Biggest steps forward; Donald and Carpenter

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So says Kevin Goldstein at Baseball Prospectus..

Philadelphia Phillies

A third-round pick last June, infielder Jason Donald surprised even those within the organization with his line-drive bat, gap power, and keen batting eye; hitting .304/.395/.473 between Low-A Lakewood and High-A Clearwater.

Honorable Mention: Right-hander Drew Carpenter mixes three average pitches, throws strikes, and keeps hitters on their toes by changing speeds–all of which helped him put up a 3.20 ERA at Clearwater while winning 17 games. Defensive-minded catcher Lou Marson made big improvements with the bat, hitting .288/.373/.407 in the Florida State League.

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9 thoughts on “Biggest steps forward; Donald and Carpenter”

  1. Carpenter: to Reading then Ottawa in ’08.
    Big club in ’08s latter days…if done well.
    Analysis of his skills comports w posts here, including mine.

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  2. Donald: can he play 3rd base? Will he try out at 3rd? A righty 3rd baseman w at least gap and some HR (15-20) power could fill that NEED.
    Cardenas: best season of any “youngster” in our system. Since I abhor the thought of trading him (I view him as an Utley, w/o college ball) I hope/”pray” the org can find another field venue for him. 3rd base (in addition to Donald) might be likely OR lf…absent other realistic options. Opinions?

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  4. Art, I think phuturephillies has talked about Cardenas as potentially moving to left field… obviously his bat projects very well for a second baseman and not as well for a left fielder, but if he continues to hit like he did this year, you find a spot for him somewhere. I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

    I was thinking about the Carpenter/Outman comparison from the last thread, and in retrospect I think it may look like myself and others are slighting Drew. Not at all, as a matter of fact: I haven’t seen either of these guys pitch, so all I really have to go is statistics and hearsay. Carpenter did have a fantastic year in Clearwater, and if he can continue to keep hitters off balance at the next level, then that will say a lot about his potential going forward. I’m just remaining cautious, because for every Greg Maddux there are 1000 Zack Segovias.

    As for Donald: I get the sense that shifting from short to third is easier than going from second to third (just based on conjecture, so someone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). I think ideally he’ll hit the ground running in Reading, force his way up to Ottawa/Allentown by midseason, and be in contention for a late season call up. At the very least, he’ll probably be given a chance to win a roster spot in 2009.

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  5. PF–For sure the shift from SS to 3b would be easier from the viewpoint of arm strength. Plenty of guys get put at 2nd base because they don’t have the arm for ss/3b. Note that the throw from the SS “hole” (tween SS/3b) is required for SSs. That throw requires much the same strength and probably the same distance from both positions.

    Donald’s quick success could be real helpful by 2009…or even before. hat’s most encouraging is that he movced up from Low A to High A without skipping a beat. PERHAPS he could do the same in ’08…??…or is that too much to expect?

    And, would he be blocked at 3rd base by Costanzo?? (Err…can Costanzo field…enough?)

    Watching ’08 minors should be more fun even than this season….adding Savery, etc…plus Dieckman, etc.

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  6. Bastardo is a better choice than Carpenter. Among position players, Dominic Brown probably took the biggest step forward, although it came exclusively in second half.

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  9. I’m a big fan of Bastardo, but I think those that give him the vote over Carpenter do so because of Carpenter’s slow start vs Bastardo’s late start. Can’t pull up the last 2 months of Bastardo’s season, but it would seem the two would have pretty similar numbers over that span. I couldn’t vote one over the other in terms of results, except it was good to see Carpenter’s durability over a full season that continually improved and got stronger as the season progressed.

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