This weeks report a day early as I prepare for a trip to Las Vegas tomorrow…The ‘Pigs now stand at 26-48, in last place in the Northern Division, 18 games back of Scranton. Since the last report, Lehigh Valley has lost 4 out of 5 games including a 4 game sweep by Pawtucket.
Mike Cervenak remains among hitting leaders in at bats (3rd with 269), runs (7th with 45), and hits (1st with 83). Andy Tracy continues his climb among hitting leaders. He is 8th in RBIS’s (44), 3rd in walks (38), and 10th in on base percentage (.390). Among pitching leaders, Brian Mazone is 5th in wins (7), 9th in ERA (3.12), first in innings pitched (98.0), and 4th in WHIP (1.09). James Happ is first in strikeouts (90), 8th in homers allowed (11), and 5th in innings pitched (88.0). Matt Childers is now 4th in the league in saves with 9.
The ‘Pigs concluded their series against Buffalo last Friday, taking 3 out of 4 games with a 5-4 win. Travis Blackley (2-3) started and pitched extremely well, going 7 innings and yielding 3 runs on 7 hits. He didnt walk a batter and struck out 7. Matt Childers came in and pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his 9th save of the year. Andy Tracy was 2-3, with 2 runs scored and an RBI, while Jon Knott was 2-2, with a key double knocking in a run. Brennan King continued swinging a hot bat, and added 2 RBI’s.
The homestand continued on Saturday as the ‘Pigs opened a series against the Pawtucket Red Sox with a 5-1 loss in a sloppily played game in which the ‘Pigs committed 3 errors. Les Walrond (1-6) started and took the loss going 6 innings and giving up 5 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits. He walked 6 and struck out 8. Pawtucket jumped to the early 3-1 lead and Lehigh Valley could not recover. Rich Thompson was 2-3 with a run and 2 stolen bases, while Oscar Robles and Jason Jaramillo added 2 hits apiece for the ‘Pigs.
The ‘Pigs lost their second straight to the Red Sox on Sunday, blowing a late lead in a 3-2 loss. Jason Anderson (0-1) toom the loss. Steve Green, who has been superb, started and went 4 shutout innings, giving up a lone hit, while walking one and struck out 6. He came out as he was on a pitch count. A 2 run homer by Oscar Robles (1) accounted for the Lehigh Valley runs. Both Mike Cervenak and Chris Snelling added 2 hits in the loss. Two costly base running mistakes by Rich Thompson were rally killers for the ‘Pigs.
Dice K Matsuzaka was in town on a rehab start for Pawtucket on Monday, and like most Major Leaguers, the ‘Pigs could not figure him out on their way to their 3rd consecutive loss, 9-6. After retiring the first 12 hitters he faced on 39 pitches, the ‘Pigs made a dent in the 5th scoring 2 runs off of Matsuzaka before he left after throwing 65 pitches. Brian Mazone (7-5) and had a very uncharacteristic off night, going 6 innings and allowing 5 runs (4 earned). He walked 3 and struck out 6. Andy Tracy had a huge night offensively, going 3-4 with 3 runs, and a homer(11). Chris Snelling was 2-4 with 2 runs and Brennan King was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI’s, The ‘Pigs came as close as bringing the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but could not finish the comeback.
An ugly series against Pawtucket finally came to an end, in the form of a 5-1 loss in a lackluster effort by the ‘Pigs and their starting pitcher JA Happ (4-6). The win completed a sweep of the 4 game series by the Red Sox. Happ started and went 6 innings, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits. He walked 2 and struck out 3. Lehigh Valley could not figure out knuckleballer Charlie Zink and managed only a lone run in 7 innings against him. That run came in the form of an Andy Tracy RBI double. Tracy who remains scalding hot, was the only ‘Pig who had a multi hit game.
Notes: The ‘Pigs now have 12 come from behind victories.
—Travis Blackley has 3 consecutive quality starts and the ‘Pigs are 6-0 in games he has started since he came off the DL.
—TJ Bohn was suspended after throwing his bat and helmet onto the field after being ejected last Friday.
—Chris Snelling has a 10 game hitting streak.
–Closer Matt Childers is 3-0 with a 1.84 ERA and 4 saves in his last 11 games.
–Lehigh Valley has had at least 1 error in 11 of their last 12 games.
–Catcher Jason Jaramillo sat out his 3rd consecutive game on Tuesday. I can only assume some sort of an injury, although I cant find any information to confirm that.
Phuture Phillies 
–Catcher Jason Jaramillo sat out his 3rd consecutive game on Tuesday. I can only assume some sort of an injury, although I cant find any information to confirm that.
Jaramillo possibly involved as part of a trade for a pitcher?
We are reaching that point in the season where guys are going to start moving on the ML level and prospects are going to start moving elsewhere…
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Jaramillo deserves a shot in the majors and should be moved before age becomes an issue. Then again, our current “young catcher” turns 30 in about 7 months. Ruiz’s low average is making Jaramillo look like a viable alternative. Ruiz has experience, fields his position well and knows the staff, but I’m not entirely convinced Jaramillo wouldn’t be an upgrade.
I wonder how Marson’s AA explosion has altered Jaramillo’s fate. Only several years ago, he was considered one of the Phillies top prospects, but now, he’s in limbo. Most teams could probably use a switch-hitting catcher, so I wouldn’t be suprised to see him on the major league level, wearing a different uniform, within a few months.
Who has a higher trade value: Carlos Ruiz or Jason Jaramillo?
Ruiz has big league experience, but Jaramillo has a few decent years at triple A. I can’t comment on their comparative abilities, but Jaramillo is a switch hitter and 4-5 years younger. My problem with dealing Jaramillo is; a 2 week stint in the majors might significantly increase his value. If Jaramillo demonstrated an ability to handle big league pitching, throw out baserunners and hit .250, his trade value might surpass Ruiz’s.
The Phils were scouting Sabathia yesterday, and the Tribe needs a catcher with Victor Martinez hurt. Jaramillo could also be traded in a prospect-for-prospect deal, to another team with an immediate need for a catcher. Or the Phils might concievably consider upgrading the catching position from within their organization.
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baxter – what is your thoughts on happ. high k rate, but can’t consistently get people out. is it a focus issue?
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Jaramillo would not be an upgrade over Ruiz or Coste.
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I was gonna ask about Jaramillo as well…It seems everytime I check the LV box score he hasn’t been playing lately.
I think Marson’s emergence in AA has made Jaramillo prime trade bait this summer and off-season. He’s superfulous at this point. That along with his turn around offensively and defensively after an extremely slow start should make him an attractive piece for a team needing a platoon catcher with good defense or simply a very good backup. Jaramillo could probably step right into a backup role today and be fine with it.
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to baxter: I would think that Jaramillo has a higher trade value based off a couple of things. The switchhitting is one, the younger age and good defense are two other things Jason offers. The major question w/ Jason is whether or not he can hit MLB pitching. Ruiz is proving this season that he can’t catch up to good fastballs and is getting killed because of it. Jason hasn’t “failed” at the MLB level yet so at least he has the unknown quality going for him.
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I don’t think Jaramillo would be much of an upgrade over Ruiz offensively, and defensively he doesn’t know the ML pitching staff. He is also at a special disadvantage because of the new stance Ruiz utilizes while catching Hamels… It has really helped him keep the ball down.
Jaramillo is valueless to this team right now, especially with the phillies mentality of using veteran catchers to break rookies into ML pitching. Acclimating Jaramillo to the pitching staff would just push back Marson’s eventually call-up another year, and who wants that?
He’s a good player and should be given a chance somewhere else… and we should get something we need for him.
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