The Phillies will be without 25-year old lefty swinging 2B Harold Garcia for the next 4-6 months as he has underwent microfracture surgery to his right knee. This is a bad break for Garcia who comes into this season as the Phillies’ #19 prospect according to Baseball America. Garcia played in 12 games in AA-ball for the Phillies last year and he was 15 for 50 (.300 avg, .807 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 2 homers, 4 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has now played in 400 games in his first seven years in the minors and he is 412 of 1,410 (.292 avg, .804 OPS) with 225 runs scored, 27 homers, 187 RBIs and 107 stolen bases.

Major League Baseball has suspended 22-year old lefty swinging outfielder Zach Collier for 50 games for testing positive for amphetamines. Collier played in 112 games in A-ball this year and he was 106 for 416 (.255 avg, .676 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 1 homer, 36 RBIs and 35 stolen bases. He has now played in 265 games in his first three years in the minors and he is 237 for 980 (.242 avg, .647 OPS) with 126 runs scored, 2 homers, 100 RBIs and 60 stolen bases. This is going to really hurt Collier’s chance of getting to the majors down the road with the Phillies.

The Phillies have released 32-year old lefty swinging outfielder Jack Cust and 32-year old righty reliever Aaron Heilman. Cust played in 6 games in AAA-ball for the Phillies and he was 5 for 20 (.250 avg, .848 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs. His release surprised me a little bit as I think he could have helped the Phillies off the bench in September. Aaron Heilman pitched in 9 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Phillies and he was 0-0 with a 8.38 ERA and a 2.07 WHIP. Heilman was quickly signed to a minor league deal by the Pirates.

21-year old righty starting pitcher Trevor May came into this season as the Phillies’ #5 prospect according to Baseball America. May has pitched in 22 games (all starts) in A-ball so far this year and he is 9-6 with a 3.40 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. May has whiffed 164 batters and he has only allowed 100 hits in his first 124 1/3 innings so far this year and those are amazing numbers. But, he has walked 54 batters this year too, so he needs to tighten up his control a bit. May has now pitched in 70 games (65 starts) in his first four years in the minors and he is 26-16 with a 3.39 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. May has whiffed a stunning 466 batters in his first 355 2/3 innings in the minors, as he has been overmatching batters in the minors when he throws strikes as his stuff is that good. The Phillies are probably really glad that the Astros didn’t ask for May in the Hunter Pence deal.

The Phillies have dealt 26-year old righty swinging shortstop Brian Bocock to the Pirates, likely for cash considerations (probably around $20 bucks). Bocock played in 83 games in A+AAA-ball for the Phillies this year and he was 63 for 279 (.226 avg, .586 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 4 homers, 28 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Bocock played in 6 games last year for the Phillies and he was 0 for 5 (.000 avg) with 2 runs scored. This is absolutely no loss for the Phillies going forward.

The Phillies have released 34-year old righty reliever Jason Grilli to allow him to sign with another team (which was the Pirates). Grilli pitched in 28 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball so far this year and he was 4-1 with 3 saves, a 1.93 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. He gave up 26 hits in 32 2/3 innings in the minors this year and he whiffed 42 batters, so he was throwing the ball really well, the Phillies just didn’t have a spot for him. Grilli has pitched in 238 games (16 starts) in his 8 years in the majors and he is 18-18 with 2 saves, a 4.74 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. He might be able to help the Pirates but I have my doubts.

23-year old righty reliever Justin DeFratus came into this season as the Phillies’ #15 prospect according to Baseball America. He has pitched in 30 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA-ball for the Phillies so far this year and he is 6-0 with 8 saves, a 2.74 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. DeFratus has whiffed 60 batters while only allowing 41 hits in his first 46 innings in the minors, showing just how good he has been. DeFratus has now pitched in 139 games (34 starts) in his first five years in the minors and he is 22-14 with 32 saves, a 3.16 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. DeFratus could work his way to Philly by the end of this year if he keeps pitching like he is right now.

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.

36-year old righty swinging 2B Ronnie Belliard has decided to call it a career. Belliard played in 53 games in AAA-ball for the Phillies this year and he was 50 for 199 (.251 avg, .657 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 3 homers, 23 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Belliard played in 1,484 games in his 13 years in the major leagues and he was 1,377 of 5,045 (.273 avg, .753 OPS) with 685 runs scored, 114 homers, 601 RBIs and 43 stolen bases. The Phillies won’t miss Belliard as they weren’t about to call him up any time soon.

20-year old righty swinging catcher Sebastian Valle came into this season as the Phillies’ #6 prospect according to Baseball America. Valle has played in 37 games in A-ball so far this year and he is 52 for 149 (.349 avg, .865 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 3 homers and 19 RBIs. The amazing thing about Valle is the .349 batting average as he has only walked 2 times so far this year! Valle has now played in 351 games in his first five years in the minors and he is 357 for 1,288 (.277 avg, .767 OPS) with 169 runs scored, 30 homers, 191 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Valle, if all goes well, will replace Carlos Ruiz in a few years as the Phillies’ starting catcher.