Breaking news: Sardinha recalled for catching help

With Carlos Ruiz reeling, the Phillies have purchased the contract of Dane Sardinha from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. To make room, left-hander Mike Zagurski was sent down.

Sardinha, 32, was hitting just .105/.227/.132 in 45 plate appearances, sharing catching duties with Erik Kratz in Lehigh Valley. In Sardinha, the Phils opted for the more experienced handler, as opposed to Kratz, who hits well and hits for power. A catch-and-throw backstop, Sardinha started nine games for the Phils last season and flashed some surprise pop, parking three homers during his limited tour. Sardinha is out of options, so his contract needed to be purchased. He'll need to clear waivers in order to be reassigned to minors once Carlos Ruiz is healthy. The Phils opted not to send Ruiz to the disabled list for his sore back and instead sent Zagurski back down to the minors. The left-hander was totally ineffective in two appearances.

Tonight's lineup: Victorino, Polanco, Rollins, Howard, Francisco, Ibanez, Orr, Schneider, Worley. Orr is hitting .320 in 26 plate appearances and has started in four of the last eight games.

Comments

[Fatalotti]

The savior of the offense has finally arrived!

[GTown_Dave]

Oh, fun. Ibañez. I can't wait. At least there's a better chance of him getting a hit at Home than on the Road.

Also, Sardinha will be arriving just in time for Asian-Pacific Islander Night at the Ballpark. I won't assume this played into the Phillies' decision as to which AAA Catcher to call up ... but I won't completely discount it, either. From everything I've read, Kratz is the better ballplayer.

Finally, as Corey Seidman phrased it on his blog: "Worley Gets Deserved Shot Against An Ill, Skinny Mike Pelfrey". Indeed he does. And I see such an apparently favorable matchup & think

This Game Feels Like A Loss.™

[bay_area_phan]

Reposted from the last thread, since it's on point with the thread topic:

Here's the only explanation I can think of for why we'd call up Sardinha over Kratz. It's hopefully only for a few days & both guys will have to clear waivers when we go to ship them back. Sardinha is much more likely to clear waivers than Kratz and, if he doesn't, it's no great loss.

If Ruiz were going to be out for an extended time, I'd guess that Kratz would get the call.

[CJ]

Jayson Stark's column includes this tidbit:
The Phillies clearly are eyeballing the potential bat market. But clubs that have spoken with them have come away with the feeling they'd have a tough time persuading ownership to take on any hitter making significant money.

[GTown_Dave]

I'm surprised no one made the head-to-head comparison in the previous thread (or perhaps I missed it):

Francisco - 88 AB 4 HR 16 RBI 7 BB 1 SB 15 K .261 BA/.327 OBP/.455 SLG/.781 OPS/110 OPS+

Werth - 90 AB 4 HR 7 RBI 10 BB 2 SB 20 K .233 BA/.310 OBP/.444 SLG/.754 OPS/104 OPS+

Not that I expect this will continue in such a favorable manner for the entire year, mind you ... But so far, so good.

[PhillyJoe]

actually blanton and chooch are both fine... Worley and Sardina were just called up for Asian Pacific Islander Night.

Yep.

That's the explanation.

Asian Pacific Islander Night.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Not exactly the most insightful tidbit ever offered by Stark.

[timr]

Yeah, Nats fans (whoever they are) must be a bit disappointed in Werth thus far.

Also, fwiw, I really hate the idea of calling up a guy hitting .105 over a guy hitting .370. I know its early/ small sample size, and I know Sardinha has the experience edge, but this person is going to back up Schneider either way--why not take a chance on a guy who might at least add some pop to the lineup if he ends up starting? I guess bap's waiver explanation is the reason, b/c hitting .105 in the minors... sheesh!

[CJ]

timr: bap probably has it right... see above. May have to do with their status.

[J. Weitzel]

All Sardinha needs to do is sit there and be ready in case of emergency. Does he have a better chance to clear waivers. Probably. But it's not like Erik Kratz is Mike Piazza. He's Erik Kratz.

[bay_area_phan]

timr: That .105 is based on a small sample size. Over time, I expect his average will move closer to the much more respectable .191 figure that he has posted over his last 5+ seasons at AAA.

[GTown_Dave]

Erik Kratz could be Mike Piazza. Does anyone have the phone number of the Mets' former clubhouse guy?

[Bob]

The Schneider and Worley at the tail end of the lineup caught my eye in addition to the Sardinha callup. It is what it is, but wasn't quite expecting a Worley/Schneider battery quite this early in the season.

[bay_area_phan]

jw: True, but he has a decent arm & his offense seems more than passable for a No. 3 catcher. If one of our 2 catchers goes down for an extended length of time, our lineup would be a lot better off with Erik Kratz in it than with Dane Sardinha. It wouldn't make sense to risk losing Kratz over a call-up that's likely to last no more than a few days.

[CJ]

Yo, new game thread.

[goody]

I think Dane is here for more than a few days, unless they want to look at another reliever. I think Zags has to remain down for 15 days unless there is another injury.

[davthom73]

While i like Sardinha -- the choice to bring him up over Kratz makes absolutely no sense for the following reasons: (1) Kratz does have options left, contrary to the commentary above; (2) Kratz demonstrated great defense during Spring Training, throwing just about every baserunner attempting to steal in ST; and (3) Kratz's team-leading offense is far superior to Sardinha's. Early season stats yes -- but not a miniscule sample size in Kratz's 29 at bats: .345 BA, .724 slug.%, .486 OBP, and 1.211 OPS. In contrast, Sardinha's offensive numbers were the very worst on the iron Pigs -- as he basically split time with Kratz with the Pigs: .105 BA, .132 slug.%, and .359 OPS. Sardinha had zero RBI's in 38 at bats in 12 games this season with the Pigs. So why this strange choice?[If anyone can explain to me how Kratz has no options left -- they get a prize].

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