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Amaro watches Nola, says promotion isn't imminent

Aaron Nola threw seven shutout innings in Double-A Reading's 4-0 win over New Hampshire on Wednesday morning, with Phillies team president Pat Gillick and general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. in attendance. Amaro said Nola still has things to work on, isn't on verge of promotion.

DENVER - As he surveyed the fields on the Carpenter Complex two months ago, where a Who's Who of Phillies prospects were at play on a day when the major leaguers were out of town, Ruben Amaro Jr. stated what should have been an obvious point for a general manager of a rebuilding team.

"I know with the fan base the focus is always on the major league club - but a lot of our focus is really right down here [on the minor league talent], and how we can continue to develop and acquire and procure young talent," Amaro said that afternoon in Clearwater, Fla. "And that's what we're doing. We're trying to find the next guys that will replace the guys we've had a lot of success with for a long time."

So it was hardly surprising that Amaro and team president Pat Gillick spent yesterday morning taking in a minor league game at Double A Reading, home to at least a handful of the team's top prospects.

Yes, that group includes Aaron Nola, who had another masterful minor league performance.

Nola, the Phillies' first-round pick last June, held the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto's Double A affiliate) to four hits in seven shutout innings. He struck out seven and walked one, improving to 6-2 with a 1.54 ERA in eight starts this season.

No, Amaro's and Gillick's presence didn't mean a promotion was imminent. Nine days after telling reporters that Nola was "right where he needs to be," Amaro's opinion hadn't changed after getting his eyes on the 21-year-old righthander.

"There are some things he needs to work on still," Amaro said by phone. "There's some areas he's continuing to work on. We continue to discuss and put together a plan for him. We're in the middle of formulating that plan."

What exactly does Nola need to work on - holding runners, or something not involving getting hitters out?

"I'm not really at liberty to say," Amaro said.

There is obviously no rush in getting Nola to the major leagues, particularly on a team that's not expected to contend this season (or next). But Phillies management and baseball operations people have long held the belief that their prospects themselves often tell the organization when they're ready for a promotion.

Maikel Franco, for example, put forth such a strong first month at Triple A Lehigh Valley that he forced the Phillies' hand. He earned a call-up to the big leagues, sending into motion a plan that also included third baseman Cody Asche being sent to Triple A to hone his craft in leftfield.

Following yesterday morning's game in Reading, Nola ranks first in the Eastern League in innings (52 2/3), second in WHIP (0.82) and third in ERA (1.54). He has a 39-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio and has held hitters to a .203 batting average.

Nola has surely done the equivalent of telling the organization he's ready to move on from Double A. Amaro, however, wouldn't say whether a promotion to Lehigh Valley was on the horizon.

"You're right, the players do honestly tell us when it's time to move on," Amaro said. "While there are some things to work on, he's very advanced, and we talk about all of those things. It's not out of the realm of possibility that he could come to the big leagues [this season]. But we're not going to do that until it's time."

Since being selected with the seventh overall pick last June, Nola has gone 10-5 with a 2.25 ERA in 20 games between Double A and Class A Clearwater. Yesterday marked the fifth consecutive start that Nola had allowed one run or fewer.

"He threw well again," Amaro said. "He stayed out of the middle of the plate, mixed in his pitches - he did a nice job. He's been very consistent, very good. Not a lot of negatives."

Back at Coors Field, manager Ryne Sandberg, who has had his pitching staff beset with injuries all spring, was asked if he believed he'd see Nola in a Phillies uniform before the end of the 2015 season.

"I would say so," Sandberg said with a smile.

Back in third spot

Chase Utley's demotion to the lower-third of the batting order lasted less than a week.

Utley was back in the third spot in the lineup, where he's started 1,008 career games, when the Phillies took on the Rockies at Coors Field last night. Utley was moved into the sixth spot on Friday, and hit there for four straight games.

"It just happened to work today with the guys that I wanted in the lineup," Ryne Sandberg said before the game. "Other than that, I think he's been stinging the ball well and he's a good fit for there obviously."

Going into last night, Utley had raised his batting average by 30 points since Friday, from .118 to .148. After hitting just one double in his first 32 games, Utley had doubled in four straight games entering last night.

"Better swings - driving the ball," Sandberg said.

Taking a break

First-base coach Juan Samuel will not be with the team for the next two games.

Samuel is traveling to Orlando, where he'll celebrate his daughter Noemi Samuel Del Rosario's graduation from the law school at Barry University. Assistant hitting coach John Mizerock will coach first base this afternoon and tomorrow night in Washington; Samuel is expected back Saturday.