Who's Next?

It might happen this week, Phillies fans. We may actually get to see Carlos Carrasco pitch in the big leagues. Shocking, I know, but definitely a possibility. With Antonio Bastardo being placed on the 15-day DL with a shoulder strain, the Phils are likely to call up either Carrasco or Andrew Carpenter to take his place through the All-Star break. Carpenter does have limited big league experience, he pitched on May 16th of this season for the Phillies against the Nationals, going 4.1 innings and giving up 5 runs on 8 hits. Carrasco has been one of the Phils most highly publicized minor leaguers over the past few years, but as he has struggled this year questions have begun to surface as to what role he would fill with the club. Here are his stats on the year:

2009 Season
4-7, 4.92 ERA, 15 GS, 86.0 IP, 95 H, 54 R, 47 ER, 25 BB, 84 SO, .271 AVG

Not terrible – not good either. Here are Carpenter’s:

2009 Season
7 -1, 2.75 ERA, 14 GS, 88.1 IP, 82H, 32 R, 27 ER, 26 BB, 61 K, .251 AVG

Better - most notably in the ERA department. He’s my choice.

I have been itching to see Carrasco get a shot with the Fightins for a long time now and would enjoy seeing him get the chance to prove himself, but Carpenter appears to give the Phils the best shot at winning, an elusive feat for the club lately. I don’t expect either to set the world on fire for the next two weeks, but I do expect them to give the team a chance to win. I’ve been down on the Phils lately, and maybe one of these two will be the shot in the arm the team needs to get going again. Stranger things have happened, right? Ex: Kyle Kendrick winning 11 games in 2008. Discuss.

Who would you like to see start in place of Bastardo?

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