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Sure, you may have heard of Cole Hamels, the oft-injured young stud who if he stays healthy could be with the Phils this July. And after three starts and 15 innings, he's got 24 strike outs and 1.72 ERA. But there are a number of other young arms that Phils Phans should be excited about.
Gio Gonzales
This 20 year old southpaw came over as part of the Thome trade with the White Sox and is my favorite of the bunch. If he turns out to be as good as he seems, Thome could hit 80 homeruns and we won't care. Gio was the talk of spring training with his relaxed and cool demeanor at camp. Tonight, in his third start for AA Reading, Gio struck out 7 of the first 12 batters and finished with 9 K's. So far 18 innings, 22 punchouts, and a 2.00 ERA.
Daniel Haigwood
The other pitching prospect in the Thome trade, Haigwood is 22 year old lefthander who went 14-3, fanned 160 in 143 innings. Haigwood and Gonxalez are buddies and both pitching at AA Reading.
Scott Maitheson/strong>
Mathieson is another 22 year old pitching at AA Reading. This spring, he pitched for Canada in the World Baseball Classic and pitched a scoreless inning against Team USA although Chase Utley nearly hit one out off him. Scott has ditched is very average curve and focused on his low 90's faseball, slider and change-up. He has a great work ethic and maturity which have scouts thinking great things to come.
Expect Cole Hamels to be promoted to Reading soon which will put all four studs together and along with Jason Jaramillo the highly rated young catcher and we are seeing the heart of future Phillies teams and things look good! Oh yeah, I haven't even mentioned Zack Segovia who has been on fire in Clearwater.
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