Box Score Roundup, 8/11

Box Score Recap

Before getting to tonight’s games, I wanted to post this link that was posted in yesterday’s comments. Im not sure who this fellow is, what kind of background he has, but the info provided is solid. He basically confirms the reports on Matt Way; very good pitchability and command, but fringy raw stuff. The margin for error is reduced the higher you climb up the ladder and the more experienced the hitters are. We’ll see how he adjusts. Now, onto the scores…

AAA: Lehigh Valley lost 2-1.

* Taylor was quiet at the plate (0/3) but did add two outfield assists. You always have to like when a guy doesn’t take his struggles at the plate with him into the field
* Alex Concepcion, a guy no one really talks about but whom I liked a few years back, went 2.1 scoreless. He has an 8:1 K to BB ratio so far in 14 AAA innings after posting a 30/6 ratio at AA. Keep an eye on him

AA: Reading won 6-5.

* Domonic Brown goes 1/4 with a BB and stole his 2nd base
* Steve Susdorf went 1/4 and now has 1 hit in each of his first 3 AA games
* Quintin Berry went 1/5 and stole his 41st base in 52 attemps
* Mike Stutes turned in another quality start, giving up 1 ER in 6 IP. He has a 2.86 ERA over his last 10 starts (56.2 IP) with 40 K and 24 BB. 52 BB in 122 IP is still too many, but after an aggressive promotion I’m still fairly impressed
* Newly promoted Brian Rosenberg recorded his first AA save

A+: Clearwater lost 9-3.

* Freddy Galvis goes 2/4 with a double
* Mike Durant went 0/4 with 2 K and now has 119 K to 38 BB in 305 AB
* A strange outing for Darren Byrd; 4.1 IP, 11 H, 0 BB and 7 K. Very odd line

A: Lakewood won 8-4.

* Travis Mattair goes 1/4 with a BB and his 24th 2B of the season. As mentioned in that link in the intro, his defense appears to be outstanding, but he’s still not hitting. Just 2 HR as a repeater in Low A is very concerning
* D’Arby Myers goes 2/4 with a 2B (9) and 3B (4) plus a walk. I know hes way off the radar, but he quietly put up a .333/.373/.444 line in 63 July AB and is at .320/.393/.440 in 25 August AB’s. Easy to get lost in our sea of OF, but could be the signs of a rebound
* A tidy outing for Heitor Correa; 5 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 K. For the season he’s also at 1.45 GO/AO, which is nice

SS: Williamsport lost 5-4.

* Adam Buschini with his second straight multi hit game, going 2/4
* Leando Castro, only 20, went 2/4 with a 2B and has now hit in 9 straight. His overall line of .357/.395/.585 is fairly impressive. Only 9 BB in 171 AB, but not a huge amount of K’s (25) and his raw power (24 XBH, .228 ISO) plus his speed (12 SB, though 9 CS) have him on my radar.
* Chad Poe went 2 scoreless in his 3rd NYPL appearance. He was scoreless in his first, got tattooed in his 2nd (4 ER in 2 IP) but rebounded nicely.

RK: GCL Phillies lost 4-2 and lost 5-1.

* Ryan Bollinger made his pro debut, going 0/2 with a BB
* Julian Sampson’s nightmare season continues; 5 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 K. I had such high hopes. I’m wondering if maybe the path for him is in the bullpen, where he can ramp it up a bit, add a bit of velo to his fastball, and focus on one secondary pitch. Based on past reports, he can get it up there at 93-94, but its straight, so if he could crank it up a bit more, 95-96, even straight, is a little tougher to hit. I’m sure they’ll keep him starting for a while, but it may be something to consider relatively soon.
* Winder Torres went 0/3 and is now hitless in his last 6 games (13 AB) with 2 BB

62 thoughts on “Box Score Roundup, 8/11”

  1. yea taylor’s two outfield assists were both in one inning, I guess the other team didn’t learn the first time

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  2. This late run by Galvis might put him in the AFL. That and the need for a SS if Rollins goes down next year. Sampson remarks seem very reasonable. It would be best to find out
    soon.
    BTW Thanks I missed the Rosenberg save.

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  4. John, I’ve been keeping my eye on Barnes and Buschini in hopes that they will be a nice middle infield combo. Barnes has shown a bit of power but he’s got to cutdown on the Ks. Buschini may have finally settled in. In June he hit .143, July .167 and he’s at .310 in August. Castro’s 2 years younger and Valle 3 years.

    Least original name award goes to a guy on the GCL Pirates. His name is Henry Henry.

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  6. ****On offense, Travis D’Arnaud was head and shoulders the best bat in either dugout. I was very impressed with his ability to drive the ball to all fields with power. On a less humid evening, his balls to both the warning track in center and off the wall in right center might have been home runs***

    Best comment of that link by far. A catcher with great power is a rare rare thing.

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  7. d’Arnaud’s power this year has been very impressive. Over 45 XBH for a Catcher in that ballpark is amazing.

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  8. Post allstar break he has been very impressive. Would you give him a taste of Clearwater and maybe move Valle back up??

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  9. I’d leave D’Arnaud where he is to finish out the year – get him some playoff experience and let him be the leader of the club, but might be tempted to jump him to Reading next year. His power numbers this year have been good, and he has been on fire in the second half. Plus, from what I’ve heard of first hand reports, he has that “he looks like a ballplayer” look about him.

    – Jeff

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  10. bell, thanks for the update on barnes. i know he,s been struggling on defense, but i followed him at n.d. and it never was a serious problem. i think he has a shot at ss in say, 2012? very good bat.

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  11. btw bell good pickup on henry henry. theres another guy either on wiamsport or brooklyn who has an unbelievable name. i,ll have to check out the rosters. tuffy goosewich is right up there with players from 1930.

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  12. I was just looking at D’Arnaud’s splits, and if you look at his ISO for the year, he has been very consistent. With the exception of July (.220), he’s been right around .160 each month. It’s not too bad, and probably another argument that you can’t put too much emphasis on a low batting average.

    I’ve actually started tinkering around with my top 30 list, and he’s certainly top 5 for me.

    – Jeff

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  13. this post is interesting in the dichotomy between Way and Sampson. two totally different prospects, both of which fly in the face of conventional wisdom. while it is too early to draw a conclusion on either (although i agree that sampson is skating on thin ice), i still think that it is telling.

    Personally, I believe that velocity gets far too overvalued by scouts. at the end of the day, the number one determinant of success at the higher levels is location. number 2 is ability to change speeds and eye angle. if you have #1 and #2, velocity doesn’t really matter that much, within reason. and vice versa. the list goes on and on at the major league level of flame throwers that just can’t seem to make it. a great example is Lidge. last year, his location was great and he was unhitable because he had both the ability to change eye angle and speed and also had velocity. this year, same velocity, same slider, but his location is horrible. cliff lee is the counter point. he doesn’t throw very hard (sits high 80’s most of the game) but is a Cy Young winner.

    i am in no way comparing Way to Lee. i am just using these two Phils as examples that velocity is really not that important. of course, if you have location and good breaking stuff and velocity, then you are a star.

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  15. Sampson also had 3 wild pitches, as did Siulman LeBron at Williamsport. So that’s 2 in one night.

    Just seen Way’s performance at Lakewood yesterday. Commendation awarded.

    Bollinger signing article said he would go to instructional league after season. Now with Hudson and maybe Stewart and Susac as positon players and the many pitchers, maybe the Phillies should add another minor league team for a season. Since every team above A-Short Season seems to be allocated one to an MLB team, it might be a rookie league team, such as adding a 2nd team at the GCL complex. They could also go any other Rookie League I might like to see them add a 2nd low A team in the Midwest League and/or a 2nd A Short Season team in the Northwest League.

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  16. It’s been nice watching Stutes get over the midseason hump he seemed to hit – quietly turning himself into the most consistent starter on the Reading staff over the past month-plus.

    Questions on Correa – not a lot of hits nor walks last night, yet only pitched 5 innings. Assuming they’re slowing him down to end the year since he’s coming off the lost 2008?

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  17. jeffo i,m interested in the new top 20 or 30 since the system seems to have gone thru an upheaval. maybe pp can do a new site on that. btw ppfan very good post personally i would say it describes happ to a tee but thats only my opinion. sometime in the near future ,if i can, i will mention what i was told by someone who is one of the 10 most powerful persons in bb. sort of echo,s what you said and for obvious reasons no names can be mentioned. i wish i could but i would become mud.

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  18. Playing left field last night Taylor demonstrated not only a cannon, but excellent athleticism. His first throw came after running to the line to field the ball and shooting a laser to second for the out. The second was special as again with a runner off on the pitch at second, Taylor running hard to his right fielded the ball and quickly gathered himself and threw a BB to the plate from somewhat deep left, a bit high, but with missle like speed that had the runner by a step. Both outs were big momentum killers.

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  19. Williamsport All Stars. Game will be played in State College.
    Sebastien Valle, Leandro Castro, Francisco Murillo, Jeremy Barnes, Austin Hyatt. I think that’s it ,done from memory.

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  22. Marfis: Phils used to have a team in the Appalachian League, in Pulaski, I think. That might be the way to go. They might let inexperienced players start in GCL and then move to the App League for an extra year before they face college level pitching or full season. And they seem to have enough players each year to fill both, with guys held out until FIL or released, etc.

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  23. DiamondDerby
    Excellent idea they may need room for all this talent anyway unless they use two pitchers at the same time and five or six outfielders. Maybe an extra look at some players will help .

    Sampson need some time off this winter to get his head together.

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  24. Taylor’s blog is interesting. Would it be so bad if by June he is
    platooning with Raul. Then by break Brown is platooning with Werth so sometimes regards right handed pitchers as a mystery.

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  27. nw, i,m glad someone else is , at least i think, admitting to a somewhat confused view of our current prospects. with the draft and the separation of brown, drabek, and taylor from everyone else there seems to be a plethora of evenly talented prospects. doing a top 30 right now would be very hard.

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  28. If Brown and Taylor are on the big club it will be as starters not part time players. As you saw with John Mayberry, all development stopped when he sat on the bench and he sucked when he was here. If you want Brown or Taylor to be good then you play them everyday in AAA until you make room on the roster for them. That means that Jayson Werth WILL walk after nect season. Victorino WILL walk or be traded after next season – maybe sooner. Ibanez WILL walk when his contract is up after two more seasons. The reason Brown and Taylor wont be traded is because they will be 2/3 of our outfield of the future.

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  29. I wouldn’t lose hope with Way just because he throws a 86mph FB. His change is still 10-12mph slower which gives him a great differential. Hamels has made a pretty decent career with a similar differential. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not comparing the two as pitchers but it has been proven that success can be had at any level with mediocre velocity. PP Fan made that clear in his comment above.

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  31. The Collier article mentions hitting coach Bobby Meacham. Given the improvement hitting wise from numerous players at Williamsport this season,, maybe that should be looked at.

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  32. CZ – the thing is, and this is what I’ve read as I’m no pro scout, is that at 86 his FB can be ‘caught up to’ by better hitters. Unless his Schwimlocity is high, of course.

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  33. Quick, off the top of your head, name as many MLB pitchers that top out at 86 mph and are right-handed.

    Barry Zito is the only one I can think of…and Freddy Garcia AFTER he had shoulder issues.

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  34. Geoff
    You can’t learn to hit major league pitching in the minor league. That is obvious. A half year of breaking in is needed.
    You can only learn so much hitting off hasbeens and neverwass lol

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  35. Scratch that, Zito (obviously) is LH. I knew that sounded wrong when I typed it. Not alot of 83-86 mph pitchers in the majors.

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  36. I am mostly a lurker/avid reader of this site, but I wanted to say that I am digging the improvements.

    Thanks!

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  37. AND you cant learn to hit major league pitching SITTING ON THE BENCH, which is what they would do most of the time. Thats why you have minor league teams, to allow your prospects to play everyday and get better. If you bring them up to MLB and they dont play, then theyre just taking up roster space and losing their confidence. That happened to Mayberry, but it happens all the time in MLB. If your bringing guys with that upside up to the bg team, you have to be ready for them to play everyday or at least one of them – AT WORSE – is a 4th OF who plays 3-4 games a week. At worst.

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  39. @Geoff
    Victorino is going nowhere. He was a 4+ win player last year and is going to be 3+ again this year despite the odd dip in his fielding metrics (which could be an outlier—he’s a very good outfielder). He’s also the kind of player that appears to be more valuable to the team that he is on than would would come back in a trade.

    He’s not old either. Would you be against slotting Taylor and Brown around Vic? What does the guy have to do to get a little bit or respect?

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  40. Geoff
    I never said sitting on the bench . You did between platoon
    and late inning replacements. The will get prorated 300 abs.
    That’s better than hitting off third rate pitching.

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  42. As I said in yesterday’s thread, Way isn’t really going to prove anything by mowing down SAL hitters. It won’t be until High-A or Double-A, when he consistently faces hitters who can handle solid breaking pitches, that he’ll really be tested. But it’s far too early to write Way off as an org guy — he put up phenomenal numbers in a hitting-dominated conference his senior year, and his pro numbers have backed that up so far.

    Re: Barnes, I said here that he’s one to watch as a potential utility infielder. That’s probably his ultimate ceiling, but his .294/.361/.465 line is better than any minor league season that Eric Bruntlett put up.

    Finally, thanks to those above who have given firsthand reports on Taylor’s defense. I know I say this all the time, but those of us who can’t see the games only have the numbers to go on, and eyewitness reports are very much appreciated to get a more well-rounded picture of these prospects.

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  43. Taylor likely doesn’t make the MLB roster next year simply because Francisco is the 4th OF and he wouldn’t get enough ABs as a 5th OF/PH off the bench. I could see a scenario where one of the big 3 (Werth, Ibanez, Vic) goes on the DL and Taylor is the first one called up. Werth is a good enough all around hitter (unlike Howard) that you don’t need to platoon him against RHP so that wouldn’t work.

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  44. Could be wrong, but I think vic is under control through 2011. Doubt they trade him under any cicumstances. I also doubt they sign him to play beyond then as well. First, he’ll be too expensive since he is a tougher johney damon with a way better arm. Second, one of the following outfield prospects (gose, hudson, stewart, collier, castro, berry) should be ready to man center by then. .

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  45. Nepp
    Recheck against righties something like .244 and for some he is hopeless. One of the new outfielders needs to learn 1b. Dobbs ???? what is his contract status. He is not the PH he was last year.
    Just about the time I start to like Werth he goes in the tank.

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  47. I’ve been listening to a few of the Reading Phillies games and from what I hear throught the ‘net, Dom Brown’s defense is shakey. He doesn’t run good routes to the ball and has dropped two flyouts. Can anyone else chime in here or is it just me?

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  48. Can Hudson play any infield positions? Liek 2B or SS? I could envision him being converted to one of those, and Altherr being moved to 3rd. They dont have enough room in these high minor league OF’s for all these guys. I always forget that Victorino is under team control for a long time still.

    Werth and Ibanez will definitely walk. Werth leaves after the season, Taylor probably slots in at age 25. But then theres 3 more years until Ibanez and Victorino leave from their contracts. Youd presume Brown (though hed be what, 25? woudl slot in at Center, and I think by then one of the older OF’s like Susdorf will be a 4th or 5th OF. That leaves Gose, Dugan, Hudson, etc. to vie for one slot. Though its likely some of them will end up not beiing good enough by then.

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  49. I’ve been listening to a few of the Reading Phillies games and from what I hear throught the ‘net, Dom Brown’s defense is shakey. He doesn’t run good routes to the ball and has dropped two flyouts. Can anyone else chime in here or is it just me?

    He’s still raw defensively, and its the part of his game that needs the most work, based on all the scouting reports.

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  50. anybody know why the GCL updates on MiLB.com for the phils are always delayed? 12pm start times but the scoring doesn’t update until later in the afternnon. Seems like the other clubs get live updates from the beginning. Just curious.

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  51. That scoutingthesally.com guy gave huge praise to Mattair in his August 12th report and said that Goldstein called him the best defensive 3rd basemen in the minors.

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  52. It is not just you, Dominic Brown’s defense is not good, I’ve seen him play in A and AA. Bad routing & catching the balls.

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  53. Hey Phillies fans,

    Thanks so much for checking in and reading my pieces on the Lakewood/Savannah series. I’ll be doing detailed reports on the following players in the near future –

    Mattair
    Myers
    Gose
    D’Arnaud
    Way
    Correa
    May (if he throws)

    Thanks for making today the best day in my blogs short history!

    I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have about these guys over on the Scouting the Sally forum.

    Congrats on a stellar season in Philly and good luck the rest of the way.

    Mike Newman
    scoutingthesally.com

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  55. good stuff mike, now do you think you can trick me tomorrow and just write he hit 3 homeruns (pipedream) so i can at least pretend to get pumped about his future?

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  56. At what point do we give up on mattair being the possible 3b of the future? do we now rest our hopes on hewitt? gotta have more than a glove at that position. i know its been said before but we need to address infielders at next yrs draft. is there anyway of knowing if next years draft is stronger at these positions?

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  57. I came over expecting to hear someone commenting about Michael Taylor’s 5-5 night thus far…oh yeah…he has hit for the cycle!

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  59. It’s way too early to give up on Mattair. He’s still only 20 years old. He wouldn’t be drafted until next year if he had opted for college. Calling him the 3rd baseman of the future was and always will be silly. You can’t call a kid who’s never been above low A anything of the future.

    He’s at least taken some steps forward this year (albeit small), but I think it’d be silly to give up on him. And his D is still top notch, so if his bat ever comes around we’re talking about a real good prospect.

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  60. Those looking for the Taylor 5 for 5 thing, should look at the boxscore roundup for 8/12 when it actually happened.

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  61. I think the phillies have decided to spend money at the 3B, SS, and 2B position going forward. The stockpiling at all other positions indicates they want to fill them from within. Beyond locking utley and Jroll up as phils for life, I bet they go after primo talent at 3B following next season.

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  62. “I’m a little down on Way if he’s topping out at 86.”

    Way threw 89-93 in college according to multiple scouting reports. Hard to believe he’s living at 83-86 in the minors. Mught have been a bad gun.

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