Breaking news: Phils purchase contract of Carpenter

As expected, the Phillies have added a minor league pitching reinforcement for tonight’s game. The unexpected part is that it’s double-A right-hander Andrew Carpenter. Kyle Kendrick is still listed as tonight’s starter, according to the official press notes.

To make room for Carpenter, reservist Andy Tracy has been designated for assignment. The Phillies also cleared space on the 40-man roster by transferring Mike Zagurski to the 60-day DL.

Carpenter, who was a top 10 Phillies prospect before the season, has had an interesting year. The 23-year-old started off in Reading and was the recipient of a good amount of pre-season hype, but was demoted to single-A Clearwater a little more than a month into the season after showing up out of shape. Back with Reading, his last start occurred Friday, when he threw seven shutout innings while striking out eight against Trenton. Between Clearwater and Reading, the 6-3, 225-pound hurler is a combined 9-11 with a 4.68 ERA and 101/39 K/BB ratio in 24 starts. Four of his last five starts were quality, seven-inning starts. The other was an Aug. 17, eight-run shelling at the hands of Trenton. Tracy departs after making two pinch-hit at bats, drawing a walk in one of them.

Beerleaguer: It wouldn't be a Mets series without expecting the unexpected, and the Phils never come up small in that department. Without hearing more details, I have no strong opinion of the move and hopefully Kendrick has a strong night and Carpenter doesn't factor in heavily. He's no stud prospect; he's more of a mid-level prospect who took a backward step this season and is trying to regain some footing. Many were expecting Kris Benson to get the call. Benson is scheduled to pitch for Lehigh Valley tonight. Perhaps Carpenter is the better bet to jump into the mix and devour innings from the pen? Or perhaps it boils down to contractual issues or dollars and cents ...

Additional thoughts: Something I thought about in the car ride home. During spring training, there were some comparisons drawn between Carpenter and Joba Chamberlain as a big, strong guy who could be eased into the Majors with a role in the bullpen. Others thought he'd be this year's Kyle Kendrick. The Phils definitely see something in him as this move suggests. He's going to fall out of many prospect rankings this off-season because he didn't progress in Double-A, but the Phils will always see it differently, and should. They'll usually take the guy throwing the best ball, and he has showcased some consistency lately.

Comments

[doubleh]

Why not try Benson? Oh, they probably didn't want to pay him by putting him on the roster...

I'm sure he would have loved to stick it to his former team.

[Jim]

I guess that's the last nail in Kris Benson's coffin for this season.

[mike cunningham]

wow.

[TK]

Another forgotten highlight from last night: Myers lunging his body as if the pitch was inside, even though it was on the outside corner.

[baxter]

I guess this means they no longer consider Carpenter a prospect

[dick allen-15]

When are going to rid ourselves of Taguchi ? Why does he keep escaping the chopping block ? I have no problem with adding Carpenter for a quick stint but couldnt we have kept Tracey and rid ourselves of you know who ?

Disgusting

[Sam]

I went back today and watched that myers' at-bat...probably one of the highlights of the season so far, doubly so knowing that the game was won by the next batter.

I also really am amazed by Charlie "The Gut" Manuel in this game. I remember a lot of his crazy moves in the beginning of the season had a knack of working out, and telling myers to shoulder the bat to prevent a double play ended up working out because beltran had to continue playing a shallow center field since there was just 1 out...although it might have been fun to watch myers hack away...

[diggitydave]

@dick allen:
The Phils can't get rid of Taguchi because his interpreter is such a good clubhouse guy..
I mean did you see him celebrating in the dugout and on the field after the game?? They can't afford to lose him!

[philsphan]

I didn't see this one coming, I thought they would have Benson or make a real Phillies move like bringing back Les Walrond or even worse... Adam Eaton.

Carpenter got rocked when he was at AA. but after coming back from Clearwater to AA he has been much better, going 7 innings and 2 ER or less in each of 4 of his 5 starts. He gets a good amount of Ks and not a while lot of BBs.

Many people here predicted Carpenter to be this year's Kendrick. Obviously it didn't work out that way, but it will be interesting to see what he can do.

[GM-Carson]

Not Fabio Castro, not Kris Benson, not Adam Eaton, not JA Happ, but Andrew Carpenter...wow!

[joe]

It's not benson, because with his service time, he would have no options to send back down.

[timr]

Why isn't this Happ's spot? Do they really think that low of him, or did he just pitch last night or something?

[dick allen-15]

@Sam

Thanks for the levity. Some of their moves boggles the mind. My hope is that when Golson comes up in September I wont have to see Taguchi except when he is bowing in the dugout.

[philsphan]

And guess who the Mets bring up to help their bullpen?

Nelson Figueroa! The former Phillie!

[Brian G]

Really, the only two options for someone to eat innings were Carpenter and Benson. Everyone else Carson mentioned was on too short a rest. I don't know if contract was the main impetus, but Carpenter has been performing best lately out of the two. I like the move.

[joe]

Happ started last night.

[GM-Carson]

From ESPN.com's Jerry Crashnick-

Jimmy Rollins, Phillies (.293/.345/.500 career in Sept./Oct.)
Rollins has clashed with his manager and ticked off Philadelphia fans with his "front-runners" comment, and they've been letting him have it on a nightly basis. On a positive note, the Phillies are finished on the West Coast, so J-Roll is done with "Best Damn Sports Show" for this season.

Former Phillies GM Ed Wade calls Rollins a "red-light player" -- a guy who's at his best when he's the center of attention -- and that's never more evident than in September. Rollins stands 5-foot-8 and weighs 174 pounds and has played an average of 157 games per season since 2001, yet his numbers are higher across the board in the final month.

In 2005, Rollins finished the season with a 36-game hitting streak. Last year he cranked it up with six homers, 18 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 14 attempts in September to wrest the MVP award from Matt Holliday and lead the Phillies past the fading Mets in the NL East.

Rollins has a .254 on base percentage leading off an inning this season, so he has some lost ground to recover. But with eight hits in 10 at-bats against the Dodgers and Mets the past two nights, he's gotten the Philly crowds back on his side and built some momentum for the final push.

"He can be the guy to get us going," said Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino. "It's obvious what he does when he gets on base. He changes the whole dynamic for this team."

[chaz]

"He can be the guy to get us going," said Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino. "It's obvious what he does when he gets on base. He changes the whole dynamic for this team."

Oh, no questions asked.

[Willard Preacher]

The Benson/options component is probably correct, joe. Carpenter is sure to be sent right back down, while the Phils wouldn't have that luxury with Benson. Once they're ready to bring up KB, it better be for good.

[Willard Preacher]

JRoll getting on track is the key to any "Leadership" questions with the guy. Put yourself in his shoes - just won the MVP, is presumed to be the "leader" with Rowand's departure, then comes out of the gate struggling and spends a bunch of time on the DL. It doesn't change his teammates' opinions of him, but to Jimmy it has to be tough to think of himself as a "leader" while not even playing, or playing poorly (think about how great you feel after a crappy week at work). Now that he's found a bit of a groove, he'll feel much more content to pick guys up, pump his fists and do all of this supposed "leading" that everyone assumes this team needs.

[Yikes!]

Amusing J-Roll article on ESPN's Page 2.

[Lake Fred]

A baffler for sure. Carpenter? I'd like to see Walrond come back. Maybe Carpenter is a good hitting pitcher. The "Gut" seems to like that trait of late.

[TK]

Figueroa started a few games earlier this year for the Mets. I saw one of them...he was pitifully bad.

[John]

The Phils surely were just calling someone up for today. Beyond the contract stuff, perhaps the Phils just wanted to get someone the Mets haven't seen. If Kendrick hits trouble, perhaps Carpenter just gets through some innings because of how unfamiliar the Mets are with him.

There's a book on Benson.

[vegas]

I'm all for suprises, after 10 weeks of lame "waiting around to be caught" baseball, shake it up. Let's keep it rolling.

[NEPP]

So did they just pull a name out of a hat?

[jr]

Brian G and Willard Preacher together you have explained it perfectly!

[EastFallowfield]

Yo, game thread.

[vegas]

First pitch. Nice.

[vegas]

Take that you Mutt!

[johnnysanz3]

Anybody know where I can find video of the myers at bat? I didn't get to see the game.

[dick allen-15]

Only C Manuel looks like Connie Mack one night and J Felske the next. Seanez pitches the 8th inning and there goes the W..You have to have someone other than Seanez available for the 8th inning. Too pissed off to discuss it any further

[Mark B.]

Hopefully, the Phils can show well against Chicago and that the Marlins can take some starch out of the Mets prior to next weekend's climatic 3 games with the Division on the line. The Phils MUST at least split with the Cubs.