Monday Musings

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Just some quick hits from over the weekend:

Tyson Gillies was removed from the Reading game Saturday evening in Harrisburg after a collision.  He is day to day with a wrist contusion.

Brody Colvin worked in relief after being scheduled to start the Clearwater game on Saturday night.

Austin Hyatt is suffering the same short term fate as Colvin.  Hyatt is being removed from the Lehigh Valley rotation in favor of Tom Cochran.  I suspect it is short term and simply to give Hyatt a psychological breather. 

So, if Halladay is placed on the DL, who comes up? The obvious choice had been Scott Elarton but ELarton has really struggled his last several starts. The new obvious choice is Dave Bush who has pitched several well recently including a complete game shutout in his last outing.  He also has a June 1 “out clause” in his contract, so this seems to make some short term sense.  My dark horse candidate is Tyler Cloyd, who has impressed in just abut every outing this year.

Harold Martinez has been hitting the ball, raising his average to .277 in Lakewood, while playing predominately 1B.

Another three hits for Leandro Castro last night, who after a miserable April (.214), has hit ,436 over his last 10 games t raise his average to .277.

Happy Memorial Day and thank you to all who have served!

19 thoughts on “Monday Musings”

  1. Thank you, Gregg. I agree Elarton was (past tense) the obvious choice especially since he was pitching on the same schedule as Halladay. The bold choice in Cloyd but will the Phils go with the seasoned vet (Bush) instead? This is all assuming the Halladay shoulder isn’t just a tweaked muscle… he says hopefully.

    T. May’s has some real clunkers lately. I’m wondering if he’s not having a little arm fatigue. His K’s are way down and his BBs were skyrocketing even though his last 2 outings have been better in the BB arena. He’s given up 4 HRs all year and they’ve all come in the last 2 games. Yesterday’s HRs were both from the same guy and they were his 1st 2 HRs this year.

    The VSL has been hard to gauge this year. With only 4 teams, it doesn’t look like the talent is all that great throughout the league. 2 teams (SEA & Philly) hit and pitch well. The other 2 teams are not very good. Could it be that the 2 teams not playing well sent their best prospects to the DSL or the GCL? I keep trying to calm my enthusiasm for the Phils team. A lot of guys pounding the ball. Good outings by young pitchers. Maybe it’s like the Iron Pigs playing a high school team (talent-wise). We’ll see…

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    1. Yes, it would appear our VSL affliate may be playing vs less competition if in fact you are correct about two teams sending their best prospects to the DSL/GCL. Looking forward, this very well may be the last year for that league.

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    2. Hard to believe teams would maintain a VSL franchise and then send the best players to the DSL. Since the DSL hasn’t started playing yet and said players would not be playing instead of playing in the VSL hard to find any accurate rosters to know for sure for Tigers and Rays in this case. If they can assign players to GCL, then that is where they should be. I figure Philly will sign the Venezuela guys they can sign and that’s it. If there is a conflict with a team without a VSL affiliate over a player, it is conceivable that some players would prefer to stay in Venezuela and will choose Philly , then they might come out with a better player. That is what it is about, getting players, not some league thing.
      I like a 4 team league, bolstered by the percentage that would prefer to remain in Venezuela, then all other things being equal , it should average out to be the same players in a smaller pool. The players that sign with teams other than the 4 remaining squads, are out, that’s it, I think the loss of the league entirely would be a bad mark against the government , so they will work to keep some kind of stay in country option for Venezuelan players, and the league will maintain at where it is , and more Venezuelan prospects will opt to remain in future.

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  2. When drafted, Harold Martinez was graded as a solid, if not better 3b. A move to 1b would be terrible for his prospect status, cause his hit tools are very suspect.

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    1. I guess it could be having Maikel Franco on the same team. I dunno, both are viable prospects at 3b. I hope they find a way to get Hmart enough reps there. Maybe they move Franco down to Williamsport when short season begins.

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    2. Not to interrupt your conversation, but it seems to me that when I looked up Harold Martinez’ stats the day after he was drafted, his Senior year at the University of Miami he mostly played 1B. As far as the rated great fielder, what guy on the intenet said this, maybe , maybe not. And were they to demote Franco, would not like to see the lack of a chance at A- Short Season Williamsport for Mitchell Walding, Carlos Valenzuela or the somewhat large number of Middle Infield and Other Infield types including some seemingly must play types Currently stashed in XST. I say , stay the course, for now.

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      1. Please do interrupt..

        That senior year that didn’t exist? Junior year draftee my clever friend. I don’t see a breakdown by game of his college position, but he was drafted as a 3b, and the scouting reports were good.

        To what “guy on the internet” do I refer?:

        To quote Keith Law: ” at least an average glove at third.”

        To quote our own PhuturePhillies: “a good defender at 3B, and a 55 for his fielding/arm might be underselling him slightly.”

        I suggest they move Franco, because he’s a 19 year old just keeping his head above water at Low A. What I really was suggesting was that HMart is a much better 3b prospect than 1b prospect, and I hope they find time for him over there.

        Anyways, thanks for interrupting.

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        1. It has everything to do with Franco. My guess is that Martinez will move up and play thrid if/when Asche moves up. Right now there’s three legit third base prospects crammed into two levels. Someone has to play out of position, last year it was Asche (who played second), this year its Harold.

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          1. Exactly.
            It is ridiculous to consider sending Franco down to Williamsport, just so Martinez can get a few reps at a position he has already played well, for two seasons in college. Martinez isn’t going to forget how to play 3B because he plays 1B for half of a season, in A ball.
            Also, when/if they send Franco back to a level he already dominated, where would Mitchell Walding play?

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            1. Oy. relax bro. Nothing “ridiculous” at all my friend.

              Mitchell Walding, the high school draftee without a single pro at bat? I might suggest he play in the GCL.

              It is ridiculous to send down Franco, all of 19 years old, to the very age-appropriate short season ball, because you want to get your most recent 2nd round pick some time at the only position he’s a real prospect at? Why on earth is that ridiculous? I don’t know if player’s forget, but I all things being equal, a guy getting time at the most challenging defensive position is better than not. Just saying.

              As for Franco, he hit fairly well last year, but calling him dominant seems a bit homer-ish. there’s no shame in seeing time in short-season at 19. Whatever the case, he’s certainly not dominating the Sally.

              and since the issue was raised, I would further posit that playing Cody Asche at 2b was not just sticking someone out of position just to get him ABs, but rather seeing if an advanced college hitter could manage 2b, a higher value defensive position, which would add value to him as a prospect. If they were playing Hmart at 2b, this would all me moot.

              I wouldn’t be surprised to see Asche move up, and see Martinez up to CLW. However, since neither Franco or Martinez are showing much with the bat in Lakewood, I don’t know if it doesn’t make as much or more sense to see Franco going down.

              That you seem so very put off by the notion makes me think you need to step back and get a more realistic perspective on the Phillies’ prospects.

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            2. I agree give Walding a chance, couldn’t do any worse than all the other infielder there.

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    1. I can’t wait for the draft. Also, the best way to draft is by taking the best player available not drafting by positition.

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    2. All of them….the thing with baseball is you draft the best available because most of these kids won’t impact your roster for a least five years…last year they drafted several ss early on. I would like to see a power right handed bat. They lost that when Domingo Santana was the PTBNL in the Pence deal.

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    3. Ultimately they should draft the best player available, regardless of position. As far as an Uneducated guess: I would guess Right handed pitching and Catcher as priority. The Phillies seem to love their Georgia scout, so I will guess Georgia HS Right handers, Schmidt or Underwood as top pick contenders.

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    4. They concentrated on hitters last year, and i think pitching is a bit sparse at the lower levels. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them grab a bunch of projectable arms this year

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  5. I don’t think Cloyd gets the call considering the Phillies are more interested in bringing up a long man type. That’s certainly not good for his development.

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