The Lakewood Blue Claws got off to 1 win 3 loss start to the 2008 season
this week versus Lake County.
They lost the opener 4-0 behind a decent outing from Drew Naylor. He gave up three runs in a tough inning that featured a bunt single, a walk and two misplayed fly balls for hits. Naylor took the loss with 5ip, 5h, 3er, 6k & 1bb The Blue Claws could not come up with the big hit, twice loading the bases with just one out.
Catcher Joel Naughton exhibited a very strong arm, throwing out two runners and very nearly a third. Outfielder D’Arby Myers showed some nice hustle when he ran hard out the box on a very routine pop up to the second baseman, who dropped it for a two base error.
Friday night the Blue Claws were victimized by some shaky relief pitching, with Lake County pushing across one in the 8th and two in the ninth to steal the win. Tyson Brummet got the start, giving up 3h, 3r, 1er over 5ip with 5k & 2bb. Chance Chapman gave up one run on 1 hit with 3bb in the eighth for a blown save, while Jared Simon took the loss with one inning of 3h 2r ball. Mike Durant had a home run and double with 3 RBIs to pace the Claws.
Lakewood got their first win of the season with a thrilling come from behind victory on Saturday, 7-6. After falling behind from some wild starting pitching (Julian Sampson, 3.1 ip, 4r, 5bb), the Blue Claws tied it at 4-4 in the bottom of the 6th behind a three run double from Travis “Moose” Mattiar. After giving the lead back in the top of the 7th, Lakewood rallied for the win in the bottom of the inning. Freddy Galvis led off with single witch was followed by Dominic Brown’s second of three hits. With one out, things got interesting. Matthew Rizzotti smoked a line drive down the left field line that appeared to get caught under the padding. The Lake County left fielder threw up his arms asking for a ground rule, but before the umpire could make the call he picked up the ball and threw it into the infield. Rizzotti never stopped lumbering around the bases and ended up beating the throw home for an inside the park, 3 run home run. Not too often you see a 6-5, 235 lb ball player hitting an inside the park home run. Hard to believe, Harry. Chris Kissock picked up his first save with 2 innings of 1 hit pitching.
On Sunday, the blue claws lost 5-1 in terrible north eastern spring weather. With a strong wind blowing in and temps in the 40’s, Jacob Diekman gave up 6h, 5r, 4er, 5bb in just 3.1ip. Melendez, Chapman and Simon no hit Lake County over the last 5.2ip in relief, but it was too little, too late as the Blue Claws’ bats were as cold as the ten fans at the game.
Who’s Hot:
Dominic Brown 7/18 .386
Mike Taylor 4/14 .286
Freddy Galvis 4/13 .308
Who’s Not:
D’Arby Myers 2/11 .182
Travis Mattair 2/14 .143
Derrick Mitchell 1/14 .071
Catchers Naughton/Sanchez 0/13 combined
From a wet & chilly Jersey Shore
Bob Everett
Phuture Phillies 
Good to see Taylor and Galvis starting off upbeat on their offense. Brown more expected. Myers disappointing, but early times. I haven’t held out a lot of prospect hope for Mitchell, Naughton, or Sanchez. Mattair is very young and made a big leap to full season play. The big 2B hopefully gets him going.
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Excellent first report, thanks for that. Mattair is gonna have his struggles this year, but a raw prepster heading right to the SAL is a tough adjustment. If he holds his head above water and improves this season as it progresses, he’s gonna be fine.
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Looks like an exciting team to follow quite a few prospects and hopefully we’ll see a lot of development from Brown, Galvis, and Myers. On the other hand, what has Derrick Mitchell ever shown to justify getting out of rookie ball? He seems like a prime candidate to go back to Williamsport once the split season leagues start back up.
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So far it seems like Lakewood is having the same problem Williamsport had last year, not able to score any runs. In 07 in the NY-Penn Legue the Crosscutters were near the bottom in batting average and runs scored and tied for last in OBP. Most the 08 Lakewood roster came from the short season league. So far this season the Blue Claws have scored only 14 runs and are dead last in the Sally in that department. And I see they moved Greg Legg Williamsport’s manager from last year up to hitting coach for the Blue Claws this year. It might be a long season for the boys on the road from the shore to the show.
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Mike Durant had a huge game tonight – 4 for 4 with a double and a homer, continuing his fast start at Lakewood (9 for 19 with 2 doubles and 2 HR’s). The former 4th round pick has had a tough life (see http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2005/07/03/MNGLMDIMOR1.DTL) and I’d love to see him continue to overcome the obstacles life has put in his path and make it to the big time. At 6’5″ and 250 pounds Mike, who just turned 21 and might be the Phils best power-hitting prospect, reminds me of a right-handed Ryan Howard. And since the Phils won’t lay out the money to keep Howard in Philly, we’ll need a first baseman here in the couple of years.
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Checked out the Claws all of this weekend against the Shorebirds. Overall, it was a tough series. The Phillies lost 3-1 in the opener and lost a squaeaker 2-1 on a wild pitch with two outs in the 9th inning Saturday. Sunday they salvaged a game to head back home.
You can see that there is a lot of talent on this team. Joel Naughton looks like he could be a factor as a catching prospect. Moose Mattair struggled a bit, but he is as defensively sound as they come — akin to Scott Rolen. Freddy Galvis has a lot of raw ability. Personally, I feel he may be as good a fielder as Jimmy Rollins right now, but his bat needs a lot of work, but he’s only 19 or 20.
I was most impressed with Michael Durant who hit an absolute bomb on Saturday night for the Claws’ only run. Dominick Brown looks like he will be 30-30 threat when he makes it to the big club.
One unheralded name that doesn’t get much coverage is Matthew Rizzotti. He’s a 23 year-old first basemen out of Manhattan College. He is very sound defensively as a first sacker and he seems to have an excellent approach at the plate, laying off bad pitches and making pitchers pay when they come in the zone. After the weeekend in Salisbury, he’s hitting .292 and he looks like he will put up some power numbers this year.
Any thoughts?
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im sure the phillies will let howard go so michael durant can play. hell be a huge gate attraction. thats all i heard last year the phillies wont sign howard. howard will be a lifelong phillie.
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my apoligies that post was from last year.
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