Minix could be in mix in '06

Travis Minix has continued to dominate out of the bullpen for the Surprise Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League. The 28-year-old right-hander appears to be on the fast track for a spot in the Phillies' bullpen.

So far in five games and 7 2-3 innings with the Scorpions, Minix has a 1.17 ERA and has allowed only 1 earned run and 5 hits, striking out five and walking three.

At this pace, the 6-1 right-hander will finished with a sub 2.00 ERA in Double-A, Triple-A and in the AFL.

Reading (1.84 ERA, 58 2-3 innings, 7 saves, 55/15 strikeout/walk ratio)
Scranton (1.57 ERA, 17 2-3 innings)

Minix is another example of a player who won’t be picked up on Baseball America’s radar because of his age, but could find himself pitching in the majors very soon because of possible openings in the bullpen. With uncertainty surrounding Billy Wagner and Ugueth Urbina, along with the continued deterioration of Rheal Cormier, the Phils may need to fill two or more holes.

Minix was a solid producer in the Devil Rays organization for six seasons, pitching with Triple-A Durham in 2004, but was unexpectedly released on March 29. The Phillies signed him the very next day.

Originally selected in the 23rd round of the June '99 draft, Minix features a fastball, slider and changeup with 88-89 speed and sharp location. R-Phils pitching coach Tom Filer called his slider the best in the Eastern League back in June.

Four other Phillies are playing alongside Minix this fall, including center fielder Michael Bourn, starting pitcher Scott Mathieson, and relief pitchers Ryan Cameron and Brian Sanches.

Sanches is another promissing reliever who was picked up as a minor league free agent two seasons ago. So far, the right-handed Texan has a 1.29 ERA in 7 innings with the Scorpions. Sanches pitched the entire season with the Red Barons, going 5-3 with a 3.69 ERA in relief, compiling a very good 75/27 strkeout/walk ratio.

The Scorpions share players from the Astros, Royals, Phillies, Angels and Cardinals.

Of note, top prospect Jered Weaver is on the roster but has been bombed so far. In three games, the Angels' first-round pick in the 2004 draft is 0-2 with a 8.59 ERA. Meanwhile, Mathieson has dominated, striking out 22 batters in 11 2-3 innings for a 3.18 ERA.

Links
For more on Travis Minix: click here.
For updates on the five Phillies playing for the Scorpions: click here.
For Surprise Scorpions stats: click here.

Comments

[gr]

beat me to it, jay. the most intriguing part of next year's club, besides what big deals could be made in the off season, is how the bullpen is going to shape up. the phils could conceivably lose all parts of the troika, wags and urbina to free agency and, it sounds from the winter meetings, madsen to the starting rotation. that leaves geary, fultz, aqualung (my sleeper pick for closer or setup guy), and tejeda/brito. big holes to fill. i wonder if hamels might start in the bullpen if he's healthy. perhaps he can stay healthy in that role.

[Oisin]

Great piece of info there, Jason. Now I have a bit more distance on the end of the season, I'm confident of the bullpen if we can bring in guys like these, because I'm confident of our current pitching coach getting them up to major league speed - he got the best out of brito and tejada, so I think he can do just fine. IF we get a half-decent closer.

I hope they don't go for the U-get option - I just don't trust a closer who only relies on location and breaking stuff, especially when his location will wander far and wide in the course of an inning.

[Tom Goodman]

Jason: One of the MANY great things you bring to the table is your knowledge of the Phils farm system, from the players to the managers. No one does it better.

Why, do you suppose, the Devel Rays released Minix?

[gr]

san diego seems to be a really good fit for urbina, pitcher's park and the presumed loss of trevor hoffman. uges wasn't a particularly inspiring set up guy. very ht and cold.

[J. Weitzel]

Goodman: I got my people working on it. My guess is they couldn't protect him on the 40-man roster and he wasn't eligible for the Rule 5.

Also, if you think I'm good with the minors (far from it), you should have a conversation with my stepfather sometime. He's the farm system guru.

[J. Weitzel]

Mike Drago, the R-Phils beat writer for the Eagle, thinks it was probably a roster decision. They looked at Minix as being 28, figured he was too old to play at Double-A, figured he could only marginally help them at Triple-A, and figured they had better, younger guys, or veteran guys closer to the major leagues, that they wanted on their Triple-A roster.

[Tom Goodman]

BTW, I noticed in an ESPN piece on the White Sox bullpen and their inactivity over the last few weeks that Cliff Polite was among those interviewed. Talk about landing on one's feet. Didn't he make a few other stops along the way between the Phillies and the World Series?

[J. Weitzel]

Pollite had a very good season, ERA of 2.00. He pitched with the Jays after Philadelphia in a deal that brought Dan Plesac to the Phils. I had to look that up.

Here's a quiz: Here's the list of the best relief pitchers in baseball according to Win Shares. How many Phillies properties or former properties are on this list?

1. Rivera
2. B Wagner
3. Turnbow
4. Nathan
5. T Jones
6. Street
7. Timlin
8. Politte
9. Linebrink
10. Valverde

[MPN]

I count 5 (Wags, Turnbow, Jones, Timlin [who quit on us!], and Politte).

Speaking of the AFL.... The Bourn Supremacy looks to be doing nicely, too. My thoughts for next year are to see how a Michaels/Victorino platoon does (30/70 split, most likely) and let Bourn go the full year at Scranton. Of course if this necessitates moving Bobby (and I'd argue you'd need to move him over Burrell because (1) he is a Moneyball/roto player who will return more value in a trade and (2) our line-up is way too lefty tilting as is....

[J. Weitzel]

You got it. Turnbow was the tricky one. He was in the Phils minor league system from 1997-1999 and was taken by the Angels in the Rule 5 draft.