Drabek Shut Down

Phillies top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek was placed on the inactive list yesterday. He isn't hurt but reached his innings max, throwing 158 innings this year in Double A Reading and Single A Clearwater. He was also 12-3 with a 3.19 ERA for both teams combined. He is not scheduled to pitch in either the Arizona Fall League or the Florida Instructional League either.

This is smart because he is recovering from Tommy John surgery in 2007. They don't want to risk hurting him. He will see his time next year with Reading and hopefully Lehigh. If he develops well enough, he may see time on the Phillies 40-man roster late next season.

News 8/24

Dobbs on DL: article

The Phillies had placed Greg Dobbs on the 15-day DL yesterday with a right calf injury. He will be replaced by Miguel Cairo. Cairo is back on the Phillies since being optioned back in May.

I was going to post this yesterday but was busy all day.

Myers to Rehab Today: article

Brett Myers will make his first rehab start today with Lakewood. He was originally scheduled to pitch yesterday but the game was rained out. He made one appearance with Clearwater, striking out the side and allowing two hits.

Myers Pitches

Brett Myers made his first rehab appearance on Thursday with Class A Clearwater, pitching one inning and allowed two singles and struck out the side. This was his first pitching appearance since he pitched with the Phillies back on May 27. He was scheduled to pitch last Sunday but was scratched due to an odd span of injuries.

Here are the two articles related to the injuries:
http://team2beat.blogspot.com/2009/08/myers-falls-on-face.html
http://team2beat.blogspot.com/2009/08/myers-police-say-he-wasnt-in-fight.html

Myers Falls On Face

Brett Myers injured his eye when getting out of his pick up truck Friday night. He had originally told the organization he was having a catch with his 4-year old son, Kolt, and that's how he hurt his eye. He was too embarrassed to admit what really happened.

Due to his injury, he was scratched from his rehab start scheduled today in Clearwater.

A Few More Thoughts

So the pitching battle has heated up even more. While Jamie Moyer struggled again, JA Happ and Pedro Martinez continued to gain ground in the race for the final rotation spot. Moyer has one thing going for him: he's uselessness in the bull pen. The Phillies know what his stuff is, and frankly, it's nothing special anymore. The team also doesn't want to lose his knowledge and leadership so they don't want to cut him entirely loose.

Moyer's fastball hits 81 MPH tops. That is ridiculously slow and a lot slower than the 83-85 he hit the past few years. This makes his 73 MPH change up a lot less effective. Hitters have a much easier time sitting on the change up or catching up to the fast ball to fight it off when guessing wrong. As much as the crowd loves Moyer, he's done.

Happ pitched probably the best outing any Phillies pitcher had all year. He went the distance, shutting out the Rockies, only allowing four hits and two walks with 10 strike outs. He improved to 8-2 and his ERA dropped to a 2.74.

Martinez moved one step closer to being major league ready, going six innings and striking out 11 in his third and probably final AA rehab start. The 37-year old also allowed four runs, three earned.

Drabek, Flande in Futures Game

Kyle Drabek and Yohan Flande are the top two pitching prospects in the Phillies organization. Their efforts will be recognized when they represent the Phillies organization in the USA vs the World's prospects. The All Star game will be at 2 PM ET in St. Louis on July 12.

Drabek pitched for Single A Clearwater and AA Reading. He went 4-1 with a 2.48 ERA in 10 appearances (nine starts) in Clearwater. He was then promoted to Double-A Reading, where he entered Thursday 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA in four starts.

Flande, the 23-year-old left-hander from the Dominican Republic is 6-1 with a 2.45 ERA in 12 starts for Clearwater. Flande has walked 22 and struck out 64 in 77 innings.

Howard Had Sinusitis, Improving

Ryan Howard was diagnosed with acute sinusitis. The club stated that his 104-degree fever is gone and he's at home resting. Howard could possibly be in the line up as early as Tuesday when the Phillies go down to Tampa Bay to face the defending AL champion Rays.

In other news, Brad Lidge could be activated this week. He will make his second rehab appearance in Class-A Clearwater and could be activated Wednesday or hold off and pitch on Friday for a third rehab outing. Lidge allowed one hit and struck out two in a scoreless inning in a rehab outing with Double-A Reading on Saturday night.