Top prospects among Phillies' spring training invitees

Pitchers Carlos Carrasco, Josh Outman, Joe Savery head the list of 19 non-roster players with tickets to Clearwater, Fla.

Outfielder Greg Golson, shortstop Jason Donald and catcher Lou Marson also made the cut among younger prospects in the Phillies' chain. The list includes a couple of minor league veterans and recent additions, including 26-year-old outfielder Brandon Watson, who was discussed in an earlier post. The only new name is catcher Paul Hoover, an organizational catcher who was in the Marlins' system. Hoover was listed on the Philly.com list, but not on the official one. Here's the official list. Many of them have already been discussed.

Carlos Carrasco, RHP: At 20 years old, Carrasco went a combined 12-6 with a 3.86 ERA in 26 games (25 starts) for single-A Clearwater and double-A Reading, including two shutouts and a 6.0-inning no-hitter on August 21 against Altoona. A native of Venezuela, Carrasco held minor league hitters to a .224 average, allowing only 114 hits in 140.0 innings. In his last two seasons, he is 24-12 with a 3.01 ERA and four complete games in 52 games (51 starts).

Mike Cervenek, 1B: Cervenek played for triple-A Norfolk in 2007 and led the International League in hits (157), games (140) and at-bats (554). For the season, he batted .283 with 15 home runs and 78 RBI. Cervenek, 31, has played in the minor league systems of the Yankees (2000-02), Giants (2003-06) and Orioles (2007).

Ron Chiavacci, RHP: In 26 games (23 starts) for triple-A Toledo in 2007, Chiavacci went 12-6 with a 3.39 ERA. He went 11-2 from May 25 through the end of the season and pitched at least 6.0 innings in 18 of his 23 starts. A native of Scranton, Pa., Chiavacci was originally selected by the Expos in the 44th of the 1998 draft.

Vic Darensbourg, LHP: Darensbourg, 37, spent the 2007 season with triple-A Toledo and went 6-2 with a 1.72 ERA in 50 games. In 52.1 innings, he did not allow a home run. During the off-season, he pitched for Magnalles of the Venezuelan Winter League and went 1-0 with a 2.53 ERA in 17 appearances. Darensbourg has spent eight seasons in the major leagues with the Marlins (1998-2002), Rockies (2003), Expos (2003), White Sox (2004), Mets (2004) and Tigers (2005), going 8-17 with two saves and a 4.96 ERA in 309 appearances, all in relief. In his last season in the major leagues, he posted a 2.82 ERA in 22 games for Detroit.

Jason Donald, SS: A third-round selection by the Phillies in the 2006 draft, Donald hit a combined .304 with 31 doubles, eight triples, 12 home runs and 71 RBI between single-A Lakewood and single-A Clearwater. He finished with the third-best average among the organization's minor leaguers.

Greg Golson, OF: Golson, 22, split the 2007 season between single-A Clearwater and double-A Reading, hitting a combined .273 with 32 doubles, 15 home runs, 68 RBI and 30 stolen bases in 136 games. A first-round selection by the Phillies in the 2004 draft, Golson played for Peoria in the Arizona Fall League following the season.

Tuffy Gosewisch, C: An 11th-round selection by the Phillies in the 2005 draft, Gosewisch played for single-A Lakewood this past season and hit .224 with five home runs and 45 RBI in 92 games. In the Arizona Fall League, he batted .250 with a homer and six RBI in 14 games for Peoria.

Tim Gradoville, C: Gradoville, 27, appeared in a combined 54 games for double-A Reading and triple-A Ottawa in 2007.

Brennan King, 3B: King will be in camp with the Phillies for the second year in a row. The 26-year-old spent 2007 with triple-A Ottawa, where he hit .277 with 10 home runs and 59 RBI in 122 games.

Gary Knotts, RHP: Knotts, 30, was signed by the Phillies as a minor league free agent last August and pitched at double-A and triple-A for the organization. He went a combined 2-4 with a 3.20 ERA in six starts, including three complete games and two shutouts, one of which was a one-hitter. In 86 career major league games (38 starts), Knotts is 13-16 with a 5.45 ERA for Florida (2001-02) and Detroit (2003-04).

Lou Marson, C: Marson spent the entire 2007 season with single-A Clearwater, batting .288 with 24 doubles, seven home runs and 63 RBI in 111 games.

Brian Mazone, LHP: Mazone began the 2007 season with the Phillies' organization at triple-A Ottawa and made six starts (3-2, 2.21 ERA) before having his contract sold to the Samsung Lions of the Korean League. In 2006, he led the International League with a 2.03 ERA for the Phillies' triple-A affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Josh Outman, LHP: Outman, 23, split the 2007 between single-A Clearwater and double-A Reading. Overall, he went 12-7 with a 2.99 ERA in 27 games (25 starts), including a 6.0-inning no-hitter for Clearwater on July 7. He led all Phillies minor leaguers with 151 strikeouts. Following the season, Outman pitched for both Peoria in the Arizona Fall League and the World Cup-winning Team U.S.A., going a combined 1-1 with a 3.95 ERA in five games (three starts). He had 13 strikeouts in 13.2 innings.

Valentino Pascucci, OF/1B: Pascucci finished third among all minor leaguers in 2007 with 34 home runs for triple-A Albuquerque. In addition to the homers, he hit .284 with 27 doubles and 98 RBI in 132 games. Pascucci, 29, appeared in 32 major league games for Montreal in 2004.

Joe Savery, LHP: Savery was the Phillies' first-round selection in the 2007 draft and will be attending his first major league spring training. He made seven starts for single-A Williamsport last season and went 2-3 with a 2.73 ERA, while holding opposing hitters to a .214 average. In five starts for Peoria in the Arizona Fall League, the 22-year-old went 1-1 with a 0.64 ERA, allowing only four hits in 14.0 innings (.091 opponents' batting average).

Casey Smith, INF: For triple-A Salt Lake, the 28-year-old Smith hit .290 with two home runs, 53 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 109 games. He batted .379 (36-95) in his final 25 games of the season.

Andy Tracy, 1B/3B: Tracy, 34, spent parts of three seasons in the major leagues with the Expos (2000-01) and Rockies (2004). In his rookie season of 2000, he hit .260 with 11 home runs and 32 RBI for Montreal. Last season, Tracy, a left-handed hitter, played for triple-A New Orleans and hit .271 with 23 home runs and 87 RBI in 135 games. He is currently playing for Licey in the Dominican Winter League.

Brandon Watson, OF: Watson made news in 2007 with his 43-game hitting streak for triple-A Columbus. For the season, he hit .313 with two home runs, 29 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 103 games. The 26-year-old had a brief call-up with Washington in June, when he batted .278 in five games. Originally a ninth-round selection by Montreal in the 1999 draft, Watson has appeared in 24 major league games over parts of three seasons (2005-07) with Washington and Cincinnati.

Comments

[MG]

Not exactly a list that inspires much enthusiasm. Unlike the last two seasons, I don't think the Phils can count on anyone from their farm system substantially helping this team in '08.

[martin]

Brian Mazone and the Samsung Lions. The Samsung Lions have an English website, so I learned Brian went 7-11 with a 4.18 era, being paid a salary of $234,000USD. Not a bad salary, plus other living perks. Looks like an good addition for the Ironpigs.

[Mike]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Tuffy Gosewisch plays less in the major leagues than Moonlight Graham.

[J. Weitzel]

Instead of Clearwater, they should call it Gradoville. How many years has Gradoville been around now? His career highlight came in a spring training game with a game-winning hit. Anyone remember it? Happened two-three years ago.

Last year's list FYI:

Andrew Beattie, Joe Bisenius, Ron Calloway, Ryan Cameron, Jim Crowell, Kane Davis, Kyle Drabek, John Ennis, Jeff Farnsworth, Greg Golson, Tim Gradoville, J.A. Happ, Jason Hill, Jason Jaramillo, Brennan King, Lou Marson, Brian Mazone, Randall Simon, Dusty Wathan.

[clout]

Interesting to note that 4 of those invitees from last year played for the big league team. None performed well.

[bay_area_phan]

I'm not very enthusiastic about the Phillies' minor league system, but a sleeper on that list might be Jason Donald. He was seen as an underachiever in college and, before last year, was viewed as a future utillity player in the majors. But he put up high averages & OBPs at 2 different levels of Single A last year. Evidently, there's now some discussion about trying to move him from SS to third base. If he can again put up good numbers at AA this year, I could see him replacing Bruntlett before season's end. I could also seem him as a viable third base option by 2009.

[Dan]

according to metsblog, the Mets have signed RHP Matt Wise to a 1 year deal....i know a bunch of Beerleaguers wanted him..he is solid and everyone was looking for bullpen help but im not broken up about it...

[jr]

Former Seattle Mariners reliever Julio Mateo pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of beating his wife in a Manhattan hotel.

The 30-year-old player pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and disorderly conduct, admitting he hit Santa Martina Sanchez on May 5, 2007. In exchange for the plea, Mateo was spared jail and sentenced to a domestic abuse program.

[clout]

BAP: Donald was 22 in single-A last year. That's old. He also struck out 109 times in 490 ABs between low and high A. Not good. I'll be quite shocked if he turns into anything more than a utility guy.

[Josh M]

CBS Sportsline lists SS Casey Smith as another invite. He is from the Angels' system.

[clout]

Wise probably signed for $2.5M. Iguchi signed for $4M. The Phils allegedly have $10M to spend on free agents. They could've signed those 2 for say, $7.5 and still had $2.5 for another bullpen guy.

[Ed]

Why oh why do ALL of our hitter "prospects" bat .270 to .280 with 15 hrs in the minors?? I know AVG isn't seen as all that relevant, but doesn't it seem like all the great prospects and pros on other teams came up hitting .330/.450/.600 in the minors?

Bleah. No wonder we can't trade for a Haren or Bedard.

[JMARR]

Clout - how could we have signed Iguchi? He wanted to play 2B and took a better (for him) deal.

I agree with the RP signing - if Wise signed for $2.5 I would have liked to have had him.

[Kurt G.]

How did the Phillies get Mazone back? He is probably better than Adam Eaton at these stages of their careers. He could learn a lot pitching along with Jamie Moyer.

[Kurt G.]

How did the Phillies get Mazone back? He is probably better than Adam Eaton at these stages of their careers. He could learn a lot pitching along with Jamie Moyer.