Monthly Archives: July 2009

Martinez vs. Carrasco Live Blog

7. Lehigh Valley

Lineups are out and both Lou Marson and Jason Donald will be facing Pedro Martinez tonight with the weather clearing in Allentown.  Michael Taylor and John Mayberry will be manning the outfield corners and hitting 5th and 7th respectively against Columbus starter Carlos Carrasco.

Apparantly, Pedro is on a 70-80 pitch count this evening.

Top of first: Second pitch of the game, homer….Columbus 1, ‘Pigs 0, Pop Out, strikeout, fly out.  Martinez, 11 pitches, 8 strikes.  Fastest pitch: 89 mph.  1 IP, 1H, 1ER, 0BB, 1K.

Bottom of First:  Single(Ellison), fielders choice, double play.  Carrasco, 12 pitches, 8 strikes.  1IP 1H 0ER 0BB 0K.

Top of Second:  Fly Out, ground out, ground out (Marson).  Martinez, 2o pitches, 16 for strikes.  2IP 1H 1ER 0BB 1K.  A couple of COlumbus hitters looked silly on Martinez off speed pitches this inning.

Bottom of 2nd: Strikeout, Fly Out, single (Tiffee), STrikeout.  Carrasco 28 pitches, 18 for strikes.  2IP 2H 0ER 0BB 2K.  Columbus 1, Lehigh Valley 0.

Top of 3rd:  Strikeout (Donald on 93 mph fastball), ground out, walk, fly out.  Martinez, 37 pitches, 25 for strikes.  3IP 1H 1ER 1BB 2K.  Martinez threw several pitches in the low 90’s, topping out at 93 mph.

Bottom of 3rd: Fly Out, Strikeout, STrikeout (Ellison ejected arguing call).  Carrasco, 49 pitches, 32 for strikes. 3IP 2H 0ER 0BB 4K. Columbus 1, Lehigh Valley 0. Continue reading Martinez vs. Carrasco Live Blog →

Daily Discussion, Savery Called Up to AAA

Daily Discussion, Savery, Joe

The Phillies 2007 first round draft choice, Joe Savery, was called up from AA Reading to take a place in the Lehigh Valley rotation.  Savery, 23, was taken 19th overall of the 2007 draft out of Rice University with the 19th pick in the draft.  After a dominant first half of the year, during which he went 12-1, Savery has struggled during his last several outings, going 1-3 with a 8.71 ERA in his last 4 starts.  On the year, Savery is 12-4 with a 4.41 ERA in 21 starts. He has walked 53 and struck out 77 in his 112.1 innings of work.  Opponents are hitting .262 against him (just .183 with RISP) and he has given up 13 home run balls. Continue reading Daily Discussion, Savery Called Up to AAA →

Lehigh Valley Weekly Report

7. Lehigh Valley

First off, a very interesting pitching matchup Friday night in Allentown.  Pedro Martinez vs. Carlos Carrasco.  Who woulda thought? Look for a live blog of the action tonight (whether permitting).

The climb to .500 and above continues to be a difficult one for Lehigh Valley as a slew of roster moves and trades have the team wondering who will be in the locker room each night.  Despite the roster turmoil, the ‘Pigs did manage a 3-4 week (could have been worse) and are in 3rd place of the Northern Division of the IL at 51-54, 7.5 games out of first (6.5 out of the wild card).  This weeks look at hitting leaders includes Andy Tracy who is 9th in runs (55), 5th in homers (17), 3rd in RBI’s (60), and leads the league in walks(51).  Rich Thompson is 9th in the league in steals with 19.  On the hill, Andrew Carpenter is 4th in the league in Wins (8), 9th in ERA (2.71) and 10th in the league in WHIP (1.19), Kyle Kendrick is 2nd in the league in starts (20) and 2nd in the league in IP (118.2). Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

Re-racking the Top 15

** My Top 30 Prospects

Now that we’ve lost 4 of our theoretical Top 15, I thought it would be a fun exercise to ponder what is left (assuming nothing else in the works) and look ahead to this winter. This is in no way set in stone, this is just an off the top of my head thought process based on the guys remaining and is subject to change on a whim.

Check below…

Continue reading Re-racking the Top 15 →

Daily Discussion

Other Stuff

Before a couple quick daily notes on the goings on outside of the Lee trade I wanted to chime in as well with my opinion.  The Lee deal was a no-brainer based on what the Phils gave up.  Not to minimize the talent that Carrasco, Marson, Donald, and Knapp have, but the Phillies acquired a top of the line pitcher and a much needed bat without giving up the four names that they, as well as many pundits covet most (Drabek, Happ, Taylor, Brown).  While significantly upgrading their rotation and their bench, they have also given themselves more financial flexibility next year in taking on Lee’s contract rather than Halladay’s, money that potentially could be spent before the August 17 deadline to sign draftees to bolster problem areas within the system, as well as re-signing some key components from the team this year.

While Carrasco’s talent at times wins the wrestling match with what is going on in his head, the head games he plays while pitching may or may not continue, changing the perspective on his value. Marson has big league talent, but at a position where there are legit future prospects in the Phils system, and value must be given to get value.  Donald is an extremely hard worker and has a very good head on his shoulders but his future value is more than likely limited to super sub status, based on what we have seen in the last couple of years.  Knapp is the big question mark.  Guys that throw 98 mph do not come along every day. Again, however, being at least two years away from being major league ready giving up Knapp makes sense in an attempt to capitalize on the massive amount of talent collected in Philly vying for back to back titles.

Continue reading Daily Discussion →

Phillies have trade done for Cliff Lee

Transactions

This deal, according to Andy Martino is agreed to pending physicals, which seem like a formality.

The deal, as reported here by Ken Rosenthal, is Cliff Lee and OF Ben Francisco for Jason Knapp, Jason Donald, Carlos Carrasco and Lou Marson.

For Indians fans who find my site via google, here are some links for you to find info on the prospects you’re getting.

Carlos Carrasco
Jason Knapp
Jason Donald
Lou Marson

You can also find weekly updates on these guys by checking the Lehigh Valley (AAA) reports here. Check below the fold for my take on this deal

Continue reading Phillies have trade done for Cliff Lee →

DSL Update – July

1. VSL/DSL

The big news out of the DSL team this month came yesterday when 18-year-old starter Felix Cespedes pitched a perfect game, sort of.  Cespedes pitched 9 innings and got 27 consecutive outs, striking out 14.  Unfortunately his team failed to score any runs.  The game ended as a 12-inning 1-0 loss with the Phils outhitting their opponents 10-2.  The good news is that the opponents were the first place Mariners, so Cespedes dominated a decent team.  Cespedes is the youngest pitcher on the squad having just turned 18 at the end of April.  He is one of several pitchers that should be considered prospects, though the perfect game has followed some uneven performances.  For the year he is 0-4 with a 3.38 ERA.  His peripherals, especially after the perfect game are strong: 58.2 IP, 48 H, 14 BB, 73 K. Continue reading DSL Update – July →

Around the System (Catchers)

Around the System

One more pre-trade deadline look at the performance of the catchers throughout the Phillies minor league system.

Lehigh Valley

Lou Marson, Age 23, .295/384/.372; 1 HR 24 RBI, 3 SB, .267 with RISP, 21% CS rate, 6 errors, .985 fielding %, 2 PB

Paul Hoover, Age 33, .274/.340/.375. 1 HR 21 RBI, .349 with RISP, 3 errors, 5 passed balls, .991 fielding %., 19% CS rate

Continue reading Around the System (Catchers) →