The Clearwater Threshers continue to struggle with a record of 4-8 on the season. The pitching has by far been the team’s strength as they have the 4th best ERA in the league at 3.32 and the 3rd most strikeouts with 94. Unfortunately their hitting has kept them from winning very many as they are dead last in the league in hits, and slugging percentage with only 20 extra base hits on the year.
Antonio Bastardo and Joe Savery have lead the way for the starting pitchers each posting impressive 0.90 ERAs on the year while Adrian Cardenas (.347), Matt Spencer (.302) and John Urick (.300) are the only Threshers hitters batting .300 or better with five players languishing at .200 or below.
Pitchers:
Starting rotation:
Joe Savery has pitched in three games and owns a 1-1 record with a 0.90 ERA. He has 13K v 8BB in 20.0 IP with his best effort coming in his most recent outing. This past Sunday he went 8.0 innings giving up no runs while scattering five hits with four strikeouts and just one walk.
Darren Byrd has gotten off to a rough start this year. He has pitched just 7.2 innings in his two starts and owns a 9.39 ERA with 7K v 8BB. In his most recent outing, just last night, he went 5.0 innings giving up four runs on seven hits with four Ks and four walks.
Carlos Monasterios owns a 1-1 record after two starts though rightfully should be 2-0. He has a 2.70 ERA with 8K v 4BB in 13.1 innings, and has an impressive 3.14 GO/AO ratio allowing opposing hitters to hit just .173 against him. The only knock on him so far has been that he has allowed 3 home runs which have accounted for all four runs scored against him. In his most recent outing this past week he threw seven terrific innings giving up a 2-run home run with two outs in his final inning, but took the loss as the team’s hitting was nowhere to be found and the team suffered it’s first shutout of the year falling 2-0.
Antonio Bastardo owns a 1-0 record after two starts with a terrific 0.90 ERA with 17Kv 5BB in 10.0 innings. Opposing hitters are batting .263 against him while lefties are hitting just .154. In his most recent outing Antonio was terrific through five innings giving up just three hits while fanning TEN and walking three.
Edgar Garcia rounds out the starting five with a 3.27 ERA with 9K v 1BB in 11.0 innings of work. In his outing this week he went five innings striking out five and walking one. He left the game with the Threshers leading 4-3 but could not get a win as the bullpen gave up two late runs.
The Bullpen:
Matt German remains untouched on the year having given up just one hit in 4.0 innings with 8K v 1BB and a perfect 0.00 ERA. His only mark against him is that he has 2 hit batsmen.
Brett Harker has been mostly solid out of the pen with a 1.69 ERA, 5K v 1BB, and 4 hits in 5.1 innings, but in his only appearance since last week he left abruptly with an injury described as a back spasm on Friday night. He went 1.1 innings with 3K and 0BB giving up a hit on his final pitch. At last report he is expected to be fine.
Sam Walls has finally returned this year after sitting out the entire 2007 season. He has pitched in four games this year going a total of 6.0 innings with 5K v 4 BB and a 2.50 GO/AO ratio. In his most recent outing he came in with bases loaded and the game tied in the seventh inning, but walked in the winning run, and then allowed three more runs before escaping the inning. He did settle down and go the rest of the way, but the Threshers offense could provide nothing more and the team fell 8-5.
Andy Cruse has really struggled this year out of the bullpen after starting four solid games for the Threshers last year to help complete their 2007 championship run. He has taken three losses in his four outings with a 10.29 ERA and just one K with 5 walks in 7.0 innings of work.
Position players:
Adrian Cardenas continues to lead the team in offense with his .347 BA. He has only one walk on the season, but also only 6 strikouts in his 49 AB.
Matt Spencer is second on the team with a .302 BA and has one of only two home runs on the year. That home run proved to be the game winner as the Threshers shut out Lakeland this past Friday 1-0 behind an 18K performance from the pitching staff.
John Urick is the only other Threshers at .300 or better with an even .300 BA. He is tied for the team lead in RBIs at seven.
Gus Milner is tied with Urick for the RBI lead at seven, and has the only other home run for the team besides Matt Spencer, but is hitting just .179 on the year having picked up just 2 hits in his last 23 AB.
Tuffy Gosewisch has not exactly been lighting things up at the plate hitting just .176 on the year. However behind the plate he has been a machine. Though I have no stats to back me up, as fielding stats in the minors seem to elude me (if anyone know where to get them let me know) he has to have thrown out at least 75% of the base stealing attempts against him, and has had a couple of excellent plays at the plate including one in particular where he got absolutely crushed but recorded the out, and still jumped up in time to hold the hitter at first base.
Get Daily Threshers recaps at http://clearwaterthreshers.jeffcrupper.com
Phuture Phillies 
Thanks for the summary. I noticed Savery had no SBs against him. He had 2 caught stealings (Gosewisch I’m sure helps here) and 2 POs.
Cardenas is tearing up the league but has only 2 RBIs batting in the 3 hole. I guess that shows the lead off guys are not getting on base or in scoring position.
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this is by far the most exciting team in the Phils minor league system
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Actually, I find Reading and Lakewood to be more exciting, with Clearwater coming in third (no vote for the Piggies). Reading has a stronger and more evolved overall prospect pool and Lakewood has a ton of young guys who could develop into outstanding hitters. But Savery, Cardenas and Bastardo are definitely intriguing.
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If they let Savery hit I bet they’d win a few more games…
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is bastardo better suited for starting or relieying
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Watch Carlos Monasterios. His 3.14 GO/FO is Derek Lowe territory. Lowe had a 3.30 GO/FO last year. What a Phils rotation someday with Hamels, Carrasco and Outman getting the strike outs and Savery and Monasterios the ground balls.
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I’m a big fan of Monasterios, I’ve been pumping him up since the Abreu dump, er, trade.
John, Bastardo mainly works off his fastball now, and both of his secondary pitches are fringy. If he can improve both his changeup and breaking ball, he can be a starter. But he has a very slight frame, which of course will lead to durability concerns. I’m sure he’ll remain a starter until he proves he can’t get by in that role.
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Nice write-up, as usual, Jeff. It was a good week to be a pitcher for the Threshers. Savery’s gem + the 18 strikeout game are legitimate causes for excitement.
How much of a prospect is Gosewich, or is he a career minor leaguer-type of guy? Apparently he has no bat, but is a heckuva player behind the plate. Great name, too.
– Jeff
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****What a Phils rotation someday with Hamels, Carrasco and Outman getting the strike outs and Savery and Monasterios the ground balls****
Odds are against all 4 propects ever making the big club let alone being legit MLB starters. Carrasco and Outman are #3 or #4 starters if they develop to the top of their projections and Savery needs to stay healthy. It would be nice if it happened though.
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If Bastardo only has one legit pitch, how is he getting all those Ks on a fastball alone? His body of work seems to suggest a closer or set up guy to me.
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Because hes in A ball and blowing a fastball by guys? From what I’ve read, he has a little deception in his delivery too.
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Exactly…A Ball hitters aren’t exactly known for their prowess. If he had a good 2nd pitch he’d be in AA or AAA already. He’s a lefty who throws 91-94 and has no secondary pitches IIRC. That won’t get it done any higher than A ball.
Baseball Prospectus seems pretty high on Josh Outman (they rate him as better than Kendrick and able to start this year in the majors as a #5 guy…what’s your opinion on his ceiling Phuturephillie?
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to pp how hard does bastardo get the ball up? late movement onhis fastball? Also from what ive read its seems to be ridiculous to move cardenas to the of as some have said. does he have the arm to play 3rd. is he left or right handed hitter, since being left handed is a problem if your future lineup is howard utley rollins, who,s power comes from the left,the same thing with victorino. then with golson coming up teams can stock their rotations with lefties, unless burrell is resigned for a reasonable contract.
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And think of the headlines in the newspaper. “That Bastardo, wins another game.” And imagine the voice on the loudspeaker,”Now pitching, Bastardooooo.”
I noticed no one put Kendrick in their rotation of the future. I’m worried about him this year but I think he’ll get it back. It may take a trip to the minors though.
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On Bastardo; I’ve seen his velo at anywhere from 88-92, with some late fastball movement.
On Outman: I think its easier to say he has a higher ceiling than Carrasco, because lefties that regularly throw 93-95 mph are rare. But hes older, and he has similar issues with control and command. I think both guys are good middle of the rotation starters on a good team. Getting into calling guys #1 SP or #3’s, or #5’s might be quick and easy, but rarely does it mean a whole lot. Outside of the absolute cream of the crop pitchers, most pitchers are anywhere from a #3 to a #5.
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****Getting into calling guys #1 SP or #3’s, or #5’s might be quick and easy, but rarely does it mean a whole lot. Outside of the absolute cream of the crop pitchers, most pitchers are anywhere from a #3 to a #5.****
I agree completely with that statement.
On Kendrick…I don’t see why anyone would think he has much of a future in the bigs. His K/BB ratio and K/9 don’t scream MLB pitcher…neither does his GB/FB rate. I was stunned that he did as well as he did last year.
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You know, I wrote a bit the other day about the “Class A Ball Effect” and why Andrew Carpenter winning a lot of games at Clearwater is nice, but it doesn’t necessarily mean anything because Carpenter has only okay stuff and just knows how to pitch. That having been said, the one thing I think is usually not a mirage at the lower levels are strikeout rates. A high strikeout rate tells me more about a pitcher’s ultimate ability (his “ceiling” if you will) than almost anything else. This is especially true of a lefty.
If Bastardo continues to strike out well over a batter an inning, it tells me that he has the ability to translate that talent at AA and perhaps well beyond that. It tells me is that he has the single most important ability a pitcher can have – the ability either to cause a batter to swing and miss or not to swing at a strike. This ability generally correlates with, but is not always directly tied to, velocity.
My favorite example of this was Sid Fernandez. He lit the world on fire as a minor leaguer with the Dodgers. But, really, he did not throw hard (89 or 90 at the most, usually he was around 87 or 88 MPH with his fastball) and he had control problems. Before long, the Dodgers sent him to the Mets for a decent middle reliever named Carlos Diaz. He went to the Mets and immediately started to strike out AAA batters with alarming frequency – routinely punching out 13, 15 or 17 batters a game. Finally, they had to promote him and, when they did, although he often struggled with his control, the guy who never threw 90 MPH just continued to blow by major league hitters because they could not hit his explosive, rising fastball and devastating curve.
Now, I’m not saying that Bastardo is another Sid Fernandez, but I am saying that if he continues to strikeout batters at this rate, it tells me that he has a very high upside.
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One quick thing…if you ever want any eyewitness accounts from the Short Season Single A circuit, I live about 2 blocks from the Vermont Lake Monsters stadium and go to pretty much every other game. I believe Williamsport has a 3 game series there this summer that’ I’ll definitely be at.
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bellman, kendrick in my opinion has the maturity of a 30 year old vet hell be there. but look at this crop of pitchers hamels, myers, kendrick, outman carrasco, savery bastardo, who sounds like a 8th inning man,and monasteras who i have absolutely no real knowledge of except what i read here with lidge as a closer. as ive said this team is loaded for the next 7 to 8 years and thats without lakewood where as cromp said i have to get to
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How much longer can they keep Matt German in Clearwater? He will turn 24 in June so his is not a youngster. So far he has yet to give up a run and has allowed only one hit in 4 relief appearances while striking out 10 over 5 innings of work. Last year fellow lefty reliever Mike Zagurski began the season with Clearwater and appeared in 12 games and gave up 2 runs and 6 hits, striking out 30 in 16.1 innings before moving up the chain.
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went to the game this is exactly what the minors are for. i,m sure that cardenas or donald if he is not hurt could do a better job filling in at ss while rollins mends. also golson should be here platooning with wirth. you either trade your minor leagers or send them up when needed and they sure are needed right now. how about outman or carrasco for the bullpen, get their feet wet and please dont tell me their not as good as bruntlet or snelling, and dont tell me the will be mentally damaged.
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****i,m sure that cardenas or donald if he is not hurt could do a better job filling in at ss while rollins mends. also golson should be here platooning with wirth****
Two things that are completely wrong with that statement John. First, bringing up Cardenas and Donald makes no sense as neither is ready for MLB level play. Besides, Bruntlett is more versatile and can play several positions. Yeah, his offense isn’t that great and his defense is league average but its league average in several positions, unlike that of Cardenas or Donald. This is not mentioning all the eligibility and free agency clocks that start once a guy hits the 25 man roster.
On Golson…there is no way that Golson would succeed at the MLB level right now…other than as a pinch runner. He swings at everything and has no strike zone recogition and he cannot tell the difference between a fastball or breaking ball. Take a look at his K/BB splits in Double AA and think long and hard about how much worse it would be in the Majors. Last I calculated (on Tues) he was striking out in over 27% of his ABs in AA…he is not ready for the majors and if he can’t figure out how to take a pitch he won’t ever be. I’ll stick with Werth and Taguchi as my utility OF’s.
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If you got a chance to see Wesley Wright pitch for Houston the other night against the phils- Bastardo is nearly cloned off him for body type and stuff. He was anywhere from 88-92 (and i’m not sure how he was able to come in throwing 88 mph right on by the first two hitters he faced, but he did).
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to nephan,i have not seen cardenas, donald i have seen and i cant believe either one would not do a better job than snelling or bruntlett but then again i go back to when lonnie smith and keith moreland were never given a chance until d. green put them in the line up, if you remember we were told they both were not ready as far as golson ive seen him but i wasnt aware of so stats,but im still predicting a good career for him. as far as major league service 2 weeks up doesnt really count and i really dont concern myself with it since it,s just another way to put money over winning an attitude that doesnt win w.s. and as far as versitility at positions, a player can be bad at many positions. but anything i learn i thank you. to fish i asked pp about bastardo and based on his physical description amazingly i was thinking exactly the same thing when i saw wright,
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Another concern I would have about Donald or Cardenas up in the bigs is playing time. Rollins isn’t that injured (he isn’t even on the DL although he probably should be) so as they wouldn’t get alot of playing time which would hurt them. Having them jump between leagues could screw up their comfort-level as well. Imagine if Donald does come up but goes 0-15 with 10 Ks against MLB pitching. That could F## him up mentally when there is no need to subject him to it yet. I completely agree that Eric Bruntlett has been brutal this year especially at the plate. Yesterday was a prime example of his season. 0-5 when everyone else in the lineup had at least 2 hits. I love the fact that he can provide replacement level defense at 7 positions but if he can’t hit even .200 I just dont know. I really hope Rollins gets healthy fast but the reports on his ankle continue to be bad (he should have went on the DL Uncle Charlie!!!) I look at the Yankees bringing up SS Alberto Gonzalez when Jeter went down and he did very well despite “not being ready for MLB”. A big part of keeping with Bruntlett is probably loyalty on Gillicks part. He probably promised Bruntlett he’d have a chance to play in the majors and he probably wants to give the “veteran” a chance to right himself even though he’s not much of a veteran. He did beat out Helms in camp and he’s versatile but he needs to start hitting fast.
On Snelling, he was brought up merely to be a pinchhitter off the bench as the Phillies intended to start Werth and Jenkins with Taguchi spotting them. To bring up Golson to sit on the bench would be detrimental to him. At this point both Werth (who is a very good fielder and hitter when healthy) and Jenkins are more valuable in the Phillies outfield than Golson. Golson is doing well at AA and they are probably afraid to screw that up. I guarantee we’ll see him as a Sept callup to give him a taste of the Big Leagues and he’ll be in MLB camp next year if he keeps it up. All of our minor league help is at least year away from helping us…very frustrating.
Just think of the prospects we’ll get when they end up having to trade Ryan Howard.
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nephan, i definately disagree that howard will be traded even the phils are not that foolish. your talking about a future hof player who will hit 500 hrs. they would have to be insane and we do not need prospects we need people who will spend what it takes. How many times do you think you will see a player like howard. it would be like the pirates trading stargell. howard is what he is 50 hr,s 140 rbi,s 300 hitter, 175 so,s and an average fielder, thats what youll get for the next 7 yr,s. they have the money now pay the going rate, stop trying to knock him down like he,s a used car, i cant even believe where talking about trading a hof,er which he will be. none of us will ever see a phillie 1st baseman like this again.
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To John in NE: I want to preface this by saying that I think Howard is an awesome player and I love watching him play. I am not bashing him in the slightest, but I still think he will be traded rather than locked up in a long term deal. Here’s a point by point reason of why:
****nephan, i definately disagree that howard will be traded even the phils are not that foolish.****
In a couple years it will come down to locking up either Ryan Howard or Cole Hamels to long term deals. The Phillies have the money to do both but they won’t. Their ownership group sets a tight budget every year and they won’t pay both enough to stay. Miguel Cabrera (a better and younger player than Ryan Howard) signed a 7-year deal worth about $19 million a year. Howard’s agent came out when that happened and said that that deal would be the “starting point” for paying Howard what he’s worth. Just the starting point. The key difference between the two players is that Howard is already 28 years old and Cabrera just turned 25. So that means Howard is gonna want something in the range of 7 or 8 years and a minimum of $20 million per. While I have no objection to paying him $20 million a year for the next couple of years, I’m willing to bet we’d all be regretting it when he’s 36. PECOTA compares him to players like Mo Vaughn (retired at 35) and Cecil Fielder (retired at 34). His skill set makes this a genuine possibility along with an abrupt dropoff in production in his early to mid 30’s.
****your talking about a future hof player who will hit 500 hrs. they would have to be insane and we do not need prospects we need people who will spend what it takes.****
He is possibly a future HOF. He’s got a very good chance at the Hall if he keeps up his current numbers but the odds and history are both against him doing just that. He is a big slow 1B with old player skills…meaning he probably won’t age all that well. His career could easily be over by the time he’s 34. Unfortunately for him, he started late and that lessened his chances of hitting historic benchmarks (unless you count strikeouts in a season) Another unfortunate fact is that we don’t have people who “will spend what it takes” in the Phillies ownership group and I think we can all agree on that. Stats wise it is tough to predict out what Howard will end up with. Say he has 6 good to great years left in him (45 HR average) and 2-3 okay/decent years (25-30 HRs) and retires at 37 or 38. Going into 2008 he had 129 HRs. Add 270 HRs for the 6 great years (including 2008) and another 75-90 for the 3 okay years and he’s still falls 11 short of 500 at 489. That is an optimistic prediction that assumes he avoids any major injuries which is hardly a guarantee. He might hit 500 but I wouldn’t bet my life on it.
****How many times do you think you will see a player like howard. it would be like the pirates trading stargell. howard is what he is 50 hr,s 140 rbi,s 300 hitter, 175 so,s and an average fielder, thats what youll get for the next 7 yr,s.****
It’s a decent possibility other than the batting average. He’s only been over .300 once (before they started using the shift on him which he admits throws him off) and he’s in his peak years right now. He’s a career .288 hitter and sluggers usually trade average for continued power as they get older (see Ken Griffey Jr.) and their bat speed slows. He could always have a Big Papi type of renaissance where he starts hitting .330 but his contact rates don’t suggest that happening. He strikes out far too much to bat .300 let alone .330. But 45 HRs, 120 RBI and a .270-.280 AVG for the next 5-6 years seems like a safe bet. As for players like Howard, honestly he’s not even the best player on his own team. Chase Utley is a much better hitter than Howard and is overall a superior player.
****they have the money now pay the going rate, stop trying to knock him down like he,s a used car, i cant even believe where talking about trading a hof,er which he will be. none of us will ever see a phillie 1st baseman like this again****.
I’m not knocking him down at all. He’s a great player for now and he is a key part of their offense even if he does strike out every 3rd plate appearance. They may have the money to pay him market rate but he considers himself an unprecedented player and he wants record breaking money. He’s proven this in arbitration when he turned down Albert Pujols (a better 1B) money just so he could get $10 million this year. The Phillies even wanted to split the difference and give him something like $8.5 million and he refused to consider it. So he won’t sign a reasonable contract. He’ll want the Cabrera money I mentioned earlier (7 years, $150+ million to start). The Phillies will end up making a choice between pitching and signing Howard long term and they will end up choosing pitching. That being said they’ll probably try to market him starting this off-season unless he takes a reasonable deal which he won’t. Yeah it sucks but its probably gonna happen unless you know any Mark Cuban type billionaires that want to buy the team?
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nephan, he,s already hit ahistoric benchmark 58 hr,s tying foxx. with a projection of 475 hrs he would tie stargell and i believe he,s in the hall and you know that stargell was no defensive wiz. as far as a 7 year contract he would be 35 which i believe is the perfect contract. as far as his so,s remember reggie jackson, stargell, schmidt and mantle. most great power hitters in todays game so. as far as cabrera goes i am not a fan unlike puhols who i believe is the best hitter in the game.check the ops of the top players. idont believe utley as great as he is , is better than howard. i think we both believe howard is a great player who will probably end his career around 35, but the real problem is a team in the 5th largest market with the 13th payroll a joke, paying him. but please ne dont compare him to the human hoagie, vaughn or the lunatic fielder. he,s 1st class all around and you know he always starts slow. i believe he will take 20,000,000 a year for 7 years not megabucks by todays standards
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Ok. Please. I’m only going to ask one more time. Can we PLEASE limit the discussions on this site, in these posts, to the topics at hand? The topic at hand here is the Threshers. If you want to talk about 1B prospects at Clearwater, and potential replacements for Howard, fine. But I don’t want to read about Ryan Howard’s next contract here. Its disrespectful to Jeff, who takes the time to cover the Threshers in great detail for the site.
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I apologize…it won’t happen again.
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another brutal loss. they are playing like dogs. i,m more convinced than ever that golson belongs on this roster if only for defence and pinch running. also cardenas if rollins has any more setbacks. if anyone has something to tell me about his defence please do. next carrasco and outman in the pen. and if anyone doulbts minor leagers coming up just remember bystrom,kendrick and the dozens of a “ballers now in the bigs. just look at teams rosters. its not like these guys are,nt needed now. snelling, bruntlett, gordon do not belong in the majors and who knows when victorino and madson will be healthy. winning teams take chances. chamberlain, kennedy, and a million other guys. i saw my 1st game in 1958 and have been suffering a long time. i gaurantee that golson would have caught the ball wirth misplayed. a team cannot give up their 8th and 9th hitters for automatic outs. all i say is give it a shot if it doesnt work, i dont want to hear your damaging these guys forever. thats baloney if they have hearts. this team needs life.
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its a sad day, my condolences to the marzano family. john was a friend of mine im proud to say.
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Anyone know whatsup with Cardenas, he hasn’t played for a while.
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Cardenas has a back strain. He said he hurt it during ST and this past week when it was cool here he reaggravated it. He made it sound like it wasn’t that big of a deal, but he has now sat out of four games.
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Great write-up Jeff.
I don’t know how accurate the numbers are, but here is a link to a site that posts fielding stats: http://minors.baseball-reference.com/
Keep up the good work!
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Thanks for the link Will!
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