OTTAWA - Monday is cut day in Clearwater and
seven more Phillies hopefuls have been sent to Minor League camp.
Outfielder Ron Calloway, infielder
Brent Abernathy and righthander Joe Bisenius were informed that
they would not make the Opening Day roster, but will accompany the club to
Philadelphia for the weekend On-Deck Series against the Red Sox. Pitchers
Eude Brito and Fabio Castro were optioned to Minor League camp;
third baseman Brennan King and catcher Dusty Wathan, both
non-roster invitees, were re-assigned to Minor League
camp.
Ron Calloway, who played in Ottawa in 2001 and 2002,
is veteran of 10 professional seasons,
Calloway hit .288 with four home runs and 49 RBI in 114 games for Triple-A
Pawtucket in 2006. The 30-year-old spent 2003 and part of 2004 with the
Expos where he compiled a .224 average with 10 home runs and 62 RBI in 172 Major
League games.
Brent
Abernathy is a career .301 hitter in the
Minor Leagues and has played 232 Major League games with Tampa Bay (2001-2003),
Kansas City (2003) and Minnesota (2005). He spent all of last season with
Nashville of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, hitting .287 with 5 HR and 42
RBI.
Joe
Bisenius went 8-3 with a 2.25 ERA in 51
combined games between Single-A Clearwater and Double-A Reading in 2006.
The 24-year-old compiled 95 strikeouts in 84.0 innings (10.2 SO/9.0 IP).
Bisenius was originally a 12th-round selection by the Phillies in the
2004 draft.
Eude Brito went 10-8
with a 3.17 ERA (7th in the International League) for the Phillies'
Triple-A affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last season. He was second in the IL
in complete games and third in shutouts and pitched 5 games for the
Phillies.
Fabio Castro spent
most of last season in the Phillies' bullpen, accumulating a 0-1 record with a
1.54 ERA. He opened the season with Texas and rehabbed a groin injury at
Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Oklahoma before being traded to the Phillies at the
end of June.
Brennan King played
for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2006. He hit .261 with 12 home runs
and 48 RBI in 97 games for the Red Barons, including hitting a natural cycle on
July 14, capping it off with a grand slam.
Dusty Wathan hit .239
with five home runs and 27 RBI in 80 games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, including
two extra-inning walk-off homers. Wathan has appeared in three Major
League games in his career, all with Kansas City in 2002.
Catcher Jason Jaramillo has returned
to Major League camp. Jaramillo had previously been re-assigned to minor
league camp on March 12.
The Ottawa Lynx will open the
2007 season, their first season as the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia
Phillies, in Rochester on April 6th. The Lynx home opener is scheduled for April
17th against the Charlotte Knights at 6:05 pm. Single-game tickets will be on
sale at the Lynx Box Office starting April 2nd at 10 am. Ticket
information can be found at www.ottawalynx.com or by calling 613 747-LYNX
(5969).