Phillies minor leaguers Drabek, Taylor receive awards

Kyle Drabek already has several points of reference for Phillies fans, even though he's never pitched an inning above Double A. He's the son of former major league pitcher Doug Drabek. He was the Phillies first-round draft choice in 2006. He's the prospect that the organization wouldn't part with, even to get Roy Halladay at the trading deadline this year.

He added another identifying mark last night when he received the Paul Owens Award, given annually to the best pitcher in the Phillies minor league system, in a pregame ceremony at Citizens Bank Park.

Outfielder Michael Taylor was given the Owens Award as the top position player at the same time.

For Drabek, 21, this honor comes as little surprise. He's been in the spotlight almost from the moment he was drafted. The only detour to this point was Tommy John elbow surgery that cost him parts of the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

He bounced back strong, going a combined 12-3, 3.19 between Class A Clearwater and Double A Reading this season. The only thing that stopped him was the Phillies organization, which shut him down after an Aug. 25 start against Erie because he'd thrown 158 innings, 104 more than he'd thrown in a single professional season to this point.

"You know, when they told me, I would have rather continued pitching," he said, sitting in the dugout before the Phillies game against the Washington Nationals. "But I certainly understand why they did it. I'm sure I'm going to look back on it and think it was a better idea for me."

Taylor, 23, hit .320 with 20 homers and 84 RBI between Reading and Triple A Lehigh Valley before ending the season on the disabled list with an oblique strain. Even though he had a breakout season at Class A (Lakewood, Clearwater) in 2007, this was the year he began to make an impression on the public.

"To me, I was more concerned about trying to get better and improve as a player," he said. "And I certainly think I did that in my first year and I tried to add on to that this year. In this game, there's always something for you to prove. At every level you're trying to prove that you're a guy who can compete and have success. You have to continue to do that and the higher you get, the more publicity comes with that."

The question with high-profile players always seems to come back to when they might arrive in the big leagues.

At the moment, the Phillies have five starters whose contracts they control next year - Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ and Jamie Moyer - plus Pedro Martinez.

Taylor's task is even more daunting. All three Phillies starting outfielders (Raul Ibanez, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth) made the All-Star team last year. Werth is signed through 2010, Ibanez through 2011 and Victorino is 2 years away from being eligible for free agency.

"I guess in a perfect world we'd like to them pitch and play here sometime next year. They've made great strides and have put themselves in a position to be close," said general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. "Is it possible we can see them next year? Yeah. As far as them coming and being productive major league players? That will be up to them."

Said Drabek: "I'm just going to try to go into spring training in the best shape that I can and compete. And whatever happens, happens. At the beginning of this season I was kind of trying to take things slow because I didn't know what was going to happen. Near the end of the season, I would say that I'm 100 percent. I'm ready to go."

Said Taylor: "I don't think I can concentrate on that because, right now at least, there doesn't seem to be a clear path [to the majors] at least in the next year or 2. But anything can happen and you just have to continue to prepare yourself and hopefully the opportunity comes sooner rather than later."