Even though the Phils stretched their losing streak to 9 games this week, they also managed to win 3 of 7, making this week much better than last week. The season is winding down, which is a good thing for the ’08 Reading Phillies. They are still playing rather poorly, and they just lost another excellent performer in Carpenter to the big league team. For Reading, the season cannot end soon enough.
Lets start off with some good news. Antonio Bastardo continued his impressive comeback this week by pitching very well in 2 starts. His first start against Bowie lasted 4.2 innings, and he gave up just 2 hits, 2 walks, and 1 earned while striking out 2. While this start was excellent, his following start was even better. Bastardo lasted 4.1 innings, giving up 2 earned on 4 hits and 3 walks, but Bastardo struck out a very impressive 8 batters. Good stuff. Bastardo is in line for one more appearance on the season.
From good to bad. Brummett got rocked again in his only appearance on the week. He lasted only 5 innings, giving up 5 earned on 9 hits and 3 walks. Brummett did register 3 stikeouts on the night. Brummett has continually gotten bombed since his first few appearances for Reading. Next year will be a sort of make-or-break year for Brummett, as he will be 24 and in AA. Time for some significant progress.
Edgar Garcia followed up his most dominant performance at AA with a nice outing this week. Garcia pitched 5 innings, allowing 7 hits, 5 walks, 3 earned runs all while striking out 2. Garcia is still very young for AA, and it shows in his performance. He has been very streaky, putting together dominant performances, but also getting bombed. I will be looking for a big jump forward next year for Garcia, call it a gut feel.
We can welcome back our Olympians, Lou Marson and Jason Donald. Marson, who showed very well on the Olympic team, came back to reading and was a bit flat. Understandable, seeing how he went from arguably the most important sporting event in the world, to, well, Reading. Marson went hitless with 3 walks in his only two games on the week. Jason Donald, whose star was even brighter than Marson’s at the Olympics, also went hitless in his only appearance on the week. Donald added 4 k’s for good measure.
Moving on to a prospect who was not an Olympian, a man who creates no debate, no scuffle, no arguments, and is as consistent and steady as a rock, Greg Golson. Golson, like his Olympian teammates, had a bad week. Golson finished the week 5-22, with 2 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 5 SO, and 1 SB. As always, it will be very interesting to see where Golson goes in the offseason, and how he performs in ’09. While many people who read this blog have many differing opinions of Golson, I think we can all agree that he has earned back his prospect status this year, which is a great accomplishment. I have been accused of Golson bashing in the past, so let me just say, great job Greg!
If Marson, Donald, and Golson were bad, than Slayden would have to be termed equally bad. Slayden finished with a line of 5-22, 4 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, and 7 SO. I get the feeling that just about everybody on Reading is ready to turn the page on a dissapointing ’08, and prepare for ’09. I know I am.
Phuture Phillies 
Sorry everybody, I forgot to curtail the intro on the main site. My bad.
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I disagree with the fact that Edgar Garcia had a nice start this week. It was only by chance that he didn’t give up extra earned runs. Two of the hits on Garcia hit guys running the basepaths, with a couple of guys aboard. Afterwards he escaped without much injury. He also had very deep pitch counts on almost every at bat. This was not necessarily do to anything real bad, kept missing his pitches down in the zone.
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What’s up with Bastardo’s low inning totals?
Not just those two starts, but he has only thrown 62 IP in 13 starts, not even 5 per outing.
Are they keeping a real short leash on him, or is he taking a lot of pitches to get through innings?
My guess is it’s the latter, since he has so many walks and ks.
I can’t see him being top-10 material until he can get to at least 6 innings per start and a 2-to-1 k/bb ratio.
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The game I went to last week was a good one though, a 2-1 win – with Carpenter turning in a heck of a good game. I posted my report on last week’s Reading thread if anyone wanted my unedited report, but Carpenter was getting great movement on his pitches, and spotting them well – judging by the amount of called strikes he was getting on the Thunder batters. Hopefully he continues to do as well with the big club.
– Jeff
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This has been the most disappointing Reading season, on a team basis at least, in many years. This is largely because hopes were so high, with the great Clearwater squad moving up. I thought from the start that it was very strange that after posting great years with this core of players at Lakewood and Clearwater, that the Phillies moved Dave Huppert to Lehigh Valley, instead of continuing his magic touch with this crew. That seems to have been key problem #1. From a player standpoint, Carrasco, Marson, Donald, Golson were all I expected and more. That, by itself, should have been a very nice core. Outman disappointed a little out of the chute, but then the Phillies essentially derailed his season, when they moved him to the pen. Castro also a bit of an early disappointment, but again, the move to the pen seemed to hurt. The huge disappointments from the player side were Carpenter, whom I expected to lead and stabilize the rotation, and Harman. Carpenter at least is pitching well now at AA level. Not sure why he started so horribly. Harman has stunk the whole season and is rapidly playing himself out of prospect status. Reading should have a very nice team next year, but this year’s follies have dimmed my optimism a bit. Thought for sure we would go to the playoffs this season. Can’t remember the last time I felt both the hitting and pitching (and defense) were so solid going into a season for Reading.
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Jeff O, thanks for the report on the game you went to last week, I missed it when you posted it. Sounds like Harman at least knows what he’s doing with the glove although maybe his arm is a little light for SS?
I’d also have to agree with Big Red that 12 baserunners in 5 innings is not a good start, especially with only 2 Ks. Hopefully he can improve his change and fastball command during the winter.
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Boston –
Harman’s arm seemed pretty strong, he made a couple throws on the run and all of his other throws were nice and accurate. The play that he didn’t get enough on the throw was because he did a full out dive, rolled over and tried to throw from a sitting position. He still almost got the runner though. Given that his bat has some life in it (14 homers this year), there’s no reason why he couldn’t be a Bruntlett-type utility guy.
– Jeff
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Good report, next year should be an interesting year for Reading. Harman will be back and trying to prove that he still should be looked at as a prospect. Most likely Taylor will be up there.
Garcia has been showing some positives, I agree that I expect him to have a good year next year.
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Brad Harman had an interesting week. Last night he lined his career best 15th homer of the season and was voted by the EL managers as the top defensive second baseman in the league. Interesting to see if they keep him on the 40 man and what the plans are for him after Sept 1.
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Yes, very strange stats for Harman. He seems like a little guy who has become a HR hitter in his own mind. I almost see the HR as a negative indication that he is taking totally the wrong approach at the plate. When you’re a little guy and hitting like .205 with 16 HR, leading the team in Ks (despite a tad fewer AB than Golson),and have less than a BB per 10 AB, I think you are definitely taking the wrong approach at the plate. No matter how hard he swings, or how much he uppercuts, he is not going to be Jimmy Rollins or Chase Utley. His .277 oba just doesn’t cut it.
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PhuturePhillies –
An unrelated question if thats ok. Not sure if you read Keith Law, but he did a piece yesterday on potential Sept. 1 callups. Here he is on Carrasco:
Carlos Carrasco, RHP, Philadelphia
Current team: Triple-A Lehigh Valley
Minor league numbers: 8-9, 3.86 ERA, 144 2/3 IP, 146 SO, 55 BB
The Phillies wouldn’t part with Carrasco in any deals last month, even though he could have helped them land a better starter than Joe Blanton through the trade market. Carrasco’s best pitch is his fastball, which is 90-94 on his best nights, while his changeup and curveball are both below average. He has a loose arm and gets good life on the ball. One concern is that he missed a start in early July, complaining of arm soreness, and then showed reduced stuff in his inning of work at the Futures Game.
Is he right about Carrasco’s changeup? From what I’ve read and heard, its his best pitch and basically the reason he’s our top prospect. I’m really hoping Law is wrong, because if he has one ok pitch (fastball), and two below average (change and hook) I’m thinking he’s not quite as good as everybody thinks.
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I was at Garcia’s game in Trenton and he didn’t do that great. I noticed he didn’t have much movement on his fastball and that he continually left pitches up. His record is indicative of his performance that day. On another note, the first baseman Clay Harris did atrocious in the field. My 14 year old sister plays better defense than him that day.
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Jeff. I’m not really ready to start another firestorm, so I’ll just say this. Law’s reports on Carrasco come from seeing him in person a handful of times. His report is firsthand information. Baseball America and even Kevin Goldstein have both written positive reviews of Carrasco’s changeup. Those reports come from scouts that BA and Goldstein got their info from.
I generally trust Law’s opinion. He’s a scout, he just writes what he sees. He might have caught Carrasco on a bad day twice. That happens. When I’ve seen Carrasco pitch, I’ve seen his changeup look good, but I’ve also seen it below average. When he slows his arm down he telegraphs the pitch, and major league hitters aren’t going to swing at it.
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Wow, what a nice long stay for Mr Carpenter, one day in the major leagues, in lieu of Fabio ” I cant pitch in the majors ” Castro. I have no idea what this management is doing or thinking but as usual they have once again flunked the bring your best players from the minor leagues up. Funny how most of the under contenders have brought up their youngsters with pretty good results. I’m disgusted again
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I will chime in again here on my thoughts on Carrasco. Ive seen him pitch here in Reading many times and he simply never wowed me like an organizations #1 arm should. He is extremely inconsistent, but he does have youth on his side. I can honestly only think of one game where his changeup was “on” to the point where guys were whiffing at it, not at all like I had hoped.
Reading did indeed have a very down year, especially considering the hype before the season. Bastardo has looked good in the last few weeks, but Im guessing he is on a pitch count which is why he has not pitched deep into any games lately.
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bastardo’s week is exactly why i am so high on him. 8 ks in 4.1 innings and only 2 hits in one game and 2 hits in 4.2 in the other. say what you want about him, but he has consistenly shown the ability to make people swing and miss. either strike out or hit for a low BAA. to me, that shows something special.
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Thanks for the firsthand report, dave b. That kind of stuff brings a lot to the table on a site like this, as opposed to guys like me who just ask questions, post opinions, or just chit-chat for the fun of it. Thanks to you, Jeff O, and everyone else here who provides some on-the-ground info for all of us to digest.
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Oh yeah, thanks to James to for running this site and giving us this forum.
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I figured this was a good place to post this. Regarding Marson, I went to a game on Wednesday, and Marson got bumped in the head in the top of the 9th inning on a backswing from some nobody’s bat. When I went to get autographs (I didn’t get any) between the top and bottom of the ninth, I saw him walking back to the home clubhouse from the dugout with his hand on his head, right where he was hit. And from what I’ve gathered, he hasn;t played regularly since.
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sean,
thanks for the update. i was wondering what was up. Hope he’ll be OK, but that’s the kind of dings a catcher will get. Hopefully its not a concussion etc.
PP Fan,
since I first saw Bastardo at a game in Lakewood last year i thought he’d make a great middle reliever. deceptive stuff/speed for a short period. Reminds me some of a younger JC Romero.
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