Time for another Reading Phillies weekly report. Lets start off with a bit of a summation. Josh Outman, traded. Lou Marson, olympics. Jason Donald, olympics. Antonio Bastardo, injured. What does that leave? Well, apparantely not much, if we are to judge by the Phillies 1-6 record on the week. Anyway, believe or not, there are still several interesting players at Reading, headed by an impressive group of young pitchers. Lets take a look…
One of the pitchers that has struggled, at times, in his acclamation to AA is Tyson Brummett. It appeared he was headed in the right direction, though, after posting 5 straight good starts. Well, that all ended with his only appearance on the week. Brummett got shelled, allowing 9 earned in 3.1 innings pitched. It was obvious he did not have his best stuff, good stuff, decent stuff, or even somewhat bad stuff. It was horrible. Even in his previous bad outings, Brummett always has collected high strikeout totals. Well, in this appearance, he walked 5 with 0 k’s. Hopefully he can bounce back and record 6 good starts out of 7.
On the 31st, Andrew Carpenter made his first appearance for the AA Phils since the beginning of the season. It could not have gone better. He pitched 7 strong innings, allowing only 1 earned run on 5 hits and 1 walk. Carpenter also struck out 2 on the evening. I thought this was great to see. Carpenter was pretty highly touted at the beginning of the year as a young man who could move quickly through the system, albeit as a middle of the rotation starter. Hopefully, after his rocky beginning, he is back on track.
Castro, like Carpenter, had a singular strong performance on the week. He lasted an impressive 8 innings, giving up 4 earned on 9 hits and 1 walk. As is typical with castro, a large number of strikeouts accompanied the high hit total, as he registered 6 k’s on the night. I never know what to make of Castro, I use to think highly of him, but I am beginning to have my doubts. He has recorded plenty of k’s this year, but yet, is also very hittable. Any thoughts?
As many of you know, the Phils recently acquired a stud pitcher from the big league team in order to make their playoff push. It was very thoughtful of Gillick/Amaro/Arbuckle, even if the gift was more of a time bomb in disguise. Yes, Adam Eaton made his first appearance for the Reading Phillies on the year, and was blasted, giving up 6 earned in 3.1 innings of disasturous work. Enough said.
Last, but not least, is Edgar Garcia. Garcia has not yet found his footing at AA, as his only start on the week was yet another mediocre one. He gave up 4 earned on 5 hits and 3 walks in 6.1 innings of work. He also struck out 4. Garcia shows a lot of promise, almost always has high strkeout totals, and is still just 20. Lets see how he develops.
With Marson and Donald representing team USA in the olympics, the Phils are left with just Slayden and Golson to lead the offenseive charge. Needless to say, the Phils scored just 24 runs in the 7 games, while getting shutout twice. Golson went 7-25 on the week, for a decent .280 average, yet also managed to go hitless in two games, and struck out a total of 10 times. He only managed 2 extra-base hits, one being a 2B and the other being a 3B. All in all, rather unextraordinary.
If Golson was rather unextraordinary, then Slayden just plain stunk. Slayden went 5-29 on the week, going hitless in 4 of the 7 games on the week. He also had 7 k’s, 0 XBH, and 0 RBI. Wow. Not very impressive in the bats department.
Anyway, that is it, hopefully next week brings greater fortunes.
Phuture Phillies 
Jeez Zac. there you go ripping on Golson again! I swear, he could go 4-5 and you would talk about the one out that he made. Oh yeah, I’M JOKING EVERYBODY
Golson must have read an advance copy of your report though – 2-4 last night with a triple. Nice game by Carpenter too.
Otherwise, without Marson and Donald, there’s not a whole heckuva lot to be excited about on Reading.
– Jeff
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noting that a prospect isn’t extraordinary from week to week really misses the point. sorry. i know you are a volunteer, but if you post it, then it is fair game.
the key with prospects is consistency. and golson has shown that this year on the whole. sure he has some up weeks and some down weeks, but
– this is the second year in a row he is hitting around .290, while moving up.
– he is hitting lefties and rightied almost equally well.
– his defense is consistently outstanding
– he hits better at home than on the road, but his road stats are respectable. and many great mlb’ers are better at home
keep in mind that he is still only 22 and had an injury this year that he has come back from. that injury really hurt his june stats and thus overall stats, but big picture, he is having a very good season.
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p.s. why do i feal like i am always defending a guy who has been labeled a “tool shed” by independent scouts, invited to the Futures Game and is highly regarded by the Phillies management, aka the people who do this for a living.
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10 strikeouts in 25 AB, without a significant amount of power/and or walks, is poor. I think its reason for criticism, to be perfectly honest.
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ummm…who said he had a good week? i didn’t. i just said he is having a very good season. his second in a row. and the key for a prospect is consistency over an entire season. all players have good weeks and bad weeks.
it just seems like the glass is always half empty on this blog when it comes to golson.
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How about some discussion about Michael Stutes? He struck out 12 last night at Lakewood, and has pitched great in every start for Williamsport and Lakewood. Is he for real? Is he on a fast track?
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Yeah, if you don’t have anything nice to say…
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Don’t want to judge him on just a week? Fine…
How about 109 strike outs in 342 at bats, while drawing only 25 walks and a slugging percentage of .444. I don’t care what his batting average is, that’s horrible.
I’m telling you he’s going to get eaten alive by major leage pitching.
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The glass being half empty is a step up. For 3 years, I was fairly convinced the glass was broken.
Stutes is looking good. Gotta temper expectations a bit on college guys mowing through the low minors, but hes showing promise.
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PP Fan,
I’m also a bigger Golson supporter than most but I don’t see any problem with highlighting how good/bad Golson (or any other prospect) was during the previous week.
Since Golson, Slayden, and possibly Harman are the only position player prospects left at Reading, highlighting how they are doing on the weekly report makes perfect sense.
There are obvious major disagreements with how much of a prospect Golson really is but I don’t think pointing out that he had a bad week is being antagonistic…
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With the injury problems the Phillies are having in the bullpen, does anyone think any of these guys can be brought up for the stretch run and actually make an impact? Anyone major league ready?
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Not to add to the negativity on Golson (yes, he is still 22 years old … *23 next month*) but I do not believe that he is really making that much progress. If he were, his strike out ratio would be improving; it appears that it is getting worse!
We anticipate an honest, non-biased report on the status of the system and I believe that the “criticism” was more than justified.
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I think we should be excited about Garcia. He may not be lighting the world on fire but he’s getting by at 20 and I think that says a lot. I think a lot of people here are quick to point out someone’s age to temper their performance, which I agree with, but if you do that I think you have to look at what Garcia is doing at his age and say ‘wow’.
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I like Golson as a prospect. Having said that I don’t think he projects as a 30/30 guy. What he does project is some insurance in case you find a deal in the off season and need to move Victorino. I see some pretty big holes on the horizon LF RF and for all intensive purposes 3B seems to be a hole again. If Bourn got you Lidge then I have to think Victorino can help this club fill a few of those holes…
or if your good you make Golson a late season call up and hope in a limited # of at bats he show cases well enough to flip in the off season.
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well the only reason bourn got us lidge was because ed wade was on the other end of that deal…lets not think thats the rule for trades in mlb. theres only one ed wade, sadly.
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“Bourn got you Lidge then I have to think Victorino can help this club fill a few of those holes…”
True but they’re going to have to come from the Astros 😀
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No problem call fast eddy and ask him to give me Berkman straight up for Howard….(my attempt at humor but I’d do it in a heart beat)
Or see if Miggy can clear waivers and offer them Donald our line-up needs more right handed pop and consistency if we plan on contending this year.
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I do not believe that he is really making that much progress. If he were, his strike out ratio would be improving; it appears that it is getting worse!
Well, no.
Last year at Reading, he had a BB/K ratio of 2/49 in 153 AB. Between two levels, it was 23/173 in 571 AB. He walked in 3.9 percent of his plate appearances in 2007.
This year, all at Reading, he has a BB/K of 25/109 in 342 AB. He’s walked in 6.8 percent of his at-bats–still not great, but an enormous improvement, and approaching what he’d need to do at the big league level to be useful.
I don’t think Golson’s a superstar in the making, but it’s more likely than not he’ll be some kind of contributor than not. This is his best performance at his highest level, at age 22. How is that not progress?
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I think Golson will play in the majors, but don’t see him as a guy who is going to double jump to the majors and perform even half-way decently with the bat. Last season, he repeated in A+ and did well, but then really stank when he got a mid-season to AA. That does not auger well for a double jump. I think he basically is Victorino, but in 2010, not 2009.
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I think Golson has moved himself back on the prospect list. Having said that, there is a zero percent chance that he would be thought of as a possible 2009 solution in the event of a Victorino deal. As in there’s no way anyone would think he was ready to start in the majors next year.
On the other hand, I’m very encouraged by Carpenter who looks as if he figured something out.
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As usual, prospects need time to refine their skills…some more than others.
The Phils chose Golson for his very athletic makeup knowing that he’s be a project but the rewards MIGHT produce a superior player. The experiment is still ongoing.
The problem with Golson remains his ability to pick up the spin on the ball thrown by the pitcher in order to recognize the pitch as a breaking one or fast ball. Also, his strike-zone recognition is a work in progress.
Withal, he is still 22 going on 23. His ability/willingness to take a base on balls has improved this season along with his BA. His strikeouts are still a big concern.
In order to “cure” or diminish these problenms, I’d like to see him OFF this winter, and swent to AAA LV in ’09 where he can work more on these issues. I regard ’09 as his final minor lg station. With continuing improvement (by degrees) at LV in ’09, he should be ready to h join the big club…either at ’09s final months or in ’10s spring training.
His role will be determined according to his progress in ’09. At the very least, in ’10 he would play a bunch of games but not as a consistent starter. Hos personality dictates a gradual moving into larger roles…maybe in ’11 as a potential regular starter.
We know he is a superior defender with a fine arm and speed in CF and on the bases.. Sounds at least like a consistent defensive insert with some starts along the way.
His progress is to be watched; he could give plenty rewards…just with some more patience on his and our part.
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I’d trade Ryan Howard for Matt Holiday and re-sign Burrell and make him my first baseman. Would it help? I don’t know. I don’t know if anything can help.
is there any difference between what a guy hits with runners on base (Howard) and in how many GAMES the guys hits with men on base. Would the second look say something about consistency? I ask because something doesn’t ring true with Howard. I watch every inning of every game and have done so forever. Howard strikes me as being a downer on a team. Yet his numbers are certainly special. So I guess I just don’t know what to think about him. But something’s wrong, The team lacks energy.
As to college pitchers zooming through A ball, didn’t Brummett do that? And Naylor? Its hard to judge when the guys are older at that level. Brummet looked good even at Clearwater but he hasn’t looked good a Reading. He got shelled again tonight.
Same with Naylor. Looked great at Lakewood, not nearly as good at Clearwater. Same with Garcia except that Edgar is younger.
Sadly, none of them looks like a real prospect. Even Carrasco had five so-so games at Reading before being promoted. By so-s0 I mean an ERA of about 5.2 for those games. That’s not good for a #1 prospect.
It looks as if just Marson and maybe Donald and that’s it. Clay Harris has seemed to fall on his face at Reading. That surprised me. And Michael Taylor who tore up Lakewood slipped at Clearwater but he is hot again. So maybe he’ll see Reading soon and then we’ll see what we have. He could be a big league talent. I hope so. .
Sadly I am not sure we have a quality pitching prospect anywhere right now. As to the big club, I am beginning to think Victorino is the best player we have right now.
It’s not very promising. But they still should win the Division and make the playoffs.
They need some hitters that don’t strike out so much. Home runs are great but sometimes you just need base hits in the right places.
Birds tomorrow.
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Naylor K’d 10 in 7 innings tonight, Taylor with another multi-hit game also.
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Naylor came from Australia not college.
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Anyone have any thoughts positive or negative on a Call up for Slayden to take some AB’s for Jenkins? His number suggest he has some pop and his strike out numbers 87/408 AB’s seems reasonable to me?
Also by allowing Donald to play on the Olympic team does that mean it’s unlikely he gets a late season call up?
Arbuckle/Gillick keep putting emphasis on pitching (Eyre?) when it’s this line-up thats costing us games
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dajafi:… “I don’t think Golson’s a superstar in the making, but it’s more likely than not he’ll be some kind of contributor than not. This is his best performance at his highest level, at age 22. How is that not progress?”…
I agree with you that this is Golson’s most promising year, that it is at his highest organizational level and that his BB/K ratio has improved BUT improved from what to what AND is he continuously showing improvement? The answer in my mind is no!
In his last 11 games: 42 AB’s, 4 BB’s & … 19 K’s… !
Although 11 games does not a season make, they are the most recent 11 games and he is approaching 50% K/Rate.
The man has a number of tools and I do not doubt that he will make “The Bigs” but until he truly improves his plate discipline, I trust that he will be nothing more than a defensive & base running replacement.
We are all Phillies fans & we are all pulling for him. I really hope that the light comes on and we are looking at another Victorino but we can not afford another Ryan Howard (offensively) that does not hit 35+ home runs/year.
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Just think some day the Phils may have a lineup of Golson, Howard and Hewitt in it. All will be hitting over .400 when they put the ball in play.
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Looks like Donald struggled mightily during olympic exhibition play. He is an unsightly 0-14 in four games. ugh.
And Maron is like 2-9 with 1 run. Let’s hope they improve during olympic play. And hopefully Donald didn’t get himself benched.
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Joey—
Clay Harris is actually just off the dl and is hitting around 300–not eactly falling on his face
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