News 7/17/09

Howard belts 200th: article

Ryan Howard became the fastest player in MLB history to hit 200 home runs last night as he took Chris Volstad deep in the sixth to give the Phillies a 4-0 lead in which they won. It was his 658th career game, 48 fewer than Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner (706 games).

"That's pretty cool," said Howard, who was able to retrieve the historic ball. "It'll hit me later on. I'll kind of come down a bit later. It'll be something I can look back on and just kind of cherish a little bit."

Taylor called up to AAA: article

One of the Phillies top prospects, Michael Taylor, was called up to AAA Lehigh yesterday. In AA Reading, he was batting .333 with 15 homers and 65 RBI's,

"It was the right time," said Steve Noworyt, Philadelphia's director of minor league operations, in regards to the Taylor promotion. "If you look at the numbers he put up last year at Clearwater and then he came here and never looked back. Let's let it go now and see what happens."

If you look at what he's done over the last two years, he deserves it. He's never really slumped and right now there is no rush. He'll be a step away. If he does well, great. If he has to be a repeater next year, so be it. But it will be a nice chance to see what he can do for a month and a half."

Knapp placed on DL: article

Phillies prospect Jason Knapp was placed on the 7-day DL with shoulder fatigue. For Class A Lakewood, he is 2-7 with a 4.01 ERA but has struck out 111 and walked just 39 in 85 1/3 innings. He gives up a lot of runs but he does shut down hitters too.