Iron Pigs Report

7. Lehigh Valley

After a 2-3 week, Lehigh Valley now stands at 51-75, in last place in the Northern Division of the International League, 25.5 games behind division leading Scranton.  WIth a little over two weeks left in the season, the ‘Pigs are focused on trying to move out of last place in the North, and further trying to assure that they dont have the worst record in the IL.

Lehigh Valley got back in the win column last Friday with a 7-3 win at home over Buffalo.  Carlos Carrasco (1-0) made his second start for the ‘Pigs and still has not yielded an earned run, going 6 innings and giving up 3 runs (0 earned).  He didnt walk a batter and struck out 10.  74 of his 111 pitches were thrown for strikes.  Lehigh Valley scored 2 runs in the 3rd and 4 more in the 4th to take an early 6-0 lead.  Andy Tracy led the offense going 3-4 with 2 runs, a homer(19) and 2 RBI’s.  Jon Knott was 2-4 with 2 doubles, a run and 2 RBI’s, and Brandon Watson hit his 3rd homer of the year to awaken an offense that had been very poor during the previous days.

Another difficult offensive night for Lehigh Valley on Saturday evening as they were shutout on 4 hits by Aaron Laffey, 2-0.  A very good pitching performance by Brian Mazone (9-10) was wasted as he went 6 innings, giving up a lone run on 6 hits.  He walked one and struck out 8.  Lehigh Valley went the entire night without a baserunner reaching second base.

A brilliant performance by the recently returned JA Happ was wasted on Sunday evening as the bullpen could not hold the 3 run lead that Happ left them with in the 4-3 loss Lehigh Valley suffered to Buffalo on Sunday.  Happ went 6.2 innings, giving up one hit and no runs, whle walking one and striking out 10.  Matt Childers (3-4) took the loss in relief.  Andy Tracy accounted for all the ‘Pigs offense, hitting 2 homers (20,21) and knocking in all three runs.

Kris Benson had his 5th consecutive quality start on Monday evening going 7 innings and giving up 4 runs (3 earned), while striking out 4.  He did not walk a batter in the 5-4 ‘Pigs win.  Rudy Seanez, in Allentown on a rehab assignment, picked up the win in relief by pitching a scoreless eighth inning.  Stephen Randolph picked up his 3rd save of the year.  The Lehigh Valley offense was led by Oscar Robles who was 2-4 with 3 RBI’s and Jason Jaramillo who was 2-2 with 2 runs and an RBI.  A scheduling quirk led to off days both Tuesday and Wednesday, a welcome break for the ‘Pigs.

Another excellent effort by Carlos Carrasco (1-1), in the 2-1 Iron Pigs loss to Scranton on Thursday evening.  Carrasco went 6 innings and gave up 2 runs (only 1 earned) on 5 hits.  He walked 4 and struck out 8 Yankees. Control was a bit of an issue, as 63 of his 113 pitches were thrown for strikes. The lone run scored by the Iron Pigs, came on a Chris Snelling RBi single in the 4th inning.  Both Snelling and Jason Jaramillo had 2 hits for the ‘Pigs.

Transactions:  LHP Fabio Castro, 23, was recalled to take the roster spot of John Ennis.  Castro, was 8-2 with a 4.40 ERA in Reading this year.  He has pitched 110.1 innings, given up 109 hits, walked 46 and struck out 95.  Opponents are hitting .257 against him and he has a WHIP of 1.40. 16 of his 27 appearances had been starts for Reading.

–3B Brennan King was activated from the disabled list after spending a month recovering from elbow problems.  His solid fielding will be welcomed back.  Joey Hammond was sent down to Reading to make room on the roster.  Hammond left the ‘Pigs having hit .237 in his time here.

Notes– In what has been a very poor year, Casey Smith (.170), had maybe his worst effort yet last Friday going 0-3 with 2 errors.

—Oscar Robles is hitting .330 in his last 33 games.

–The ‘Pigs have committed 7 errors and 2 passed balls in Carlos Carrasco’s 3 starts, leading to several unearned runs.

—JA Happ is 5-1with a 1.98 ERA in his last 9 starts.  He has given up only 31 hits in 54.2 innings pitched over that time span.

–First Baseman Andy Tracy was named IL hitter of the week for the week that ended August 10.  He hit .526 over the course of the week with 4 homers and 8 RBI’s.

–Since coming off of the disabled list, Chris Snelling is hitting .148.

–Lehigh Valley is just 3-10 in their last 13 games.

13 thoughts on “Iron Pigs Report”

  1. Fret not, Gregg, help may be on the way… unfortunately not this year. Carrasco is there and probably will be next year. Marson and Donald are coming. Cervanek is getting splinters riding the pine in the Bigs with an occasional PH opportunity. He could be back. Happ and Mazone might still be there although I hope Happ is up with the Phils. I think we could take a High School kid from the GCL and they’d hit better than Casey Smith. If nothing else maybe some of our better prospects will be in the Valley next year.

    Like

  3. Not that it matters, but LV has basically played .500 ball since their tragic start to the season.

    But I agree with Bellman that AAA might actually get to see some legitimate prospects (position players) next season with Marson/Donald and possibly Golson making the jump.

    Will be really interesting to see what the Phillies do with Jaramillo this off-season since Marson has obviously passed him. Does be become a AAA regular and injury replacement or is he included in some off-season deal…

    Like

  4. gregg you’ll definitely have a few more legit guys to write about next year. I fully expect you’ll have Happ and Carrasco at the top of the rotation, Overholt closing games, Marson catching, and Donald at SS.

    Like

  5. Im looking forward to it….Do you still think Overholt projects as a closer even with his problems this year? Seems as if he was been overused this year, especially since Outman was traded.

    Like

  6. I just threw his name out there as a possibility. I think he’ll definitely be in AAA next year, I guess it depends who else is there. He’s had a down year, but he was moving back to the pen after starting last year. I think his future is essentially Clay Condrey, maybe a little better, but its a future at least.

    Like

  7. I saw Overholt in May this year and liked what I saw. I think he lost his focus when they started messing with Outman and Castro in the pen. Hopefully he gains that focus back then he can help LH.

    I don’t want to get too far ahead but you might even see Michael Taylor toward the end of the season. That would be more than we can even ask.

    Like

  8. “I fully expect you’ll have Happ and Carrasco at the top of the rotation, Overholt closing games, Marson catching, and Donald at SS.”

    I hope to God that Happ is not languishing at AAA next year. He simply no longer belongs there. He’s a major league pitcher and the way they have handled him is just not right. Here’s hoping that Happ is the number 4 or 5 man in the rotation in Philly next year. He deserves it and they could use him.

    Like

  9. The problem is, I don’t see a place for him.

    Hamels
    Myers
    Moyer
    Blanton
    Kendrick

    Moyer has said he’s not ready to retire and he’s pitching for the Phillies. I forget which article it was from, but he said it matter of factly, which makes me think there was a vesting option of some sort, or an agreement in place for 2009 that wasn’t listed in his deal. Unless Myers or Kendrick get traded, Happ starts in AAA and is the first callup.

    Like

  10. That’s the thing. I fully expect that at least of those pitchers will not be around by opening day next year and my guess is that it will be Myers. Kendrick just doesn’t have trade value.

    Like

  12. the phils have had an almost freakish run of SP health this year. it will not last into next year, and happ will certainly be needed at the bank if he is not traded away in the offseason. LV should be a lot more fun next year with some legitimate prospects in town.

    Like

Comments are closed.