May 9, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Philadelphia Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz (51) talks with relief pitcher Phillippe Aumont (48) during the seventh inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

In 13 innings of work, Aumont has struck out 15 and allowed 17 hits. Six earned runs have been the result.  It’s not an airtight bullpen the Phillies have out there this year, and the more earned runs that cross the plate, the more it seems like these younger prospect arms are interchangeable mediocrity.

It is a shame; Aumont’s slider is terrifying when worked effectively, and his fastball has the velocity to blow the shutters off a house.  But his issues remain in the realm of control, where seems to lose his footing more often than not.  As a guy appearing later in games, asked to hold leads, and then begged to hold leads, the Phillies would love it if he could find the control that would make him a suffocating relief option.

The real question is, who does this bring up?  Theories are already flying that it’s now Michael Stutes’ time to shine.  This is a positive development, as Stutes is a new option, and may even be a good one.  After 10 appearances, Stutes has allowed a single run.

He will most likely be promoted Friday, when the team is in Washington, and sent out to take on the presumed NL champion Nationals in a series that could very well determine some new placement in the NL East.

Also, Nationals suck.

Look at him out there; hair flowing in the warm Florida breeze, strutting about the pitcher’s mound with a relaxed work ethic.  You wouldn’t know it, but Stutes has spent the winter at odds with his arch nemesis.

Who knows what that shoulder is thinking. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Stutes didn’t see much of 2012 after being the spring training golden boy of 2011 and a bullpen darling alongside Antonio Bastardo.  His right shoulder issues ended his season in late April, and probably cost us some runs we didn’t deserve.  Without an irritating injury to worry about, he’s had his head clear to make a concentrated effort to make the team.

He’d had suspicions prior to the disabled list about his body betraying him.  Every itch and twitch had him eyeying the should with increased intensity, almost fully aware it was plotting against him.

“I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE UP TO,” he never shrieked at his own shoulder in the middle of a team meeting, but you can definitely imagine it happening.

Now, he remains weary of the shoulder’s antics, but confidence it has learned its lesson.  Neither one of them wants a second extended stay in Florida.  After spring training, it turns back into a smelly old people parking lot.

Rich Dubee has had nothing but splendid things to say about Stutes; that he’s throwing the ball from a sharper downward angle, that doing this will make him a more effective pitcher.  But of course, anything Dubee says can be squinted at with suspicion as well.  That guy has proven he’s willing to concoct falsehoods until he tastes blood.  It’d be easy to picture him having a hard time sleeping at night, but he probably just lies to himself and says he’s a good person with a clean conscience.

But Stutes is still around, Dubee’s opinion aside, and the bullpen spots are down to three with six guys contending.  As long as he and his shoulder remain on good terms, things could turn out okay for the 26-year-old.

Ruling out any sudden betrayals.

This preseason, we’ll find out, because Michael Stutes is back and hair-wavier than ever.  More importantly, the part of him that throws the baseballs is in the kind of shape that allows to throw baseballs.

Two years ago, we couldn’t STOP talking about Michael Stutes.  ”Michael Stutes!” we’d say.  ”That sounds like a name a person would have!”

PICTURED: Hair. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

And he had it; oh did he have it.  Beat writers lavished over the former 24-year-old, calling him “adjectives,” and “the occasional metaphoric noun.”  He made the team in 2011, and became part of the greatest bullpen to in the history of having surprisingly competent first halves of the Phillies’ best season ever.

Then, like most things we like in Philadelphia, he went away.  But unlike flash mobs and corruption, he didn’t come back weeks later.  He was out for all of 2012.  And we missed him.

Every time a Marlin or an Astro smacked a seventh inning double off a Rosenberg or a Schwimer or a Diekman, we would think, “Where is Michael?!  At least with him, we’d get to see that wavy hair bounce as he lurched his head around to watch a double land in the gap.”

Well, the effective reliever is back, solidifying the Phillies hopefully improved bullpen.  Now 26, he has been pitching since September, and has nothing but a small wound on his shoulder, reminding him of… whatever he did after disappearing mysteriously and coming back with a “new shoulder.”  Which offers advantages of its own.

“Now, not only is his velocity back to its normal level, he said he feels like he has a little extra juice on the pitch.”

–David Murphy

If that isn’t an admission that there is some formerly strong hobo out there who woke up in a bath tub without one of his shoulders and a handsomely written note, than maybe we’ll never get one and I am crazy.  I did mention hair a lot just now in this article about baseball.

Stutes would be a great addition, floating that gap between “proven veteran” and “oh god; this guy?! **chugs cough medicine.**”