Andrew Carpenter News

After having his right elbow carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey for the past three years, Scott Mathieson set a modest goal before the 2009 season started.

With so much attention being paid to the Phillies' decision to not pick up their $5.5 million option on Pedro Feliz's contract for 2010, there hasn't been much discussion about "the other Pedro" on the offseason radar screen.

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. has told right-hander Pedro Martinez that the Phillies have not closed the door on his return in 2010, but are focusing their efforts elsewhere.

In today's paper we took a look at five questions facing the Phillies this offseason, starting with their projected payroll and ending with the rotation.

If an upcoming MRI exam dictates that Raul Ibanez undergo surgery to repair a torn muscle near his abdomen, it won't be shocking.

Ruben Amaro Jr. shed some light on the Phillies' offseason strategy today. Before we get into the interesting philosophical stuff, there are a few pieces of news that came out of the news conference: 1) As expected, the Phillies exercised Cliff Lee's $9 million option, officially bringing back the lefthander for next season.

A year ago, the Phillies had just completed a sweep of Milwaukee that tied them with the Brewers for first place in the wild-card race and pulled them within one game of the Mets in the NL East.

Earlier this decade, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels were minor-leaguers in the Phillies' system.

The Lakewood BlueClaws added a big-league arm for one inning of Monday night's first game of the 2009 South Atlantic South League Championship Series against Greenville.

The Lakewood BlueClaws added a big-league arm for one inning of Monday night's first game of the 2009 South Atlantic League Championship Series against Greenville.

Today's local and vocal edition of The Sporting Muse: It's time to visit the craps table in Las Vegas.

Scott Eyre could be back on the mound for the Phillies in the next couple of days - if he can tolerate the pain.

Jimmy Rollins and Pedro Feliz had RBI singles and Shane Victorino hit a career-high three doubles for the NL East-leading Phillies, who entered with a five-game lead over Florida.

Nearly six weeks ago, Shane Victorino bruised his left knee on the turf in Arizona while making a diving catch in center field.

Kyle Drabek and Michael Taylor last week were named the winners of the annual Paul Owens awards as the top pitcher and player in the Philadelphia Phillies minor league system.

Andrew Carpenter threw seven strong innings and Andy Tracy went 3-for-4 with two RBIs to lead Lehigh Valley to a 4-1 victory over Pawtucket at Coca-Cola Park.

Kyle Drabek, the Phillies' top pitching prospect, has been shut down for the rest of the season.

Freddy Galvis went 3 for 4 and ripped a two-run homer in just his third double-A game as the Reading Phillies beat the Erie SeaWolves, 6-4, in the Eastern League last night.

The 2009 edition of the Phillies' pitching staff should be associated with a few popular television shows like Full House and Survivor.

Cole Hamels reinforced his sizable day/night splits his last start, giving up seven runs Sunday afternoon when it looked like he had the game in hand.