The Futures Game is today at 12:30 Eastern on ESPN2. If you’d like to share your thoughts while the game is happening, do it here. I’ll maybe do a little writeup tomorrow and hit on our players, but feel free to discuss the game here.
Monthly Archives: July 2008
Joe Savery Designated Hitter?
Yes people it is true! Joe Savery was used as the team’s DH in the Clearwater Threshers game vs the Daytona Cubs. Savery was 1-3 at the plate with a sac bunt, two ground outs and a double in the game.
After not swinging a bat in a game for more than a year he was called on to do just that for the Threshers in the game on Friday night. NEVER in my 10+ years of going to minor league games in Clearwater has a pitcher been put into a game as the DH. Never even to hit for one single at bat.
Continue reading Joe Savery Designated Hitter?
Cardenas’ stock is rising
Baseball America did a midseason update of sorts today, giving their Top 25 prospects at the midseason point. Cardenas “just missed the cut” for the Top 25
Just missing the cut: Lars Anderson, 1b, Red Sox; Adrian Cardenas, 2b, Phillies; Alcides Escobar, ss, Brewers; Michael Saunders, of, Mariners; Max Scherzer, rhp, Diamondbacks.
This is obviously excellent news. Cardenas was ranked 76th overall heading into this season.
Friday discussion
I’m feeling a bit under the weather this morning, so I’ll keep this short.
* Travis d’Arnaud’s hot start continues, and with this, I was again thinking about our depth at catcher. Here are the stats
Jaramillo, AAA (age 25): .255/.316/.367
Marson, AA (age 22): .322/.444/.425
Kennelly, A- (age 21): .333/.409/.472
Naughton, A- (age 21): .268/.335/.368
d’Arnaud, SS (age 19): .342/.391/.474
Valle, RK (age 17): .293/.328/.517
Kennelly should probably be playing every day in Clearwater at this point, just so we can see what we have in him. Both he and Naughton are a touch too old for Lakewood. d’Arnaud is off to a great start at Williamsport, and Valle has adjusted well above expectations in his US debut. Jaramillo even looks like a big league backup because of his defense, and he hit the ball better in June. The Phillies catching depth is better now than I can ever remember it in the past.
Iron Pigs Report
After a 4-3 week, The ‘Pigs record stands at 38-57, in last place, 21.5 games behind division leading Pawtucket in the Northern Division of the IL. Hitting leaders include Mike Cervenak who is 2nd in the league in at bats (355), 7th in runs (55), first in hits (110), 8th in doubles (21), and 3rd in average (.310). Andy Tracy is 9th in slugging % (.519), 4th in on base % (.398), 2nd in walks (50), 8th in RBI’s (56), and 5th in doubles(25). Among pitching leaders are JA Happ who is 3rd in strikeous (104) and 9th in ERA (3.54); Brian Mazone who is 8th in wins (8), 8th in ERA (3.53), 4th in IP (114.2), 5th in homers allowed (15), and 4th in WHIP (1.16). Matt Childers is now 2nd in the league with 15 saves. Continue reading Iron Pigs Report
Its all downhill for Steve Susdorf
When you start your pro career with a grand slam, everything else will seem like a disappointment, right?
Project wikispaces
I’ve been waiting a few days to unveil my latest project, but I figure now is a good time, because its also a plea for help. I decided to go ahead and create a wikispaces page, which you can see here. Basically, its just the template right now. I’ve laid out a few things, I created a few pages just to get a feel for how the site works, but I obviously have a massive amount of information I’d like to add to the page. My goal is to eventually have the wiki site integrated seamlessly here. I think it will make this site much easier to navigate and filled with less clutter and disorganization. The wiki site should make player profiles easier to do, it will be easier to organize things, and generally, will be a lot easier on the eye. This site will still be the main discussion hub, but the wiki site will have all of the information neatly organized. I’m more than prepared to spend the bulk of the time adding information, but I’ll of course open it up to volunteers who would like to spend some time adding information to the database. The obvious caveats apply; be a good writer, be willing to put some time in, etc etc. Right now, the plans for what I want to add are still kind of rough, and its going to be an ever developing project. If you have an interest, drop me an email with “wiki project” or something like that in the title. I’ll wait a few days to try and get a better grasp on it and to see who replies, and then I’ll send out a general email to everyone (anyone) who gets back to me. Thanks, and happy Thursday. Oh, and VOTE FOR PAT.
Reading Phillies Weekly Report (7/2 – 7/8)
Time for another Reading Phillies weekly report. Just like last week, the Reading Phillies managed to go 4-3 on the week, to climb all the way up into a tie for fourth place in the Eastern League Southern Division with a 37-52 record. Goodbye, cellar. I guess I should not get to excited, however, since we only hold a one-half game lead over the last place Erie SeaWolves. I am a bit short on time this week, so I am only going to give the game recaps. Hopefully, some interesting prospect talk can be started in the comments. Thanks for understanding.
Clearwater Threshers News
Okay kids…I appologize, but I spent the last week dreaming up new ways to make the news fun. The Threshers are awful. They finished the first half in last place, and then immediately jumped in to last place to start the second half of the season.
This may not exactly be informative, but it is fun, right?
Instead of a weekly write up I will start a weekly video newscast for the Clearwater Threshers. This is the first single game recap. Let me know if it is totally lame or what. (That is sort of the point.)
I’m just trying to find some way…ANY WAY…to keep myself interested in the rest of this Threshers season.
Wednesday notes
Happy Wednesday, some random thoughts…
* With the signing of Trevor May, the Phillies draft board is now taking shape. The Phillies took lots of high school kids in the first 10 rounds, and so far, they’ve followed through on a number of those picks. They now have 3 unsigned picks in the first 10 rounds, plus James Weber in the 12th round. My general thoughts on the likelihood of these guys is as follows
Pettibone – 75%
Shreve – 90%
Coy – 0% (he enrolled in classes, he’s gone)
Weber – 40%
Pettibone wasn’t a highly touted guy, but he has everything the Phillies look for in a pitching prospect. I’d imagine he’ll sign, probably close to the deadline, probably for slightly above slot money. I still believe that Shreve was a pre-draft deal, and that it will be announced right near the deadline, probably for mid-late 2nd round money. Coy is gone, it was a decent risk to take, it seems that the Phillies really made an effort, so I won’t fault them. Weber seems less likely, he has a good college commitment, but I’ll hold out hope.
Phuture Phillies 