The Phillies have placed starting 3B Pedro Feliz on the 15-day disabled list with a case of lower back inflammation. He has played in 99 games for the Phillies this season and he is 87 for 340 (.256 avg, .728 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 12 homers and 46 RBIs. The Phillies should be able to replace Feliz’ bat but neither Eric Bruntlett or Greg Dobbs are near as good of a defender as he is. Dobbs will likely get more playing time than Bruntlett and that’s a good thing for the Phillies’ offense. Dobbs has played in 85 games for the Phillies this season and he is 41 for 131 (.313 avg, .793 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 3 homers and 21 RBIs. Bruntlett is the better defender between him and Dobbs. Bruntlett has played in 76 games this season for the Phillies and he is 36 for 154 (.234 avg, .643 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 2 homers, 12 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. The Phillies have recalled 31-year old righty swinging 1B Mike Cervenak from AAA to replace Pedro Feliz on the roster. He will likely be nothing more than a pinch hitter for the Phillies but he’s no complaining. He has played in 99 games this season in AAA ball and he was 124 for 388 (.320 avg, .786 OPS) with 58 runs scored, 7 homers, 56 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. This is Cervenak’s second trip to the majors this season as he was 0 for 1 on July 11th for the Phillies.

30-year old lefty swinging 1B/3B Greg Dobbs came to spring training before the 2007 season just trying to make the Phillies’ roster but he has done much more than that as he has been a big key to the teams’ success. He has really been a weapon off the bench for the Phillies this year. He has played in 85 games for the Phillies this season and he is 41 for 131 (.313 avg, .793 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 3 homers and 21 RBIs. It appears that Dobbs’ has found a home in Philadelphia. He has played in 227 games the last two years for the Phillies and he is 129 for 455 (.284 avg) with 60 runs scored, 13 homers and 76 RBIs. Dobbs has turned into one of the most lethal pinch hitters in all of baseball.

The Phillies finally got sick of watching Adam Eaton pitch batting practice so they have sent him to the minors. Eaton has pitched in 21 games (19 starts) this season for the Phillies and he is 4-8 with a 5.80 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. Eaton has been really awful since coming to the Phillies before last season as a free agent. Eaton has now pitched in 51 games (49 starts) in his time with the Phillies and he is 14-18 with a 6.10 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. The Phillies have recalled lefty J.A. Happ who will likely be working out of the bullpen for them. Happ has started 2 games for the Phillies this season and he is 0-0 with a 3.27 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. Happ has also pitched in 20 games (19 starts) in AAA ball this season and he is 7-6 with a 3.30 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. The Phillies just made the pitching staff better by subtracting Adam Eaton from it.

The Phillies have acquired 27-year old righty starting pitcher Joe Blanton from the A’s for Adrian Cardenas, Josh Outman and Matthew Spencer. The cost was pretty steep for Blanton but the Phillies needed a workhorse type starting pitcher to help out both the rotation and the bullpen and he will do that. Blanton started 20 games for the A’s this season and he was 5-12 with a 4.96 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Coming to a team like the Phillies’ should help Blanton win more games because of the offense behind him. Blanton has now pitched in 122 games (118 starts) in his major league career and he is 47-46 with a 4.25 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP.

20-year old lefty swinging Adrian Cardenas was the biggest key of the trade as he was the Phillies’ #2 prospect coming into the season according to Baseball America. Cardenas has played in 67 games in A-Ball this season and he was 80 for 259 (.309 avg, .818 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 4 homers, 23 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. He will eventually be the starting 2B for the A’s down the road. 23-year old lefty starting pitcher Josh Outman was the #4 rated prospect in the Phillies’ system coming into this season according to Baseball America. Outman has pitched in 33 games (5 starts) in AA-Ball this season and he is 5-4 with a 3.20 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. 21-year old lefty swinging Matt Spencer was the #28 prospect in the Phillies’ minor league system coming into this season according to Baseball America. Spencer has played in 84 games in A-Ball this season and he is 76 for 305 (.249 avg, .684 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 6 homers, 41 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. The Phillies paid a big price for Blanton but that’s because they’re trying to win the World Series right now.

Drew Carpenter seemed to be a pitcher on the rise in the Phillies’ organization after winning 17 games at Single A-Clearwater last season. But he started this season in AA ball and he failed miserably. He started 11 games in AA-ball this season and he was 2-7 with a 6.94 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. The Phillies then demoted the 23-year old righty starting pitcher to A-ball and he appears to have found his comfort zone. He has now started 15 games in A+AA ball this season and he is 3-9 with a 5.65 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. It will be interesting to see how Carpenter handles his next chance in AA-ball as his stuff is good enough to succeed there.