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04/24/2008 10:00 AM ET
Player Journal: Savery savors steak
Phillies prospect updates food race, adjusts to early morning baseball
By Joe Savery
Joe Savery is 1-1 with a 1.73 ERA in four games with Class A Advanced Clearwater. (Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images)

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The 19th overall pick by Philadelphia in 2007, Savery posted a 2.73 ERA for Williamsport in his pro debut after earning All-American honors three times as the premier two-way player in the nation at Rice. The 22-year-old southpaw then posted a 0.64 ERA for the Peoria Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League.

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Hello again from sunny Clearwater, Florida.

We are almost a month into the season as we have played more than 20 games. Our team has had a tough start these first few weeks as we have struggled to win several close games. We remain in last place in our division but have shown signs the past few days of things beginning to turn around.

On Wednesday morning, we got to experience one of the several early-morning games we will play this year. With the first pitch at 10:30 a.m., no one really knew what to expect, especially after an 11-inning game the night before. But the Threshers' bats erupted for 15 hits as we won our first game against the Sarasota Reds.

The 15 hits is very important to the position players as they qualify for a free steak dinner, compliments of our manager, Razor Shines. At the beginning of the season, our skipper promised a steak dinner for the position players each time they got 15 hits in a winning effort. The same deal applies to the pitchers each time we throw a shutout. The pitchers are now leading, 3-1, in steak dinners. Sorry, position guys. And thank you, Razor!

As for me, I now have four starts under my belt, with my fifth coming on Thursday night. I am happy with my start thus far, even though I am coming off of my worst outing of the year against the Dunedin Blue Jays. Although they are a great hitting team, I did not have great control and it ended up costing me a few runs in the sixth.

My two previous outings were very effective, in which I walked only three batters in 15 innings. I am continuing to work on consistently throwing strikes and getting ahead of hitters.

Off the field, this weekend, my Rice Owls will be playing Central Florida in Orlando, so I am hoping to get over there one morning to say hello to a few familiar faces.

Let me answer a few of your questions:

Bruce Schwindt asks, "Do you have a timetable for when you will be moving up?"

Thanks for your question, Bruce. This is a question a lot of people ask, including myself. I am learning every day more and more about how the Minor League system works and I have learned that it is much more complicated than one might think. As badly as I want to move up, a lot has to happen for that to occur. A spot has to be created for me, which means someone is probably getting released, traded or sent down. Those are not easy decisions to make, so no matter how badly I want to move up, it is something I have to try and not think about. The organization may not be in as big a hurry as I am, so I have to focus on pitching as well as I can and let the rest take care of itself.

I have received many questions about the availability of my bat and my future as a hitter.

It certainly has been an adjustment, but unfortunately, my bat will no longer be much of a factor in my baseball life. Yes, if I am to move up, I will begin to hit for myself when I pitch, but it's safe to say that will be the extent of my hitting. Some of the readers have wondered if I will ever pinch hit, and the very simple answer to that is no. I spend two of the days that I don't pitch in the stands doing pitching chart, which limits my ability to hit that much more.

Thanks again for taking the time to read my journal and please feel free to email me with your questions.

Joe Savery is a pitching prospect in the Philadelphia Phillies organization and a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.