Its Friday, that means the Baseball America hotsheet. Carlos Carrasco comes in at #10
The Scoop: If McGee is No. 9, then Carrasco fits in nicely right behind him after posting a nearly identical line at the same level (albeit in different leagues), with Carrasco allowing one more hit than McGee. Carrasco has mixed some outstanding starts with some not-so-hot starts, but the 21-year-old always shows flashes of his potential. “The stuff’s there,” Reading manager P.J. Forbes said. “He’s shown the flashes that he’s gonna pitch in the big leagues. We’re waiting to see the consistency that comes along with his stuff. He’s got three plus pitches, plus command and now it’s just a matter of him putting it together every five days. That consistency over two, three, four starts is all we’re looking for because the stuff is there.”
Obvious omission; Lou Marson. There will be a chat about the list at 2:30 Eastern. Hopefully we can find out why Marson was left off, though I’m guessing the response will have something to do with the “lack of extra base hits”….
Phuture Phillies 
I asked the Marson question as RJ so let’s cross our fingers! I should have mentioned my severe case of Lounacy.
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Marson’s been crushing the ball all month and all year for that matter…a GLARING omission.
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Has anyone noticed the similarity between Marson’s line this year and what Russell Martin did at AA (when he was a year older than Lou)? Pretty encouraging.
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this guy didn’t make the futures game 2 years in a row (the only one to do that) for nothing. consistency comes with maturity and experience. it is a mental thing – concentration and a learned ability to get outs without your best stuff. he will get there.
what was interesting to me was Forbes quote. does he truly have 3 plus pitches and plus command? or is Forbes being a biased fan talking up his player?
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Jaramillo has just left the Pigs game early tonight. Apparentlly he fouled a pitch off his “lead ankle” as it was described. on radio. No word on his status for the future but Marson might be on the move.
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Rather than B/A and scouts, I prefer to let the players tell us what kind of talent they have on the field. Lots of highly rated prospects don’t make it or don’t live up to their hype. Just go back a few years and look at B/A’s top 10 Phillies’ prospects. Usually #1 and #2 are okay but after that it’s a crapshoot.
Carrasco has been a so=so performer for two years. I know he is 21 but I am not sure how much that should count since lots of players make the bigs by 21. Not to say he isn’t doing well but he sure didn’t do much last year at Reading and this year he has been very inconsistent. In his last four games, there have been two spectacular and two very average performances. In the bad games, he was quite bad with one game ERA of 6.40 and one of 5.40 and WHIPs of 1.70 and 1.80 in the two games. That’s not good considering how many games this kid has pitched for us at three levels. Last year at Clearwater he was pretty good but then at Reading not so good and this, year two at Reading he has been hit and miss. Not to say he isn’t talented, but he should be showing more consistency by now and I am beginning to be concerned about that.
JA Happ after a lot of years in this system, had four brilliant games and looked like a prospect ready for his shot. Then he hurls two terrible games with sub-par performances. Game ERAs of 6.00 and 7.20 with WHIPs of 1.80 and 1.33. What the heck is that for a 26 year old who has been in the minors (and done well) for so long? To be this bad, at this level, after so much experience, and at this time, pushes him way back in my opinion. Maybe I am wrong but I think real talent doesn’t do this. He has shot himself in the foot.
Bastardo had an interesting night tonight (5/23). After three great starts and one good one, his line tonight looks like this: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 6 BB’s and 2 K’s.
Now for him, this is a disaster. There are concerns about him anyway and he has been outpitching them but this is a bad line. His command looks bad and his K’s are way down for a strikeout pitcher and four runs in four innings is a disaster. .
But if you know what happened, it might look a little different. Somehow he wasn’t himself tonight. He gave up a couple of early walks, then had a balk, then a “throwing error” and then a wild pitch. Wow. And his team ended with 3 errors in those four innings. Then in the 4th, he puts two men on, they take him out and put Castro in, and Castro proceeds to throw a home run ball, three runs scoring, two charged to Antonio.
Very strange night. But the kid had only pitched a handful of games at Clearwater this year before being promoted to Reading and this is his fifth start at Reading and his only bad one. And this is the beginning of only his second full year in the system.
So, what does it mean? Is he going to live down to his prospect status or up to his performance status. We will see.
Sadly, for now, we don’t seem to have any ‘hot’ propsects. Mores the pity (as they say).
Guess we have to root for Chris Benson. We do need help.
For me, I will continue to watch Bastardo carefully along with Carrasco, Brummet and the Bossie Aussie , Drew Naylor at Lakewood. Time to move him up to Clearwater. He is 22 now.
Philly pitching pitching prospects are like flares, they burn brightly for a time and then fall back to earth.
Poetic ain’t it.
I may have to shoot myself.
Joey Chonors686@Aol.com
http://www.journals.aol.com/chonors686/joeypage1/
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Thanks Joey, for bringing me down. “No Hot prospects”? “May have to shoot myself”? Amaro said it a few days ago, The Phillies weren’t built on pitching. They built for hitting. I’d like to see 5 great starters, an adequate bullpen with a killer closer. They aren’t there but they also weren’t expected to be. The prospects are coming. They are sprinled through the middle and lower minors. They aren’t goiong to be there for a while. Right now, Happ may have to be the call-up guy. He’s not going to be the next Carlton, but who is? If he was called up and posted a 4.5 ERA, I’d think we’d be thankful. The Phillies are over .500 with a lot of the pitching staff over 5 ERAs. Carrasco has the potential. He’s 21. Hopefully he’ll gain some consistency and we’ll all be singing his praises. Bastardo had a bad game. Let’s see how he responds next outing. I agree that Naylor should be moved up and when they do, don’t be surprised if he struggles at first. Each level offers it’s own challenges. Pitchers have to adapt.
Maybe competition will spur the prospects on. Carrasco, Bastardo, Carpenter might right the ship, Outman, Brummett has impressed, Naylor, Savery and a few guys who are trying to get that consistency. Unfortunately, I don’t see them in Philly this year and probably not next either. Don’t shoot yourself yet. A little patience and hope the big club has the bats to persevere.
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I wouldnt even know where to start with your post Joey, so I won’t start at all.
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If I didn’t know better…that post would have depressed me.
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It’s about time that a Pharmhand made the Hotsheet. They
are few and far between, perhaps justifiably. We are
so desperate, that our expectations tend to be too high–
IMO. I will agree that Marson looks promising on the basis of his performance to date. And Golson seems to be
achieving the consistency that he so badly needs.
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If only Lou were hitting a little higher and leading the league in hitting he would get more recognition from the national guys. Last night the play be play guy said he was 34 for his last 89 (which comes out to .382) and was second in the EL in hitting at .344 for the seaon to some guy hitting .346. Guess it is getting common for catchers to lead their leagues in hitting since Maurer’s .347 hitting championship, he won the other year.
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Let’s see how Carrasco performs when it’s warmer, and then let’s see what he does in the playoff chase. A few bad starts don’t scare me away as long as he continues to demonstrate the ability to dominate.
Imagine how highly touted Marson would be if he played for a Mets affiliate.
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“phuturephillies Says:
I wouldnt even know where to start with your post Joey, so I won’t start at all.”
I don’t know- some of the commenting was a bit extreme for remarking on some of the cherry picking analysis, but he tempers those statements with what I think is the correct conclusion.
Regarding Carrasco he says:
“Not to say he isn’t talented, but he should be showing more consistency by now and I am beginning to be concerned about that.”
Really, Carrasco is in very good shape considering age and stuff- but the point of it is, when some people see #1 prospect, they have visions and expectations of a Hamels, Lincicum, Kersaw, or Cueto. But Carrasco isn’t on that level. If the phillies system was strong, he should probably rank around #3. So, if you have those kind of expectations for a #1 prospect- well, then you should be concerned, because thats not the kind of helium Carrasco has as a prospect. He’s going to need a lot of time to polish then a ‘right away’ blue chipper.
As for the Bastardo comments, some pretty strong words for one start followed by solid perspective.
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nothing like not having golson to pinch run, and t.j. bohn and not knowing to take out eaton the MOMENT he gets in trouble. if you want to win now golson should be here, im sure thell find plenty of abs eaton should be gone along with bohn and that power hitting ss, whats his name. i dont care what they did in their last start carrasco, happ, and outman should be here. and golson not being here gimme a break.
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and when said pitchers get hammered, Golson strikes out and gets picked off/thrown out in critical spots, then what solution will you root for?
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Development or winning?
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all of a sudden golson is a bum who gets picked off and strikes out? he is a better hitter runner and fielder than anyone in the of except victorino. ive had to many years of wait til next year. winning is not a development its the only thing. i guess we shoulnt have brought up mike schmidt, do you think rollins and utley had great minor league stats ? you wouldnt have traded for lidge?, because of his stats. you wouldnt have brought up kendrick last year. you wouldnt have brought up marty bystrom in 1980? i guess eaton is tom seaver. c,mon fish stop buying the extra year baloney. just like howard 4 years ago when thome was hurt and they didnt take howard on the west coast swing. its all the extra year of control. when a guys ready hes ready. what do you want to do , wait til hes lou brock? if one of carrasco, happ or outman make do you realize thats a tremendous sucess and just maybe a ws. who should have been on 3rd tonite in the 9th golson or feliz. golson we win.
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Not too many organizations have two players second in hitting at two for the four minor league levels. Marson is hitting .341 and is second in hitting in the EL and Michael Taylor is hitting .345 and is second in hitting in the Sally. Taylor should be moved up. Not much offense at Clearwater where the team is 9th of 12 teams in runs scored.
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Agree on moving up Taylor. He’s moved up in my rankings more than anyone else in the system. Spectacular season so far.
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John from Philly isnt serious, right?
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brandon, what am i not serious about?
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I agree about Taylor. Given his production–but moreso
because of his age–he should be playing in C’water.
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Edgar Garcia had to come out of the Clearwater game in the 4th inning pointing to his right shoulder. This guy breaks down too much to be a top prospect.
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“Edgar Garcia had to come out of the Clearwater game in the 4th inning pointing to his right shoulder. This guy breaks down too much to be a top prospect.”
Breaks down too much? Wouldn’t this just be his second trip to the DL in 4 years?
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“when a guys ready hes ready.”
170 at bats and his first prolonged success as a professional after 4 years of making himself a near afterthought- and your ready to say the hell with it and promote him to the big leagues? That he strikes out every 3 AB’s does’t mean anything to you that he might not have a completely firm grip on being able to be a successful major league hitter?
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fish did we bring up to victorino to hit, did we bring up bourne to hit, no we brought them up for defense and pinch running, so were we wrong then or would we be wrong now? cant have it both ways. by the way i love the smashing job taguchi,s doing and im sure bohn will keep the pines cold. and isnt golson hitting around .315. the game we lost saturday night could be the game that costs us the pennent.
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Golson’s a better prospect than either Vic or Bourne was. Besides if Golson continues to do well and keeps his SOs down he’ll have a pretty good shot of being in the Phillies outfield next season. Right now he needs constant reps which he WON’T get in Philly.
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James,
You know your site is getting too popular when the clueless trolls start arriving…
Regarding our friend Joey above, he’s placing way too much value on single game stats, and anticipating a consistency that even the best pitchers don’t display (see Cole Hamels in Houston). Game ERAs of 6 and 7 are common for good pitchers a few times a season, and a game WHIP of 1.33 is actually good.
Regarding bringing up Golson, the key issue is not to retard his development. He doesn’t need to go to the big leagues and get 3 ABs in 2 weeks right now. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have recalled Brandon Watson or Mike Cervanek from LV instead of Bohn, though, who can’t even hit AAA pitching.
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i liked what i saw from carasco last night. high whip, but he got out of the jams without surrenduring a run. as noted, they key for him is consistency, which means learning to get outs when you don’t have your best stuff. and learning to get out of jams. a nice step forward for him. i also like that he didn’t walk many to hurt himself.
bringing up golson to situational run/defense makes no sense. what is the point? how will that help his development? how many more runs will he get for the phillies than victorino or worth or taguchi? if injuries happen and he can come up and be in the everyday line up, then that is a different discussion. but right now he needs ABs just like phillychuck said. i would love to see him stay at AA all year and dominate. imagine how we would feel if he continued to put up these numbers all year? his prospect status would be very, very high.
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That point about losing the game on the throwout of Feliz at home plate was also a load of crap. Sure, Golson probably could have outrun that ball and scored, but little once-in-a-while situations are no reason to mess up a legit prospect’s progress! That was just a bad decision all around… they just as easily could have held Feliz and had Chase Utley come up with two-outs and two men in scoring position. I would take that situation any day.
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golson would not get 2 or 3 abs every 2 weeks. probably 250 for the year. and by the way who is the guru batting instructor charlie manuel. as far as losing saturday night it was a good decision to send feliz. did you see how deep the ball was, golson simply would have made with no contest. how many games did the phils win by last year? 1 the glass is half full not half empty.
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John, I have to disagree with you on Golson. Bringing him up now would be shortsighted. Manuel isn’t going to play him over Victorino or Jenkins against RHP, and getting him a start once a week v a LHP would be a mistake. Golson needs to play every day, its as simple as that. He’s not a finished product, he needs all of the at bats he can get, not to sit on the bench. I wouldn’t mind them using him during Interleague in the AL parks, playing him in the field and letting Jenkins DH, but he shouldn’t be called up as a pinch runner/defensive replacement. He’ll surely get called up in September when the rosters expand, and he can serve that role at that point. But for now, he needs to play every day.
On Garcia, I dont think anyone considers him an elite guy, but hes certainly a legit prospect, and hes far from injury prone. He’s been very reliable in that regard.
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I was just checking the Lakewwod boxscore and saw that Naylor was taken out of the game after 2/3 inning. Did he get injured or something?
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on golson i can see were not going to agree so lets see if we can on these matters. should bohn be on this team, should taguchi be on this team, or as philly chuck mentioned above we have other speedsters who can fill that role, do we need a 5th starter and another lefty in the pen. as far as one game not meaning anything whoever said that is insane.i give you 1964 which will forever haunt me. not to mention so many other seasons, not just the phillies.
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Naylor came out due to a rain delay of over an hour. He must have cooled down too much, so they went to the pen. Also heard Karl Bolt may have broken his nose in yesterday’s weird accidnt. Foul ball off his own bat hitting the plate and bouncing up hitting him in the face. He’s not playing today after several good days in a row at the plate.
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Oh ok thats good news, I thought it was an injury or something
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Last year it was his knee.
July 20th article: Edgar Garcia returned to the mound for SS Single-A Williamsport on Thursday and allowed one run in 3 1/3 innings.
Garcia hadn’t pitched since leaving his June 25 start with a knee injury
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He still threw 122 innings last year, which is fine actually, because he only threw 66 the year before. Its actually a good thing to limit the innings for a guy coming from short season to a full season league.
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back to carrasco………since the article he had another great game…..he deserves his props i copied this from the reading site.
May 25: Reading 10, Binghamton 7
Carlos Carrasco
6 IP, 0 R, 5 K
Binghamton, NY–The Reading Phillies managed to snap a five-game losing streak Saturday night. It certainly wasn’t easy. The Binghamton Mets had the winning run at the plate but the R-Phils were able to hang on for a 10-7 Eastern League victory at NYSEG Stadium.
Reading (20-27) led 10-3 going into the last of the ninth. The Mets took advantage of three walks and two errors to score four times. With the bases loaded and two out, Josh Petersen hit a liner to left. Javon Moran gambled and won, making a sliding catch to end the game.
Carlos Carrasco (4-4) struck out five in six scoreless innings to get the win. He has not allowed a run in his last 14-2/3 innings.
The Phillies got homers from Brad Harman, Greg Golson and Neil Sellers. Moran had two doubles and scored three times. Jeremy Slayden scored twice and drove in three runs.
Patrick Overholt recorded the final two outs for his tenth save.
Salvador Aguilar (4-1) took the loss for the Mets. He was charged with four runs on six hits and four walks in six innings.
Binghamton (24-24) was led by Emmanuel Garcia and Jose Coronado. Garcia was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Coronado was 2-for-4 with a run and three knocked in and he made several solid plays at shortstop.
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an interesting stat that i think youll all find helpful, and you can ask any scout. if 10 players from a minor league system make the bigs youve done well. looking at the phils i see donald, carrasco, bastardo, golson, outman marson, i dont know enough about but from your raves ill take your word. sticking with the phils. naylor, brown and the other bopper at lakewood seem on track but their far away. cardenas, jaramillo, maybe happ if hes developed a 3rd pitch has a shot. there maybe other players that i dont know enough about, but i,d bet in 2 yearws youll see donald at 3rd, next year golson in lf and marson catching along with one of the boppers at lakewood in left [ 2010 ]. that leaves cardenas, no room, jaramillo, one of the pitchers id say savery and ruiz if your right about marson as trade bait for a quality starting pitcher, whoever that might be. im sure there,ll be differences of opinion, but lets keep it civalized.
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p.s. i knew i missed someone and that seems to be taylor from lakewood. by the way pp whats the deal with garcia?. by the way in my acquaintance with lakewood brown seems to be on the road to dhdoom.
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Dominic Brown as a DH? Yeah I don’t see that. His route running is raw, from what I’ve read, but he has a good arm. He might not make it as a CF, but he could end up in RF. If a guy like Burrell can play the OF, a pure athlete like Brown can play the OF.
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