I’m sad to say, I missed most of the game yesterday, but I did happen to catch Carrasco’s inning. His fastball looked good, he was adding and subtracting from it, throwing it anywhere from 89-95, and it had good movement on it. The one mistake he made was to Jay Bruce, but he just challenged him with a high fastball and Bruce turned it around….that happens from time to time. His changeup looked good, as did his curve, though it appeared a bit loopy at times. He could probably get by in the majors for a little while with just his fastball and changeup, but in the long run, he’ll need for his curveball to become at least a major league average pitch. It’s going to be really interesting to see how the Phillies handle him going forward. His last appearance in Reading was solid, going 4 innings and allowing only 1 hit and no runs. With all of the injuries right now, I wouldn’t be shocked if they brought him up. I think if they do bring him up, they need to stick with him for the rest of the season. Carrasco had confidence issues two years ago, and I’d hate to see him get brought up for a start or two, then get sent down and it set him back. He has a phenomenal arm, and I think the coaching at the top level could help him, but it’s a tough situation and certainly a difficult decision for Gillick.

So, what did you think of his performance? What do you think the Phillies should do with him for the rest of this season?

The starting pitching continued to be mostly brutal for the first part of week thirteen but three solid efforts from the starters might be a ray of hope. This despite Ottawa’s discouraging play that continued to sink them deeper and deeper into last place in the Northern Division with the possibility of a playoff appearance in 2007 more and more unlikely,. With Philadelphia looking more and more towards Reading for pitching help, the likelihood of the discovery of any pitching saviour for the starting rotation was becoming more desperate with each game. It seems that all manager John Russell can do is hope that somehow this team remembers it’s successes of last season and starts to consistently put things together. A couple of the players have intimated that the team needs to get to the All-Star break, sit back, take a deep breath, look in the mirror and begin to get things done. Week thirteen saw two well played games, (one win-one loss), two games almost too embarrassing to watch, and a Lynx win in series finale and two losses in Rochester.

Continue reading Ottawa Lynx Week Thirteen →

You’ve weighed in and given your reasons, now I’ll give it a shot.

Pitchers, excluding Carrasco

01. Josh Outman, LHP – There are a number of reasons why I think Outman is our best pitching prospect outside of Carrasco. #1, he’s lefthanded and has a low 90’s fastball. It’s rare to see LHP consistently pitch in the 91-94 range. He has 1 real good secondary pitch, his slider, and it’s a pure swing and miss pitch. He lacks a plus changeup at this point, but he’s putting up solid numbers at A+, and the only thing lacking is his overall control, but his BB/9 numbers have dropped every month since April, a positive sign. We also have to remember that he drastically changed his pitching motion before being drafted, and 2007 is only his 3rd pro season. I think he still has potential to be a #2 starter if he can hone his command and control and develop at least a major league average changeup.

02. Kyle Drabek, RHP – I think despite his arm soreness now, Drabek is #2 on the list. His April was excellent, with 9.23 K/9 against only 2.88 BB/9 and solid groundball tendencies. He struggled a bit in May, then came down with the injury, so it’s tough to really put a gauge on him right now. I think he’ll be back in August, and it should be a good indicator of where he stands. 3 months in Lakewood in age 19 isn’t a lost season by any means. He showed the good fastball curveball combination, and from everything I’ve read, the mental aspect of his game took a big leap forward this year. A healthy Drabek pushes Outman for the top spot.

03. James Happ, LHP – His debut didn’t go as planned, and he’s walked way too many guys this year, but he has shown that the strikeouts from last season across multiple levels weren’t a fluke. He needs to throw better quality strikes and not fall behind, but he has an average fastball with late life and two above average secondary pitches. You really can never judge a guy on 1 start, good or bad, but I think he’ll be back later this year, and I think he still has the potential to be a #4 starter in the majors.

And now, the hitters, sans Cardenas

Continue reading My top 3 hitters and pitchers →

This will be a more brief than usual monthly review as we are almost at the all-star break. I will do a lengthy half way through the season or at least to the all-star break, two or three part review late next week. I’m also going to have a few more interviews and maybe a couple of features. We’ll see how it goes. Anyway, on with June-a month which was most unkind to the Lynx and their fans.

In a month which had to be considered critical for the team by any standard, (well at least by my standards), the Ottawa Lynx fell flat on their collective faces. The Lynx went 9-19 in the month of June, falling into last place on June 11^th, 5.5 games behind Buffalo, and remaining in last place the rest of the month. At the start of July, Ottawa were 9.5 games behind the Bisons and continued to fall further and further behind. The continued lack of decent starting pitching was the main reason for the continuing slide and even the defence, which had been solid all season, was beginning to show some cracks. Everyone concerned was beginning to feel a sense of futility and urgency about the 2007 season. The Lynx were 5-11 at home for June, 4-8 on the road and finished the month with an overall record of 17-14 in one run games, 5-3 in extra innings and 1-8 in shutouts. Ottawa as a team in the month of June, (28 games), collected 258 hits. Among this total were 44 doubles, five triples, 18 home runs, 93 RBI , 96 runs scored and 77 walks. Team speed again this month was weak with only eleven stolen bases in twenty attempts. They had an OBP of .332, SLG .383 and a somewhat decent OPS of .715. The Lynx hit .270 in June.

Continue reading The Ottawa Lynx in the Month of June. →

Similar to the pitching prospect post from a few days ago. This time, exclude Adrian Cardenas from your list. Give your top 3 and why you think they are in the position they are. I’ll give my top 3 pitchers and hitters tomorrow at some point.

Also a note. I really enjoy the discourse back and forth in the comments section. I think we’ve had something like 1600 comments since the blog started, which is awesome, in my opinion. However, try to remember that you can’t edit your comment after you’ve submitted it, so think before you write, and try to remain civil, that’s all I ask.

Reading, continues their inconistent season mired in 4th place in the Southern division 10.5 games out of first with a record of 42-43. Greg Jacobs is putting MVP numbers up with 44 runs(10th in league), 86 hits (4th), 21 doubles (8th), 13 homers (4th), 52 RBI’s (3rd), and a .316 batting average(9th).  Jesus Merchan continues to lead the league with a .357 batting average. Mike Costanzo is 6th in the league in runs(53), first in homers(15), and 2nd in strikouts(103).  Jason Hill is 2nd in the league with 24 doubles, and Javon Moran 4th in stolen bases with 18. Matt Maloney continues his solid season leading the league in innings (100.1), 6th in wins (7), and 4th in strikeouts (88). Continue reading Reading Report →

Happy Holidays folks. Just two quick notes. Matt Spencer has finally signed, and it appears Joe Savery is very close to signing. Good news all around. Now, we need to get Julian Sampson and Brandon Workman signed and we can call it a draft.

Thanks to a loyal reader of this here blog, I’ve been fortunate enough to have been put in contact with D’Arby and just spoke to him for a few minutes. My cell phone reception is awful in my new apartment, but I’ll be getting in touch with him again soon to do a Q/A for the blog. He mentioned that he’s enjoying hitting leadoff, getting to see lots of pitches and work counts in his favor, and that the whole pro experience has been great so far. So, if you have a question you’d like me to include in the Q/A for D’Arby, send me an e-mail and put “QUESTION FOR D’ARBY” in the title of the e-mail, and I’ll try to touch on as many points as I can. He really seems to have his head on straight when it comes to playing the game, and he’s loving every minute of it. Couple that attitude with his baseball tools, and I think he’s going to turn into a pretty special player.

As of this writing, he’s hitting .362/.413/.431 with 14 runs scored.

After Carlos Carrasco, who do you feel are our top 3 pitching prospects? Exclude Kendrick from your list, because barring an injury, he’ll lose his rookie eligibility this year. You can include Happ, because I’m less certain he’ll lose his status. Give your answer in the comments, you can leave it as anonymous if you want, and feel free to give your thoughts on why you chose who you did. I’ll give my answer on Thursday.