Monthly Archives: August 2009

Lehigh Valley Weekly Report

7. Lehigh Valley

Pretty much an awful week for Lehigh Valley, who went 2-5 and are now at 59-66, 11.5 games behind division leading Scranton as well as  11.5 games out of the wild card spot with less than 3 weeks left in the season.

‘Pig hitting leaders include Andy Tracy who is 5th in runs (67), 2nd in homers (23), 2nd in RBI’s (81), and leads the league in walks (63) ,as well as  Rich Thompson who is 6th in triples (5) and 7th in stolen bases (24). Lehigh Valley pitching leaders include Drew Carpenter who is 4th in wins (10), 4th in ERA (3.20), 3rd in innings (138), 3rd in homers allowed (17), and 5th in strikeouts (111)  Kyle Kendrick is 9th in WHIP (1.21).

Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

Box Score Roundup; August 20th

Box Score Recap

Its time for the Friday edition. Before digging into the box scores, just an update. I’m planning on writing a series of draft reviews for the 2003, 2004 and 2005 drafts in the next few weeks. My review of the 2002 draft was one of the first things I wrote when I started this site, and I wanted to get back to that idea. My reviews won’t be as in depth as the 2002 review, but frankly, I probably wasted too many words on that one anyway. I think it takes time to evaluate a prospect, certainly 2-3 years at least, so there isn’t much short term value in looking at 2007 and 2008 yet, but we can definitely paint a better picture of 2003-2005 at this point. So look for that next week. Until then, lets tackle last night’s box scores

Continue reading Box Score Roundup; August 20th →

Box Score Roundup; August 19th

Box Score Recap

Other than the Lehigh Valley rainout, a full slate of action around the minors to get to. Before we go there, just a quick update on the general site layout. I’m going to be making some changes to the general site layout (ie, the side bars and stuff) over the next few weeks in an effort to streamline the content and make the site easier on the eyes/easier to navigate. Frequent commenter “BC” has stepped up and put in a solid effort in helping me organize the player profiles into an easier to access setup which will be revealed when completed. My hope is that this makes it easier to find up to date, accurate info on all of the relevant prospects. There will be more info on that at a later date. Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that if you show up and things look weird/different, don’t sweat it, things will get fixed. Thanks. Now, onto the games…

Continue reading Box Score Roundup; August 19th →

Box Score Roundup; August 18th

Box Score Recap

Lets get this show on the road.

AAA: Lehigh Valley lost 10-5.

* John Mayberry went 2/5 with a HR (10)
* Michael Taylor is still on the mend
* Joe Savery got smacked around; 6 IP – 6 ER – 10 H – 2 BB – 2 K
* Joe Bisenius allowed 4 ER in 0.2 IP, and now sports a 27.00 ERA in his 3 AAA appearances.

Check below for the rest

Continue reading Box Score Roundup; August 18th →

Mailbag: Rosenberg, Dead Arm, Schwimlocity, Nutrition, and more…

Michael Schwimer Blog

Before I start with some Q&A, I want to again thank you for your continued support each week.  I am humbled by your interest in my baseball career. Continue reading Mailbag: Rosenberg, Dead Arm, Schwimlocity, Nutrition, and more… →

September Call Ups

Other Stuff

With September 1 quickly approaching, decision time comes once again for the Phillies, this time to decide who from the minor league system warrants a September recall.  As we know, there are a number of factors in addition to minor league performance that are considered in the decision making process.  The current 40 man roster, along with the cost of $67,000 per player in salary are probably the considerations on the forefront of managements mind.  In order to recall someone who is not on the 40 man, space must be cleared, by removing a player, subjecting them to waivers.  The other alternative is moving someone from the 15 day to the 60 day disabled list (i.e. Bastardo), which means that even though they are on the 40 man, their spot doesnt’t count against the 40 man. 

Looking at the 40 man roster, I would anticipate a first move of moving Bastardo from the 15 day DL to the 60 day DL, effectively creating one spot.  The 40 man roster spots of Joe Bisenius, Brad Harmon, Joel Naughton, and maybe even Drew Naylor appear to be in some jeopardy depending upon how much help the Phils decide they need.  All four have been disappointing, Bisenius and Harmon certainly much more so than Naughton and Naylor. Continue reading September Call Ups →

Box Score Roundup; August 17th

Box Score Recap

Oh, so there were minor league games played, even on deadline day, I guess we should talk about those as well. Invariably the question of where Colvin goes and when will come up. I wouldn’t expect to see him in the box scores the rest of this week, and maybe not next week either. He’ll surely report to the GCL squad sometime next week, and the Phillies could give him an inning or two before the season ends, so the GCL box scores are the ones to watch. My guess is that he’ll start in Lakewood next year, which is where he belongs. Now, onto the games…

Continue reading Box Score Roundup; August 17th →

2009 Draft Recap

2009 Draft

I think at this writing its safe to assume there are no more announcements coming. The Phillies big move of the day was, as previously discussed, signing RHP Brody Colvin, the team’s 7th round pick, and this turned out to be the only move of the day. The Phillies ended up signing 34 of their 49 picks, and based on the calculations I discussed earlier, they spent about $2.745M on their reported bonuses. Colvin’s bonus, $900K, was the largest bonus the team gave out, and was one of the more sizable bonuses given by any team after the 5th round. Check below for more…

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Stutes, Taylor Named Players of the Week, Taylor Day to Day with Injury

Other Stuff

Michael Taylor was named IL  player of the week for the week ending August 16, after a week in which he hit .417, including hitting for the cycle. the first time that has been done in Lehigh Valley history. Additionally, Taylor became the first IronPig to record two OF assists in the same inning.  Taylor has missed games both Sunday and Monday after suffering an oblique injury.  He is currently being called “day to day”.

In Reading, Mike Stutes was named EL Pitcher of the Week for the same time period after two starts in which he allowed just 1 earned run over 13 innings.  Stutes, 22, was the Phils 11th round pick in the ’08 draft. He struck out 15 over those 13 innings.

Phillies sign 7th round pick Brody Colvin

2009 Draft

The Phillies agreed to terms with 7th rounder Brody Colvin, a RHP from St Thomas More HS in Louisiana. As I wrote up during my draft review, Colvin was like a first round pick, and signing him was going to be vital to the overall success of this draft. Well, kudos to the Phillies for getting it done, despite things not looking promising over the last few days. His $900K bonus is the slot recommendation for the 35th overall pick. He’s got a very projectable pitcher’s frame, he already sits in the low 90’s, and he possesses a hammer curveball and an idea of what he’s doing on the mound. The Phillies will no doubt want to clean up his mechanics (as they worked on with Jason Knapp), but there’s nothing in there that really makes you worry, so you are refining an already solid delivery. BA had Colvin ranked #3 in a banner Louisiana draft crop, and #43 in the entire country. #41 (and #2 in LA) ranked Zach Van Rosenberg received a $1.2M bonus from Pittsburgh, so you have to say the Phillies got a minor bargain here. Welcome aboard Brody.

Update –> Apparently its not done yet. But I’m still confident.