Lehigh Valley Weekly Report

7. Lehigh Valley

Another slow start for Lehigh Valley, this time at 3-5, tied for 4th place and 2.5 games behind division leading Syracuse. Still a little early to be looking at league leaders. Look for the feature to begin next week.  See below for notes on propects, transactions, and probable starters.

Monday–The ‘Pigs opened a short two game series in Pawtucket Monday evening and Andrew Carpenter (0-1) was hit hard in his first start of the year, lasting just 3.1 innings and giving up 5 runs on 6 hits in the 6-5 Lehigh Valley loss.  He walked 3 and didnt strike out a batter. Carpenter threw 75 pitches, just 41 for strikes. An RBI triple by John Mayberry gave the ‘Pigs the early lead, but that was quickly answered by Pawtucket who didnt look back. An RBI double by Chris Duffy cut the lead to 6-2, and then a three run ninth made the game close.  John Mayberry led the ‘Pigs at the plate with a 3-4 effort, including a triple and 2 RBI’s.

Tuesday– Lehigh Valley completed their short two game series against Pawtucket with a split in a 12-0 shellacking of the Red Sox. Brian Mazone (1-0) got the start and earned the win going five shutout innings, allowing just 4 hits.  He walked one and struck out 4.  Jake Woods and Jason Anderson pitched two innings apiece to complete the shutout.  Lehigh Valley had a huge eight run second inning that put the game out of reach very early.  Offensive notables were many.  They included Chris Duffy (2-4, 3r), Neil Sellers (2-5, r, 4RBI), and John Mayberry (2-3, 2r, 2b). Wilson Valdez added 3 RBI’s as well.

Wednesday–It was the Lehigh Valley home opener on Wednesday and the ‘Pigs kept their record intact of never having won an opener of any sort in their 5-2 loss to Rochester.  Lehigh Valley scored a first inning run on a Cody Ransom RBI single, however a two run fourth inning put Rochester up to stay.  Ryan Vogelsong (0-1) got the start and was adequate at best, going 5.1 innings and giving up 3 runs on 5 hits.  He walked four and struck out six.  A RBI single by Andy Tracy cut the lead to 5-2, but a big inning was thwarted when a long fly ball by Paul Hoover was caught up against the wall with the bases loaded.

Thursday–The ‘Pigs earned their first home victory of the 2010 season and did so in impressive fasion. Lehigh Valley opened the scoring on a two run homer by Cody Ransom(3) in the 2nd inning, which was  followed by back to back solo shots by DeWayne Wise and John Mayberry in the 4th. Rochester got one back on an unearned run (Mayberry error). Nate Bump (1-0) got the start and pitched very well, going 7 innings, giving up just a lone run (0 earned).  He walked 2 and struck out 1, leaving with a 4-1 lead. Scott Mathieson came in and again pitched two scoreless innings earning his first save of the year.  His velocity sat between 92 and 97, throwing 27 pitches, 17 for strikes. Andy Tracy broke out of his April malaise with a two hit evening.

‘Pigs Prospects

John Mayberry-A quick move down from the number three spot to the number 7 spot in the order seems to have kick started Mayberry who is now working on a 6 game hitting streak. His early line: .313/.389/.420 in 32 at bats thus far.  He has a homer to go along with 5 RBI’s thus far.

Mike Zagurski-It has not been pretty for Zagurski so far.  He has allowed runs in each of his outings (3 outings, 4IP, 5ER) and blew a save in his first outing of the year.  The only real  positive is that it is early.

Scott Mathieson–He has looked very good in all three of his outings so far pitching 2 shutout innings in each.  His velocity is sitting in the mid 90’s.  If Mathieson continues at a rate even vaguely similar to the way in which he has started the season, he will force the Phils hand for a recall well before September (how about June).

Andrew Carpenter–An ugly initial outing for Carpenter who couldnt find the strike zone and was hit hard to boot after his return from his brief stint with the big club.  0-1  3.1 IP 6H 5ER 3BB 0K 13.50 ERA/2.70 WHIP.

Joe Savery–Average at best for Savery in his initial outing.  5IP 5H 3ER 2BB 3K and 3 stolen bases against him.  Alot of improvement needed.

Transactions:Wilson Valdez was called up to Philadelphia to take  the place of the injured Jimmy Rollins. INF Melvin Dorta was promoted from Reading to fill Valdez’ spot on the Lehigh Valley roster.  He was batting .176 in 17 at bats thus far on the season.  Dorta saw action in 95 games at the AAA last year hitting .252 for Norfolk.  He has logged 35 days of major league service.

Probables: Friday: Savery; Saturday: Carpenter; Sunday: Mazone

Notes: Lehigh Valley blew 8 leads in their first 5 games.  Brutal.

—Chris Duffy opened the year with a 7 game hitting streak.

—Paul Hoover has reached base safely in all six games he has played in.

18 thoughts on “Lehigh Valley Weekly Report”

  1. hey first time on here but big matthieson and found out he has a website coming soon it is scottmathieson.com

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  2. 2nd best WHIP on the team is Alex Concepcion. A lot of people think the 25 year old belongs in AA but he’s held his own. I saw him with Reading last year and liked what I saw. I wouldn’t call him a prospect but he could be a pleasant surprise in AAA.

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  4. Over the course of the season there will be some injuries to the pen. Bastardo should be joining this group soon because JC looks about ready. Nate Bump is actually a guy with some talent who has major league experience who also could get called up later in the year if he does well. He’s the definition of AAA depth to me. It looks to me like Lakewood was ready to go home yesterday and played like they wanted out. Lots of talent but it looks like they make lots of youthful mistakes.

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  5. Mattison is the guy to watch on this club. How often do you have bullpen insurance at AAA with mid-90’s stuff and ML experience?

    What a great story too…

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  9. What happened to Brown yesterday? They said he had an injury and Spidale replaced him in the 2nd inning.

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  10. Brown was injured in a collsion in the OF. Hit his head. He is being called day to day but will not play tonight.

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  12. mike77 what is that commit mean. This is a homegrown talent with good stuff, mathieson was highly regarded before he got hurt and has his velocity back. better then the slop we got for lee.

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  13. mikemike said, “what is that comment mean.”

    It means that the fact Mathieson throws mid to high 90’s as a reliever does not make him special. Derrick Turnbow threw 100, and could not get anybody out in the majors. As a reliever, Aumont throws mid to high 90’s and is 20 years old. Aumont also has a potential secondary pitch (Curve) that is better than anything Matieson throws. Yet you call him slop.

    Glad you know more than every scout in baseball, and can tell me Mathieson is better than Aumont and Ramirez.

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  14. It is funny the “home grown” bias that some people have on this board. I like Mathieson better than mike77 does, and he is closer to the majors than the former Seattle guys, but all three have a higher upside than Mathieson – and in Aumont’s case, if he avoids injury, his “downside” is probably higher than Mathieson’s upside.

    On a larger point, not specifically responding to mikemike’s point, but to the frequent whinging posts about how often the Phillies trade their prospects, one would think that bottom line results of the major league team, combined with the vital contribution of the guys acquired for prospects, would mean SOMETHING to these people.

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  16. Which Mike?
    Looks like Zagurskie did good yesterday, I think it was one inning , clean with 3 strikeouts. Maybe 2, but, he did good, that’s what it is .
    No room at the Inn for Mathieson, till September it seems. I expect the MLB crew will settle into their roles shortly . Soon it wil be guaranteed MLB contracts down the line. Plus Herndon who should bounce back from his one poor outing, which was said to be due to some ill placed ground balls.
    Soon to be bullpen: Herndon, Durbin, Contreras, Baez, J.C. Romero, Madson, Lidge. Even if Herndon regresses a bit and they acquire rights from Angels and ship him, they should really have 2 LHP’s, so maybe they bring back Bastardo, or even Zagurskie or Escalona. So it looks like no room at the Inn for Mathieson, for now.

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  17. Z entered the game with bases loaded. AC pitched well but ran out of gas. If the phils choose to view his first game as back to the minors blues then he may be back in the pix because
    WIP reported late last night Happ is having forearm stiffness but nothing on the team page.
    note: Josh Johnson report the same deal pre “tommie john”

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  18. nowheels, good observation on Carpenter. My man had a good start last night. Let’s hope he shook off the cobwebs and is back to his normal self.

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