Skip to main content

Phillies release former top pick Hewitt

Anthony Hewitt with Lakewood in 2011, Image- Jay Floyd
Six years after he was their top draft selection, the Phillies have finally pulled the trigger and cut disappointing outfielder Anthony Hewitt.

Hewitt had struggled mightily in his pro career, but looked outmatched this season with Double-A Reading where he posted a .140 batting average in 34 games before a recent demotion to Class A Advanced Clearwater. In eight games since the move, the 25-year-old went 4-for-31 (.129 avg). He walked only once this season.

Hewitt, who signed for over $1 million in 2008, batted .223 with a .634 OPS in six years since he was drafted 24th overall by the Phillies.

It was time to cut their losses and the Phillies did just that.

In an exclusive interview with PhoulBallz.com last month, Hewitt was not discouraged and, in fact, was very optimistic, asserting that his output would turn around.

"It's a game of failure," Hewitt stated. "Just, right now, no hits are falling. No luck's turning my way, but I'm sure that tomorrow, today, whenever it's gonna happen, good luck's gonna fall my way, hits are gonna start falling my way. Everything comes in bunches and I can wait till the bunches start coming my way."

The offense might bounce back for Hewitt, but, when it does, it won't be in the Phillies organization.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Jealous Ones Envy

Joe Blanton continues to excel and prove his worth in the Phillies pitching rotation. In his latest outing on Sunday, Blanton threw 8 strong innings, striking out 6, while walking just 1 and surrendering 2 earned runs, improving his record to 7-4. This season in July, Joe is 3-0 over four starts with 22 K's, 5 walks and a 1.21 ERA. Over his last 6 starts, Joe's ERA is 1.94. As a member of the Phillies, Blanton has a 3.84 ERA after the all star break with a 5-0 record. The Phillies are 20-12 (.625 winning percentage) in games that Blanton has started, since being acquired last July. Combined this season against other National League playoff contenders St. Louis, Chicago and Los Angeles, Blanton has a combined 1.67 ERA in 4 starts with a 2-0 record. Blanton is on such a sizzling run that the Bowling Green Hot Rods, a Tampa Bay Rays farm team, will host a Joe Blanton bobble head give away tomorrow. Bowling Green will host Joe's mother, father and sister for the event, as Joe...

Heroes- Fight of the Century

VS. It's a big day for your boy, Jay Ballz . No work, X-Men Origins: Wolverine premieres, our Phillies face the Metropolitans for the first time this season and tailgating for BOTH doesn't sound all that absurd to me. Anyway, I surveyed some qualified phans and got several opinions on how exactly a fight might go down if the mutant hero Wolverine faced off against Phillies hero Matt Stairs. Well known blogger, Chris, of I've Made a Huge Tiny Mistake , kept it real and said the following- "Wolverine has adamantium ( indestructible metal substance) claws, so that's a great advantage. Stairs' Wonder Bat is neutralized there. See, the problem becomes Wolverine's ability to recover (he has a regenerative power) faster. Stairs is merely human. Sure, he has a goatee, and goatees are great, but they're great for saving sauce, not for defeating mutants. I think Wolverine takes it in a fight to the death in about 15 minutes because Stairs simply doesn'...

...Got My Learn On

The weekend is just about here, but it's not feeling great so far. My college hoops team lost, and my mail included a huge image of Mets star David Wright on the cover of The Sporting News. "All Wright"? Um, I don't really believe it is. Aside from the non-appealing cover, it's the MLB preview issue, so allow me to share some things I learned from this week's magazine. 1- Former Phillie, and regular Sporting News columnist, Todd Jones has gone insane. Jones predicts that Jamie Moyer will win the NL Cy Young Award, and that Manny Ramirez will run for governor of California after the Dodgers win the 2009 World Series. 2- Ichiro Suzuki rocks the party that rocks the body. Metropolitans reliever Francisco Rodriguez compares Jose Reyes to Ichiro, saying they do many of the same things. I must have missed Ichiro performing rehearsed celebratory hand jives after getting a hit or scoring a run in a losing effort. And I know I missed Ichiro getting caught cheating on...