Typically, if you'd tell us that Cole Hamels was getting scratched for a game we'd be rather bummed about it. But the news that Hamels will not pitch this evening due to a stomach illness comes with the silver lining that it will allow red hot pitching prospect Tyler Cloyd to make his Phillies debut.
Cloyd, who relies primarily on a cutter, has put up sick numbers at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, going 12-1 with a 2.35 ERA in 22 starts for the IronPigs. He also added 3 wins and 0 losses at Double-A Reading in 4 starts earlier in the year.
Tonight's game against the Mets may not feature the best pitcher in the Phillies organization at the moment, but it will give you your first look at a guy who could surprise in years to come. As Matt Gelb points out, Cloyd doesn't have crazy stuff and has seen his strikeout rates go down a bit this season, which isn't a great sign. These are things some scouts worry about. But fans aren't known to let that damper a bit of prospect excitement.
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Here's video from about 10 days ago of Jim Salisbury talking about Cloyd and how he deserved a September call up: