Travis Blackley, the Rule V draft pick from San Fran, has been sent packing. It is no guarantee that he won't end up back in Allentown with the IronPigs but for now he has been placed on waivers. Once, and if, he clears waivers he will be offered back to the Giants who may or may not take him. If they decide to not reclaim him, he will have the choice of taking a minor league deal from the Phillies or becoming an outright free agent. That being said I hope he somehow makes it through all of that and ends of in Allentown because he has the talent to pitch in the big leagues even if the control is not quite there.
With his departure, the Phillies are down to 11 "healthy" pitchers in camp. One of these is J.D. Durbin who has no business being in a major league uniform with the Spring he has had. Once a good possibility for the 5th starter position or even a bullpen slot, he quickly pitched his way out of either. Only an injury to Lidge and horrid springs by several other pitchers in camp have prevented his departure.
Right now it looks as if the Phillies may begin the season with only 11 pitchers on the 25 man roster. This will allow them to hang on to either Wes Helms or Chris Snelling. Neither player can be sent down without being exposed to waivers and it is likely that they would be snagged by other clubs that have issues in their infield such as SF or the LA Dodgers. Hopefully the Phillies will bite the bullet and end the Wes Helms experiment and hang onto Snelling who has shown glimpses that he can be a solid utility player and pinch-hitter on this club.
On another note, thankfully Spring Training is almost over. The Phillies Spring started off in a dreadful fashion as they went 5-11-1. After that dreadful start, Manager Charlie Manuel essentially ripped the clubhouse a new one and they began to play much better ball. The starting pitching turned it around and they have struggled back up to a 12-15 record with 4 games left to play. Hopefully the Phillies regular season will not have a similar start as the Phils cannot afford to have another sub-.500 April with two other strong teams in the division this year in the Mets and Braves. More so than ever, the Phillies need to get off to a strong start if they are to repeat as NL East Champs.
Closing Thoughts: Brett Myers had another very strong start against the Yankees yesterday, giving up no runs in 5 IPs. SP Andrew Carpenter of Single-A Clearwater fame had a strong outing as well and he may well have opened up some eyes in the Front Office in doing so. Carpenter will start the season in Double-A Reading and is a real possibility for a 2nd Half call up if two things happen. First the Phillies need to have a spot in the rotation or bullpen for him which means either ineffective or injured starters on their part. Second, he has to perform in Reading much like Kendrick did last year. Both are real possibilities. It is almost a guarantee that the Phillies will get a major contribution from one of their pitching prospects this season. Between LHP Joe Savery, RHP Carlos Carrasco, LHP Josh Outman, and RHP Andrew Carpenter, the Phillies have several good mid-level pitching prospects in their system and all 4 are almost ready for Major League action. The door is wide open for any of the 4 to prove themselves. Opening Day is 4 days away!!!
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