Phillies on the Bubble

In addition to Arano and Rios, righty Ricardo Pinto, who struggled mightily with the red pinstripes, produced a 0.00 ERA in 11 relief appearances for the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs before his trial performances in the majors. Unfortunately, the fireballer had control problems with the big club: He issued 17 free passes to 25 strikeouts compared to just two walks with 21 punch outs in his bullpen role for Lehigh Valley.

Of the other two with auditions, Zac Curtis, an average-stuff southpaw, recorded a 1.08 ERA; but he had only produced a 3.51 ERA in Double-A before his promotion by the Seattle Mariners. Lastly, right-hander Jesen Therrien had arrived in the major leagues after dominating the top two plateaus of the farm system, but he had difficulty with the Phillies before his campaign-ending injury.

MiLB Relieving Stats:

• Arano: 32 AA Gms., 38 2/3 Inn. and a 4.19 ERA.
• Rios: 13 AAA Gms., 18 1/3 Inn. and a 1.96 ERA.
• Rios: 24 AA Gms., 38 Inn. and a 1.89 ERA.
• Pinto: 11 AAA Gms., 20 2/3 Inn. and a 0.00 ERA.
• Curtis: 41 AA Gms., 51 1/3 Inn. a 3.51 ERA and 13 Saves.
• Terrien: 18 AAA Gms., 28 2/3 Inn. and a 1.57 ERA.
• Terrien: 21 AA Gms., 28 2/3 Inn. and a 1.26 ERA.

MLB Relieving Stats:

• Arano: 10 Gms., 10 2/3 Inn. and a 1.69 ERA.
• Rios: 13 Gms., 16 1/3 Inn. and a 4.41 ERA.
• Pinto: 25 Gms., 29 2/3 Inn. and a 7.89 ERA.
• Curtis: 6 Gms., 8 1/3 Inn. and a 1.08 ERA.
• Terrien: 15 Gms., 18 1/3 Inn. and a 8.35 ERA.

MiLB Starting Stats:

• Pinto: 8 AAA Gms., 40 Inn., 3-3 and a 5.85 ERA.

While Florimon is the front-runner for a reserve role, Jesmuel Valentin and Eliezer Alvarez will be his competition. But both had injuries also: Valentin had suffered a separated shoulder to end his season on May 12, and Alvarez was out for two months around mid-season. That stated, Valentin batted .229 for Lehigh Valley after averaging over .300 until the last week or so of April, while Alvarez hit .247 in Double A after batting  .300 in consecutive summers at rookie ball and Single-A.