Hamels among few early bright spots for Phils

Pitcher Cole Hamels earned the win yesterday and is one of the lone bright spots for an organization on the ropes.

Hamels, the Phillies No. 1 prospect according to Baseball America, has thrown 11 shutout innings in two starts, allowing 5 hits, 2 walks and 16 strikeouts. Word around camp this spring, and even dating back to last season, says the Phillies are anxious to move Hamels through the system quickly, and is only in Single-A Clearwater because he can get more work in a warmer climate. The 22-year-old left-hander has missed extensive time with nagging back and elbow injuries. Look for Hamels to jump up to Triple-A soon.

Teammate Zach Segovia, another highly regarded prospect and mainstay on the Phillies' 40-man roster, also impressed in his first start, notching 11 strikeouts in 7 innings. Third baseman Mike Costanzo, the team's first pick in the 2005 draft, is hitting .308 with a home run. Clearwater is off to a 4-2 start.

As for the rest of the organization, Double-A Reading is off to a 1-5 start, despite a roster brimming with talent. The offense has yet to get out of the gate and has been shut out or held to one run four times. Top infield prospect Tim Moss is 0-for-18 with 13 strikeouts. Ouch.

Triple-A Scranton was shutout last night and is off to a 2-4 start. Eude Brito was rocked in his first outing, lasting just three innings and giving up four runs. Chris Coste and Chris Roberson, contenders for the final spot off the bench for the big Phillies until two weeks ago, are hitting just .222 and .200 respectively.

Comments

[Casey]

Gio Gonzalez also had a solid if short start for Reading: 5 innings, 2 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts, no runs allowed. They lost on 2 unearned runs given up by the bullpen.

[gr]

AA: mathieson has a nice fastball, but needs to change speeds a little more to move up. otherwise, he's destined for the pen. reading has no power in their lineup at all. i think they'll be under .500, but with decent pitching.

[Tom Goodman]

What, me worry? How the Phillies handle Cole Hamels will be interesting to watch to say the least. They are going to need starting pitching sooner than later and unlike Gavin Floyd, I don't think Hamels will suffer a lack of confidence if, when given the opportunity, he has a few rough outings. He just needs to control his emotions outside the game and his health overall. For their part, the Phils can't rush him on many fronts, experience and health being the two major ones. There have been other pitchers who jumped from the low minors to the big leagues but not many. Whatever else they do, they should be patient and consistent in handling him, two areas which heretofore have not been hallmarks of this franchise.

[gr]

well, tom, i think they've definitely been patient. aren't they usually criticized for being overly so?

[RickSchuBlues]

After seeing how they've touted Myers and Floyd as the next great hopes of the franchise, I have to register skepticism about Hamels being the new savior. Of course, I haven't seen him pitch, but the fact is this organization (there's that word again) has a terrible record for developing young pitchers. Seems they even find a way to screw up the good ones.

[theragtopguy]

I'm going to Friday's day game at Reading, curious to see the team play. I'll give my impressions afterwards. I hope one of those lefties is pitching.

[Casey]

You should see McClaskey starting that Friday game. Haigwood should go tonight, Gonzalez tomorrow.

[dajafi]

At some point, I want to look at how the Phils' actual prospects are doing compared to the minor-league filler the staff has assembled around them. It seems like for Reading in particular, the kid pitchers are doing fine and Jaramillo and Bourn are off to decent starts, but the minor league free agents and castoffs from other organizations are dragging them down night after night. Well, and Timmy Moss with his 0-22, 14 strikeout line hasn't helped very much.