The Prospect Pasture - May 1

Kyle Kendrick continued his success in a 4-2 victory at AAA Lehigh Valley last night, throwing six scoreless innings with two walks and four strikeouts. Kendrick is 2-1 with a 2.77 ERA in five starts so far and looks to be the best replacement at the major league level if a starter goes down to injury.

“Kendrick is off to a very good start, ” said Comcast SportsNet writer Kevin Czerwinski on Daily News Live last week. “[The organization] was a little bit worried if he would take his demotion down to Lehigh Valley in a positive light and he’s really embraced it. He wants to prove that he can be back up here.”

Kendrick was rocked in the majors last season and finished the year with a 5.49 ERA in 155.2 innings over 30 unimpressive starts. If the Phillies starting pitchers continue to struggle in ‘09, he just may force Charlie Manuel to call up the hot hand if Kendrick continues to dominate in the minors.

Reading outfielder Michael Taylor had another monster night with a pair of doubles and a home run to go along with five runs batted in. Taylor has hit safely in his last seven games, posting a .467 average in that span with three doubles, a triple, three home runs and eight RBI.

I must have spoken too soon about Reading right-hander Mike Stutes yesterday. The 22-year-old Oregon State product struggled last night, allowing four runs on eight hits through just two innings. The outing raised his ERA from 1.59 to 3.32.

Clearwater lefty Yohan Flande finally let up an earned run last night. He threw six solid innings of one-run ball in a 3-2 loss. Flande has been impressive early, flashing a nice 1.000 WHIP and a rating of 8.2 K/9.

Carlos Carrasco will take the mound for the IronPigs tonight and will hope to bounce back his last start when he allowed six runs in just 2.2 innings.

Photos courtesy MiLB.com.