I heard there were riots in the streets of Allentown last night after the first win of the season. I should probably not mention anything else in this post, for fear of detracting attention away from win #1 in franchise history. But because the Iron Pigs stink like, well, pigs, we’ll turn our attention to something a tad more important. Is something wrong with Andrew Carpenter? Something might be, and it might be something I’ve discussed at length in other places; the Rule of 30.
Monthly Archives: April 2008
Joe Savery appears in the 10 Pack
I’m going to create a special little category on the left side along with the other features specifically for cataloging the appearances of Phillies prospects in Kevin Goldstein’s Monday Morning 10 Pack, as well as the Baseball America Hot Sheet, which I believe will be coming out on Friday’s now. Joe Savery popped up today
Joe Savery, lhp, High-A Clearwater (Phillies)
On a prospect level, it was the pitching matchup of the day on Sunday, as Lakeland and super-stud Rick Porcello paid a visit to Clearwater, who countered with their 2007 own first-round pick in Savery. While Porcello pitched well again, and got hurt once more by bad defense and occasional control lapses, Savery stole the show with eight shutout innings that included four strikeouts and 14 ground balls. After three starts, Savery has given up just two runs over 20 innings while limiting batters to a .217 average. While Carlos Carrasco is off to a fine start at Double-A, Savery’s left-handedness and groundball tendencies just might have him looking like the better prospect by the end of the season.
Monday musings
Rather than do a bunch of box score recaps, I wanted to instead talk about a few theoretical practices and things I’ve seen in comments over the last few days, as I think they are very important issues and have a direct impact on our farm system. Along those same lines, I wanted to kindly ask that we try and stay on topic within each post, as theres really no reason to be discussing whether the Phillies should re-sign Ryan Howard in a Clearwater Threshers related post. To combat this, I’ll make a post each day, even if its brief, to just quickly recap the action from the previous day, and then you can feel free to discuss any of the games from the current day in said post. So, if you want to discuss what happens in tonights games, you can do it here. Now, onto my musings
Reading Phillies Weekly Roundup
Much like the big-league club, this year’s Reading Phillies are off to a so-so start. At 4-4, they’re in the middle of the pack in the Eastern League Southern Division. They started off hot, taking three of four from the Altoona Curve to open the season, but have cooled down and lost their last three straight games.
By now, I’m sure most of you have heard about OF Greg Golson hitting the tar out of the ball. After 8 games, Golson’s batting a tidy .323 with three doubles, a triple, and seven steals, all while tying for the team lead in runs scored with five. It looks as if his winter spent with Charlie Manuel has helped Golson up his game. However, before we sing his praises and worship him as the savior of the Phils minor-league chain, it’s important to note that his OBP is only .344, while his K-BB ratio is 8-1 on the young season. Golson’s going to have to get on base more often before he can really display one of his most impressive tools — his speed. His season is certainly one to keep an eye on as he looks to possibly earn a call-up during September.
Threshers’ Pitching Grounds Flying Tigers
Matt Spencer celebrates after what would prove to be the game winning home run.
It’s not the normal night for Threshers news, but the pitching staff threw such a gem tonight, I thought the news was worth sharing.
The Clearwater Threshers came out on Friday night after being shut out for the first time this season on Thursday looking for some retribution. Antonio Bastardo took the hill for the team, and for five innings he held the Lakeland Flying Tigers on the runway never able to take off. He picked up ten Ks and allowed just three hits and three walks over that period.
Iron Pigs Week One
The inaugural season of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs could not have gotten off to any worse of a start, with the Pigs losing their entire initial roadtrip, ending it at 0-8. Currently, the Pigs are in last place, already six full games out of first place in the Northern Division of the International league. Upcoming this weekend is their home opener against the RIchmond Braves. There are very few Pigs among the league leaders however, Brandon Watson is 2nd in the league in hits (11), and Brian Mazone is second in the league in innings(13) and 4th in the league in strikeouts (12). Continue reading Iron Pigs Week One
Thursday thoughts
Just a few brief discussion points
* Michael Durant is on fire. Durant just turned 21 in January, and while his pro career has been a disappointment to date, you gotta at least feel some sense of excitement over his 9/19, 2 HR start. Of course he’s also struck out 6 times and hasn’t walked. But yeah, 2 HR is nice.
* Jason Donald hasn’t played since being hit on the hand with a pitch. I’ve searched, I haven’t found an official diagnosis, I can only assume the Phillies are going to be cautious with him.
* Dan Brauer is back on the mound again, which is a good sign. I was really high on him heading into 2007, but his season was derailed because of injuries. He has labrum surgery in his past, which is always a worry, but hopefully he can remain healthy. If he does, and if the team moves him to relief, he could be on the very fast track. He’s already 24, so time is of the essence.
* Out of the shackles of pitcher friendly Lakewood, Adrian Cardenas is lighting the FSL up, going 13/29 with 3 2B to open the season. I pointed out last year that his home/road splits indicated he would see a bump in Clearwater, so far so good.
Clearwater Threshers Weekly Roundup
We’re now six games into this young season with the Threshers off to a slow start at 2-4 on the year. Five players: Adrian Cardenas, Quintin Berry, Gus Milner, Matt Spencer, and John Urick have played in every game, while six different pitchers: Joe Savery, Carlos Monasterio, Antonio Bastardo, Darren Byrd, Edgar Garcia and Dan Brauer have been handed the ball to start a game.
So far Adrian Cardenas has stolen the show for the team as he has hit safely in all but one of the games including a 3-4 and a 4-5 effort. He is currently hitting .417 with 3 doubles, a stolen base and a team best 4 runs scored. Continue reading Clearwater Threshers Weekly Roundup
Lakewood Report 4/8
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.
Time to start thinking about the draft
As the minor league season kicks off and the rest of the phuturephillies team begins to flex their muscle with reports from their respective affiliates, I’m going to shift my writing to more analytical pieces, and for the next 2 months, I’m going to focus a lot of energy on the draft. My goal is to again have a Q/A with Jim Salisbury as we get closer to draft day, and also to start looking at potential draftees. I know there are a few big draft fans here, so hopefully we can get some interaction going on that front, even though its still 2 months away. The Phillies first few draft picks look like this;
#24
#34
#51
#71
#102
#109 (supplemental pick after 3rd round for failing to sign Workman)
So, with 6 picks in the first 109, the Phillies have a chance to add a lot of quality, the question, as it always is, will they be willing to spend? More below the fold..
Phuture Phillies 