The first of the two Latin American complex leagues starts today with the beginning of the Venezuelan Summer League. The Phillies are coming off a 36-31 4th place finish in 2007, though may have a very young pitching staff on the 2008 roster. Ace pitcher Freddy Ballestas is now stateside along with several others from the 2007 team. The second best pitcher from last season, Juan Colmenarez, is still listed on the VSL roster, though he was present on the minor league Spring Training rosters earlier. Daniel Lara is definitely back from last year to provide at least some veteran presence on the mound. Continue reading VSL Season Starts Today
Monthly Archives: May 2008
Is Happ ready to step in?
It’s Monday, that means its time for a discussion question. JA Happ is one of the few reasons to check the Lehigh Valley box scores. After a rough 2007, largely marred by injury, Happ has come out in much better fashion this season;
46.1 IP — 2.72 ERA — 34 H — 23 BB — 55 K — 4 HR — 1.35 GO/AO
Happ’s 2.72 ERA is probably a bit low considering the number of base runners allowed coupled with the 4 HR. His biggest problem is still the free pass. He’s walked 12 in his last 25.1 innings over 5 starts, and before that had walked 5 guys in back to back starts. Is it a case of true wildness, or is he just nibbling too much? The swings and misses are still there, that’s evident in the strikeout numbers, but are the walks due to his not having control/command of his pitches, or a case of him trying to be too fine? Last season in his major league debut he was nibbling way too much. Obviously he was fighting nerves that day, but its something he’s going to have to work on to be successful. He doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but he needs to be aggressive and cut down on the walks.
So, at what point will Happ be ready to step into the rotation?
Lehigh Valley Report Card –Quarter Mark
As the ‘Pigs have won only 6 out of 36 games through the first quarter of the season, dont expect this to be pretty.
1B– Andy Tracy has been improving as of late, trying to undo a very difficult beginning. He currently had a 11 game hitting streak that was just snapped, and many of those hits have been clutch. His power numbers are picking up, as he now has 6 homers and 19 RBI’s, to go along with a .237 average . He is hitting .346 with runners in scoring position, far better than most ‘Pigs. Grade: C
2B– A big season was expected from minor league veteran Casey Smith when he was acquired during the off season and Lehigh Valley has got just next to nothing from him. He is hitting .179 with 2 homers and 9 RBI’s, along with a .216 OBP. Even more startling is his .111 average with RISP. Grade D-.
SS– Oscar Robles was just acquired a week or two ago, and it is too early to grade him, although so far it isnt looking pretty(.160). Grade: Incomplete. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Report Card –Quarter Mark
Happ Dominant
The performance tonight of prospect JA Happ is worthy of special recognition. Happ started and went seven dominant innings giving up only one run (in the 7th) on 4 hits. He walked two and struck out thirteen. He threw 110 pitches, 75 of them for strikes and lowered his ERA to an outstanding 2.72. He was pinch hit for in the bottom of the 7th and left with a 3-1 lead. This is the fourth consecutive excellent performance by Happ, and I would hope discussions have begun about the possibility of replacing Adam Eaton, who has drifted back into the same doldrums that have followed him the last several years as a Phillie.
Jason Donald makes the Hot Sheet
Another week, another Phillie makes the grade
Donald has quietly had a productive first full season in the big leagues last year, hitting .310/.409/.447 in 238 plate appearances with low Class A Lakewood and .300/.386/.491 in 336 plate appearances with high Class A Clearwater. The success has carried over into 2008 for Donald, who in 23 games is hitting .337/.444/.470. Donald is a selective hitter with a line-drive swing, but some scouts question whether he will be able to stay at shortstop or whether he has the hitting tools to ever become more than just a utility man. In an organization that boasts Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley in the middle of its big league infield—and with Utley signed through 2013, Rollins through 2010 with a club option for 2011—it’s not quite the ideal situation for Donald, but he is increasing his value with every productive game.
Again with the utility player tag. Sometimes BA underrates until its too late, but we’ll see where Donald ends up at the end of this season.
There will be a chat at BA at 2:30 Eastern.
Clearwater Breaks Out the Offense on Thursday Night
CLICK ON EACH PHOTO FOR A HIGH RESOLUTION ORIGINAL
The Clearwater Threshers have been rolling lately, and the train just kept on going in Thursday night’s effort versus the Jupiter Hammerheads. The team picked up their fourth consecutive win, and their fifth in the last six games. Coming into the game the team had just eight home runs in the first 33 games of the year, however the club picked up four home runs on the night with Jake Blalock, Welinson Baez, Tuffy Gosewisch and Clay Harris each crushing a long ball all for the first time as a Thresher this season.
Continue reading Clearwater Breaks Out the Offense on Thursday Night
Iron Pigs– Week 6
Lehigh Valley closed out week six of their season having gone 1-6 on the week, and now at 5-30 on the year, 20 games out of first place in the Northern Division of the IL. The misery clearly continues with no real end or even break in sight. Andy Tracy moved into 6th place in the IL in homers (6) and that wraps it up as far as Lehigh Valley hitting leaders. As far as pitching goes JA Happ is 9th in innings pitched (39.1) and 2nd in strikeouts (42). Brian Mazone is 4th in WIns (4), 2nd in innings (45.2), and third in homers allowed (6). JD Durbin is 2nd in homers allowed (7) in only 24 innings. Continue reading Iron Pigs– Week 6
Keith Law ESPN Chat, 1 PM
Im going to try and post links and updates from now on when I find prospect related chats, so hopefully we can get Phillies questions answered. Today, KLaw is doing a chat at 1PM Eastern, and hes normally good for an hour and a half or so. Get your questions in, hopefully we can get a few answered, and I’ll update this post with any Phillies related nuggets.
Jason Donald watch
The kid is on FIRE since coming back from his hand injury. His overall season line now looks like this
80 AB: .350/.453/.488 — 12 BB, 17 K, 4 SB
The only “downside” is just 6 extra base hits. But we’re nitpicking now. He’s quickly adapted to AA, the toughest jump for a prospect, and is hitting the ball extremely well. Now, do we ask him to give 3B a try at Reading?In any event, hes elevating his profile, whether it means hes our utility infielder next year or used in a deal to acquire a player of need for the big league club.
Please welcome our newest contributor
Dan Romano has joined the team, and will be helping out with the weekly Lakewood report. I want to say thanks to all of those who inquired, we had over a half dozen responses in just a day. Dan has experience using WordPress, so he had an inside track here, and I look forward to his contributions. I’ll keep all of you who got in touch with me in mind for future projects, of which I’m sure there will be many. Thanks again for all of the inquires.
Phuture Phillies 