Hats off to the players, coaches, and everyone associated with the team. And a big tip of the cap to the Phillies scouting and player development guys who assembled this roster, loaded with homegrown talent. Soak it in everyone.
Monthly Archives: October 2008
Arizona Fall League Update
A brief update on the Mesa Solar Sox as I recover from last nights debacle at the Bank. Mesa had a win and a loss since the last update, with Quintin Berry leading the offense in the win. Berry was 3-10 in the last 2 games with 3 runs, a double, a homer, 4 RBI’s and his 4th stolen base. He is now hitting at .333. Tuffy Goosewich replaced Lou Marson on the Fall League roster as Marson has been working in the bullpen with the Phillies. Goosewich saw his first action Saturday and went 1-2, with a strikeout. A difficult couple of games for Jeremy Slayden who was 0-9 with 5 strikeouts and an error, as he played left field on Saturday and was the designated hitter on Monday. Jason Donald saw action at second base on Monday, going 1-4 with a run scored.
Pat Overholt had a very rough outing on Monday, struggling with his control going 1.2 innings, giving up 4 runs(2 earned) on 2 hits. He also walked two and threw only 18 of his 39 pitches for strikes. Sergio Escalona had a bit more success, going 2 innings, yielding one run on 2 hits. He walked 1 and struck out 2.
The Blanton Trade, revisited
At this point, I’m not sure if I should even devote a post to wrapping up Lehigh Valley. Happ pitched well, he made it to Philly, and at this point, he’s a finished product. Jason Jaramillo struggled early, hit for a decent average in the 2nd half of the season, and isn’t much of a prospect at this point, barring a big turnaround. Carlos Carrasco was promoted from Reading and pitched real well over a small sample. There ya go. So instead of devoting this space to Lehigh Valley, I figured I’d just mention a few things regarding the Joe Blanton trade.
Arizona Fall League Update
Mesa continued its winning streak with three more wins Tuesday thru Thursday and now have a 10-5 record in the Fall League. Tuesdays game was uneventful for Phils prospects as only Jason DOnald made a late inning appearance at thrid base and went without an at bat. On Wednesday, Mesa won 11-3, behind a strong performance by Quintin Berry who was 3-5, with 2 runs, an RBI and a stolen base (3). Berry started in CF. Jason Donald was the designated hitter and had a huge game, going 4-6 with a run and a double, lifting his batting average to .452. Pat Overholt pitched two scoreless innings in relief, walking one and striking out two without yielding a hit. His ERA now stands at an excellent 1.29, after a difficult second half of the season with Reading. Sergio Escalona followed Overholt on Wednesday but yielded 2 runs, one earned in his inning of work.
In the 8-6 on THursday, Andrew Carpenter, got the start going 4 innings, giving up only a run on 3 hits. He walked 2 and struck out 2, lowering his ERA to 7.00. The difficulties of Tyson Brummett continued as he gave up a run in his lone inning. Offensively, Jeremy Slayden went 1-4 with an RBI, leaving his average at .308, but a baserunning blunder was costly as he was picked off. Quintin Berry had a another big game, starting in CF, going 3-4 with 3 runs and 2 doubles, leaving his average at .346.
Affiliate Review; Reading
Let’s get back on track today with the review of the 2008 Reading Phillies. If you’re late to the party, you’ll want to read the other reviews, where you’ll learn more about the statistics I’m using.
GCL Phillies
Williamsport
Lakewood
Clearwater
So, here we go…
Technial difficulties with wordpress
As you’ve noticed, the left side of the site is messed up. This seems to be a problem across wordpress, so I have no way to fix it. Hopefully wordpress gets this resolved soon. I’ll be back tomorrow with the Reading review. For today, here’s an open question for discussion. What will happen with Lou Marson next season? Will he start out on the 25 man roster? Will he be a mid season callup? Will he spend all year at AA or AAA? Will he be traded in the offseason? Make your case here, and we can re-visit this next winter to see who got it right.
Arizona Fall League Update
Mesa, the Phillies AFL affilliate won their last three games and now stand at 7-5 on the season thus far. The offense exploded with an 18 run effort Friday and a remarkable 28 run effort on Monday in a 28-1 Mesa victory. Phillies prospects played a prominent role at the plate. Jason Donald continued scorching hot at the plate going 5-14 with 6 runs scored, 2 doubles, a homer (1), and 6 RBI’s, 3 walks, and a strikeout in those three games. He played third base in all three games, committing his second error on Saturday, and is now hitting .417 for the Fall season. Jeremy Slayden played left field on Friday and was the designated hitter Monday and went 4-12, with 4 runs scored, 4 RBI’s and 3 strikeouts over his two games played. He is now hitting .314. Quintin Berry pinch ran and stayed in the game to play CF on Friday and then started in CF on Saturday, going 1-4 with a run, stolen base (2), and strikeout. He is hitting .167.
Phils pitchers were fairly quiet with Tyson Brummett started to get himself back on track on Saturday with a scoreless inning, without yielding a baserunner. Sergio Escalona followed Brummett on Saturday with a scoreless inning as well, giving up 2 hits. Escalona lowed his fall ERA to 2.08. Andrew Carpenter, however, was rocked on Friday, giving up 5 runs on 7 hits, in his 3 innings of work. He struck out 4 and didnt walk a batter. 36 of his 55 pitches were thrown for strikes, and his Fall ERA now stands at 10.80.
Affiliate Review: Clearwater
Today we resume our look at the Phillies affiliates with a stop in Clearwater. As with before, I’ll hit on the key position players and pitchers at the level, both good and bad, to try and get a handle on the best and most disappointing performances. If you’re just tuning in, here’s the progress we’ve made thus far;
GCL Phillies
Williamsport
Lakewood
So, here we go
Arizona Fall League Update
The Mesa Solar Sox are now 4-5 and in their second full week of play. Looking at Phillies prospects over the past few days since we last spoke, Quintin Berry played CF on Wednesday and went 0-4 with two strikeouts, leaving his average at .125. Tyson Brummett got lit up on Wednesday lasting only 0.2 innings and giving up 4 runs on 5 hits. He walked one and took the loss. His ERA stands at 15.00. Sergio Escalona relieved Brummett Wednesday and went an inning without yielding a run. He allowed one hit and struck out two. His ERA is at 2.70.
Pat Overholt pitched both Tuesday and Thursday, an inning each day. He pitched a scoreless inning on Tuesday and gave up a run on Thursday, allowing 2 hits, walking one and striking out one in his 2 innings of work. His ERA stands at 1.80. Jeremy Slayden played Tuesday, Wednesday and THursday, going a combined 4-11, with 2 runs, a double, a homer and 5 RBI’s. He struck out 4 times and his average is now at .304. Jason Donald played 3B both Tuesday and THursday, committing his first error of the fall on Thursday on an errant throw. His hitting continued scorching hot, going 5-8, with 3 runs,2 doubles and a stolen base in those two games. His average is at .455 in the Fall league thus far.
Look for the next update on Tuesday.
Affiliate Review: Lakewood
At this point, you know the drill, so lets not waste any time.
Michael Taylor, OF: .361/.441/.554
Taylor’s exploits have been well covered this season, and for good reason. Taylor couples a good walk rate (10.8%) with a fairly low K rate (14.9%) for a slugger, and then you add in the .193 ISO and the .345 SecA and you have the best prospect at Lakewood, and one of the better statistical seasons in the SAL. The big caveat for Taylor was his age, but he took some of that sting out by continuing to rake at Clearwater, where he was closer to age appropriate.