Phillippe Aumont Called Up

The Phillies added another weapon to their bullpen arsenal following Monday night's victory, according to the Morning Call's Mandy Housenick, who reported it on Twitter:

The Phillies have placed LHP Jeremy Horst on the paternity leave list and recalled RHP Phillippe Aumont from Lehigh Valley (AAA).

Aumont, the only bright piece of the trade that sent Cliff Lee to Seattle in 2010, is a 6-foot-7-inch pitcher who at times, appears to be completely and utterly dominant. While his 4.22 ERA in 170 career minor league games isn't anything to get too excited about, he's a guy who -- when he's on -- can overpower opposing hitters, as evidenced by his 9.9 K/9.

Of course, there is a reason that we haven't seen him sooner, and that's because he does have a bit of a control problem. He's never had a BB/9 rate lower than 3.1, and in 44.1 innings at Triple-A this season, it sits at a robust 6.9 walks per nine innings. Think Antonio Bastardo, but right handed and with (somehow) worse control.

Still, I'm excited to see this. When he got shifted to the bullpen in 2010, he really stood out, and not just because he is tall. He can have great stuff, even if he is raw and unrefined, and he is the type of young, electric arm that can have a future on the team over the next few years.

It's hard to say how long he will be with the team, given that paternity leave will allow Horst to miss, at most, three games, so it's possible that Aumont won't even see any action this week. But with September just around the corner, it wouldn't be surprising if he was with the team after the late-season call-ups.

Aumont, 23, has a 4.26 ERA and 15 saves at Triple-A Lehigh Valley this season. 

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