BY SCOTT LAUBERA few notes while we await the results of Brett Myers' MRI:
One week into spring training, Pedro Feliz still wasn't swinging a bat. His recovery from offseason surgery to repair a herniated disc in his lower back was going more slowly than expected, leaving his readiness for opening day in some doubt. One thing, though, seemed assured: With infield prospect Jason Donald learning to play third base, the Phillies weren't likely to pick up their $5 million option on Feliz's contract for 2010.
Uh, not so fast ...
Two months into the season, Feliz is batting .307 with 25 RBIs and a team-leading 13 doubles. He's playing his usual Gold Glove-caliber third base. And with Donald struggling at Lehigh Valley (and now dealing with a sore hamstring, evidently), Feliz is looking more and more like a guy who factors into the Phillies' 2010 plans.
"Him playing well, there's nothing bad about it. It's all good," Ruben Amaro Jr. told Philled In yesterday. "I really hope he does put us in a position to say, 'Hey, this guy's less expendable than maybe he would've been a couple years ago.'"
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We'll get into this more over the weekend, as J.C. Romero makes his final minor-league appearances at Lehigh Valley. But with Romero eligible to be activated Wednesday after serving his 50-game suspension, the Phillies have a roster move to make, and they seemingly have two choices:
a) Send lefty Jack Taschner, their only reliever who still has options (he can go to the minors without clearing waivers), to Lehigh Valley. Taschner has a solid 3.92 ERA in 15 appearances, but he has walked 15 batters in 20-2/3 innings and lefties are batting .318 against him.
b) Return slugging reserve outfielder John Mayberry Jr. to Lehigh Valley, leaving only four players on the bench. Mayberry hit his first major-league home run last Saturday at Yankee Stadium, but he hasn't gotten an at-bat since Sunday.
Personally, I'd keep Mayberry and stash Tasch in the minors, adding to the Phillies' stable of veteran relievers at Triple-A (Gary Majewski, Mike Koplove, Tyler Walker, etc.). What would you do?
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Two interesting stats about Jimmy Rollins:
a) Until the fifth inning last night, he hadn't grounded into a double play in 259 at-bats, since Sept. 7, 2008.
b) After hitting 30 homers in 162 games in 2007 and winning the NL MVP, he has hit only 14 in 186 games. Charlie Manuel believes Rollins has been pitched differently since his MVP season, namely he has seen more high fastballs out of the strike zone and slow breaking balls than hittable fastballs. And as long as Rollins keeps chasing those bad pitches, he'll keep getting them. But Manuel also believes Rollins' homer-hitting days aren't a thing of the past. "If he did it once, why can't he do it again?" he said. "He's 30 years old."
2 comments:
Scott, I agree. I would keep mayberry up. With Erye & Romero I don't see the need for Taschner especially since he has options. Coundry & Durbin have pitched well and I wouldn't want to loose them through waivers.
Also, Mayberry has some speed and hopefully can provided some RH pop if Charlie can find him some at bats. Lets see what the kid has.
If Myers injury causes him to miss substantial time how much would it cost for a stud like Halladay or Peavy should he become available. Do you think a deal consisting of 3 or 4 of these players would do it: Happ, Marson, Carrasco, Donald, Taylor, Worley?
Would we have to part with Victorino as part of such a deal?
I agree- keep Mayberry (or another RH hitter) and send Taschner down. No need for 3 lefties when Taschner doesn't do a great job against LH hitters anyway.
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