| Phillippe Aumont | |
|---|---|
| Philadelphia Phillies – No. 75 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: January 7, 1989 Gatineau, Quebec |
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| Bats: Left | Throws: Right |
Phillippe Aumont[1] (born January 7, 1989 in Gatineau, Quebec[2]) is a minor league professional baseball pitcher with the Philadelphia Phillies organization. He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners 11th overall in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft.[3] He is the third earliest Canadian pick (after Adam Loewen and Jeff Francis, both picked in 2002)[4] and the first Quebec player to be picked in the first round in MLB draft history.[5]
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As a child his first love was baseball and he was never crazy about hockey.[2] He played baseball in high school at École secondaire du Versant in Gatineau, Quebec. Aumont was just 15 years old when his hometown Montreal Expos left for Washington after the 2004 season, but still supports the team despite playing in a new location.
In September 2003, Phillipe Aumont left his father's place to go live with his coach, Stéphane Pétronzio, and his family of three children, where he currently resides.
Phillippe was drafted by the Seattle Mariners with the 11th overall pick of the 2007 amateur draft. On August 15, 2007, Aumont reached a deal with the Mariners and signed a contract which included a $1.9 million signing bonus.
Phillippe Aumont appeared in 15 games; starting eight, for the Seattle Mariners A level affiliate, posting a 2.75 era over 55⅔ innings with 50 strikeouts versus 19 walks. He also began his professional career by not allowing a run in his first six appearances over 17⅔ innings pitched. He was placed on the disabled list on June 10 and again on August 21, where he remained for the rest of the season.
Phillippe Aumont pitched for team Canada in the 2009 WBC, appearing in the 7th inning against team U.S.A. on March 7. He struggled early, giving up two hits and a walk, before settling down. He then proceeded to retire MLB all-stars David Wright, Kevin Youkilis, and Curtis Granderson in order; the last two by strikeout, to escape the inning with no runs surrendered.
Aumont began the 2009 baseball season with the High Desert Mavericks, the Seattle Mariners Advanced A affiliate. Because he continued not to produce as hoped the Seattle organization decided to begin converting Aumont into a reliever He posted a 3.24 ERA, with a 2-6 record, in 29 appearances as the Maverick's closer, saving 12 games, before being promoted to the Mariner's AA affiliate in mid-July. AA ball proved to hard for the Canadian, he posted a 5.09 ERA only getting one win along with 4 loses for a 1-4 record. The following season he was sent back down to single A baseball.
On December 16, Seattle finally cut their ties with him and he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies along with Tyson Gillies and J. C. Ramírez for Cliff Lee.[6][7]
Aumont started in the Phillies organization with the double-A Reading Phillies, where he lost six games and won one, with an horrendous ERA of 7.43. He also struggled with hit batters and wild pitches resulting in him being moved back to the bullpen. He was sent down the high-A Clearwater Threshers in early June.
Aumont is a typical "power" pitcher: a pitcher with a hard fastball and sharp breaking ball whose goal is to strike out as many batters as possible. Standing 6'7" and weighing 255 pounds, Aumont throws a fastball in the mid 90s, reaching the upper 90s on occasion, with late movement. His breaking pitch is a "power slurve" which moves more like a curveball and has been clocked in the high 70s to low 80s. He has also thrown a changeup on occasion.[8]
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