Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Joe Savery has one of the season’s most unlikely paths to the major leagues. A two way star both as a pitcher and as a hitter in college at Rice University, Savery was always a good hitting minor league pitcher. After a 2010 season that saw him go 1-12 on the mound for the Triple-A Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, the decision was made to give Savery a look full time at the plate to begin 2011. He opened the year batting for the High-A Clearwater Threshers hitting .307 over 54 games and earned a promotion to the Double-A Reading Phillies. It was in Reading where the decision was made to give it another shot on the mound. Savery looked like a brand new pitcher going 1-0 with a 1.00ERA six appearances out of the Reading bullpen. From there it was a promotion back up to Lehigh Valley, and after going 4-0 with a 1.80ERA in 25 innings, Savery earned a promotion to the Phillies where he made his major league debut today going a third of an inning out of the Phillies bullpen. In the story link below, Savery talks about his unusual path to the big leagues, his hitting ability, and being able to excel on the mound in 2011 after struggling so badly in 2010.
Tucked into a loss, Savery completes his long, strange journey — Trentonian.com
The Houston Astros have acquired Philadelphia Phillies prospects Jonathan Singleton and Jarred Cosart as well as Josh Zeid and a player to be named later via trade in exchange for Hunter Pence. The 19 year old Singleton is the Phillies top overall prospect. This season for the High-A Clearwater Threshers Singleton is batting .282 with 14 Doubles, 9 Home Runs and 47 RBI. Last year for the Low-A Lakewood Blueclaws the 6’2″ left handed hitting outfielder batted .290 with 25 Doubles, 2 Triples, 14 Home Runs, and 77RBI. Singleton was an 8th round pick in the 2009 draft out of Millikan High School in California. Cosart is arguably the top young arm in a Phillies organization loaded with them. The 20 year old is currently 9-8 with a 3.92ERA for High-A Clearwater. He’s struck out 79 batters in 108 innings of work and opposing hitters are batting .243 off of Cosart. The right hander went 7-3 with a 3.79 ERA in 71 innings for Lakewood in 2010. Cosart was originally a 38th round pick of the Phillies in the 2008 draft out of Clear Creek High School in Texas. Zeid is a 24 year old relief pitcher currently playing for Double-A Reading where he is 2-3 with a 5.65ERA. After 11 starts, Zeid was moved to the bullpen where he has picked up two saves, and has an ERA of 2.25 in his 10 relief appearances. Zeid went 8-4 with a 2.83ERA for Lakewood in 2010. He was a 10th round pick of the Phillies in the 2009 draft out of Tulane.
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