Domonic Brown (BlueClaws 2008) was recalled to the Phillies today to take the spot of the injured Shane Victorino on the Phillies active roster. He was 14-41 with Lehigh Valley after a brief and successful rehab with Clearwater, though he played May 17 and 18 (2-7) after missing five games with a thumb injury.

Dave Murphy has more with High Cheese.

—

Read this excellent piece on Reading 1B Matt Rizzotti by Jay Floyd at PhoulBallz.com.
Parent does admit that it’s just a matter of time before his “butcher” moves back up to higher levels.

“Eventually, they’re gonna see if he can (compete at higher levels) or not. So far this season, he’s improved in his defense, he’s conditioning better. These are all things he’s gotta work on. If he was to get called up, or taken to another club and go to the big leagues, he could go from (this level),” Parent said when speaking of the difference between Double A and Triple A in Rizzotti’s case.

2010 BlueClaws catcher Sebastian Valle was named Phillies Minor League Player of the Week for the week ending Sunday, Below, find more on that and a few other things from around the farm and the desk of Larry Shenk.

Player of the Week: C Sebastian Valle, Clearwater. Batted .647 in 5 games (11-17) with 3 doubles, 2 homers and 5 RBI. Had 5 multi-hit games.  His homer on Wednesday cleared the Tiki Pavilion roof at Bright House Field (see photo). Left Friday’s game after a home plate collision and was placed on the DL the next day with a concussion.  Hitting .447 in his last 10 games, improving his season average to .337.  The 20-year-old was signed as an amateur free agent, 10/6/06, by Sal Agostinelli and Norman Anciani out of Los Mochis, Sal Aloa, Mexico.

Pitcher of the Week: RHP Brian Gordon, Lehigh Valley.  Made 2 starts, 1-0, 0.66 ERA, allowing 1 run, 6 hits and 1 walk in 13.2 innings.  He struck out 9. Lost a no-hitter in Sunday’s win on a bunt single leading off the 6^th inning.  Wound up with a no-decision, 1 run in 7 innings, 3 hits.  He was also named the IL Pitcher of the Week by MiLB.com.  In 7 games (4 starts), the 32-year-old is 1-0 with a 0.36 ERA.  He was signed as a minor league free agent, 1/29/10 and was originally drafted in the 7^th round by Arizona in 1997.

(more…)

Forgot to post this yesterday, but congrats to 1B Joe Savery and RHP JC Ramirez, who were the Phillies Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Month for April. The Phillies announced this yesterday.

Savery, with Clearwater, hit .450 in his first month with Clearwater as a position player (converted pitcher), while, Ramirez, acquired in the Cliff Lee trade, was 4-1, 1.03 with Reading.

Meanwhile…

Player of the Week: RF Domonic Brown, Lehigh Valley.  Hit .409 in 6 games with 7 runs, 9 hits, 2 homers, 5 RBI and a stolen base. Extended his AAA hitting streak to 13 games (.373), dating back to 2010.  Joined LV on Monday after hitting .368 in 5 games at Clearwater I  rehab assignment.  The 23-year-old was signed by Chip Lawrence after being selected in the 20^th round in 2006 out of Redan High School (GA).

Pitcher of the Week: RHS Julio Rodriguez, Clearwater. 2-0 for 2 starts, 13.2 innings, 6 hits, 0 runs, 5 walks, 13 strikeouts.  Extended his scoreless streak to 16 innings. Dating back to Lakewood in 2010, he has won 7 in a row.  Leads the FSL with a 5-0 record and is third with a 1.67 ERA. The 20-year-old was signed by Chip Lawrence after being selected in the 8^th round in 2008 out of the Puerto Rican Baseball Academy.  He has a 13-6 record in 3-plus pro seasons.

(more…)

This came across from the great Larry Shenk.

Player of the Week: OF Anthony Hewitt, Lakewood.  Hit .333 in 7 games, leading his club with 10 hits. Included were 3 doubles, 1 triple and 2 homers.  He ended the week riding a 12-game hitting streak that has seen his average rise from .074 to .253.  The 22-year-old was selected by the Phillies in the 1^st round (24^th overall) in 2008 and signed by Gene Schall. He was a player of the week at Williamsport, July 6-12, 2009 (OUR NOTE: Hewitt’s hit streak ended on Tuesday night and finished at 13 games, over which he went 20-55 with two home runs and five doubles…it’s the second straight week a BlueClaw was named Player of the Week [Edgar Duran])

Pitcher of the Week: RHR Justin Friend, Clearwater. Hurled 4 scoreless innings and recorded 2 saves in 2 appearances; 2 hits, 0 walks and 4 strikeouts.  For the season, the 24-year-old has 8 saves in 8 opportunities with a 0.77 ERA.  Opponents are hitting .111.  Selected by the Phillies in the minor league Rule 5 draft last December.  He was originally drafted by Oakland in the 13^th round in 2007.

(more…)

BlueClaws shortstop Edgar Duran has been named Phillies Minor League player of the week for the week of April 18th – 24th. He is the first BlueClaw to be so honored in 2011.

Here’s the full rundown from the great Larry Shenk.

Player of the Week: SS Edgar Duran, Lakewood.  Hit .381 in five games, three runs scored and eight hits, boosting his average from .231 to .286.  He began the week with multi-hit games of 2-3-2.  In his last 10 games, he is batting .324. A switch hitter, Duran is batting .333 vs. LHP, .270 vs. RHP.   The 20-year-old is in his fourth pro season after signing as an amateur free agent, 12/20/07, out of Valencia, VZ. He was signed by Sal Agostinelli and Jesus Mendez.

Pitcher of the Week: RHP Jonathan Pettibone, Clearwater.  Was 2-0 for 2 starts with a 0.00 ERA, 9 hits in 13 innings, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts.  He was also named the FSL pitcher of the week by MiLB.com. He’s 3-0 for the season with a 0.38 ERA, third lowest in the FSL, with just 2 walks in 24 innings.  Opponents are hitting .190. The 20-year-old was selected between the  3^rd and 4^th rounds in June 2008 out of Esperanza (CA) High School.  He was signed by Darrell Conner.  He was 8-6 at Lakewood a year ago and is 13-11 for his minor league career.

(more…)

Congratulations to 2008 BlueClaws pitcher Mike Stutes, who was called up to the Phillies yesterday to replace Jose Contreras (disabled list) on the roster.

Stutes was a 3rd round pick out of Oregon State in 2008 and joined the BlueClaws (5-1, 1.48) for  seven starts.

After skipping Clearwater, he was a starter with Reading in 2009 and was converted to a relief pitcher last year and nearly made the big club out of Spring Training.

When he appears in a game, he’ll be the 37th former BlueClaw to appear in a big league game.

From the Philadelphia Daily News:

It also thins an already thinning bullpen. Closer Brad Lidge has been on the disabled list all season with a shoulder injury and is not expected back until June at the earliest. Lefthander J.C. Romero is on the disabled list with a calf injury.

Stutes seemingly had a chance to make the big-league roster out of spring training. He is 2-1 with a 1.80 ERA in seven appearances for the IronPigs. He has allowed nine hits with 14 strikeouts in 10 innings.

“It’s thin,” Amaro said. “It is what it is.”

Love when these come in from the desk of the great Larry Shenk.

PHILLIES MINOR LEAGUE REVIEW

April 7-17

Player of the Week: DH-1B Joe Savery, Clearwater. Hit .550 in 11 games (22-for-40), with 4 doubles, 1 homer, 4 RBI and a .725 slugging percentage. Easily led organization in hits and average. First 5 games were multi-hit games, 4-2-4-2-2. Added 3 more 2-hits games along the way. After spending the first four pro seasons as a LHP (28-31, 4.29), the 25-year-old has made the transition to an everyday player, something he did at Rice University. In 68 collegiate games, he hit .355. Last year at AAA, he batted .348 in 23 games. Savery was the Phillies No. 1 selection in the 2007 draft.

Pitcher of the Week: RHR Phillipee Aumont, Reading, 0-0, 1 save, 4 appearances, 5.1 innings, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts. He faced 18 hitters are retired 17, including the last 14 (7 on strikeouts). The 22-year-old was a starter/reliever last year at Reading and Clearwater (3-11). He returned to the bullpen this spring. He came to the Phillies in the Cliff Lee trade with Seattle in December 2009. Aumont was the Mariners No. 1 selection in the 2007 draft.

(more…)

As our buddies at Lehigh Valley tweeted last night:

Phillies’ minors go 4-for-4 tonight. @RPhils @Threshers @blueclaws #PIGSFLY #PHILSPHIGHT #THRESHERSBITE #CLAWSPINCH

Here’s a quick rundown:

Lehigh Valley beat Rochester 9-4 behind some strong relief pitching: three shutout from Andrew Carpenter and two from Michael Schwimer. Ronnie Belliard and Delwyn Young each had two hits and Kevin Fransden had three.

Reading got a late home run from Matt Rizzotti (hitting .485-2-6) and pulled away from Akron to win 9-5 when Carlos Rivero added a later HR. Mark Parent in the Reading Eagle on Rizzotti:

“That’s some Babe Ruth stuff right there,” said Reading manager Mark Parent, impressed with Rizzotti’s approach and results.

“He’s been battling, he’s been working hard, he’s been out early, working on his defense,” Parent said. “Everything he’s doing is well-deserved right now.”

Clearwater scored three in the 8th and one in the 9th to beat Brevard County 4-2. Brian Gump had two hits and Travis Mattair a three-run double.

—

Tonight in Hagerstown we have Jesse Biddle and Bryce Harper facing off for the first time. That is, of course, weather permitting, and most likely it will not permit. Someone at the park yesterday said that we could see two inches of rain today.

Here are the game notes. Keep in mind that the BlueClaws had 11 runs in seven games going into last night when they scored eight, first time in the road grays.

Minor league spring training games are finally complete and rosters have been announced. Let’s take a look at some results from yesterday. By the way, after a morning workout today in Clearwater, members of the Lakewood, Reading, and Lehigh Valley clubs will depart Florida for their summer destinations.

Lakewood (Win 6-5 vs Pittsburgh)

• Chris Truby’s lineup: Altherr 8, Collier 7, Barnes 5, Murphy 3, Mendez DH, Santana 9, Rupp 2, Batts, DH, Perdomo 2, Duran 6 (that’s 10, yes).
• Ervis Manzanillo started and allowed four runs in five innings.
• Altherr was 2-4, Collier was 2-4 with a triple, and Barnes was 2-4 with a home run.
• Domingo Santana capped a strong spring by going 2-3 with 2 triples.
• While he did not appear in the BlueClaws game, Mario Hollands, threw three scoreless in the Williamsport game. Hope to get a rotation for you today.

Clearwater (Win 9-2 vs Pittsburgh)

• Jarred Cosart started, allowing just two runs over five innings while striking out five.
• Jacob Diekman, Derrick Loop, Jordan Ellis and Ebelin Lugo each threw a shutout inning.
• Cesar Hernandez, who skipped Lakewood after starring for Williamsport last year, hit 2nd behind Jiwan James and went 2-3.
• Leandro Castro and Troy Hanzawa had two hits each and Brian Gump drove in two.

Reading (Loss 5-4 vs Pittsburgh)

• Chris Kissock needed just 69 pitches to navigate 7 innings (Pirates have a plane to catch or something?), allowing five hits and two earned runs.
• Chris Frey, Matt Rizzotti, Freddy Galvis and Carlos Rivero all had two hits for the R-Phils.

Lehigh Valley (Tied 3-3 vs Pittsburgh)

• Vance Worley, who will start Opening Day on Thursday, gave up three runs in 5.2 innings.
• Strong bullpen for the Pigs, who sent out Mike Zagurski, Michael Stutes, Scott Mathieson, and Tyson Brummett for 3.1 scoreless.
• Jeff Larish homered for Lehigh Valley.

Final records if you care: LHV 8-6-2, REA 7-6-3, CLR 6-7-2, LAK 8-7

We’re a little behind here on these results but let’s catch up, with just a few more days to go until the start of the 2011 season! First, intra-squad action from Monday (when it rained in Florida):

Lakewood (Loss 5-2 to Clearwater)

• Mario Hollands started and allowed three runs on four hits over five innings. He’s on track to start the April 7th opener at FirstEnergy Park against Kannapolis.
• Garrett Claypool gave up two runs in two innings while Bryan Morgado and Tyler Knigge each tossed shutout frames.
• Offensively, Domingo Santana homered off of Jonathan Pettibone and Zach COllier was 1-3 with a triple.
• OF watch: LF Kelly Dugan, CF Aaron Altherr, RF Santana
• Geancarlo Mendez played third while Jeff Cusick played first.

Clearwater (Defeated Lakewood 5-2)

• Jonathan Pettibone allowed the two runs over five innings.
• Clearwater got shutout innings of relief from Jordan Whatcott, Julian Sampson, Joe Esposito, and Justin Friend.
• Jim Murphy homered for Clearwater and added a double.
• 40-man roster infielder Cesar Hernandez played again with Clearwater. Could jump straight there from Williamsport?

In the Reading/Lehigh game, won by Lehigh 3-0…

• Dan Meyer threw four shutout for the IronPigs.
• Mike Zagurski had a scoreless inning, as did Phillippe Aumont, who struck out the side.
• Scott Mathieston pitched two scoreless innings.
• Austin Hyatt pitched well, allowing two runs over five innings.
• Freddy Galvis had two hits in an otherwise quiet afternoon.

Tuesday below the fold.

(more…)

Minor league spring games continue through Saturday (April 2nd), with intra-squad games today. Here’s the roundup from yesterday’s action in Clearwater.

Lakewood (Win 4-3)

• David Buchanan gave up one run over 4.1 innings with four strikeouts in his longest outing of the spring. The 7th round pick from Georgia State has had a good spring and is probably in the Lakewood rotation as the year starts next week.
• Mike Zagurski, just sent down, threw 1.2 shutout innings in this game, probably so he didn’t have to get on the bus with the AAA team (same for Scott Mathieson in the next game).
• Two hits for 2B Matthew Payton and LF Zach Collier. C Fransico Diaz had a double and 1B Drew Rundle a triple.
• OF watch: LF: Collier, CF: Aaron Altherr, RF: Anthony Hewitt, DH: Geancarlo Mendez.

Clearwater (Loss 3-0)

• Clearwater had just three hits in the game, one each by Alan Schoenberger, Jonathan Singleton, and Stephen Batts.
• Scott Mathieson threw two shutout innings, while Bryan Morgado and Julian Sampson each threw one.
• Brody Colvin, however, struggled to find the zone, walking six over four innings and allowing the three runs. He’ll still have at least one more start before the real games starts.

Reading (Loss 5-1)

• Two hits each for Joe Savery and Derrick Mitchell and Savery smacked a HR for the Reading run.
• Miguel Alvarez, with WPT last year, played with the R-Phils here.
• Ryan Edell gave up four runs in 4.2 innings.
• Three 2010 BlueClaws pitched here: Joe Esposito, Ebelin Lugo, Eric Massingham.

Lehigh Valley (Loss 8-1)

• Five hits: Korby Mintken, Carlos Perdomo, Mike Spidale, Jeff Larish, Matthew Miller.
• Edgar Garcia & Garrett Claypool each gave up two runs in one inning while starter Brian Bass gave up four in 3.2.

For what it’s worth (probably nothing), the records of these clubs this spring: LHV 7-5, REA 6-4-2, CLR 4-6-2, LAK 6-6.

We’re about a week away from camp breaking down in Florida. The northern teams (Lakewood, Reading, and Lehigh Valley) will fly up on Sunday, April 3rd with exhibition games on the 5th and the opener on the 7th. Let’s take a look around minor league spring training from action on Friday in Florida.

Lakewood (Loss 7-3)

• A very quiet game for Lakewood, picking up just four hits (one each from Zach Collier, Patrick Murray, Geancarlo Mendez, and Kelly Dugan).
• Colby Shreve started here and gave up five runs in three innings. Hector Neris gave up one hit in two scoreless innings and Matt Hutchison had a shutout inning as did Juary Gomez.
• OF watch: Kelly Dugan and Zach Collier in LF, Kyrell Hudson in CF, Domingo Santana in RF, and Aaron Altherr was the DH.

Clearwater (Loss 5-1)

• Herlis Rodriguez, who I am unfamiliar with, gave up two runs, one earned, in three innings for Dusty Wathan’s club.
• Chase Johnson, an ’09 draft pick from South Mountain CC, threw two scoreless innings of relief.
• Clearwater had just five hits: one each from Leandro Castro, Stephen Batts, Drew Rundle, Robert Stumpo, and Edgar Duran.

Reading (Tie 7-7)

• Mark Parent’s club is 6-3-2 this spring after their tie on Friday. Mike Cisco started and gave up just one run over four innings.
• Jordan Whatcott, a possible BlueClaw (undrafted FA last year from Utah) tossed two perfect innings of relief.
• Two hits and a double for both Cody Overbeck and Fidel Hernandez (2 RBIs). Torre Langley had a triple in his only at bat.

Lehigh Valley (Win 7-4)

• The only club to win on Friday, the IronPigs got 4.2 strong innings (two runs) from Eddie Bonine.
• Phillippe Aumont threw two shutout innings of relief while Justin De Fratus threw a shutout 9th.
• Rich Thompson, Mike Spidale, Jeff Larish, Carlos Rivero, Harold Garcia, Troy Hanzawa, and Carlos Ruiz all had a hit. Nobody had two.

The Phillies finalized their bullpen today, optioning Mike Zagurski and Scott Mathieson to Lehigh Valley.

What could their bullpen be? Probably something to the effect of: Ryan Madson, Jose Contreras, JC Romero, Antonio Bastardo, Kyle Kendrick, David Herndon, Danys Baez. That’s with Brad Lidge on the disabled list to start the season.

Bastardo (07) and Kendrick (04-06) are former BlueClaws.

That means, as Phuture Phillies notes:

On the bright side for Lehigh Valley fans, the bullpen appears to stack up very well with Mathieson, Zagurski, Schwimer, and Stutes pitching the later innings for the ‘Pigs.

Scott Mathieson (04), Mike Zagurski (06), Mike Stutes (08) are all former BlueClaws. And Justin De Fratus (09) will either open there or be there soon.

Lehigh, who has never had a winning record, ever (2008-2010), will give it a run with a quality bullpen like that.

Here’s the roundup from minor league spring training action on Thursday from Florida, which included a strong outing from Phillies first round pick and possible 2011 BlueClaw Jesse Biddle, and another great outing from 2010 BlueClaw Josh Zeid.

Lakewood (Win 4-3)

• Biddle, making his 3rd start of the spring, gave up one run over four innings, working through some trouble as he gave up six hits. He did strike out four. That’s three good outings in a row for Biddle, who has allowed 2 runs in 10.2 innings so far.
• Jesus Pirela (3-1, 4.30 with GCL last year), threw two shutout innings of relief.
• OF watch: LF-Zach Collier, CF-Aaron Altherr, RF-Anthony Hewitt, DH-Domingo Santana.
• Altherr and Hewitt each went 2-3.
• Cameron Rupp caught Biddle and homered.

Clearwater (Tied 3-3)

• Trevor May started and gave up just one unearned run over 5 innings, throwing a first pitch strike to 14 of the 19 he faced.
• Eric Pettis and Jake Borup each tossed a shutout inning.
• Offensively, Jonathan Singleton had two hits (playing left field as well) including a triple.
• Kyle Lafrenz was 2-3 Brian Gump and Adam Buschini were 2-4.

Reading (Win 2-1)

• Josh Zeid has picked up where he left off last year (20 hitters, 21 outs in SAL Championship Series). Today he threw 4.2 perfect innings (0 hits, 0 walks, 4 Ks).
• Chance Chapman, Jordan Ellis, and Justin Friend all threw shutout innings of relief.
• Offensively, it looks like Darin Ruf is getting a legitimate shot to go to Reading. He had 3 hits in 4 ABs today. Travis Mattair played third here and went 1-4 driving in a run.

Lehigh Valley (Loss 7-2)

• Of note, Tyson Brummett gave up a run in two innings of relief and Michael Schwimer threw two shutout innings behind starter Dan Meyer.
• Offensively, Troy Hanzawa had an RBI double playing short. Sebastian Valle again caught here, going 0-2.

More tomorrow.