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.

21-year old righty starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco is the most popular name in trade talks with the Phillies but they should resist the temptation unless they get a player that will give them a real shot at winning the World Series. Carrasco has not been dominating in AA ball this season but no one questions his stuff. He has pitched in 16 games (15 starts) in AA ball this season and he is 5-7 with a 4.18 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. He has whiffed 89 batters in 97 innings this season which shows that even though he’s not pitching his best ball he still maintains good stuff. The Phillies should keep him or they might be really sorry.

The Phillies have placed righty reliever Tom Gordon on the 15-day disabled list with right elbow inflammation. Gordon has pitched in 34 games this season for the Phillies and he is 5-4 with 2 saves, a 5.16 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. The Phillies have recalled 25-year old lefty reliever R.J. Swindle has pitched very well in the minors this season so it will be interesting to see if he can handle the majors. Swindle has pitched in 30 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA ball this season and he was 2-1 with a 1.52 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP. He also only allowed 29 hits while whiffing 50 batters in only 41.1 innings in the minors which shows he has nasty stuff. He has appeared in 1 game with the Phillies so far this season and he is 0-0 with a 6.00 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP.

23-year old righty starting pitcher Kyle Kendrick doesn’t have great stuff but he knows how to pitch. He throws strikes and works fast which helps keep the Phillies’ defense on their toes. Kendrick has stated 17 games this season for the Phillies and he is 8-3 with a 4.58 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. Kendrick also benefits from a lot of run support from the awesome offense of the Phillies. He has now started 37 games for the Phillies in his major league career and he is 18-7 with a 4.18 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Kendrick has only allowed 2.28 walks per 9 innings in his major league career which helps minimize the damage.