Ex-Phillies enjoying life on the National League fringe

Updating a couple of former Phils battling for roster spots around league, plus, Beerleaguer becomes the proud father of a 6 millimeter bundle of joy.

Russell Branyan, Diamondbacks—Though he has put up big numbers in Cactus League play (19-for-42, 3 HRs, 11 RBIs), Branyan has fallen behind Juan Miranda in the competition for Arizona’s first base job; Taylor Buchholz, Mets—With nine scoreless appearances (spanning 12 innings) this spring, Buchholz has likely pitched himself into a spot in the Mets’ bullpen; Nelson Figueroa, Astros—Figueroa has been named Houston’s fifth starter after going 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA in four spring outings; Jason Jaramillo, Pirates—With a .500 batting average (11-for-22) this spring, Jaramillo appears to be in fine shape to back up Chris Snyder. If the Pirates are able to trade Ryan Doumit, Jaramillo’s roster spot becomes a lock; Jason Michaels, Astros—Michaels is 19-for-46 (.451) with two homers this spring and looks to be in solid shape to make the team as a right-handed bat off the bench. Greg Dobbs, Marlins—Invited to camp as a non-roster player, Dobbs is on his way to securing a spot as Florida's primary left-handed pinch hitter. He's batting .400 in 35 plate appearances. Matt Stairs, Nationals— Stairs, who extended his career by shedding pounds last season with San Diego, is a favorite to make Washington's roster as a fifth outfielder.

All-Kidney Stone Team: God must be a Phillies fan. A day after it was revealed that Beerleaguer will extend its franchise to the Chicago White Sox, Beerleaguer Grand Puba Jason Weitzel was hospitalized with a kidney stone this morning. Fortunately, Jason is doing better, but despite his best efforts, he still was unable to land a spot on the All-Kidney Stone Team: C Fred Payne; 1B Frank “The Big Hurt” Thomas; 2B Donald Ouchterloney (the only minor leaguer on the team; 3B Ed Sicking; SS Travis “Stonewall” Jackson; LF Jeff Stone; CF Ken Griffey Jr., aka “The Kid”; RF John Stoneham; DH Michael Restovich; RHP Roy “Doc” Halladay. – Drew Silverman for the ailing Beerleaguer

Major scare for Oswalt in Phils loss: Roy Oswalt came out of the game in the fourth inning after taking a Manny Ramirez line drive to the back of the neck. Despite the scare, the pitcher rose to his feet under his own power and according to CSNPhilly’s Jim Salisbury, Charlie Manuel expects Oswalt to make his next start. In his abbreviated outing, Oswalt completed three innings, allowing three runs on four hits and striking out four.

Lost in the fray of Oswalt’s brush with blunt trauma was Luis Castillo’s Phillies debut. Castillo, who failed to show up for Tuesday’s game, batted second and went 0-for-4 with four runners left on base. Castillo wasn’t alone in his struggles at the dish. The Phils only managed four knocks in seven innings off Tampa starter James Shields, who allowed no runs and K’d four. Michael Martinez was the only Phillie to notch multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a stolen base. - Written for Beerleaguer by Matt Grassie

Comments

[Scott]

Jason: Been there, done that. Several times. So, I can kinda say I feel your pain. Sorry to hear you are a new member of the kidney stone club. If they are able to analyze the stone, and make recommendations about dietary changes, listen well. Once you have one, the likelihood of getting another is a lot higher than you'd like it to be, so follow any and all recommendations carefully. Also, water is your friend. Lots and lots of water. Hope you are better soon.

[phlipper]

Ouch. You have a legit reason for missing a few days of posts.

The Phils never should have let Figgy go.

[JJ -- White Sox Beerleaguer]

For the record, I did not give Jason kidney stones. I hope.

[Mike]

Thought you guys might like this. Saw it posted on Crashburn Alley.

By FanSince09 on Mar 23, 2011

Wilson Valdez is good enough to start for just about any team in baseball

[Cliff]

Whoa. What's this White Sox business?

[PhillyJoe]

choose your beerleaguer? how did I miss that...

[Dukes]

So when was this announcement about the beerleaguer white sox blog? there's nothing on the site now that I see.

[Mike]

I'll make the official announcement about Beerleaguer - White Sox in the next day or so. I wasn't expecting to flip the switch so quickly, but beerleaguer.com now goes to a landing page, so many of you found it that way.

The long and short of it: Comcast SportsNet is franchising the Beerleaguer model for every one of the Comcast markets, and possibly beyond. JJ Stankevitz becomes the White Sox version of me and will adhere to the standards and discussion model I've established here, with a focus on statistics, topical news, clean presentation and the same attention to detail you've come to expect here.

I'll continue to write Beerleaguer - Phillies and will maintain a proprietary and advisory role on the other franchises. In other words, Beerleaguer will remain as it has been for the last five years.

You'll continue to see Drew Silverman and Matt Grassie contribute game recaps and scheduled features as a way to take some of the load off of my plate. My day-to-day responsibilities at Comcast have evolved into a taking the creative lead on a number of projects at the corporate hub here in Philadelphia. And I'm also a father now, which carries its own set of heavy responsibilities.

Nevertheless, I have no plans to stop writing Beerleaguer. I still treat it as a diversion, and Comcast has encouraged me to set my own pace and carry on business as usual, and they're very careful not to foul it up with any corporate douche-baggery.

None of this would be possible without your support, of course, and I'm thrilled to see many of you have already spread the discussion to Beerleaguer - White Sox.

Posted by: J. Weitzel | Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 11:46 PM

[Pblunts]

Prediction- Castillo lasts a week and is never seen or heard from again on the MLB level.

[davthom73]

Speaking of former Phillies seeking roster spots this Spring with other clubs, there was a nice story on former Phillie and LV Iron Pig Paul Hoover's understandable dedication to the deaf in last Sunday's Boston Herald. See, the following link:

http://bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view.bg?articleid=1324630&format=text

[MG]

2007 redux:

Since Dominguez isn't ready at 3B and will likely the begin the season in the minors for the Fish, they are likely going to with a trio of Helms, Bonifacio (slightly better offensive version of No-Hit Nunez), and Dobbs at 3B.

Funny thing is I bet Helms still gets booed here when he bats at CBP this year. Ditto Barajas when he returns in a Dodgers' uniform and JD Drew with the Red Sox.

[MG]

Nyjer Morgan aka 'Tony Plush':

"The Phillies are looking for a veteran outfielder who’s capable of playing center field."

and

"Scouts covering the Nationals say Nyjer Morgan is very much available. “They're trying to give him away," one scout said, before suggesting that the Nationals could release him."

I know he is a head case who burned bridges in Pittsburgh and DC. Sure Philly fans also remember him throwing a ball at a fan in August at CBP.

That said, he is one guy I wouldn't mind seeing the Phils try to pick up as a reserve OF because he is exactly what they could use off the bench right now (good speed who is a SB threat, good defensive OF who is a legit CF, and a guy who hits for avg & takes some walks). Plus he is making next to the league minimum this year at $427k.

Worth trading a 2nd-tier prospect for and at the very least picking up if the Nats' release him although I imagine he would get claimed by at least one other team.

[JJ -- White Sox Beerleaguer]

Also, Bobby Jenks should be the closer on the All-Kidney Stone team.

[Jack]

MG: Morgan has led the league in CS the last couple years, which mitigates his usefulness as a pinch-runner.

[denny b.]

Nyjer Morgan...another bad apple.

The Phils built this thing with quality people. Guys like Castillo and Morgan don't fit that profile.

[Phillies Red]

Will white sox beerleaguer come complete with their own "clout"? If not, that's another good business worth franchising.

[The Truth Injection.]

If people didn't want Luis Castillo then I hope they are consistent and rail against any talk of even thinking of bringing Morgan in.

[awh]

JW, ouch.

God bless you and have a speedy recovery!

[cut_fastball]

Belated congratulations on your franchise, Jason. I'm sure there are untold hours and hours of hard work behind your achievement, and your great work within Comcast is a thing to behold. May many more markets follow!

BTW, I'm not a seasoned veteran here, but our long-time posters deserve their props too.

[NEPP]

I think Mini-Mart is really fighting for a role on this team. Castillo is not looking good.

JW runs a hell of a site. What got me to stick around is the game chats...such a great concept for people that dont live in Philly and are the only Phillies fan in their area. Way more fun to watch the game that way.

[Mike]

Just say no to Nyjer Morgan!

[R.Billingsly]

Castillo? Morgan? Who's next? Gary Sheffield? Milton Bradley?

I give this the biggest "NO" humanly possible. Enough of giving these (alleged) bad apples a shot. Denny B nailed it -- this team was built around quality people. Let's not shift in the other direction.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Say what you want about Morgan, I can't question his desire. I think he's a guy who would thrive on a winning team.

[Rich H]

Sorry to hear about the kidney stone...painful, but you need an owner of the team.....Horace Stoneham.

My bad joke for the week...feel better Jason.

Rich

[lorecore]

Wasn't it revealed the Morgan was actually being charsmatic with the fans and the ball incident was really him throwing a ball to a fan - not at a fan?

[MG]

Hugh - Yup. Morgan has alot of issues on the field but I don't think he was ever questioned in his desire to win/hustle. You could always say the same about Sheffield. He always hustled and had a reputation for playing through pain.

[NEPP]

I'd take a flier on Nyjer Morgan.

[NEPP]

Morgan's 3 year line (2008-2010):

.283 AVG/.343 OBP/.696 OPS He can steal the occasional base and play decent defense at all 3 OF positions. He'd be a good fit on our bench I think. He has pretty much ZERO power but he's a CF so its not a huge deal. He also hits RHP pretty well:

Career Splits
vs. LHP: .200 AVG/.292 OBP/.561 OPS
vs. RHP: .308 AVG/.361 OBP/.748 OPS

2011 Salary: $427 K

Worth a look if the price is nothing (as rumored)

[awh]

NEPP, that's my opinion also. Morgan is an inefficient base stealer, but he can steal a base. Maybe better coaching will help.

Good splits vs. RHP. Could spell Vic occasionally and provide some speed.

[NEPP]

Yeah, he's got good speed but poor instincts so his CS rate is high. That's why I phrased it as "the occasional base". Used correctly (if we still had Lopes, it'd be great), he could probably steal 15-20 bases with a much higher success rate.

[Evil Andy]

lorecore: Just wondering - am I "being charismatic" with the rats when I put out coumadin infused grain?

[Bedrosian's Beard]

Mike: You know that FanSince09 is joking, right?

I'd take a flyer on Morgan as well. I can't cover for his blow up in Florida, but I THINK the ball throwing incident wasn't what it seemed to be.

[Iceman]

How about the 'incident' against Baltimore when Morgan dropped a ball in the outfield, then threw his glove in a hissy fit and allowed Adam Jones to get an inside the park HR? That's all heart and desire right there. Get him on the team as soon as possible.

[Mike]

NEPP, you forgot to mention that he is a dirty player who's been known to go out of his way to try to injure his opponents.

[Mike]

Beard, yeah I know he's joking. Just thought it was funny.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

Mike: Ah, ok. His twitter feed is pretty hilarious. He retweets every tweet that spells Cole Hamels' name wrong.

[EastFallowfield]

Yo, new thread