 walked and 7 fanned on 111 pills.

	STARTER	RECORD	TM	STARTER	RECORD	DAY & TIME
3	LHP Cliff Lee	06-08, 3.12 ERA	@ Nats	RHP Edwin Jackson	09-11, 4.13 ERA	Wednesday, Day

Jake Westbrook Dials Up A Cutter At Home On August 6 Against The Giants

Jake Westbrook:

He has worked 6.1 frames or more in 11 of 22 attempts with 5 clunkers. Against the Phils at home in late May, his mark was: 3.2 innings, 8 hits, 6 all-earned runs, 3 free passes and 4 strikeouts on 92 tosses.

DELIVERY = PITCHER’S 2012	DEFINITION OF SEASON
Over The Top	Excellent
3-Quarter Sidearm	Good
Sidearm	Above Average
Short Arm	Approximately Average
Submarine	Below Average

Starters’ photos, not described otherwise, are in the 1st inning.

Quality number of the pitcher: 1 – 5

Slot on his club: 1 – 5

Ranking is 1 to 5 & 15 for the less adventurous.

*** = Approximately equal to after plus-and-minus computation

HURLER	Cliff Lee	Edwin Jackson
NUMBER	A One	A Four
CLUB SLOT	Three	Three
FOR 2012	3-Quarter Sidearm	Short Arm
'12 RANKING	2nd of 5 Categories	4th of 5 Categories
LAST START	Cutter *	Eephus Pitch
LAST HIGH OR LOW	3rd of 15 Categories	13th of 15 Categories

	PITCH	INN	ER - R- H		PITCH	INN	ER
1	Gyroball	9 (CG)	0 - 0 - 3	10	Screwball	6	4
2	Fastball	9 (CG)	0 - 0	11	Knuckleball	5	3
3	Cutter	9 (CG)	3	12	Forkball	0 - 4.2	Monstrosity
4	Split Finger	7	2	13	Eephus Pitch	0 - 2.2	Disaster
5	Curveball	7	3	14	*Palm Ball	Ejected
6	Sinker	6.1	3	15	*Spit Ball	**Ejected+
7	Slider	6	2		*Breaking Ball	Injured
8	Changeup	6	3		*Fosh	Rain Interrupted
9	Slurve	5	2		*Knuckle Curve	Pitch Count
	** = Suspended				* = A 2nd Pitch Also

STATS APOCALYPTIC HORSEMEN DOC HALLADAY
DOC'S LINE: 5 INN, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 7 K & 90 DARTS

ACE	W - L	ERA	INN+	CONV	CG - SO	BAD	INN	ER	BB - IBB	SO
Total	34 - 23	3.48	6.1	59 of 86	2 - 2	12	582.2	225	114 -2	557
Hamels	17 - 06	3.05	6.2	21 of 31	2 - 2	03	215.1	073	050 - 2	218
Lee	06 - 09	3.16	6.1	23 of 30	0 - 0	02	211.0	074	028 - 0	207
Halladay	11 - 08	4.49	7.0	15 of 25	0 - 0	07	156.1	078	036- 0	132

13TH RIDE OF THE HORSEMEN:


ACE	W - L	ERA	INN+	CONV	CG	SO	BAD	INN	H	R	ER	BB	IBB	SO
Total	2 - 0	2.84	6.1+	2 of 3	0	0	1	19.0	14	6	6	4	0	20
Halladay	1 - 0	7.20	6.1+	0 of 1	0	0	1	05.0	06	4	4	3	0	07
Lee	0 - 0	1.29	7.0+	1 of 1	0	0	0	07.0	03	1	1	0	0	05
Hamels	1 - 0	1.29	7.0+	1 of 1	0	0	0	07.0	05	1	1	1	0	08

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