Chris Coste Optioned?

There have been reports that Chris Coste has been optioned to Ottawa. This is a pretty disappointing development, because Coste really developed into a fan favorite last year. He epitomizes what people like to see in athletes: he’s had to work for everything, he’s a great guy and he can play ball too. Coste did great things coming off the bench last year, and hopefully he gets another shot at it after an injury or trade later this year. The story of his path to the majors is nothing short of inspiring, and he should be on a major league roster somewhere.

On one hand, I can see the writing was on the wall. The team is committed to Barajas because they spent pretty decent money on him in the offseason. Jayson Werth is needed as an extra Outfielder. Charlie Manuel loves using Abraham Nunez and Michael Bourn as late inning defensive replacements, and Bourn is also one of the fastest guys in the league and is a great pinch runner. Greg Dobbs had a great spring and it’s tough to deny him a roster spot, so where’s room for Chris? Bourn was a likely candidate to be sent down, but he’s important as a pinch runner and offers a lot of speed on the bench. Coste was a 34 year old rookie last year, and people say there’s a reason it took him so long to finally stick, and they’re probably right. His season definitely could’ve been a fluke, but after what he gave the team last year, he should’ve been brought back.

The bench could use some more pop. Nunez can’t hit, and Werth and Bourn are unknowns at this point. Werth is still recovering from his wrist injury and Bourn has no real ML experience to make a judgment on at this point. Dobbs and Coste bring pretty much the same thing to the table, but Coste could still be valuable as a pinch hitter.

Down the road, he should be back because of an injury, trade or at worst, September call ups. He’s nice insurance to have at Ottawa, even if he probably should be in Philadelphia.

The Phils dropped another tonight after Myers got hit around. He wasn’t necessarily making bad pitches, but the Florida hitters were all over them, and they were driving balls hard. Tomorrow Zach Segovia will make his first start against Scott Olsen, who is very fond of Philadelphia. The Phillies probably want to hit him hard.

In other Philly sports news, the Flyers wrap up their dreadful season tomorrow afternoon against Buffalo on NBC. I’ll have a recap of the year in the coming days.