Clearwater

Excerpt from Daly News staff writer David Murphy's post on High Cheese, Phillies blog: THE FIRST RULE of Clearwater is you do not talk about Clearwater. Actually, that's not true. In fact, it doesn't make sense. Because I'm about to talk about Clearwater to you. Every year around this time I get a slew of emails asking for some recon on the spring-training home of your Fightin' Phils. So, I figured, why not write up a little cheat sheet for everybody to access. This cheat sheet will be tailored to those who usually drink a beer or two when engaging in any sort of vacation activity.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Joe Jordan, in preparation for his new job as the Phillies' personnel director, spent countless hours watching video of minor-leaguers this offseason. He also had numerous conversations with his fellow members of the player development department in an effort to get to know as much as he could about the farm system. Tyler Knigge's name was not one that came up often. "Coming into the year . . . we talked about him a little bit, but not a great deal," Jordan said last week at Bright House Field.

Chase Utley will take the next step in his rehab when he starts at second base Monday night for Class A Clearwater. Utley has been the designated hitter in his three Florida State League games. He played a few innings in the field Friday in a minor league exhibition between the Phillies' rookie leagues affiliates. Clearwater, coming off the All-Star break, hosts Dunedin at Bright House Field. Utley, who will hit third Monday, is 1-for-13 (.077) in three games with two runs scored.

The shake-up in the Phillies' minor-league organization resumed yesterday with the announcement that Reading manager Mike Hart and Clearwater manager Glenn Gulliver had not been re-hired. Clearwater coach Tim Corcoran also was dropped. No replacements were named by general manager Lee Thomas and player- development director Del Unser, who assumed that position earlier this week. However, it appears that former Phils manager Lee Elia, who was fired recently as a coach with the New York Yankees, will be hired as manager of the Clearwater club.

IF OPENING DAY represents the entrée and spring training the appetizer, then Wednesday's moment could be considered the hot bread presented before the appetizer for Phillies fans. As pitchers and catchers prepare to report to Clearwater on Feb. 13, more than a dozen Phillies employees were busy packing up a 53-foot equipment truck early Wednesday morning before sending it on its way to the Sunshine State. The Phillie Phanatic was present, loading the last item, and the truck began the 2-day, 1,058-mile migration south to Bright House Field, traveling through eight states in the process.

For the second straight season, lefthander Jesse Biddle is finishing fast after starting slow. Biddle, the Phillies' first-round draft choice (27th overall) in the 2010 draft out of Germantown Friends, was 0-2 with a 5.71 ERA in four April starts for high-single-A Clearwater, Fla. He bounced back to go 2-0 with a 1.36 ERA in six May starts and was on his way. With Thursday's 3-0 win over the Daytona Cubs, Biddle ran his scoreless inning streak to 16. In his previous start, he threw seven no-hit innings in an 11-0 win over Brevard County.

THE CITY OF Clearwater is expected to approve, at a City Council meeting tonight, a $2.9 million renovation to the Phillies' spring training complex. The upgrade would include a 20,000-square foot training center at the Carpenter Complex, with six air-conditioned batting cages, a weightroom, office space and a video room, and new batting cages at Bright House Field, according to the St. Petersburg Times. The plan calls for the Phillies to repay roughly $900,000 over the remaining 12 years of its contract with the city by giving 60 cents on each spring training ticket.

The last time Tommy Greene and Mitch Williams pitched together was in Game 4 of the 1993 World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Greene started and Williams took the 15-14 loss. Three years later, Greene and Williams are reunited with another Phillies team that has clinched a pennant. Trouble is, they're in Clearwater, Fla., home of the Phillies' Class A affiliate in the Florida State League. Each is each trying to make a comeback to the parent club. Last night, Greene and Williams appeared together in a game again, helping Clearwater to a 3-2 victory over the Brevard County Manatees at Space Coast Stadium.

Ryan Howard has gotten his wish. After Friday's 5-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs, Howard said he hoped to convince the Phillies to allow him to head to Clearwater to resume baseball-related activities. General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said before Saturday's game with the Cubs that Howard will depart Sunday and begin working out on Monday. Howard has been limited since Feb. 27, when he required a procedure to clean an infection from his original Achilles tendon surgery wound.

When Phillies fifth starter John Lannan was placed on the disabled list last month with a knee injury, one of the players who was in consideration to be called up was Lehigh Valley lefthander Adam Morgan. Eventually Jonathan Pettibone was recalled. Meanwhile, after a strong start this season, the 23-year-old Morgan has struggled. On Wednesday, Morgan allowed 10 runs (just three earned) on 10 hits in 31/3 innings of a 10-1 loss to Norfolk. Morgan was 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in his first three starts.

When Phillies fifth starter John Lannan was placed on the disabled list last month with a knee injury, one of the players who was in consideration to be called up was Lehigh Valley lefthander Adam Morgan. Eventually Jonathan Pettibone was recalled. Meanwhile, after a strong start this season, the 23-year-old Morgan has struggled. On Wednesday, Morgan allowed 10 runs (just three earned) on 10 hits in 31/3 innings of a 10-1 loss to Norfolk. Morgan was 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in his first three starts.

The Phillies were hoping for the best from Roy Halladay. They owed him $20 million, so when you're talking about that much money for a guy who has earned just as much in terms of respect as he has in dollars, you're going to hand him the baseball until he says he can't take it anymore. Halladay, after what had to be one of the most difficult days of his career, finally said "enough" on Sunday. He registered just seven outs and surrendered nine runs to a Miami Marlins team that had gone an entire week earlier this season without scoring that many times.

Roman Quinn, in his first full season of professional baseball, is experiencing some early-season growing pains. The 19-year-old, switch-hitting shortstop entered play Saturday hitting .202 with a .269 on-base percentage at low-A Lakewood and had just three hits in his last 30 at-bats. Manager Mickey Morandini met with Quinn in his office after Lakewood's most recent road trip, but has no concerns about the player's future. "No, there are no worries," Morandini said. "He's still learning to hit lefthanded.

NEW YORK - The Phillies will need a designated hitter for two days beginning Tuesday. They play their first of 10 interleague games at an American League ballpark with a brief trip to Cleveland. By then, Delmon Young will have a week of minor-league action under his belt. "We talk about him every day," manager Charlie Manuel said. Could that be the time to activate Young? "At this point," assistant general manager Scott Proefrock said, "nothing is imminent. " Young played his second game with triple-A Lehigh Valley on Friday.

Delmon Young took another step in his quest to become the Phillies' starting rightfielder when he donned a Clearwater Threshers uniform Sunday. His official minor-league rehabilitation assignment started, and if the initial results are any indication, improvement is needed. The first Lakeland Flying Tigers batter hit a fly ball toward Young. It landed for a triple. Young could have limited the hitter to a single had he taken a better route, said two officials who attended the game in Lakeland, Fla. In the seventh inning, Young committed a fielding error that allowed a runner to take an extra base.

If you're looking for the most improved player in the Phillies' farm system, it might be 22-year-old outfielder Aaron Altherr, who is off to a great start at single-A Clearwater. Altherr, once considered one of the Phillies' top 10 prospects by Baseball America, hit just .243 and struck out 99 times in 2011, when he started the season at single-A Lakewood and ended at Williamsport. He followed that up by hitting .252 with 102 strikeouts last year at Lakewood. "The thing with Aaron is that he made some adjustments at the very end of the year at Lakewood," said director of player development Joe Jordan.

Despite a slow start, Lehigh Valley's Tommy Joseph still heads up an impressive list of catching prospects in the Phillies organization. Joseph, who turns 22 in July, batted .200 in his first five games. But more troubling was that he had six passed balls in that span. "He has been trying to do too much too early and just has to settle in and play," said Joe Jordan, the Phillies' director of player development. "He caught so well in camp and drew a lot of praise from minor-league pitchers and staff.

Reading lefthander Jesse Biddle is ranked as the No. 1 Phillies minor-league prospect by The Inquirer and several other publications, but he entered the season with a simple goal - to get off to a better start. A 2010 first-round draft choice out of Germantown Friends, Biddle has had rough going the last two Aprils, first at low single-A Lakewood in 2011 and again last season at high-A Clearwater. He went a combined 0-5 with a 6.45 ERA in those two Aprils. But Biddle bounced back both seasons.

ATLANTA - Ender Inciarte said it was "like a dream come true" to make it to the big leagues on Opening Day. Less than 24 hours later, his dream came to an end, at least in Philadelphia. The Phils claimed fellow Venezuelan outfielder Ezequiel Carrera off waivers from the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday afternoon. To make room for Carrera on the roster, Inciarte was designated for assignment. Why Carrera over Inciarte? The 22-year-old Inciarte has never played in a game above the Class A level.

ATLANTA - It's not often that the second game of a baseball season receives more scrutiny than the first, but the Phillies' situation warrants that it be that way. The guy who started opening day the last three seasons for the Phillies and appeared to be at a crossroads in spring training will pitch Wednesday night against the Atlanta Braves. The team that dominated the National League East for five straight years but was beaten down by the Braves last season has a chance to rebound from an opening-night loss in which its $153 million ace was roughed up by Atlanta's core of power hitters.