Beer nuts: Who's pimping who?

Ryan Howard and Josh Beckett got the juices flowing in Clearwater.

In the eyes of Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett, Ryan Howard appeared to drop his bat and 'pimp it' after he took his pitch deep to center field in the sixth inning yesterday. It would have been his 11th homer of spring training, except the wind knocked it down and Adam Stern made an easy catch.

As Howard jogged past the mound back toward the Phillies' dugout, Beckett let Howard have it.

I didn’t catch the spat, but Tom Goodman of Swing and a Miss did. Here’s what Goodman saw:

"Well, at the time I was quite annoyed. Beckett is apparently disliked intensely by friend and foe alike. The replay clearly showed (this is no interpretation) that Howard was NOT styling. And if you read Jason Stark on ESPN this AM he says Beckett was sorry it happened. But the whole thing was preceded by an incident just before the Howard shot when Beckett walked around the mound annoyed and then buzzed J-Roll twice after Jimmy stepped out on him. Then, the play at the plate (good ole Dancy) saw Beckett get fired up again, pumping his fist like he just won the Series."

I've personally never cared for Beckett. He’s right around the age of Brett Myers, but has accomplished more and is better. His six career wins against the Phils is the most against any team. He's one of those guys who will always be one step ahead of the Phillies, and this latest incident only puts him ahead even more.

Back to the Phillies, I find it hard envisioning how this laid-back group would respond to something like this during the regular season. I do not recall a single bench clearing incident season, and almost none involving this core of players.

------ A report on Phillies.com this weekend indicated Charlie Manuel has narrowed the final bullpen candidates to a list that includes Robinson Tejeda, Ricardo Rodriguez, Chris Booker Eude Brito and Yoel Hernandez. The notable omission is of course Aquilino Lopez, who was shelled in his latest outing. I’m putting all my chips on Rodriguez, and expect the Phillies to work something out with Washington in order to keep Booker.

------ The Phillies released 20 minor leaguers yesterday, including pitcher Aaron Myette. As soon as I get the finalized list, I will post it in this space. In the meantime, if you happen upon the information in your Web travels, please post it in the comments.

------ Carlos Pena was released by the Tigers. I mentioned Pena earlier as a possible addition to the Phillies bench. The 27-year-old left-handed hitter hit 18 homers in 260 at bats last season.

------ Catching up on some older news, Cole Hamels will begin the season pitching for Single-A Clearwater. He was originally scheduled to come north to Double-A Reading. The team’s top-ranked prospect, according to Baseball America, is shamefully one of only two Phillies to make the magazine’s list of top 100 prospects. Hamels ranks 68, and left-hander Gio Gonzalez ranks 73.

Comments

[Tom Goodman]

Apropos of nothing... Chris Coste was very impressive to me, especially behind the plate. I was astonished when I realized he was doing the catching. He sets a great target, moves the game along quickly and made a great throw to second on a steal that was clearly off of Lidle. This guy deserves at least his cup of coffee in the big leagues not only for his great offensive spring to date but for his extraordinary versatility. I haven't seen Fasano behind the plate but based on yesterday's small sample of Coste I would not be at all unhappy to see him back there more ofte.

[RickSchuBlues]

Hope the Sox enjoy their latest j***-o** acquisition, Josh "Blisters" Beckett. Apparently he has a problem with having his status as cockiest player on the field threatened. Maybe he can write a book of baseball etiquette while he's sitting on the DL in the middle of the season.

[Bill]

I think this is very good news...the Phillies have a spark this year, not like past seasons. It's got me excited. I picked the Phils to win the NL East on my blog because of that kind of passion.

[Tom Goodman]

Beckett is even more intense than Myers , but I also think he is a better pitcher. Injuries have hampered him over the years as RickSchuBlues notes above. He does seem to develop blister problems serious enough to disable him, but when he is healthy he is a piece of work. His changeup is wicked and it's only his third pitch. He is also smarter than Myers. He threw nothing but heat and the occasional hook for several innings yesterday against the Phils before even showing the change, but when he finally threw it, it was the PERFECT pitch and the perfect time. Myers could never do that.

[theragtopguy]

I predict problems for Beckett in the AL. Since he won't have to bat I think he'll be drilling people a lot.

What a classless jerk, million dollar arm and 2 cents for brains.

I liked seeing that spark also, this team is growing on me more and more.

Now if we can get our middle relief straightened out......

[RickSchuBlues]

Hey, obviously Beckett's a good pitcher. Obviously better than Myers, as well. But like Pedro Martinez, a first-class talent and world-class, uh, jerk. I hated practically everyone on that Marlins team, it's so satisfying to see it blown up for good.

I don't see how the incident suddenly translates this into a 'passionate' team. It'll take a lot more than that to convince me. But they are headed in the right path, I believe. Any kind of personality and unity could have helped the team get into the playoffs last year; I only saw them come alive during the last two months. Hopefully it'll carry over.

Meanwhile, Gavin Floyd is the story of the spring. Who'd have guessed that when he was struggling again at the beginning of the month? His emergence, if it's sustained, puts the Phillies in far better condition than I believed all winter. Pitching depth? Could it be?

[Jason]

I agree about Floyd... can we please bring him up with us? If he's finally ready, let's not ingore it. Throw Leiber out there, followed by 3 homegrown guys. Myers, Madson, & FLoyd. I really think Phils fans could really get into a staff like that of good homegrown guys.

That would free up Franklin or Lidle for the pen, since rumors seem to have the Phils shopping Geary & Cormier...

[Tom Goodman]

The tricky part of the Floyd situation is what a trip to Scranton will do to his new-found confidence. The Phils have backed themselves into a corner (what a surprise!) by guaranteeing Ryan Franklin and, for now, Ryan Madson, spots in the rotation. Bring Floyd to Phila now and Madson is likely to be the odd man out and none to happy about it. My guess is that Madson gets moved back to the middle relief role unless he gets off to a great start in the rotation. As currently constituted the Phils are too thin at that position to contend. I don't think Franklin is the likely candidate for the pen because the last thing the Phils need IN RELIEF is a fly-ball HR pitcher!!

[Rob B.]

Courtesy, MLB.com:

Cole Hamels was reassigned to Minor League camp on Monday and will begin the season at Class A Clearwater. Aquilino Lopez and Yoel Hernandez were also optioned to Minor League camp, and will likely start the season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. That leaves 34 players in camp.

The Phillies released 20 players from Minor Lague camp on Sunday: Juan Alvarez, Erick Arteaga, Ryan Barthelemy, Derek Brant, Tom Cochran, Jose Cortez, Matt Edwards, Mitchell Graham, Peter Henyan, Jeff Inglin, Greg Isaacson, Chris Klemm, B.J. Littleton, Mike Lombardi, Timi Moni, Aaron Myette, Kevin Shepard, Clayton Stewart, Jordan Szabo and C.J. Woodrow.

Isaacson is a local guy from here (Aberdeen, WA). Any comments as to why, from yours (Beer League) or anyone else's POV?

Rob B.