In Reading, Michael Taylor hit his 13th homer of the year, and his third homer in as many nights in the RPHILS loss last night. Taylor was 3-5 on the night, raising his average to .336.
Down in Clearwater, recently promoted Steve Susdorf got off to a good start for the Threshers with a three hit game.
The early struggles of Anthony Hewitt continue in Williamsport. Through five games, Hewitt is hitting .105 with 6 strikeouts in his first 21 plate appearances for the Crosscutters.
Look for Kyle Kendrick to get the start for Lehigh Valley on Thursday, after his rain shortened, o.1 of an inning outing on Monday night.
I hope Anthony Hewitt feels confident in his abilities because I’m sure many here don’t.
I’m going up to Reading Thursday primarily to see Drabek but Taylor on a nice power run is a nice bonus.
Even a HOF like Sandberg can have confidence problems.
When he first came up,he trying to hard to make contact and was not swinging hard enough. Maybe Hewitt may be doing something similar. Lets hope he gets it. Sandberg did lol
Despite the strike outs, Hewitt has gone two whole games without punching out. And given his ‘track record’, that can’t be a bad thing. Its horribly insignificant, but…
Taylor has hit a homer in the last 3 games not 4, but what is more impressive is his 25- 62 with runners in scoring position.
I think they have Hewitt working on just making contact. Pitch Recognition, stuff like that.
Joe
Right those things slow down your swing.
Right you are “anonymous”. Todays Reading Eagle had it wrong.
Gregg,
I appreciate all that you and others offer, not trying to step on any toes.
Just some random stuff here:
Taylor is having quite an impressive season – looking at his splits, he has also been remarkably consistent as well.
Does anyone know when Dom Brown is expected to return?
I noticed that Gose turned in a nice performance in the All-Star game last night – a couple hits, a couple steals. He’s becoming quite an exciting prospect, especially given how young he is. It might be safe to say that he will be not be moving back to the mound any time soon.
- Jeff
“Anonymous”–
I truly appreciate the correction. No matter for whom you are writing, accuracy should be first and foremost. Feel free to point out inaccuracies anytime!
Gregg
Jeff O–
Dominic Brown is at lwast another 2 weeks away.
I’m heading down to Reading tonight actually. Got a Tyson Brummett start but with the necessary travel (90 minutes), I can’t exactly pick my spots. Tonight is the ALS auction in Reading, a good cause.
To see the rapid improvement of our system just check out the Top 30 from 2007. It’s brutal.
Gose will be the home run selection of the 2008 draft.
Michael Taylor is beginning to have a Ryan Howard type feel regarding his progression. Any chance the Phillies bring him up this season?
John, it is obvious that Taylor has had a period of adjustment at every level, before he gets going. However, according to an e-mail that I had from Bill Conlin, they should bring him up now. He thinks that the pitchers he is facing in AA are throwing hard enough and have good enough secondary pitches that he could contribute to the Phillies already. In any case, I don’t see a spot for him right now unless there is an opening created by injury or trade, such as if Mayberry or Werth gets moved.
John, Michael Taylor has required a period of adjustment before he gets going at every level, so I think no. However, Bill Conlin wrote a column recently where he suggested that Taylor is ready. In any event, there is no spot for him barring injury or a trade such as Mayberry,Werth or Victorino.
It would be great of Marson keeps hitting and gets back to a decent average. Anyone hear anything about Donald’s injury and return?
Lauber has a blog post today that Donald is currently rehabbing in Clearwater. No mention of his return, but Lauber says Mathieson is due to pitch 2 innings in the GCL tomorrow.
Glen,
That is awesome news about Mathieson. I’m pulling for him.
Anonymous, thanks for the info, I was thinking of a late August callup for the playoffs, maybe a legitimate righty off the bench.
I noticed today that D’Arby Myers is not listed on the Williamsport roster anymore. Mistake? Released? Returned to Extended Spring Training?
He’s on Lakewood.
isn’t darby still on lakewood roster?
D’Arby has been listed as “temporary inactive” for a couple of days now on the Lakewood roster
Taylor had an adjustment period at Clearwater. but I thought he has been strong pretty much all year at Reading. You can usually tell if you have a superior prospect if they are as good immediately at the next level as the preceeding one
* However, according to an e-mail that I had from Bill Conlin, they should bring him up now. He thinks that the pitchers he is facing in AA are throwing hard enough and have good enough secondary pitches that he could contribute to the Phillies already. *
Good post. This is what i like to see. It’s tough to really know how good the pitching, or hitting, in the EL is. I always look at the opposing pitcher to see if he’s a prospect or not. Last week, O’s #4 overall draft pick last year, Brian Matusz, blanked Reading for 6 innings while whiffing 10 in his AA debut. Taylor went 0 for 4 but didn’t whiff.
Steve, you have a good point, he struggled for the first week or two, then really got it going late in April.
Is anyone else concerned about the fact that the Phillies haven’t signed more of their draft picks?? The only way to maintain a good farm system while you are winning is to buy out scholarships. I would rather see them do that than waste the money on the Geoff Jenkins/Adam Eatons of the world .
Perhaps Gose was correct to want to be a position player and perhaps the Phillies were correct in letting him play where he most wanted to. The motivation to prove he’s a positional player can’t be hurting the situation.
On Hewitt: at least he’s cutting down his SO rate.
On Taylor: he’s good.
Marc H: it’s early. Hudson, Singleton, Inch, Colvin, and Stewart are deadline deals (or near-deadline deals) if they wind up getting done.
Anonymous: I agree that Taylor’s proven about all he can at Double-A, but he needs to be getting regular at bats to continue to develop, so there’s no sense to calling him up at this point. A promotion to Lehigh Valley, anytime after the All-Star break, makes a ton of sense.
One additional note: Siulman Lebron, the opening night starter for Williamsport, had himself quite an outing tonight. 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K. 10 of his 11 batted ball outs came on the ground. It’s obviously early, but there’s some chance he could be another one of those late blooming guys from the DSL/VSL in the Bastardo/Escalona/Flande mold.
What’s the over/under on signing Hudson, Singleton, Inch, Colvin, and Stewart??
Hewitt with another strike out-less game tonight. Only one hit to show for it though.
Marc H: just for perspective, here are the guys who signed after 6/24 last year:
Hewitt
Pettibone
May
Shreve
Susdorf
Poe
Ellis
Cosart
Bolsenbroek
Fike
My guess on signing those guys (plus Susac):
Definitely:
Hudson
Singleton
Probably:
Inch
One of these three, in order of likelihood:
Colvin
Susac
Stewart
1/4 – Double for Hewitt tonight no K’s again. 3 straight games without a K, baby steps.
taylor with his 3rd straight game going 3/5? wow thats amazing. Susdorf has been stroking the ball as well in his abbrieviated season. So far he has hit well at Williamsport, Lakewood, and Clearwater. Ya gotta think his stock is on the rise as well.
I actually went to the Reading game tonight. I have seen it a couple of times, but it is a sight to see Taylor throw. There was a routine double that he made close by throwing to second. He has gun out there.
Hewitt has been looking better. He had 10 straight,what looks like, easy outs(pop outs in foul territory, etc.), but then had a line out and of course the double. Hopefully he is figuring something out.
it is now a possibility that the phils actually had a reason for leaving donald at ss. rollins is having more than minor difficulties. he should be hitting 8th and donald may be more than his backup. even with his bad year which i see as an aberration, he is actually an improvement over rollins last 1 and a half year. cliche of the day matt stairs needs his ab,s. a good pinch is a good pinch hitter BECAUSE he doesnt need ab,s. there is no way stairs should be taking time from mayberry. romero is looking like the pitcher the red sox got rid of.
Marc I believe they sign hudson for sure, singleton 80% thats it. the other don’t sign but they sign kidd late and alteherr
john from philly.ne
What you are saying is there is something wrong with Rollins that the Phils have known all along and hid(for a change).
Taylor another nice night, and Flande
its a strong possibility that with blanton pitching so well with hamels, moyer resurging, happ, and bastardo we wont have to trade any of our strong minor leaguer,s. with mayberry playing so well and cairo hitting over .300 in the last month theres no reason to keep brunlett. mayberry has been more than i expected. next year may be a problem since taylor cannot be expected to spend anytime in the minors. it looks like therell be a decision between werth, mayberry, and taylor. ibanez and victorino will be here but rf will be interesting, and that is the reason taylor should be in aaa. because next year a decision must be made. Maybery may be the real deal. also look for donald to be next years ss. to deal this year would really be a risk. with carrasco looking good it may be time to call him up.
could very well be nw. also i meant taylor should be in aaa now.