Phillies acquire lefty reliever Randolph from Astros

Stephen Randolph, 34, appeared in 14 games for the Astros last season and had been pitching this season for Triple-A Round Rock. The Phils will send a player to be named later, according to the Daily News.

Originally drafted by the Yankees in the 18th round of the 1995 draft, the Okinawa, Japan-born southpaw, who’s been with six organizations prior to Philadelphia, was among the 89 players named in the Mitchell Report. In parts of the three big league seasons with the Diamondbacks and Astros (109 appearances, six as a starter) he is 10-17 with a 5.52 ERA and brutal 134/136 K/BB ratio, consistent with the control problems he's suffered in 12 minor league seasons.

Last season was arguably his best in that regard, but was it a fluke? From Baseball Prospectus: “Randolph had arguably the most random good year of any pitcher in baseball last year, with a 3.6 K/BB and 23 hits allowed in 52 innings at Round Rock. This from a pitcher who typically walks six or more per nine innings. It screams fluke, particularly as he walked 17 in 13 1/3 across four stints with the big club last year.”

An official announcement has not been made. According to the press notes, he has not been added to the club for today's contest, and he isn't listed on the Lehigh Valley roster, either.

Beerleaguer: Randolph was promoted and demoted as much as Clay Condrey last season and only pitched a total of 13 1-3 innings. That says it all. With Round Rock this season, he had a 1.23 ERA while striking out 21 in 14 2/3 innings, but also walked 11 and was no better against left-handers than right-handers. And actually, in 155 Major League innings, there's no great difference in left/right splits other than K/BB ratio.

I do not believe he will help the Phillies’ bullpen due to very poor command. If this is their solution to the second left-hander issue, the Phils have have bitten on something other than black and white results. It's that simple. The numbers smack you across the face with the fact he can't pitch in the show. Maybe he looks good in a uniform.

Comments

[martin]

And it doesn't really matter, but the Phils traded Gookie Dawkins to the White Sox for PTBNL.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

Well, the Phils finally got a Japanese pitcher...

[Andy]

So we're gonna get Toby Nehmledder from the Sox and send him to the 'stros. And we get a churnin' urn of burnin' funk.

Great.

Didn't we have "Vic Darensbourg" once already?

[Will]

Wasn't JC Romero a lefty who gave up too many walks? Isn't that why Boston released him?

I think the phils are trying to catch lightning in a bottle twice. I expect his slot will be Condrey's, so why not take a shot? I'd rather them doing something than nothing, and if this is their something...worth a shot.

[J. Weitzel]

You can't compare Romero with Randolph though. One had a track record of Major League success, the other has none.

[Sam]

He's gonna be triple-A org depth, part of the piggy's retooling. I sincerely doubt they think of him as a future big-league talent, that's what Outman and Castro are for.

[stjoehawk]

Stephen Randolph was drafted as the next-to-last pick in the 18th round of the 1995 draft by the Yankees. The next pick, made by the Expos, was future Patriots QB, Tom Brady (who was a catcher at Serra HS, in San Mateo,CA).

[Tony]

He looks like Arthur Rhodes

[king myno]

"Manuel batted Pedro Feliz seventh for just the fifth time in the past 21 games. Feliz is hitting .288 out of the No. 7 hole."

Even though Pedro has woken up a bit in the recent past, this is still a good sign. It's hard evidence where someone can tell Charlie, "Look, let's keep Feliz at 7!" It's where he belongs, and if we put less of an offensive burden on the guy, it'll be easier to hate him less.

[diggitydave]

How can you not like the move? At least the Phils are going after another lefty who apparently can strike out his fair share of hitters.
Worst comes to worst, they pull a "Rob Ducey" and trade him back to Houston as the "PTBNL" in the initial offer.

[RSB]

Yet still no offer for Ray King. Dumbfounding.

From last post: agreed that the 8th inning rally got Manuel off the hook for using Madson in the 7th. He has not earned the right to pitch in those situations. I was mad when I saw him in there when the inning started, and madder still when he quickly handed the lead back right after the Phillies had tied it.

Whatever happened to Madson's changeup? When he had that great rookie season, he was getting swing-and-misses like Cole Hamels gets, from all kinds of good hitters. That was his weapon. It's not even been remotely the same pitch for him since then. He has no other above-average pitches.

[Wayne]

We need some new blood, the pitchers at AAA have a hard time getting their ERA's under 5.00 .

[mike cunningham]

Re: Madson

The only thing I figure was that they were going to give Gordon or Romero the night off (I'm thinking romero). And since Seanez pitched the day before he's unavailable.

[johnnysanz3]

Of the last 31 hitters Lidge has faced, only 3 have reached base, according to Jayson Stark on espn.com. Nasty.

[CJ]

(From the last thread, just catching up)

Re: Lidge

Unhittable. Did you see those batters last night? He's been lights out and his stuff has been vile.

Re: Howard

Let's remember that sitting down Howard means playing Harman. That's not an offensive upgrade by any stretch of the imagination. If it's Dobbs playing first, maybe you get something out of it, but there's no reason to play Dobbs against tough lefties because he'd struggle just as much. I'm not sure sitting him down is the way to get him out of his funk.

[Tray]

It's not as if Howard's hitting righties either, you know. And when Rollins is back, couldn't Bruntlett play second or first?

[MPN]

Now all the Iron Pigs need to do is find a pitcher named Mortimer and they can have a Trading Places theme night at the Coke. "Looking good Randolph." "Feeling good Mortimer."

[Dave X]

I think he should be dropped in the order before a benching or DLing is considered. Right now the only hitters on the team doing worse are So Taguchi and Brad Harman. With Rollins hopefully coming back soon, Howard would only have Vic and Ruiz as partners in futility - even Pedro Feliz is a step above right now.

[CJ]

Sure... Bruntlett could... but it's not like his bat is anything special (63 OPS+).

My point is that all of these options present little to no upgrade offensively, and little to no upgrade defensively.

If you want to argue that sitting down Howard will help him get his head on straight, that's one thing. But I don't think it's a good argument to say we're getting a better bat in the lineup.

I would rather move him down in the lineup and let him work his way out of this. He's obviously still learning... and I think he's more likely to come around while getting regular time than to suddenly get a light bulb moment while sitting on the bench.

And the idea that if we bench him, we shouldn't pitch hit with him is crazy. Can you imagine if this team were down a run in the ninth with a man on firt and two outs and Charlie sent So Taguchi to the plate instead of Ryan Howard?

[Wayne]

Coste played at 1B in AAA, he could play a game or 2 at 1B.

[Tray]

Oh, I agree that you're not going to somehow replace him in the lineup with a better bat, although Bruntlett's kind of hot of late. The benching would just be for mental purposes.

[J. Weitzel]

You look at Randolph's career as a player who has been stuck in AAA and he would seem to be an ideal fit for Japan and its wider strike zones. And he was born in Japan for crying out loud.

[lekh tizdayen]

Buster Olney had a piece cited on MLBTR naming the Angels as the most likely trade candidate for Ryan Howard. It makes sense, they've got the kind of young pitching/position prospects to swing this kind of deal and match up well with the phillies needs. What would such a trade look like? Would the Angels give up, say, Kotchman, Brandon Wood, Scot Shields, and Jordan Walden?

[J. Weitzel]

Stephen Randolph fun fact:

His 10 Major League wins rank him ninth all-time among Japan-born pitchers and second all-time among left-handed pitchers.

[CP , NJ]

Pat the Bat started as a 1B . An option if we sit Howard.

I think Ryan will break out of it soon. I think I would play him the rest of the road trip& if he is still stuck in a funk then I would sit him at home for a few games.

[Andy]

"second all-time among left-handed pitchers"

Woo-hoo!! What a specimen! (Bet Vic Darensbourg wishes HE had been born overseas!)

Incidentally, on the last thread, Mike Cunningham suggested, and I concur, that Brad Lidge's stuff is not nasty or filthy - it is MALEVOLENT.

[Andy]

CP - Maybe we should just outfit PtB with a 1B glove and let him take fielding while Ryan is in the batting cage. It might help him focus a little better on the realities of the situation.

[CP, NJ]

Andy
love the idea. Too millionaires hitting fungo.
Maybe Ryan will get his head together & take his game with it!

[RSB]

Burrell is NOT an option at first base. He hasn't played the position in eight years, and the Phillies have previously shot down this idea.

Howard can come out of this. I wish I could say when. I'm not going to give him the old Arlen Specter rah-rah, but the things he's doing wrong at the plate are correctable. He needs a little time to clear his head. I can't believe he's going to stay this bad.

[joe l]

@Wayne - something tells me Coste would drive the team bus if asked, the guy has played everywhere.

[Mr. Mack]

My feeling on the Randolph trade is that it makes room for one of the young guys to be called up and given their shot. I figure Randolph fills the Piggies void at the LHRP position and one of young guns gets his chance in the Show. The need for another LH in the bullpen has to be noticed by someone other than us BL'er posters & Cholly, although that is strictly an assumption.

[J. Weitzel]

RJ Swindle gets a mention in the latest Jayson Stark column.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

jason donald, back from injury, picked up where he left off and is raking in AA.

[CJ]

1) Can we give the wild suggestions a rest? Pat Burrell and Chris Coste aren't going to play first. Coste is our backup catcher. You don't put your backup catcher in the field. Pat Burrell doesn't play first base and you don't teach that over night. You can slide Chase to first or you can play Dobbs at first. That's it.

2) Can we give the wild suggestions a rest? We're not trading Ryan Howard. Period. There's no reason to trade him for at least a couple of years. Despite his struggles, he's one of the greatest young sluggers of all time.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

doesn't make sense to trade him when he's hitting .160 or so, anyway.

[curt]

"Can you imagine if this team were down a run in the ninth with a man on firt and two outs and Charlie sent So Taguchi to the plate instead of Ryan Howard?"

Absolutely. One would at least put it in play; one wouldn't.

Ryan has so many holes right now, the weakest pitcher on the US Olympic softball team could hang 3 Ks on him in 9 innings.

[CJ]

curt: So... down a run with two outs in the ninth, our goal should be to choose the pinch hitter most likely to just make contact.

Pure brilliance.

[dale]

I love how Weitzel unabashedly loves Swindle. It's great reading.

Also, can anyone tell me why Jenkins is playing right instead of Werth consistently? I understand Charlie loves to work his matchup magic and that Jenkins is doing ok - but hasn't Werth proven to be worthy of a shot at hanging out in RF virtually every day? Having him in our lineup with J-Roll out seems much more reasonable. I guess bruntlett has been doing well in the 2 hole, but I'd love to see the gangly freak in there instead.

[craig_one]

lineup: burrell gets the day off.

victor
brunt the grunt
chase the base
big dad
jenkins the favre
dobbs
the total taguchi
coste the man
myers the _____

[lekh tizdayen]

Why Taguchi and no Werth? If its b/c Webb's a sinkerballer, isn't Werth faster and gets on base more?

[Tony]

is a PTBNL the same as some dudes?

[mike cunningham]

Here are both players numbers versus Webb:

Taguchi is .222/.300/.522 in 10 Plate Appearnces

Werth is .167/.333/.500 in 9 Plate Appearances.