Bunts and Balks (8/12)

Brett Myers made his third simulated relief appearance on Wednesday. Myers faced Clearwater Threshers (A) batters, throwing thirty-two pitches, in two innings. For a challenge, Myers should face Reading Phillies (AA) batters. DomOnic Brown, Steve Susdorf, Neil Sellers, and Kevin Mahar would be a formidable simulated group. Of course, at this early stage in Myers' rehab, it might not be prudent to challenge him too much. Myers could appear in an actual minor league game next week.

The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (AAA) rallied from a ninth-inning deficit, to beat the Louisville Bats on Wednesday, 10-9. Michael Taylor hit a game-tying home run, in the bottom of the ninth inning. As if that wasn't enough, it was Taylor's fifth hit of the game. It should also be mentioned that, as a result of the homer, Taylor successfully hit for the cycle!

Lehigh Valley LHP Brian Mazone was placed on the 15-Day DL. RHP Pat Overholt was reassigned from Lehigh Valley, to Reading (AA). Rodrigo Lopez and Kyle Kendrick were added to the Lehigh Valley roster. The current Lehigh Valley rotation appears to include (in no particular order): Drew Carpenter, Gustavo Chacin, Kyle Kendrick, Rodrigo Lopez, and Joe Savery.
Overholt struggled with excessive baserunner issues in AAA, permitting ten hits and thirteen walks (nine whiffs), in fourteen relief innings. Overholt's ERA of 3.21 is very deceiving; his FIP is 5.84. Overholt's AA FIP was 6.20, as his poor command has been too much for his lucky BABIPs (.228 in AAA, .247 in AA) to overcome.
The veteran journeyman Mazone is minor league filler, at this point in his career.

Lehigh Valley reassigned RHP Alex Concepcion to Reading (AA). RHP Joe Bisenius was promoted for Clearwater (A). Concepcion did an adequate job in AAA, posting a 3.86 ERA/3.41 FIP. Concepcion struck out eight batters, while walking only one, in fourteen innings at AAA, but he did allow fifteen hits.
Bisenius, a member of the Phillies' 40-Man roster, made three rehab appearances with Clearwater (A), throwing four scoreless innings. It appears that the Phillies want to see how he fares in AAA, when determining whether he remains on the 40-Man.

The Reading Phillies (AA) fell short in their ninth-inning rally attempt, falling to the Trenton Thunder, 3-2. Steve Susdorf hit his first R-Phils' homer in the ninth, but Reading couldn't complete the comeback. Susdorf, DH'ing for the night, has fifteen AA plate appearances, with a line of .286/.375/.571. He could be a satisfactory MLB hitter, but is limited by his defensive inadequacies.
DomOnic Brown went 2 for 4, with a double. In forty-three AA plate appearances, Brown has a line of .342/.419/.684.
Northpaw Vance Worley pitched well, permitting only two runs, both on a two-out home run in the first inning. Worley lasted seven innings, allowing only four hits, while walking none (four whiffs). Worley had a difficult patch in mid-July, four consecutive poor (possibly BABIP-induced?) outings, but now has three consecutive strong starts.
Scott Mathieson conceded a run in the eighth inning, which turned out to be the winning run. Mathieson started his AA stint with six scoreless innings, but has surrended a run, in each of his lost two innings.

The Reading Phillies (AA) activated catcher Tuffy Gosewisch from the DL. Tim Gradoville returned to his role as a coach. Gosewisch, Reading's starting catcher, was finally back in the lineup. It should be helpful for the young hurlers in Reading's rotation (Kyle Drabek, Yohan Flande, Mike Cisco, Mike Stutes, and Vance Worley) to throw to Gosewisch, again.
Gradoville spent a week with the R-Phils. He did not bat, appearing only twice, as a defensive replacement.

The Reading Phillies released RHP Francisco Butto, and sent RHP Tristan Crawford to Clearwater (A), to open roster spots for Overholt and Concepcion.
Crawford had been promoted from Clearwater, on July 24th, when Concepcion was promoted to AAA. Crawford had a 5.79 ERA, in nine and one-third AA innings.
The 26 year-old Butto had struggled with control, with a BB/9 of 4.2 in AAA, and 6.87 in AA.

The Clearwater Threshers (A) scored in the bottom of the ninth, to defeat the Lakeland Flying Tigers, 6-5. The Threshers, spurred by criticisms inferring that they had no good hitters left, had fifteen hits (eleven singles). Threshers' starter Jon Velazquez struck out eight, while walking only one, in five innings. Unfortunately, he was hurt by two home runs, leading to three runs.
Michael Schwimer's scoreless inning streak ended at twelve innings, as the northpaw surrendered two runs in the seventh inning.
Tristan Crawford finished for the save, striking out four (two hits, zero walks), in two scoreless innings.