After several MRIs revealed no structural damage, the 26-year-old was left behind in Clearwater to figure out what sapped the energy out of his right arm.

His velocity, once sitting in the mid-90s, was barely getting to 86 mph. His command was not sharp, either.

By late June, Martin was off the Phillies' 40-man roster and his baseball career, at least in the Philadelphia organization, appeared as dead as his arm.

"I'm just sitting there thinking, 'Am I done? Is my arm gone? Is it ever going to wake up again?'" Martin said. "'Is my career done?'

"At the same time, I'm trying to figure it out [on the mound]. It's been a year-and-a-half."

A game of catch hours before the July 27 home game with Erie changed everything. His velocity was up. His command was good and his altered mechanics were effective.

Martin's success since late July was evident in a five-game stint late in the regular season when he didn't allow a run in 19 2/3 innings. He struck out 16, walked five and opponents hit just .111 against him in that stretch.

He is 3-1 with a 3.14 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in 21 games this year with the Fightins, five starts.

With his lost velocity, Martin had to learn how to go from a thrower to a pitcher.

"Sometimes when something like this happens to you, when you lose your velocity, you realize what you have to do to pitch," Reading manager Dusty Wathan said.

"He's had to learn how to pitch just to survive. He's headed in the right direction."

Martin felt good during his first throwing session this year in spring training, but then as he woke every day in Clearwater, his arm stayed asleep.

It looked like it when he toed the rubber at the Carpenter Complex.

"My arm felt like a wet noodle," he admitted.

Martin found only minor differences in his mechanics when he studied video. But once he stopped worrying about the radar gun, he focused on what is most important: how to get hitters out.

The 6-foot-2, 225-pounder, who made 17 appearances in 2013-14 with the Phillies, dropped his arm slot to less than three-quarters. He focused on moving all of his pitches — fastball, slider, curve, change-up — around the plate.

What the 6-foot-4, 235-pounder wasn't accustomed to was pitching as poorly as he was before being shipped to the Phillies organization.

Thompson had a 9.19 ERA and .313 batting average against in his last four starts before Texas sent him packing along with fellow minor leaguers Nick Williams, Alec Asher, Jorge Alfaro and Jerad Eickhoff to Philadelphia along with oft-injured Rangers starting pitcher Matt Harrison.

Pitching with a clean slate, Thompson returned to his previous pitching pattern — throwing off his two-seam fastball.

In the time this year leading up to the trade, Thompson was throwing his four-seamer and curveball more often. That didn't work well for him.

The two-seamer was just what he needed.

"That's what got me rolling last year," he recalled. "I was getting a lot of weak outs, pitching off the barrel of the bat.

"And I'm really pounding the strike zone."

phorever wrote:for the record, 100 prcnt agree with shore on this one... frenchy on bench vaugely plausible but starting so often ahead of ruf and delaying altherr's callup and preventing a chance to assess bogus and danks more completely are all bad for the long term.... and if frenchy gets grumpy on the bench despite belonging there... maybe he's not such a team guy after all.

bleh wrote:Last year we gave up Ender Inciarte so we could keep Grady Sizemore and Tony Gwynn Jr.

cartersDad26 wrote:Howard likely done for the year. Went to ER for his knee.

According to the Phillies media relations department, Howard was not scheduled to have an MRI or X-ray on his knee.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/spor ... WFPit8z.99

ReadingPhilly wrote:How did you like that? Was going to get that before I settled on "the best team money can buy" because I figured it'd be an easier read.

Bucky wrote:

ReadingPhilly wrote:How did you like that? Was going to get that before I settled on "the best team money can buy" because I figured it'd be an easier read.

was OK, not great, some insights, but a bit of a clint hurdle love-fest. i just ordered that one based on your mention; i hope it's good!!

swishnicholson wrote:

bleh wrote:Last year we gave up Ender Inciarte so we could keep Grady Sizemore and Tony Gwynn Jr.

No, we didn't.