BALTIMORE — The funny thing about Raul Valdes getting sent down last night was the fact his tenure in the Majors was very good.
His only downfall was that he threw from the wrong side of the mound.
The Phillies have a shortage of righties in their pen right now (Chad Qualls, Michael Schwimer and closer Jonathan Papelbon) and needed to drop one of their three lefties to add a fourth right-handed arm.
Valdez drew the short straw and it made room for IronPig standout B.J. Rosenberg to try his hand at the Major League level.
Rosenberg, 26, was drafted in the 13th round of the 2008 amateur draft out of the University of Louisville. In 11 games and 20 2/3 innings pitched at Lehigh, he has a 1.74 ERA with 26 strikeouts and six walks.
Rosenberg will hopefully lift a pen whose righties haven’t been that good. Qualls has an ERA of 5.32 in 22 innings this season and Schwimer is at a 7.56 in only 8 1/3 innings. Even Papelbon has been terrible in non-save situations (6.41 ERA in 8 1/3 innings) despite a perfect 16-for-16 in saves this season.
The Phillies will still seek outside help as the trade deadline nears.
TTB 