The Phils scored seven runs in the first two innings last night against a pitcher who was throwing 97 with movement. That made 42 runs in a stretch of 20 innings. Things are going fairly well right now.
In more substantive news, tonight’s start might be a crucial one for Adam Eaton. Kris Benson threw 75 pitches in an extended spring training game Tuesday, allowing one run and three hits in four innings. His fastball reportedly hit 90. Benson will get a start for Clearwater of the Florida State League Sunday.
Also, word out of Reading is that lefty Antonio Bastardo has had his rotation-spot with the R-Phils tweaked so it matches Eaton’s, presumably to make it easier for Bastardo to step right in to in the big club’s rotation.
I’m dubious about that. Not that Bastardo isn’t a real prospect, He’s 22, from the Dominican Republic, and a hard thrower. Last year he went 9-0 with a 1.87 for Class A Lakewood, then struck out 12 in five innings in his first starter at high-A Clearwater. This year he started 2-0, 1.17 at Clearwater with 47 strikeouts and 10 walks in 30 innings.
Then he made the big jump to AA, where he’s 2-2, 3.54 in 28 innings. From Clearwater to the big leagues in like a month seems absurd, especially since he seems to be hitting a speed bump in AA…
In other news: Am I sold on the Fish? No. Not that what they’ve done to this point - especially sweeping Arizona while beating Webb and Haren last week - isn’t impressive. But I don’t see it lasting until the end. They’re fifth in the league in scoring runs and eighth in the league in allowing them, and if you look closer, even those numbers seem flukey: they’re 1oth in the league in on-base percentage, 12th in walks allowed and 14th in strikeouts.
On offense they’re very, very dependent on hitting it over the fence, and that’s very dependent on Dan Uggla, who has 16 homers in 187 ABs this year, and 58 in about 1,250 before this year. His current slugging percentage, .679, is 173 points over his career mark, and he is historically very streaky.
They’re a well constructed club, though, and likely to be a force in the future. The Phillies really should be feeling some urgency within their division this year.
