A rough road trip for Lehigh Valley which concludes tomorrow in Columbus, after a 2-5 week. The ‘Pigs stand at 14-19, in 5th place of the Northern Division of the International League, 9 games behind division leading Scranton.
Week in Review–5/11/09–The ‘Pigs failed on their third try to reach .500, this time 9-2, to Toledo, Monday morning. Kyle Kendrick got the start and was very shaky, lasting five innings, giving up 7 runs (6 earned) on 9 hits. He walked one, struck out foyur, and gave up two homers. The unearned run, came on his own throwing error, opening the floodgates for the Mudhens in a three run third inning. Andy Tracy hit a homer (5) in the second inning, giving Lehigh Valley an early lead, before the wheels came off for Lehigh Valley. Rich Thompson added two doubles for the ‘Pigs.
5/12/09–Carlos Carrasco (0-4) had yet another difficult outing, as he spotted Columbus four runs in the first three innings in the ‘Pigs 8-4 loss on Tuesday. After the ‘Pigs bounced back with a four run fourth inning, Carrasco couldnt hold the Clippers yet again, allowing them to take another 5-4 lead in the bottom on the inning. Carrasco left after pitching into the fifth inning, his official line: 4 IP, 11H, 7ER, 2BB, 3K, 94 pitches, 58 for strikes. All the Lehigh Valley runs came in the fourth on RBI hits by Lou Marson, Jason Ellison, RIch Thompson, and Jason DOnald. Mike Cervenak added two hit for the ‘Pigs.
5/13/09– Rainout
5/14/09–Last nights rainout was made up as part of a late morning/early afternoon doubleheader. In Game One, the ‘Pigs found a unique way to lose, this time 4-3. With a runner on first base and the score tied at three, the next batter walked and Lou Marson, not realizing the batter had walked, threw the ball into centerfield trying to get the runner who was in motion, making it first and third with none out. After an intentional walk to load the bases Cedric Bowers (1-1) walked in the winning run. Rodrigo Lopez got the start for Lehigh Valley and went six innings giving up three runs. John Mayberry led the offense with his 7th homer of the year, a two run shot and added a triple. Mike Cervenak had two hits for the ‘Pigs as well.
In Game Two, Jake Woods got his first start of the year, after Drew Carpenter was scratched. Woods struggled in the 5-4 ‘Pig loss, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits, in his 2 innings of work. The ‘Pigs actually took the lead in a four run third inning, led by a solo homer by Jeremy SLayden(2) and a three run shot by Andy Tracy (6). The lead wouldnt last long though as Dave Borkowski (0-4)gave up runs in the fourth and fifth inning which Lehigh Valley couldnt recover from. Mike Cervenak, Paul Hoover and Jeremy Slayden all had two hits for Lehigh Valley in the loss.
Pig Prospects–Carlos Carrasco–After his impressive start to the season, Carrasco has now seen his ERA balloon to 6.62 and has allowed 21ER in his last 17.1 innings pitched. He has had several consecutive poor outings, with his WHIP rising as well to 1.52. Most concerning perhaps, is the fact that the opposition is hitting .348 with RISP,a statistic that shows that Carrasco is simply not bearing down the way he is capable of.
Kyle Kendrick–Had a rough outing this week against Toledo, giving up six runs in give innings on nine hits, but this has been one of the few truly poor outings for Kendrick this year. He has been pretty consistently pitching out of trouble, and using his pitches fairly well. He stands at 2-2 with a 3.75 ERA in his seven starts, with a WHIP of 1.47. As opposed to Carrasco, runners in scoring position are hitting just .146 against him.
Drew Carpenter– Carpenter was scratched from his scheduled start on Thursday and we are still trying to get info on why from the IronPigs. He last start, last Friday against Toledo saw him go 6 innings, allowing four runs (both on homers)on three hits. He walked 4 and struck out six. He is 1-0 with a 4.72 ERA in his six starts, giving up an average of a homer per start. His WHIP is 1.33 and opponents are hitting .246 against him. He has pitched at least five innings in every start, however, the home run ball continues to be his biggest issue.
Jason Donald– A fairly average week for Donald at 7-28 (.250) with 3 RBI’s. 8 of the 21 outs by Donald this week were via strike out. He is still hitting just .200 with RISP. His fielding this week was once again solid as he didnt commit an error once again. On the year, Donald is at .254 with a homer and 13 RBI’s, with 4 SB. His batting line is .254/.302/.377.
Lou Marson– has simply not been playing well going 3-17 (.176) this week, with his average now at .207 on the year with a lone RBI in nine games. Perhaps more discouraging right now is his defense with which he has struggled throwing out runners. A mental mistake, when he threw the ball into CF after a batter had walked with a runner on first, moving the runner automatically to second, helped contribute to the ‘Pigs 4-3 loss THursday afternoon.
John Mayberry- This has been one of Mayberry’s hot weeks, going 8-26 (.308), with a homer, 4 RBI’s, a double and a triple on this week. He is at .277 on the year with 7 Homers and 23 RBI’s. He is hitting .291 with runners on base. His strikeouts still need to be cut down, but, once again, he is making a play to be noticed in Philly.
Weekend Probables: Friday: Justin Lehr, Saturday: Kyle Kendrick, Sunday: Carlos Carrasco.
Pig Leaders–Jason Donald is 1st in at bats (138), 4th in the league in doubles (12) and 4th in strikeouts (34); Rich Thompson is 3rd in at bats(133), 8th in runs(21), 5th in triples (2), and 6th in stolen bases (9); Mike Cervenak is 5th in at bats (131), 3rd in hits (43) and 10th in RBI’s (22); John Mayberry is 3rd in homers (7), 8th in RBI’s (23)and 8th in strikeouts (32). In the pitching categories, Justin Lehr, is tied for the league lead in wins (5) amd shutouts (1). Drew Carpenter is 5th in the league in homers allowed (6); Carlos Carrasco is 6th in strikeouts.
Notes: Mike Cervenak’s 22 game on base streak ended on Monday.
—Justin Lehr was named International league Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season for the period of 5/4-5/10.
—Mike Koplove has not allowed an earned run in his last 11 appearances.
Transactions: Relief Pitcher Scott Nestor was activated from the DL and assigned to (AA) Reading.
Relief Pitcher Francisco Butto was activated from the inactive list (VISA problems) and sent to AA Reading.
Phuture Phillies 
waiting for lou and donald to start hitting, they are too good to be putting up such marginal numbers
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Walks will kill you…’nough said.
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Great report, my question is you see these players, what do you think mayberry will be a org filler, a 4-5 outfielder in majors. or Do you think he could improve and be a better hitter for average and be a starting outfielder for a major league team. What do you think hold him back from being the player who was a first round choice, is it the stanford swing, lack of contact, thanks
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Yesterday Mayberry hits a .420 ft homer off the batters eye in dead center in Columbus and Michael Taylor hits his third homer in the last four games, three run blast down the left field line in Reading. Should see a AAA outfield of Mayberry and Taylor by mid season. How about that for righthanded power in one lineup.
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I have probably seen Mayberry in about seven or eight games now and he remains a bit of a mystery. He has a “long” swing. That is the best way I can describe it. I view him as more than an org filler, probably a “4” outfielder who wont hurt you in the field and gives you some potential power off of the bench. For what my opinion is worth, he definitely gives the big club more offense than Cairo, and with Bruntlett already around, Cairo is a waste. The problem may be that the Phils are still hoping that he will be a starting OF and they dont want him seeing limited AB’s in Philly. With interleague play upcoming, there could be some interesting decisions for the Phils.
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Thinking that Carpenter was scratched because he might become Saturday’s spot starter if Happ is used before then.
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Mayberry looks like a Marcus Thames/Craig Monroe level of player…great raw power, poor OBP skills but can help an MLB team for a few years in their peak. Thoughts on that comparison?
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I like how the Phils are developing high ceiling, high power, multi-talented outfield prospects. Basically, to a varying extent, Mayberry, Taylor and Brown are all in the Jayson Werth mold. It works for me!
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Gregg, thanks for the write-up! Let’s hope that line you posted for Donald is where he is at the end of the year 😉
NEPP, I like that comparison. One can see him platooning to start against lefties or at least to use off the bench. He’s 25 now, so I would expect to see him holding down a bench spot in the majors sometime in the next two/three years. That is, as long as he is not a sub-par defender. If he is, that makes him much less useful off the bench…more like a righty Matt Stairs.
Taylor has been especially impressive to me this season for his ability to hit for power and not strike out too much (15Ks in 30 games vs. 11BBs and 14XBHs). The only problem for his promotion is what to do with Slayden. I know that’s not *really* too much of a problem in that Taylor’s importance far supercedes Slayden’s at this point, but there are people who are of the opinion Slayden could be useful too. Am I being too sensitive to the needs of a 26-year-old AAA OF?
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I don’t thiink we should be too worried about taking playing time away from Slayden. He is just a borderline guy right now.
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It’s been hard to figure out the underlying issue with Slayden this year. He doesn’t seem to be playing much at the AAA level, you wonder if he’s still hurt. There’s no way that Jason Ellison should be playing over him.
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I agree 3up. I think we could still see Carpenter called up if the bullpen is worn too thin with the double-header and the loss of their long man to the rotation, albeit temproraly.
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Does brown and Taylor’s continued emergence justify their ranking above Donald and Marson within the organization? I know there were some split opinions about where donald and marson should rank but they have really disspointed to start. I think Donald got off to a bit of slow start last year if I remember correctly.
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I think it’s early, but you have to remember, there is a world of a difference between A and AAA ball, and a nice jump from AA to AAA.
There are a lot of quality players who have major league experience in AAA.
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looks like lou is suffering from sent down ittes certainly not the quality of player in aaa. i wouldnt worry about guys who will never see the light of day over brown or taylor. any details on lehr age mlb retread because he looks like he deserves a shot. i guess if he were in oakland he would along with worley stutes drabek knapp and cloyd all being moved up. i heard torre on how to avoid post ws letdown DONT ANSWER THE PHONE OF PEOPLE TELLING YOU HOW GREAT YOU ARE.
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Marson and Donald have just done too much over the last year to justify a downgrade at this point. Let’s see what they’re doing by early July before we jump to conclusions.
That having been said, it’s hard to see Dom Brown not climbing to the very top of the list. I think he, Drabek, Taylor and Knapp are probably the hottest prospects in the system.
Carrasco is justifying my doubts about him. I saw him pitch last year and felt that what I saw was nothing special. I’m not saying that he isn’t going to be a good pitcher in the big leagues, only that he did nothing that day that left me particularly impressed. But he’s still young and it’s better for him to learn in AAA than the majors.
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Just heard on CSN that Carpenter was called up for the second game tomorrow.
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I’m guessing and hoping it is for one day and on Sunday Mayberry will get the call. (Cairo is an Iron Pig now by the way.)
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Lidge has been terrible, especially in his last 6 games or so. He can’t get anyone out. It forced the Phils to pitch Happ for 2 innings lst night. Carpenter has to come up and pitch one of the games of the double header. On the one hand you can say, at least its the Nationals and not the Mets or Dodgers. But on the other, if he pitches poorly, you gave up a game without a fight.
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Yeah if lidge continues, nomatter if the starter get better, we become like the mets were last year.
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Maybe this will be a blessing in disguise . If Carpenter pitches
well Drop someone and put he and Happ in the rotation.
If he doesnt bring up Koplove or someone and move Durbin to
long relief where he has been best. Seems like they refuse
to move Tasner(this year Taguchi?)
BTW nice game by Cisco
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Cairo isn’t an Ironpig just yet, he has to clear waivers.
Taschner will almost certainly get sent down when J.C. Romero returns from his suspension. (15 games left on that by the way.) And Taschner really hasn’t so been terrible that he MUST be replaced. 4.50 ERA and .765 OPS against is just about league average. Koplove’s walked 4.8 per nine in AAA. I can’t see that translating well to the majors. Tyler Walker is hurt, so that’s out.
With the Phillies DFA’ing Cairo, I think that opens the door for another player. Carpenter will get sent down after the spot start. This could be a cue for John Mayberry to get a call up.
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Alan
Tashner got bombed by three lefties last time out. I am not married to Koplove but 15 games might be time to evaluate
someone. You have to admit Durbin needs to go to long relief
because he was good at it and there is no one else
note: Myers pitches great with a big lead doesnt he
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Wow just looking at Taschner would say he isn’t helping, but alan points out his bad pitching is the norm for that role.
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I would not be surprised if Mayberry got a call and Taylor was promoted to AAA.
It appears that Taylor played very little in last night’s game and is not playing today (Sunday). Is he out with an injury? Was he called up too LHV?
Does anyone know?
By the way, Antonio Bastardo is on fire again and, Brad Harman appear to finally have gotten some traction in AA. He’s starting to look like a prospect again but, goodness gracious, it takes him a long time to adjust at each level. Which could mean that he can’t hit breaking pitches. It could also just mean that, due to his lack of a typical baseball background (from Australia), he’s still catching up.
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sorry for the typos
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taschners whip and k to bb ratios are terrible. i would rather keep escalona up for a shot.
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John Lefties are hitting better than righties against Taschner
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