Phillippe Aumont Demoted To Single-A

Great news, Phillies fans! Remember that guy the Phils had last year that was really good at pitching a baseball? The one who was nothing short of filthy in the postseason, when many would argue is the most important time to be on your game? Right, the Cliff Lee guy.

Well, remember when they traded him with no really good explanation, only to say that they needed to replenish the farm system? Yeah, the main guy that they got in return for him, Phillippe Aumont, just got demoted for stinking up the joint in Double-A ball.

Sigh.

As if you weren’t unimpressed enough at the time (‘we got who in return for Lee?’), this is even more disheartening news. It seems that there was much internal discussion about whether or not he should be sent to Single-A or Double-A ball out of Spring Training, and the team guessed wrong.

“I thought we made a mistake,” assistant GM Chuck LaMar said Sunday. “I told Phillippe that today. Hindsight is 20-20. But we probably put him in a situation that was extremely hard for anyone.”

Aumont’s performance apparently didn’t impress the Phils’ brass. The 6′ 7″ 21-year old was 1-6 with a 7.43 ERA in Double-A Reading this year. Since throwing six shutout innings in his fourth start of the year, he’s had a 10.61 ERA.

So what’s the problem?

“It’s consistency,” LaMar said. “His stuff is there, but at the double-A level, you not only have to have stuff, you have to have command of that stuff and be able to use it consistently. Right now, he’s just a young kid with stuff who has to be able to use it. In the bullpen, where Seattle had him, you can come in for just an inning . . . but as a starting pitcher, throwing 100 pitches at the double-A level, you need to have more than that.”

Not only is he going from reliever to starter, he also has the team tinkering with his mechanics. Sounds like a recipe for success.

“We think he’s going to pitch in the major leagues for the Phillies,” LaMar continued. “We like his size. We like his stuff. We like his competitiveness. He also has to continue to gain confidence in himself. Ability can only take you so far. At some point you have to have results.”

Good to know that the Phillies got a guy in return for a stud that they think can play at the MLB level.

Who knows what will happen with this kid? I just know that you can’t sustain success by bringing in high-profile free agents every year unless you are the New York Yankees. The Phillies have made a lot of money in these last few years, but they still aren’t liquid enough to to have five $20 million per-year starters. At some point, they’ll need to get kids up from the farm. This might not be a huge deal now, but it could be at some point.