Weekend In Review–
4/17/09–The ‘Pigs opened a series against the Red Sox in Pawtucket and picked up their first win in McCoy Stadium, 4-3 over the ‘Sox. A 2 run homer by Andy Tracy was the decisive blow, while Rich THompson continued his role as a spark plug of the ‘Pig offense with an RBI double and run scored. Andrew Carpenter (1-0) started and went six innings, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits. He didnt walk a batter and struck out 7, throwing 92 pitches, 56 for strikes. Two home run balls were problematic for Carpenter. Gary Majewski picked up his first save of the year, pitching a scoreless ninth.
4/18/09–Rodrigo Lopez was a late scratch from his scheduled start leading to a difficult arragement where the bullpen was left to start and finish the game, a 5-2 win for Pawtucket. Steve Green (0-1) got the official start and lasted 2 innings, giving up 2 tuns on 3 hits, walking 5 and striking out 3 in his first appearance of the year. The was a sloppy game by the ‘Pigs featuring 3 errors(Tracy, Slayden, Furmaniak) where they showed little offensively other than Jeremy Slayden who went 2-4 with his first AAA homer. The ‘Pigs were down 5-1 by the fourth and never threatened to come back.
4/19/09–Behind a second consective impressive effort by Justin Lehr (2-0), the ‘Pigs beat the Red Sox, 6-2 at McCoy field on Sunday. The Sox jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first, but the ‘Pigs bounced back with an RBI double in the 2nd by Jeremy Slayden, and a homer by Andy Tracy (2) in the 4th to take a 2-1 lead. Lehigh Valley busted the game open with four runs in the eighth, the big blows coming on another RBI double by Jeremy Slaydenand RBi singles by Mike Cervenak and Pablo Ozuna. Lehr pitched very well, giving up one run on three hits, over his five innings of work. He walked three and struck out three, throwing 97 pitches, 59 for strikes.
The Pork Barrel–Dave Borkowski had his first decent appearance of the year, going three shutout innings against Pawtucket on Saturday, after three consecutive appearances where he was the losing pitcher.
—Rodrigo Lopez was scratched from his start on Saturday with what was described as “slight shoulder discomfort”
—Jeremy Slayden has been very hot since coming off the disabled list, hitting .385 in his first four games of the season, including three extra base hits.
–The ‘Pigs have drawn just eleven walks all season, the lowest total in the IL.
–Lehigh Valley has turned a league leading 13 double plays.
–The bullpen has seemed to settle down with a 1.90 ERA over the last six games, including another 2 shutout innings by Mike Koplove on Sunday.
–The opposition have stolen 10 bases in 11 attempts against the ‘Pigs so far this season.
–Upcoming Pitchers: Monday: Kyle Kendrick; Tuesday: Carlos Carrasco; Wednesday: Andrew Carpenter; Thursday: OFF
Phuture Phillies 
Okay German pitched three more scoreless innings and had 5 strikeouts. Were you kidding the other day when you said he throws only 83 miles per hour. Its hard to imagine that is true.
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I have never mentioned Matt German in one of my reports.
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The cube has German rated very high in two of theree catagories. He had way more k’s then innings last year but
then again April was he best month last year. He will be another player to watch and hope he made a breakthrough
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Mike: German is pitching in Reading, so no, Gregg hasn’t mentioned him at all. And I’ve read in several places that he tops out in the low 80’s, so it’s not a lie. This is a Lehigh Valley thread, so try to stick to discussion of those players please.
Good work as always, Gregg. I’m impressed by Slayden’s quick start; I know he’s always been old for his level, but the dude just hits at every stop. I’ll be shocked if there isn’t a big league job for him at some point in his career.
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I have always like Slayden. Like you said, he flat out hits, wherever he is. His fielding and arm are a bit below par, thanks to surgery back in his college days, but his stats are remarkably consistent.
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Sorry if you thought I was calling someone a lier, just hard to believe he is so slow and so effective, and won’t post on reading players again on this link sorry again. P.S. Do you think a player like Slayden will be better in the majors then mayberry
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the point maybe should he be in Reading Does that fit here
ps this is my first year here
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Mike: sorry, I didn’t mean to come down that hard. I just think it’s nice to keep the discussion somewhat focused since the correspondents put in time and effort to crank out these reports.
As for Slayden v. Mayberry, I think it depends on what you think Mayberry’s going to be able to achieve. I think it’s reasonable to project Slayden as a .270/.330/.430 5th outfielder — probably for an AL team — and I honestly have no idea where to put Mayberry. There’s still a chance, albeit small, that he puts it all together and winds up a .260/.330/.480 everyday right fielder. I tend to think he winds up a platoon player and designated lefty-masher, and given that he profiles better defensively, that gives him the nod over Slayden in my book.
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I break down Slayden vs. Mayberry this way:
1. Slayden is the more advanced hitter, with the ability to fill in for Ibanez or Stairs this year, with a chance to do OK in the role of 4th OF, platoon guy.
2. Slayden has a greater chance of delivering performance in majors and sticking in some role, like a Dobbs or Michaels.
3. Mayberry has more upside–less chance of making it, but much more to offer if he realizes his ceiling.
4. Mayberry has a better chance of getting multiple tryouts in majors because of upside.
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Derby has summed up the Mayberry/Slayden comparison fairly well.
Slayden will stick somewhere. I’m a little surprised that someone like Kansas City or Pittsburgh didn’t pick him up. He can hit and should end up in the majors at some point.
It’s interesting (and understandable) that Slayden did not make the top 30 list, yet he’ll probably achieve more than all but about 10 or 12 of those who are on the list (I’m not second-guessing the list, just making an observation). He’s not exciting and he probably will never be a major league starter, but, like R.J. Swindle, he could become a contributor.
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Majewski should really be up with the big club instead of Taschner. He’s wasting bullets down in AAA.
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RE: Slow and effective left hander
See R.J. Swindle, it’s not anything new either. There are a ton of junk ball lefties who make a career in major league bullpens or at worst hang around the upper minors and get tryouts with big league clubs every spring.
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Thx Gregg. No mention of Donald or Mayberry. Have you seen them at all? Are they having trouble adapting to LHV? I think Donald struck out more in his first few games in Allentown than he did throughout Spring Training. Maybe they are just pressing to make an impression. A few people keep mentioning that Donald hasn’t played 3rd. Have you been hearing anything about that? Any word that the Phillies don’t think he can handle 3rd?
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Since somebody allready mentioned Reading on here, and most don’t read anything but the top story, I would just like to point out that Michael Taylor no longer appears on the Reading roster. None of the others either. Anybody know if he retired or something?
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Bellman–
I spoke about Mayberry and DOnald in my report last Friday and they both will be included in my weekly Friday update. I have been out to several games, and Donald has looked very good in the field, albeit at SS every game, and has looked pretty good at the plate as well, although pressing a bit. Surprisingly, Donald has not played at all at third, especially with the regular 3B, Terry Tiffee, injured. I will do some asking around when I am out at the Park next weekend. As far as Mayberry goes, he is quite the free swinger. What I observed during the games I was there, was not pretty, but he has come on some after the team hit the road and he was dropped in the batting order.
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Marfis – where did you see that M. Taylor was not on Reading’s roster? I just checked their website and he was listed. He also knocked in two runs last night, so if something happened to change his status, I have not seen that.
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RodeoJones Says
Majewski should really be up with the big club instead of Taschner. He’s wasting bullets down in AAA.
And Taschner is wasting gasoline at nearly 1mil
Mayberry may be pressing after being dropped from the phils active roster. I like Cairo but he has no function here. Ozuna
could of been brought up in an emergency and maybe Mayberry’s outlook would be different.
This is what i meant by keeping the 25th spot more or less open. Giving guys like Mayberry exposure. Who should
care about money 5 years from now
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Mayberry’s OBP right now is .308. Last year in AAA it was .316 (in a hitters’ league). In AA his OBP was .311, and in high A it was .314. I don’t think his issue is pressing as much as it is that he’s really not a good hitter.
Really, is there something I’m missing with this guy?
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ALAN
Good points I was going on what i saw in Florida sometimes being in the show guys get better and learn from
other. Maybe there is still hope but MT should be in AAA by midseason.
I trust Huppert he may help Mayberry,Carpenter and Kendrick
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I wonder if someone approached Amaro or someone in the lv office if we can find the reason Donald isn’t playing third. Felix I believe won’t be brought back and Donald would be a cheaper alterative. It really makes you believe he will be move to another team that needs a shortstop. in any one opinion is there someone in the minors to play third who ready.
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The roster on http://www.milb.com did not have Taylor on it. They are usually ahead of the team’s website.
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Regarding Donald and where he plays, Donald will retain much more trade value playing short than third. I suspect he’ll play quite a bit of third in the second half of the season, which is long by the way. Let the kid get 100 at bats hitting over 300 before you start messing with his position. Its hard enough to hit a level up without having to worry about a new position also. give it time…
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Murray I hope you are right. Donald is a kid I really like to see in a phillies uniform at cbp.
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Kendrick gave up two runs in the first but was pulled in the fourth after settling down?????
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You’ve got to root for Jeremy Slayden. He’s consistently been underrated, making him a natural-born underdog. Yet, he keeps on advancing through the system,one level per year. He’s getting close to major league-ready now. You could do a lot worse than to call him up to the Phillies, if needed to fill in for injuries. I’m impressed by “this little engine that could”. I hope to see him in a Phillies uniform soon.
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May22 they play the Yankees in the apple That might be a great time to give Slayden a chance (check interleague last year with Brunlett the defacto Dh)
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Kendrick had already thrown 88 pitches through four innings…I suspect that is why he was pulled. His control wasnt great today.
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thks boring night no bball
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Nowwheels please I am bore too so I was on a site milb.scout I think it right and they list the top 54 minor league players. Not one phillies is listed,
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no respect even after the Series. The thing i love they keep
saying the Atlanta system breeds pitcher . Where the hell are they. They are like bad cops if they get something in their
minds they will stick with it til hell freezes over.
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Oh yeah, I think three of the top twenty are braves , Heyward teachen,hanson. and Gio Gonzalez that guy has been a top prospect for how long now? If you listen to some of the commentary, Oakland is like the greatest team Peter Gammons talks about them all the time as the team to watch. All the great prospect, it seems like every year they are developing, why don’t they win? Under position players it has marston as the 9 ranked catcher in minors, uy in a ball who have done nothing are ahead of him.
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checked out scout.com Have they ever seen a ballgame?
e.g.. Mike Staton is rated 14 in his position?? So many reporters to are”Monkey read-Monkey rewrite”
Btw How many balls did Sweet Lou block for Myers and company. Ithought he was supposed to be weak defensively
Coste looks like a statue of a catcher in comparison
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btw that 14 ranked Stanton went 5-5 batting about.417
So i trust out beat reporter on this site more than a lot of
scouts some of whom are putting out bull for the public
eg a Phils scout knows a prospect isnt going to make it
what are the chances of him saying so until it is obvious
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