No surprises amongst Phillies first cuts

The Phillies made 12 cuts today as they begin the paring down of the roster for Opening Day. All of the following players were basically sent down to the minor league camp:

Pitchers Antonio Bastardo, Drew Carpenter, Sergio Escalona, Drew Naylor, Blaine Neal and Scott Nestor, Catchers Tuffy Gosewisch and Paul Hoover, Infielders Mike Cervenak, J.J. Furmaniak, Andy Tracy and Jorge Velandia.

A few names are familiar (Cervenak, Tracy), others are not, but none of these players were in competition for a major role on the team so none of them came as a surprise. They will still be a part of the Phillies organization and aren't exposed to other teams. The cutting of four infielders really speaks to the depth of utility players the Phils have in camp this year.

Good pitching + a little bit of offense = Phillies win!

(AP Photo/Justin Maxon)

It wasn't pretty, but Kyle Kendrick got the job done. After being bombed for 7 runs in 4 innings the last time he faced the Marlins, Kendrick pitched 6 shutout innings to lead the Phillies to a 5-0 victory over Florida. Kendrick walked 5 batters and gave up 4 hits in those 6 innings, but he pitched his way out of jams and managed to strand every one of them. It was the third straight good outing for Kendrick who has pitched a combined 18 and 2/3rds innings in his last three starts and has given up only 3 total earned runs. I'm no math whiz, but that's an ERA of about 1.45 over his last three starts, and that's quite impressive. Of course, he has also given up a total of 18 hits and 8 walks in those starts, for an unimpressive 1.39 WHIP. He's been more lucky than good, but you can't argue with his 10-5 record.

For whatever reason, the Phillie offense has come up short time and time again when they get a good outing from their starting pitcher, but they managed to score often in the early innings to give Kendrick a nice cushion to work with. The Phils scored 4 runs in the first 3 innings, with one of those runs coming on Ryan Howard's 32nd homer of the season. Props should also be given to Mike Cervenak who got his first major league RBI on his first major league hit when he singled in the 6th inning. Cervenak is 31 and has spent several years in the minors, so you can bet he feels good about finally getting a little bit of playing time in the big leagues.

The win moves the Phillies back to 2.5 games ahead of the Marlins and 3 games ahead of the Mets, who also lost tonight. The final game of the Marlins series is tomorrow with Chris Volstad facing Cole Hamels, who is looking for a better outing than his effort against the Cardinals last Friday.

The Phillies also got some bad news tonight, which many Phillie fans will think is good news. Tom Gordon had to leave a rehabilitation appearance in a Single A game when he felt discomfort in his pitching elbow. Gordon will come back to Philly to have his arm checked out and could be out much longer than expected. Don't cry all at once, Phillie fans.

Phillies send Happ to the minors, call infielder Cervenak up

J.A. Happ, coming off the best start of his major league career, was sent to the minors today. It seemed like a curious move at first, but with the all-star break coming up, Happ wouldn't get another start until late July, so sending him to the minors will keep him on a regular pitching schedule. The Phillies will likely re-assess their starting rotation after the all-star break and call Happ back up, or bring Myers back if he's ready to return. Hopefully we see Happ again soon because he has proven he deserves a chance.

Mike Cervenak, career minor leaguer, was called up to replace Happ on the roster. He's a non-prospect who can play third, first and in the outfield. His career minor league batting average sits just below .300. He probably won't get a ton of playing time but can be a late inning defensive sub.