With Joe Savery joining the Phillies this week and Tyler Cloyd set to replace Roy Halladay in the Phillies starting rotation on Friday, the Ironpigs needed some pitching help. On Tuesday the Phillies signed 27 year old left-handed pitcher Bobby Bramhall and assigned him to AAA.
Bramhall actually pitched at Coca-Cola Park earlier this year when he was a member of the Syracuse Chiefs. On April 13th he entered a game in the 7th inning and threw a perfect inning, retiring Cesar Hernandez, Cody Asche and Darin Ruf on groundballs. It was a game the Ironpigs won 6-0 behind the pitching of Adam Morgan.
Bramhall was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2007 out of Rice University where he was a teammate of Joe Savery, the guy he is replacing on the Ironpigs roster. Like Savery, Bramhall is considered a good hitting pitcher, playing several games in the outfield and at DH while in college. He has occasionally been used as a starting pitcher but he has been most effective facing left handed hitters coming out of the bullpen.
After missing the entire 2011 season due to Tommy John surgery, he pitched primarily for AA Jacksonville in the Southern League where he was 1-2 3.23 in 28 games. In 61 innings pitched he allowed 50 hits, walked just 18 and struck out 61 batters. It shouldn’t take too long until he sees his first action with the Ironpigs.
Here’s a good story from the Rice Owls official website:
http://www.riceowls.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/040407aaa.html
noisenation.mlblogs.com 