For me, Draft Day is the most exciting day of the season with regard to the minors aspect of the Phillies organization, and a close second is deadline day. Teams have until 11:59 tonight to finish signing their draft picks. College seniors with no remaining eligibility do not apply, they have until 1 week prior to the 2010 draft to sign. But the Phillies don’t have anything to worry about on that front. Its going to be a crazy day with all of the signings, especially the high profile Scott Boras clients, but the Phillies have some decisions to make as well. Check below for more..
Monthly Archives: August 2009
‘Pigs Weekend Update
8/14/09–Michael Taylor and Andy Tracy continued carrying the Lehigh Valley offense as they opened a series in Buffalo with a 12-6 win. A four run first inning was highlighted by an RBI Single by Mike Cervenak, RBI double by Andy Tracy, and RBI single by Taylor. The ‘Pigs added another run in the 3rd on another RBI single by Michael Taylor. After Buffalo cut the lead to 5-3, the ‘Pigs added a run in the fourth, two in the fifth (Mayberry, 9th homer), and four in the sixth (Taylor (5) solo homer, and Tracy(20) 3 run homer), making the lead 12-5 and putting the game finally out of reach. Rodrigo Lopez (6-4) made his first start since returning from the Phils and was not sharp, going 5 innings and giving up 5 runs (4 earned) on 11 hits. Jake Woods continued doing whatever the club asked of him, pitching 4 innings in relief to earn his 2nd save. Rich Thompson was 2-4 with 3 runs scored and 2 stolen bases (21,22), while both Andy Tracy and Michael Taylor had multi hit games as well. Continue reading ‘Pigs Weekend Update
Lehigh Valley Weekly Report
With the season reaching its final three weeks, Lehigh Valley went through another mediocre week going 3-4, and have watched their chances for a playoff berth continue to dwindle with their 57-61 record. They are 9.5 games behind dvision leading Scranton, and are 8.5 games out of a wild card spot. Taking this weeks look at ‘Pigs among league leaders, Andy Tracy is 4th in homers (19), 3rd in RBI’s (72), and 2nd in walks (54), Mike Cervenak is 9th in RBI’s (59), Rich Thompson is 9th in stolen bases (20). On the mound, Drew Carpenter is 4th in wins (9), 5th in ERA (2.86), 7th in IP(126) and 6th in homers allowed (14).
Fixing the MLB Draft
As I alluded to in a previous post, I have some pretty big ideas for fixing the Major League Baseball draft. Before I get into the details (of which there will be plenty), just a few disclosures. I’ve never worked inside baseball, I have very few contacts inside the game, my college degree isn’t in Economics (its Political Science), and I’ve never played pro baseball. These ideas are largely mine, with some influence from other articles I’ve read about the shortcomings of the draft. I’m in no position to change things, but as you regular readers know, the draft is one of my favorite aspects of baseball, and I’m a bit of a baseball nut (obviously), so I figured it wouldn’t hurt for me to lay out my ideas for fixing something that I have a great deal of interest in. Of course, if you don’t think the draft needs fixing, then you can probably just skip this piece. If not, enter below the fold…
Box Score Roundup; 8/13
Before we dig into tonight’s games, just a quick note. The signing deadline is Monday night at 11:59 PM. I normally take the weekend off from adding new content, but if any news develops on signings, I’ll get to a computer and write it up. The farm lost a lot of depth in the Lee trade (which still looks absolutely fantastic, btw) and we know that the Phillies have a chance to instantly re-stock with three elite prospects still there for the signing. Susac looks unlikely, but never say never, at least until Tuesday. Anyway, upward and onward…
Colvin to attend Phillies workout
Scroll to the bottom of Andy Martino’s latest offering for this nugget
The Phillies will hold a workout at Citizens Bank Park this morning for seven unsigned draft picks, including Brody Colvin, a highly regarded righthanded pitcher. Colvin was selected in the seventh round and has a commitment to play for Louisiana State.
Outfielder Wander Nunez, the team’s 48th-round pick, who played high school baseball at Frankford last season, also will be there. The deadline to sign draft picks is 11:59 p.m. Monday.
Maybe someone should try and find out who the other guys attending will be. But obviously Colvin is the big time name here. Keep your fingers crossed.
Update –> Scroll down to the comment left by “Ketch”….then rejoice.
Box Score Roundup; 8/12
Before we dig into tonight’s box score, we may as well start with the highlight of the night. Michael Taylor hit for the cycle, going 5/5 with 2 doubles, a triple, and a home run, his 4th in 98 AAA AB’s. The huge game jumps his AAA average up to .286, he’s now at .325 over his last 10, and for the season (AA+AAA), he’s at .322/.398/.550 with 28 2B, 5 3B, 19 HR, 20 SB (20/25), 47 BB and 68 K. A truly awesome season to date, and the scary thing is that he might not even be the best outfield prospect in the system. Now, onto the box scores in more detail…
Sleeper Alert; Leandro Castro
As I mentioned in the box score roundup, I’m intrigued by Leandro Castro. I don’t know much about his backstory, I just know he was signed as an undrafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic. He made his US debut last year in the GCL at age 19, a year or two later than most big time Latin American prospects. His line for the season didn’t look particularly impressive; .298/.317/.422 with 9 2B, 3 HR and 9 SB, but only 4 BB and 25 K in 161 AB. He struggled at Lakewood before being placed back in the NYPL where he’s compiled an impressive batting line; .357/.395/.585 with 14 2B, 5 HR, and 12 SB, with a 25/9 K to BB ratio in 171 AB thus far. The power spike is notable, and though he’s been caught stealing 9 times, he obviously does have some speed. So seeing an intriguing guy who I didn’t know much about, I got in touch with a good friend of this website, Kevin Goldstein over at Baseball Prospectus and asked him if he had any good info on Castro. Check below the fold for his brief report
New feature; comment ratings
This should be a real hoot. I don’t know when wordpress added the feature, but I’ve enabled comment rating for the site. Lots of sites are now moving toward this function, where readers can rate the comments of their fellow users. I can remove this feature with the click of a mouse, so if people abuse it, its gone, I just wanted to test it out. If you see particularly troubling comments, stuff that is off topic or just insulting, then flag it with a thumbs down. I believe there is a way for me to generate reports if certain comments receive excessive thumbs down ratings. This might help me figure out who is here stirring up trouble and I can rectify the situation. So, rate away.
Box Score Roundup, 8/11
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…
Phuture Phillies 