Skip to main content

Aumont Demoted, Real Problems Remain on Roster

Following Wednesday's 3-0 victory over the Miami Marlins, the Phillies announced that reliever Phillippe Aumont had been demoted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, with a corresponding move to follow prior to the team's next game on Friday.

For a club that entered that evening's contest with a bullpen ERA that ranked 4th worst in all of Major League Baseball, surely some adjustments were in order.  However, Aumont was not the problem.  As recently as Sunday, the 24-year-old righty's season ERA was 2.92 and sat at 2.25 last Friday. After coughing up two earned runs in 2/3 of an inning on Monday, Aumont's season ERA rose to an unlucky 4.15 in 16 games.

Surely Aumont, who gave up runs in each of his two most recent appearances and who sported the worst WHIP (2.08) on the pitching staff, hadn't been sparkling as of late, but he had an ERA better than the Phils' stud 8th inning guy Mike Adams just last weekend.

And even with his recent efforts, or lack there of, Aumont's 4.15 ERA and K-per-9 rate of 10.38 ERA were considerably better than the numbers posted by Jeremy Horst (5.09 ERA and 5.60 K/9), Chad Durbin (8.10 ERA and 9.45 K/9) and anything B.J. Rosenberg can do for the Phils.

Triple-A hurler Mike Stutes, who has been blazing hot out of the IronPigs bullpen lately, as he's tallied a 0.59 ERA over his last 11 games with 14 strike outs and three walks during that stretch, is deserving of consideration for a promotion and could be the guy that fills the void left by Aumont.

In 63 career big league contests, the 26-year-old Stutes has a 6-2 record along with 3.86 ERA.  Stutes missed much of last season after requiring shoulder surgery in June.

Again, there's no question that some revamping was needed in order to improve the Phillies' relief corps, but there are multiple pitchers hurting the team worse than Aumont had been.  Here's hoping the move is temporary and the 6-foot-7 260-pounder gets the chance to work on his command and the silver lining of a potential Stutes return sees his success continue.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

2021 Phillies Top Prospects Countdown: #22 SS Casey Martin

Please visit Patreon.com/PhoulBallz in order to support my work, get access to material like this before anyone else and get access to interviews as well as other exclusive content you can't get anywhere else.   A third round draft pick last year, Arkansas junior Casey Martin was quickly signed by the Phillies and consideration as one of the organization's top infield prospects quickly began.  The team's confidence in his ceiling is likely evident in the signing bonus he got, which was reportedly $1.3 million, which was considerably more than slot money dictated by his 87th overall draft position ($685K). The right-handed batting Martin tallied a .311/.393/.545 slash line with 30 homers, 24 steals and 112 RBI in 143 games through his college career at Arkansas.  Reports had him falling in the draft as a result of an injury to the hamate bone in his left hand prior to his 2020 season.  Prior to the procedure, Baseball America projected Martin as a top ten draft pick.

Slick fielding Sam is the Champion of the (PhoulBallz) world!

Phillies Ball(z)girl Sam Arnone was kind enough to answer some questions for the PhoulBallz site and all of you. Sam will be entering her 3rd season as a Phillies ballgirl and is a junior at Drexel University. Sam hails from the great town of Mt. Ephram, NJ. 1- Since the Phillies are the World Champions of baseball teams, are the Phillies ballgirls the world champions of ballgirl teams? - Of Course!!! There are not that many teams that have Ballgirls, so the competition is a little scarce. I would definitely put my team up against any other Ballgirl team with full confidence! 2- What is your routine to prepare for a day of on-field duties? - Before a game, I am always a little nervous. Once I am ready to leave my house and head to the ballpark I triple check my bag to make sure I have my glove and then I check again. I always have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wheat because it keeps me full and gives me energy for the entire game. I guess I might have to find a new favorite sa

Bubby Rossman's long awaited MLB debut

Eight years after he initially signed a professional contract with the Dodgers and a five-year stretch playing away from affiliated ball, Bubby Rossman became a major leaguer on Wednesday. Added as a substitute for pitcher Kyle Gibson, who is restricted from travel to Canada for the Phillies' series in Toronto, due to his medical inability to be vaccinated from COVID-19, Rossman took the mound for the first time in the majors. Rossman, who was a 22nd round draft selection in 2014 had pitched in 200 professional games before his one-inning outing in the Phillies' 8-2 loss to the Blue Jays. In 27 appearances with Double-A Reading this year, the 30-year-old right-hander has performed well, tallying a 2-2 record with a save, a 3.32 ERA and a .200 batting average against.   The embedded video below features a media session with Rossman from prior to opening day this year, in which the California native discusses his journey through independent baseball and back to affiliated ball wi