27-year old lefty starting pitcher J.A. Happ has been mostly forgotten about by the Phillies. He has been on quite an extended rehab assignment in the minors. Happ has pitched in 9 games (8 starts) in A+AA+AAA-ball this year and he is 1-2 with a 5.97 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP. He pitched in 2 games (both starts) for the Phillies before getting injured and he was 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP. Happ has pitched in 46 games (30 starts) in parts of four years with the Phillies and he is 14-5 with a 3.06 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. The Phillies hope that Happ pitches well in Jamie Moyer’s old spot in the rotation because they need the help if they are going to make a run at the Braves in the N.L. East.

22-year old lefty swinging outfielder Dominic Brown is the one player the Phillies just refuse to trade. He was the Phillies’ #1 prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America. Brown has played in 84 games in AA+AAA-ball this year and he is 100 of 306 (.327 avg, .984 OPS) with 60 runs scored, 19 homers, 63 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. If Raul Ibanez doesn’t start hitting soon don’t be surprised to see the Phillies replace him with Brown.

The Phillies have lost 25-year old lefty swinging outfielder Quintin Berry on waivers to the Padres. Berry played in 66 games in AA-ball for the Phillies this year and he was 50 of 238 (.210 avg, .606 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 2 homers, 25 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. He has played in 523 games in his five years in the minors and he is 524 of 1,962 (.267 avg, .692 OPS) with 307 runs scored, 13 homers, 153 RBIs and 196 stolen bases. This is not a big loss for the Phillies as Berry’s only real asset is his speed and you can’t steal first base.

The Philadelphia Phillies expect more out of 20-year old righty starting pitcher Trevor May. After all, he was considered the #5 prospect in the Phillies’ system coming into this season according to Baseball America. May has pitched in 16 games (14 starts) in A-ball this season and he is 5-5 with a 5.01 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. He has now pitched in 36 games (31 starts) in his three years in the minors for the Phillies and he is 10-7 with a 3.73 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. May does have great stuff as evidenced by the fact that he has only allowed 122 hits in his minor league career while whiffing 196 batters in 159 1/3 innings. He does have control issues as he has walked 111 in the minors and that is by far the biggest issue with him. If he starts throwing more strikes the Phillies could put him on the fast track.

The Phillies have acquired 31-year old righty swinging oufielder Chris Aguila from the Blue Jays for future considerations. Aguila has already played in 4 games in AAA-ball for the Phillies and he is 2 of 8 (.250 avg, .875 OPS) with 1 run scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI. Aguila played in 44 games for the Jays’ AAA team earlier this season and he was 44 of 160 (.275 avg, .802 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 4 homers, 21 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Aguila last played in the majors in 2008 with the Mets. He has played in 149 games in his major league career so far and he is 53 of 230 (.230 avg, .624 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 3 homers, 16 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. I like this move for the Phillies as it never hurts to stash guys with major league experience in AAA.