Heading into the last month of the season, Reading continues fighting mediocrity, amid a slew of lineup changes. They are currently 59-58 and in 5th place in the Southern division, 8.5 games out of first. Jason Hill has been climbing among the league leaders now leading the league in doubles (31) and 4th in batting average (.316). Greg Jacobs is 10th in average (.304), 7th in hits (116), 8th in doubles (29), 6th in homers(18) and 5th in RBI’s (70). Mike Costanzo continues his run production, now 3rd in runs (75), 1st in homers (22), and 8th in RBI’s (66). He is also 2nd in the league having struck out 132 times. After the trade of Matt Maloney, the lone pitcher among the league leaders in Chris Key, who is 6th in the league with 16 saves.
Monthly Archives: August 2007
2007 Clearwater Threshers Awards
Every year for the past five years I’ve given out fan nominated and voted awards to the most deserving player on the Clearwater Threshers roster for that year through my Clearwater Threshers Blog. I’ve taken nominations for the last two weeks, and now it is time to vote for the winners in each category.
Those of you who are fans of the Phillies and their minor league players have your chance to vote now for the winners.
http://www.jeffcrupper.com/baseball/awardvoting.html
Please visit the link provided and vote for the players you think deserve to win in each category. Also, please feel free to pass the link on to anyone you know who could help determine a deserving winner.
Possible September call ups?
Which players do you think will get the call this September? List your choices and give your reasoning. I’m planning a Q/A with Bryan Smith, a writer from Baseball Prospectus, and should have that in a few days, so check back for that.
How do you rate this draft?
The dust has settled a bit, there are a few big unknowns remaining. How would you rate or grade this draft? You can give two assessments;
1. We sign no one else
2. We sign either Workman, Sampson, Moncrief, etc etc, or we sign a combination of them.
Feel free to explain your answers. It’s impossible to really know how things will shake out for 3 or 4 years, but we can assess what we know so far.
Where should Savery start next year?
Where should The Savior start in 2008? Lakewood? Clearwater? Reading? Philadelphia? The Phillies have hinted he could start at either Clearwater or Reading, who knows. What do you think?
Joe Savery sighting
The Savior made his professional debut tonight, going 3 innings for Williamsport.
3 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 K, 0 BB
Call him up.
Ottawa Lynx Week Seventeen
Ottawa began week seventeen exactly as they ended the previous week-losing to Richmond, getting swept by Richmond, and extending their losing streak to seven games. Again, the starting pitching gave up a big inning early, (seven run third), Ottawa lost 9-4 and Matt Childers, (5-2), picked up a loss for only the first time in seven starts. Childers gave up fourteen hits in only four innings and while the bullpen allowed only one Richmond run the rest of the way, the damage was done. Doug Clark hit a three run home run in the third effectively putting the game out of reach as Richmond totalled nine hits in the inning. Although Ottawa scored three times in the next inning, they would manage only one more run. Newcomer Michael Garciapara went 2-3 for the Lynx with a walk and an RBI as Ottawa managed eight hits but seven were singles.
Life In Triple A
Players come, players go, players come, players…well-you get the idea. A player can be gone and back before you know it. A player can get promoted, released, waived, resigned, reassigned quicker than the time it takes me to write this column. Some players skip one or two levels-briefly, and then are sent back to their original designation. Lately I’ve been reluctant to go to the washroom at the ballpark or take the elevator three floors to the concourse for a hot dog fearing that the roster sheet I picked up before the game that night only a couple of hours ago might be only half accurate by the time I return. Triple A players need cell phones in the likely event they are waiting in the airport lounge, (or bus terminal), to get to their next level of baseball only to be told they are going somewhere else, staying, or they’ve been released. The only thing which seems to stay constant is the odd veteran, the manager, the coaching staff and the office staff. I mean, somebody has to stay here and sort this all out. I now know why players names are usually only taped on the top of their locker.
Reading Report
Reading, now 57-54, is in 4th place in the Southern division, 6.5 games out of first. Due to the trades of Matt Maloney and Jesus Merchan, the league leader report is a little lighter. On the pitching end, Chris Key is 5th in the league with 16 saves. On the hitting end, Mike Costanzo is 5th in the league in runs (70), 2nd in homers (19), 9th in RBI’s (62) and 2nd in strikeouts (130). Greg Jacobs is 8th in runs(62), 6th in hits (114), 6th in doubles (28), 3rd in homers (18), 4th in RBI’s (70) and 6th in batting average (.313). Jason Hill is 3rd in the league with 30 doubles. Continue reading Reading Report
15 Days Left
To sign our remaining draft picks from the 2007 draft. Here are the remaining unsigned guys on our draft list
03.13 – Brandon Workman, RHP (Bowie HS)
12.19 – Julian Sampson, RHP (Skyline HS)
18.19 – Mark Adzik, LHP (William Penn Charter School)
19.19 – Cedric Johnson, CF (Thatcher HS)
20.19 – Carlos Moncrief, RHP (Hillcrest Christian HS)
29.19 – Derek Hall, C (El Dorado HS)
31.19 – Jeff Richard, RHP (Central Michigan U)
34.19 – Brett Hambright, C (Temescal Canyon HS)
35.19 – Zach Cleveland, RHP (Golden HS)
36.19 – Kyle Benoit, RHP (Cardinal Leger SS)
37.19 – Kyle Slate, RHP (Christian Brothers Academy)
38.19 – Joe Paylor, CF (Hillcrest HS)
39.19 – Michael Branham, RHP (U Florida)
40.19 – John Hinson, SS (AC Reynolds HS)
41.19 – Tyler Gilder, RHP (Butte HS)
42.19 – James Mahler, RHP (Jordan HS)
43.19 – Cory Vaughn, RF (Jesuit HS)
44.19 – Brandon Bonner, RHP (Lakewood HS)
45.19 – Michael Morrison, 1B (Bishop Luers HS)
46.19 – Damian Seguen, RHP (North Bergen HS)
47.19 – Jeremiah Manning, RF (Bartow HS)
48.19 – Cody Winiarski, RHP (Union Grove HS)
49.19 – Navarro Hall, CF (Kennesaw Mountain HS)
50.19 – Jeremy Penn, RHP (All Saints Cathedral School)
Which guys will get signed? Obviously the guys at the top are the ones we’re worried about, but I’ve heard NOTHING over the last 10 days on Workman, Sampson or Moncrief. The indications a few weeks ago were that the Phillies had confidence in both Workman and Sampson, so we’ll see.
Phuture Phillies 