"But these three guys, if they stay healthy, have a chance to make an impact at the major league level. Cosart's been hurt [elbow] the last couple months, but those three have the physical ability to have an impact."
Most enigmatic
Righthander Phillippe Aumont.
After starting the season at Double A Reading, the 6-7, 21-year-old struggled so badly (1-6, 7.43 in 11 starts) that he was sent back to Clearwater where he still tried to find himself (2-5, 4.48 in 16 games, 10 starts).
LaMar: "This is the one young man we need to do a better job with. Forget about the [Cliff Lee] trade. We don't need to hear about that again. But this young man is a major league prospect. He's big, strong, good arm action, good velocity, showed signs of secondary stuff that can get hitters out at the major league level. And, resultwise, did not have a good year in Reading or in Clearwater. And it's our job to get that ability out of him.
"We're not disappointed in him at all. It's that he's got more ability than his numbers indicate. So next year I would expect much better things than we saw out him.
"Unless a big, tall pitcher is an outstanding athlete - if they're just normal athletically there are more moving parts and it can take longer. I could say the same thing about big, tall hitters. Or power hitters, for that matter. There's more that can go wrong mechanically. A tall pitcher can take time to grow into himself and Phillippe may fit into that group."
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