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When the Twins put infielder Taylor Motter on the disabled list week, they needed a replacement.  What better man to answer the call than widely regarded multi-positional batsman Willians Astudillo? Oh, he's not highly regarded?  You don't even recall his playful attitude and ability to almost never strike out and almost never walk when he played in the Phillies organization?  Well, he's a .310 career hitter in Triple-A and he was the Rochester Red Wings leading batter this season. And in 2,342 plate appearances in the minors, Astudillo walked 80 times and walked in just 76 instances.  The infrequency of both occurrences is genuinely the reputation he's built for himself in his nine pro seasons.   Astudillo, a native of Venezuela, has played seven different positions (everything except center field and shortstop) in his minor league career.  When he made his big league debut at Chicago's Wrigley Field on Sunday, he split time in left field and center fi...

Recently, I posted a feature on former Phillies pitching prospect Trevor May , but that piece couldn't fit all of the quotes I had from the man that was traded last off-season along with Vance Worley for outfielder Ben Revere .  Click HERE for that article on May and read ahead for the additional  interview excerpts. - On topic of top Minnesota offensive prospect and New Britain teammate Miguel Sano - He's a freak. (laughter)  He can hit the ball really far and he's made some absolutely ridiculous plays at third base and he's a character, just a big kid, an absolute child.  And I'm just gonna throw the other big prospect Meyer, he's just a big kid too.  And let's be honest, I'm a big kid too, so it's a lot of fun to kind of all be together, especially on this team.  I'm glad he can come up here and do as well as he's done, because he's a guy...if I achieve my ultimate goal of reaching the big leagues, he's a guy I want...

Trevor May with Reading in 2012 Following his team's heart wrenching 9-8 loss to the Trenton Thunder on Wednesday, in which the Twins' Double-A affiliate New Britain failed to maintain two separate extra-inning leads, right-handed pitcher Trevor May reflected on his season as well as a trade that brought him to a new organization last winter. What's in the past, however, is not as important as what's on the horizon for the promising youngster.  The ability to quickly refocus and move beyond that sort of loss is the type of approach that can help carry May to the top level of the sport. With some noticeable highs and lows throughout his career, May, who was the Phillies' 4th round draft choice in 2008 out of Kelso High School (WA), took some internal inventory and realized that his focus was the missing factor to his game. The "stuff" was always there, but an occasionally absent ability to execute his pitches with consistency was his main problem....

The road trip continues for the Phillies (31-33) as they head to Minnesota to take on the Twins (27-33).  Losers of three straight games after a streak of five wins that gave them a winning record for the first time all year, the Phils will look to return to their winning ways against the American League Central's last place Twins. Minnesota will send right-hander P.J. Walters to the mound in the series opener.  The 28-year-old replaced former Phillie hurler Vance Worley , when he was demoted to Triple-A Rochester last month.  The Phils will counter with lefty Cole Hamels , who broke a six-game losing streak with his last start, allowing one run over seven innings against the Marlins. The Twins dropped two of three contests against the Phillies at Target Field last year. Read ahead for full details on the pitching match ups and other key stats from this series. Tuesday, 8:10 PM.  Cole Hamels (2-9, 4.56 ERA) vs. P.J. Walters (2-1, 3.00 ERA).  ...

Last summer, as part of the Hunter Pence trade, the Phillies acquired righty hurler Seth Rosin (Roe-ZEEN). Originally drafted in the 4th round in 2010 by San Francisco, Rosin had mainly been a reliever with the Giants' Class A Advanced affiliate San Jose. Now throwing strictly as a starter, since joining the Phils' organization, the University of Minnesota product, who stands six-foot-six and weights around 250 pounds, has posted a 1-4 record with a 3.17 ERA while striking out 32 and walking seven in 45 1/3 innings. Recently, I spoke with the 24-year-old about his transition to a new organization, his thoughts about Reading, Eastern League competition and plenty more. Read ahead for that full interview. - Last year, at the time of the trade, how were you notified you had been dealt and what was your reaction? I got a call from the Giants front office at about 8 o'clock in the morning, west coast time, letting me know I had to leave tomorrow to go to Florid...

May was a top Phillies prospect The Phillies made a deal on Thursday to fill a defensive gap in center field, acquiring speedster Ben Revere from the Twins for starting pitcher Vance Worley and pitching prospect Trevor May . Revere, a 24-year-old lefty hitter, posted a .294 batting average along with 40 stolen bases in 124 games for Minnesota last season. The right-handed Worley sports an 18-13 record along with a 3.50 ERA in 53 big league contests.  The 25-year-old was the selected by the Phillies in the 3rd round of the 2008 draft. May, also a right-hander was ranked as the Phillies' top prospect by PhilliesNation.com in this year's preseason prospect rankings.  The Phils' 4th round draft choice in 2008, sported a 10-13 record with a 4.87 ERA and a 9.08 K/9 mark with Double-A Reading this year. According May, who was not surprised to be included in the deal, he was notified that the trade was agreed upon by Phils general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., who c...

Inter-league play continues as the Phillies (29-33) travel to Minnesota to take on the Twins (24-35) in a three-game series beginning on Tuesday night. Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups as well as plenty more statistics from this series. Tuesday, 8:05 PM. Kyle Kendrick (2-5, 4.44 ERA) vs. Nick Blackburn (2-4, 7.75 ERA). In 7 road outings this season, Kendrick has posted a 1-1 record with a 3.42 ERA. Over his last 5 starts, Kendrick has tallied a 2.73 ERA. Blackburn allowed 8 earned runs in 1 2/3 innings in his lone career outing against the Phillies. In 4 home starts this season, Blackburn is 1-2 with a 7.92 ERA. Wednesday, 8:10 PM.  Cole Hamels (8-3, 2.93 ERA) vs. P.J. Walters (2-1, 4.42 ERA).   Hamels has a 4-0 record with a 2.50 ERA in 5 road starts this season. In his last 3 starts, Hamels has posted a 5.22 ERA.  Ryan Doumit is 3-for-9 with 2 doubles in his career against Hamels.  The righty Walters is 0-1 with a 4.76 ERA ...

News out of Phillies camp on Friday detailed a not-so-surprising event going down. Matt Rizzotti, who has long been held back in the Philadelphia organization, was dealt to the Minnesota Twins for cash considerations. The 26-year-old first baseman was steadily blocked at the highest level of the system by former National League Most Valuable Player and All-Star Ryan Howard. Rizzotti, a power hitter with often-critiqued defense, had improved his overall game and strived to improve his conditioning in recent years, only to be removed from the Phillies’ 40-man roster and more-or-less demoted back to Double-A Reading in 2011 after making his Triple-A debut in 2010. Selected in the 6th round of the 2007 MLB amateur draft, Rizzotti often dominated minor league pitching in his minor league career, slugging 66 homeruns and driving in 231 runs while batting .292 in five pro seasons. In the Minnesota organization, Rizzotti will have an improved shot at reaching the big leagues, as American Leagu...

On Monday night, the Minnesota Twins' designated hitter Jim Thome mashed a homerun at the Major League level for the 600th time, becoming only the eighth man ever to do so. Over what has been beyond an impressive 20-year big league career, Thome has become one of the game's most renowned sluggers, while playing for five different teams. Somehow, though, what would previously have screamed the biggest story in sports, when heavy hitters of the past reached landmarks or chased records, has now had its volume turned way down as one of the game's most liked individuals, Thome, approached the 600 HR plateau. That lack of great buzz could make some wonder why Thome's approach toward the beastly breakthrough wasn't afforded as much attention as previous baseball milestone's. To discuss those concerns and to address Thome's legend specifically, I asked some friends of this site to offer their thoughts. -Where does Jim Thome rank among the game's a...

The AL Central leading Twins (38-28) visit the NL East's third place Phillies (34-30) for a three game series starting Friday night. Hoping to win three games in a row for the first time in a month, the Phillies will send Joe Blanton to the mound, hoping he can right his own ship and turn around what has been a weak showing thus far in 2010. The Twins will counter with Nick Blackburn for game 1. The Twins visit Philadelphia for the first time since 2002 and the teams last met in 2004, when the Phillies traveled to Minnesota. Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins and Twins second baseman Orlando Hudson could both be activated from the disabled list during this series. Read ahead for information on the pitching match ups and plenty more stat details from this series. Friday, 7:05pm. Nick Blackburn (6-3, 4.96) vs. Joe Blanton (1-5, 7.28 ERA). In 6 road start this season, Blackburn has a 2-3 record with a 7.31 ERA. In 3 June starts, the right-handed Blackburn has an 8.10 ERA. Ben Francisco...

Taking a look at this AP graphic detailing 2009 MLB payrolls, the differences are clear. The fun part of looking over something like this is picking out the underachievers and the surprise performers. The difference between the Detroit Tigers' payroll and the Florida Marlins' total team salary is nearly 102 million dollars. The difference between the Tigers and Marlins in 2009 total wins is 1 (the Marlins has one more win than the Tigers). That is remarkable value from Florida. In fact, the Marlins, with the lowest payroll in MLB, had more wins than 19 teams and the same amount of wins as one other team. 15 of those 19 teams that the Marlins were better than had a payroll that was at least DOUBLE what the Marlins paid their 40 man roster. At 87 wins, the Marlins finished just 6 games out of the division lead and 5 games back in the wild card standings. Imagine if that team actually spent some money and brought in some help for the existing core of young players. Adding veteran ...