26-year old righty Drew Carpenter has been called up by the Phillies today to replace Ryan Madson in the bullpen. Carpenter has been converted to relief work this year and he has been outstanding so far in AAA. Carpenter has pitched in 24 games (1 start) in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 5-0 with a 1.58 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. He has only given up 34 hits in 45 2/3 innings this year with 51 whiffs and only 9 walks. Carpenter has now pitched in 133 games (105 starts) in six years in the minors and he is 50-35 with 1 save, a 3.57 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. He has pitched in 5 games (1 start) in parts of three years with the Phillies and he is 1-1 with a 9.31 ERA and a 2.28 WHIP with them. I look for him to be much better for the Phillies this time around.

The Phillies have placed 30-year old righty reliever Ryan Madson on the 15-day disabled list due to a bruised hand, retroactive to June 19th. Madson has pitched in 31 games (0 starts) for the Phillies this year and he is 3-1 with 15 saves, a 2.03 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. The Phillies will likely turn to lefty reliever Antonio Bastardo to close for them now. Madson is the 3rd closer to go down to injury this year for the Phillies with Brad Lidge and Jose Contreras currently on the D.L. The Phillies have called up Drew Carpenter to replace Madson in the bullpen.

32-year old lefty swinging 2B Chase Utley started this season late due to a knee problem and when he returned to action, he still doesn’t look like the player he once was. Utley has played in 29 games for the Phillies so far this year and he is 29 for 108 (.269 avg, .810 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 3 homers, 16 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He played in 115 games last year for the Phillies and he was 117 for 425 (.275 avg, .832 OPS) with 75 runs scored, 16 homers, 65 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Those stats are coming from a player who averaged 110.6 runs scored, 29.2 homers, 101.4 RBIs and 13.4 stolen bases per season between 2005-2009. If Utley gets things going with the bat, the Phillies will really start to make distance between themselves and the Braves in the N.L. East.

The Philadelphia Phillies have placed righty starting pitcher Roy Oswalt on the 15-day disabled list due to lower back tightness. Oswalt has pitched in 13 games (all starts) for the Phillies so far this year and he is 4-6 with a 3.79 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. The Phillies will use rookie righty Vance Worley in Oswalt’s spot in the rotation. Worley has pitched in 8 games (6 starts) for the Phillies so far this year and he is 2-1 with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. He should do a solid job while Oswalt is on the mend. The Phillies have called up righty reliever Scott Mathieson to take over Oswalt’s spot on the roster and he will work out of the bullpen. Mathieson has pitched in 2 games (0 starts) for the Phillies so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 2.33 WHIP.

UPDATE: (6/26/2011) - Oswalt may be out until August as he has a mild bulging disk that he doesn’t want to injure anymore than it already is.

The Phillies have placed 39-year old righty reliever Jose Contreras on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to June 20th. Contreras has pitched in 17 games (0 starts) for the Phillies so far this year and he is 0-0 with 5 saves, a 3.86 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. The Phillies have called up 32-year lefty reliever Juan Perez from AAA to replace Contreras in the bullpen. Perez has pitched in 28 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 0-3 with 4 saves, a 3.52 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. He has whiffed 41 batters while only giving up 23 hits in 30 2/3 innings in the minors, which shows what kind of stuff he has, but he has also walked 20 batters and that’s just too many. Perez last pitched in the majors in 2007 with the Pirates. He has pitched in 24 games (0 starts) in parts of two years in the majors and he is 0-1 with a 5.17 ERA and a 1.79 WHIP.

UPDATE: (8/23/2011) - Jose Contreras will miss the rest of the 2011 season as he needs right elbow surgery. The Phillies hope that he will be ready for spring training in 2012.

On December 9th, 1982 the Phillies traded 2B Manny Trillo, SS Julio Franco, C Jerry Willard, OF George Vukovich and relief pitcher Jay Baller to the Cleveland Indians for lefty swinging 1B/OF Von Hayes. He became known around Philly as Mr. 5 for 1. Hayes best season for the Phillies came back in 1986. He played in 158 games in 1986 and he was 186 for 610 (.305 avg, .859 OPS) with 107 runs scored, 19 homers, 98 RBIs and 24 stolen bases. Hayes led the league in runs scored (107) and doubles (46) in 1986. He also was 8th in the voting for the N.L. MVP Award. Hayes played in 1,208 games for the Phillies in his 9 years with them and he was 1,173 of 4,306 (.272 avg, .789 OPS) with 646 runs scored, 124 homers, 568 RBIs and 202 stolen bases. Hayes is #10 in Phillies’ history in stolen bases with 202 and he is also #8 in walks with 619. Hayes wasn’t too bad of a player for the Phillies, but he was nowhere near as good as Julio Franco turned out to be.

32-year old lefty starting pitcher Cliff Lee has been on fire for the Phillies so far this month. Lee has started 3 games for the Phillies so far in June and he is 3-0 with a 0.38 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. Lee has only allowed 13 hits in his first 24 innings this month. Lee has now started 15 games for the Phillies so far this year and he is 7-5 with a 3.12 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Lee has already walked 24 batters this year in 104 innings, which is 6 more batters than he walked in all of 2010 in 212 1/3 innings) but his control has still be excellent. Lee has also whiffed 111 batters in 104 innings as he is turning into a strikeout pitcher.

29-year old righty swinging outfielder Ben Francisco has not adjusted well to going back to coming off the bench. He has played in 11 games this June for the Phillies and he is 2 for 16 (.125 avg, .542 OPS) with 3 runs scored. Francisco has walked 8 times this month, so at least he is showing a good eye this month. Francisco has now played in 60 games for the Phillies this year and he is 37 for 170 (.218 avg, .708 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 6 homers, 25 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The Phillies need Francisco to get his act back together because they need his bat off the bench.

The Phillies have designated 34-year old lefty reliever J.C. Romero for assignment. Romero pitched in 24 games (0 starts) for the Phillies this year and he was 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP. He pitched in 237 games (0 starts) in parts of five years with the Phillies and he was 6-6 with 4 saves, a 2.73 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. I can’t see Romero accepting a minor league assignment if he clears waivers, so the Phillies should try to deal him.

UPDATE: (6/26/2011) - The Phillies have released J.C. Romero.

The Phillies have placed 33-year old righty starting pitcher Tim Redding to a minor league deal. Redding pitched in 13 games (all starts) in AAA-ball for the Dodgers earlier this year and he was 2-7 with a 6.59 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. Redding gave up 91 hits (11 homers) in only 69 2/3 innings for the Dodgers’ AAA-team this year so he was getting hit hard. Redding has pitched in 179 games (144 starts) in parts of 8 years in the majors and he is 37-57 with a 4.95 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. There’s no harm in giving a guy like Redding a shot in the minors to get his act back together.