Roster Additions - 6/19

Kris Benson, Ben Pfinsgraff, Drew Naylor, Herman Demmink, and Michael Taylor were all added to the Clearwater roster today.


RHP Pfinsgraff, RHP Naylor, INF Demmink, and OF Taylor were promoted to the Threshers today from Lakewood (A).

Pfinsgraf, a reliever, had a 3.41 ERA and picked up two saves in five opportunities for the BlueClaws and picked up 37 strikeouts in 37 innings. A Clemson product, Demmink was batting .231 at Lakewood.

Taylor’s impressive .361 batting average and 90 hits were leading the South Atlantic League, and he ranked fifth in RBI with 50. For the season he had drawn 31 walks to also lead the SAL in on-base percentage at .441. Taylor, a fifth-round pick of the Phillies in 2007, was recently named the SAL Player of the Month for May by the Topps Company and Minor League Baseball.

Naylor, a native of Australia, leads the SAL in strikeouts with 97 and also has two complete games while compiling a 5-3 record and a 2.99 ERA. He joined Taylor at the SAL All-Star Game and was named the Most Outstanding Pitcher.

Welcome Back Football

Game Time: 7:00pm      Gates Open: 6:00pm

Tonight's Lineup
Burgamy, LF; Golson, CF; Blalock, DH; Slayden, RF; Marson, C; Donald, SS; Harris, 1B; Harman, 2B; Made, 3B

Tonight's starting pitcher is Myers.

Phillies pitcher Brett Myers will be starting tonight as part of a rehab assignment.

Football is Around the Corner
Celebrate the return of football, get 2 for 1 box seats, and drink specials at Frenchy's Tiki Pavilion by wearing your favorite team's jersey to the game tonight. Be one of the first 1,000 guests through the gate and get a football! Also, former Florida State star and current Tampa Bay Buccaneer Greg Spires will be on hand to sign autographs from 6:00pm to 7:00pm.

Extra! Extra!
It's another St. Petersburg Times Family Friday. Check your local St. Petersburg Times for the coupon that gets you 4 Field Box seats, 4 hot dogs, 4 sodas, and 4 bags of chips for only $25!

TV Time
Updated at 11:18am: Tonight's ballgame against the Blue Jays is scheduled to be broadcast live on Catch 47. Catch 47 is only on Bright House Networks.

First Place on the Horizon
The Threshers could take first place away from the Yankees tonight with a win over the Blue Jays and a Yankees loss in their game against the Flying Tigers. The Threshers are 8-2 in their last 10 games.

Shut 'em Down
Andrew Carpenter picked up his league-leading eleventh win of the season yesterday against the Blue Jays. He struck out 10 batters and gave up only three hits en route to a complete game shutout.

Double Trouble
Greg Golson and Lou Marson both went 2 for 4 with an RBI. All four hits were doubles.

Quick Game
Last night's game against the Blue Jays lasted two hours and nine minutes. That was the quickest nine-inning game at Bright House Networks Field since April 29 (2:07).

Recent Moves
Jeremy Slayden was activated from the disabled list on July 13. Brett Harker (July 13) and Ben Pfinsgraff (July 14) were placed on the disabled list. Shaun Boyd was promoted to Reading while Cory Willey was sent back from Reading on July 15.

What's Next?
The Threshers hit the road for a two-game series in Dunedin on July 21 and 22. They follow that up with a three-game series in Tampa. The Threshers return home on Thursday, July 26 for a three-game homestand against the Sarasota Reds.

Bobblehead Mania
The Chase Utley bobblehead, sponsored by the St. Petersburg Times, is the last of the 2007 Bobblehead Series. It is scheduled to be given away on Friday, July 27.

Roster update

There were a few moves made yesterday, June 21, that we started to discuss in one of the comment threads. Here is a little more information.

Ben Pfinsgraff was promoted from Lakewood (more info below)

Welinson Baez was sent to Lakewood.

Kevin Howard was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Still haven't seen any details of the trade. The Dodgers assigned him to the Jacksonville Suns (Double-A).

Jesus Sanchez was added from the GCL Phillies. I haven't seen any transactions for today, but I expect he will be headed back to the Complex very soon.

Some background on Ben Pfinsgraff:

Ben Pfinsgraff - Pfinsgraff is a 6'0" 180lb pitcher from Annapolis, Maryland. He played his college ball at Allegheny College before transferring to the University of Maryland-College Park. He was selected by the Phillies in the 22nd round of the 2006 draft. After signing with the Phillies, he was assigned to Batavia. Near the end of the year he was promoted to Lakewood. He primarily has come out of the bullpen for the BlueClaws this year, and had a 2-1 record with a 2.43 ERA in 33.1 innings before his promotion. He has struck out 38 and only walked six in 2007 which is good for a strikeout to walk ratio of 6.3 to 1.