July 23: PREGAME -- Still Coste-ing

Chris Coste can now say it: He's made it.

The decision Saturday to designate Sal Fasano for assignment means that, for the forseaable future, Coste will be the Phillies' backup catcher. It's a deserving status.

By now, everyone knows the story. Coste, a 33-year-old rookie, began his pro career 11 years ago in the independent Prairie League. He batted .463 in spring training and nearly made the team, only to suffer the disappointment of being the final cut.

When he finally got called up, in late May, he went 0-for-13. Since then, he's 18-for-41 (.439) with two home runs and 12 RBIs. His 10 RBIs in July are as many as cleanup hitter Pat Burrell, which is both praise for the eighth-place-hitting Coste and a condemnation of Burrell.

“It’s hard to even remember that,” Coste said of the 0-for-13 slump. “I mean, obviously I remember it because it makes this feel even better. It was like one hit fell in, then a couple more fell in, and before you know it, that 0-for-13 was history.”

How does all of this compare to spring training?

“In spring training, you can make the argument that it’s just spring training,” Coste said. “It didn’t matter how well I did. I feel just as good as I did then, and these games count.”

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Pat Gillick is going to address the Phillies writers in about 5 minutes. I'll have more on that after it happens, so stay tuned.