Recap: The BlueClaws started the season on an 8-game road trip to Asheville and Hagerstown, splitting both 4-game series. They opened the home schedule by winning two of the first three in a series with Greensboro. The highlight of the first two weeks of the season was Sunday’s performance by Nick Hernandez, who shut out Greensboro through eight innings, allowing three hits and no walks while striking out nine.
Hitting: Lakewood has benefitted by not facing any highly-rated pitching prospects through the first three series and leads the SAL in hitting with a .301 team mark. Anthony Hewitt has gotten off to a nice start with a .359/.419/.590 line, having hit in eight of ten games, including five multi-hit games. His 12 RBI place him among the league leaders, and he’s committed a single error in the field. He has struck out 13 times in 39 AB (although this does represent an improvement over his career K rate). Jonathan Villar is at .342/.444/.395 and has made a single error in the field. Leandro Castro is hitting .317 with two doubles and two triples, although he has been thrown out on 4 of 7 steal attempts. Sebastian Valle got off to a slow start with one hit in his first four games, but strung together four consecutive multi-hit games and sits at .244. Behind the plate, he’s thrown out two of six attempted base stealers and has been charged with a passed ball. Jiwan James started hot with ten hits in the first five games, but has just two hits in the six games since, although his 10 RBI are second to Hewitt on the team. Domingo Santana is off to a tough start and is hitting .259 with 10 Ks in 27 ABs.
Pitching: Nick Hernandez has had an extremely impressive start, progressing from a 6 IP/ 2 ER outing on opening day to a 7IP / 1 ER outing against Hagerstown to today’s 8 IP masterpiece. This string has resulted in a 1.29 ERA and 0.86 WHIP. A 20/1 K/BB ratio in 21 IP and a 23/15 GO/FO ratio is further evidence of the start he’s had. Jarred Cosart has also had a fine first two weeks, producing 14 Ks in 11IP, a sub-1.00 WHIP, and a 15/3 GO/FO ratio over his two starts. Matt Way and Brody Colvin have been lit up in the 3 and 4 spots in the rotation. Way was pounded, allowing nine hits and seven runs, in his first start (3 IP), while improving only moderately in his second (six hit and four runs in five innings). Colvin has lost both his starts with a 8.00 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP, and a 5/16 GO/FO ratio and lack of Ks (6 in 9 innings). Jonathan Pettibone has held his own as the fifth starter thus far with a 3.48 ERA in two starts.
Schedule: The BlueClaws wrap up their series with Greensboro on Monday with Cosart opposing the Marlins’ #3 prospect Chad James. Hagerstown then comes in for four (with Joe Blanton making his rehab start on Tuesday). The BlueClaws then hit the road next weekend starting in Greensboro.
Phuture Phillies 
I don’t find Santana’s stats to be bad – to the contrary, it looks like he’s holding his own, which, I think, is the goal this year. He’s 17!!!!
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So what’s the upside on Hernandez? Haven’t heard much about him. 12 round pick last year. Is it just a case of a college kid dominating in low A? Or could he be for real?
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I agree with catch- the fact that Santana is holding his own is really encouraging. They aren’t amazing statistics, but they are certainly good enough to justify his being there and prevent him from being sent back to short season ball. Good enough for me!
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Don’t think that a .260 avg. with a 37% K rate is enough to keep Santana out of SS ball this summer.
I’m encouraged that he’s not being overwhelmed at this level but a “demotion” to SS ball wouldn’t be a bad thing at this point either.
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What has happened to Julian Sampson? Is in in extended spring training or was he released?
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I think, with Santana, we should give him an adjustment period. Unless he looks like he’s utterly flailing away (does not seem to be the case now), I wouldn’t even be concerned with his statistics until mid-June.
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I went to Lakewood on Saturday when they won 7-1. Some notes.
– Pettibone wasn’t overly impressive but they didn’t really hit the ball that hard and he got key outs.
– Hewitt looks comfortable at the plate and actually seemed patient. Struckout looking in the first but then hit 3 balls hard in his final 3 ABs for 1 hit and 2 RBIs. Most of his ABs were 5+ pitches.
– Villar looks good in the field, good range, and a good arm. More patient then I figured, I believe he had 2 walks.
– James made an amazing diving catch in the gap. I was amazed he got to a ball that was destined to be a double if not a triple.
– Santana didn’t hit well but was far from appearing overmatched. Seemed to go the other way alot which surprised me. Also a lot faster than I figured. Easily beat out a standard groundball to third.
– Barnes is a very good hitter. He had 2 doubles and would have had a triple if not for a ridiculous catch.
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Hewitts K rate may be better than his career, but that’s not what I look at. I look for improvement year over year. His current K rate is the same as it was last year
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Look for improvement at the end of the year, it’s too small of sample size to say anything one way or the other.
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Yeah, Santana is really holding his own. Yes, the K’s are too high, and he’s going to have to work on that (and drawing a few more walks), but the kid is making some contact, and the power still translating at the higher level.
I’d leave him at Lakewood if his average is above .250 when short season ball starts.
He probably needs to work on pitch recognition – Lakewood is a better place to do that in since some of the pitchers here have breaking pitches/change-ups. Short season pitchers are mostly hoping to get the fastball over for a strike.
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Thanks for the update DaveP. I have been wondering about the level of pitchers that Lakewood was facing. Now I can put their performance in perspective.
Someone said it in the other thread but I guess Nick Hernandez will force his way to Clearwater and move JC Ramirez to AA where he belongs. I guess all promotions will depend on which Reading starter is demoted to the Bull-pen.
I read somewhere that it is expected that Villar will outgrow the SS position physically. If anyone else has heard this, how likely is it?
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hewitt is a power hitter. k’s will come with the territory. as long as he is making solid contact then he is doing well. the issue last year was more what he was doing in the abs where he didn’t strike out, which wasn’t much. this year, he is crushing the ball.
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if santana can hit over .250 and 10+ HRs. earn some walks and Reduce K’s. Would be a very positive year. Most prospects his age are either in the GCL or DSL.
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Jiwan has been hitting the ball hard on the homestand with little to show for it. Had the tying run on 2nd base with 2 outs in the 9th on Friday….hit a line drive that the Greensboro SS caught with a diving stab. Would have gotten through on most other guys.
Jiwan is a confident player who knows what to do to improve and will work at it.
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Thanks to Jon and Jay Ballz for the firsthand reports. And obviously, thanks to davput for the report.
Cosart v. James is a doozy of a matchup tonight. Looking forward to following that box score.
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Cosart: 6 K through 3 IP…looks like he’s on his game tonight.
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Dealin. Very nice.
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Cosart is sitting 93-94 so far.
7 Ks through 4.
7 K was on a 91 mph fastball.
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9 Ks through 5.
He’s just rolling.
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As is Phillipe Aumont.
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Cosart is at 74 pitches through 5.
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Hitting 90 mph in the 6th.
10 Ks now…through 5.1 IP.
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Cosart (likely his final line): 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K
Beekman (lefty) was up warming in the 6th and Cosart has to be around 95 pitches.
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Seems like he’s holding his velocity just okay. How’s his stuff holding up NEPP? Sharp break on the curve etc, commanding the fb. This start is reminiscent of Jason Knapp’s 14 K breakout last April.
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I have no idea really. I’m listening purely to the radio. He seemed like he was mostly using his fastball. He was shaking off the catcher (per the play by play) several times to go to his fastball. From when I listened (4-6), he was 90-94 on his fastball and working some (but not alot) of off-speed stuff in.
He rolled in the 4th and 5th with 10 pitches per inning and threw around 20-25 (I didn’t keep an exact count) in the 6th. He was having a bit more trouble getting the ball over in the 6th but he limited it to 1 hit and a couple of flyballs.
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Sounds good, thanks NEPP.
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Cosart with another solid outing; 6 IP – 3 H – 1 BB – 10 K. That’s now 23 K in 16 IP.
about 1 hour ago via web (james’ Twitter)
James i love ya man, but can you give this kid something more than “solid” with that line????lol
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I was sitting behind home plate and cosart average fastball was 94 while touching 95-98 multiple times. Stadium gun was off on both James was 89-91 hitting 92 while stadium said 84-89. Good all around game from claws
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I’d like to see him use something other than his fastball to get Ks. I don’t like that he was shaking off the catcher so much to go to his best pitch and get easy Ks.
Overpowering guys with a great fastball works in Lakewood…it doesn’t work the higher levels.
I’m not taking anything away from his early season effort, but if the catcher is calling a certain pitch, its likely because the dugout wants him to throw it.
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I think Villar may be the most underrated prospect in the system right now. He’s got good size, switch hitter, young/appropriate for the level, really advanced plate discipline last year and is off to another red-hot start, while keeping up the walk rate
Oh, and he’s a SS. What’s not to like?
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Nothing…he seems like a nice find so far. Lets all hope he keeps it up. It’s be nice to have some middle infield prospects. Even if he ends up at 2B instead of SS (like what happened to Jason Donald), its still good.
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Has to be one of the best starting pitching nights ever for the organization’s farm teams with Cosart, Hyatt and Aumont pitching well combining for 23 strike outs, only three walks and one earned run in 16 innings of work. Was able to catch Aumont in Harrisburg tonight. His fastball was sitting between 89 mph and 92 mph. He topped out at 96 once in the second inning and came back with a 74 mph curve on the next pitch to strike out the Senators third baseman Adam Fox. His best pitching sequence was in his last inning of work in the 5th. With Harrisburg’s catcher Jhonatan Solano batting Aumont got two called strikes on back to back 74 mph curve balls. Solano then fouled off 94 and 91 mph fastballs and finally struck out swinging on a 84 mph change up. His final line was 5 IP, one run on three hits with 5 strike outs and no walks. Clearly the best I have ever seen him pitch from the rocky outings he had in Spring training.
The other highlight of the game was Tyson Gillies squaring a pitch in the 9th and lining it nearly 400 ft. far out the stadium off into the night over the right field wall for Reading’s only run of the night. The blast was similar to the long home run I saw him hit against the Blue Jays in Dunedin early in spring training when he was up briefly with the big team.
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Please no more with the “SAMPLE SIZE” . Its still cold outside and we all realize how early it is.
Santana is taking walks and is over .400 OBP. Watching Heyward shows how important selectivity is to a rook.
btw does he shave yet?
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Don’t think that Santana’s numbers are bad, whatsoever, given the context.
As far as the “no top prospects” thing, They may not have faced anybody on a Baseball America list, but one would think if a pitcher was signed by the Yankees, made it to the LO-A roster was placed in the starting rotation, and all that, they could make some good pitches here and there and have some ability. Similar to any other organization.
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Rickey, I was just looking at some of those pitching stats. Excellent night for the phils farm. Good to see Gillies with back to back multiple hit games and only 1 KO.
I hope Mathiason gets his control because the Phils are going to need him.
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I don’t know about anyone else, but the walks Santana is drawing, to me, bode about as well as anything else for his future development. The fact that he appears to be extremely athletic on the field and the base paths are similarly encouraging.
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If Cosart hits 95-98, combined with everything else, then he does have elite prospect stuff. Very, very few starting pitchers have fastballs that routinely sit in the 94-95 MPH range. Many of the ones who do have names like Lincecum, Verlander, Oswalt, Peavy, Beckett, Lester, Sabathia and Hernandez. Seriously, it’s a very select crowd we’re talking about and nobody on the current team, including Halladay, is close to that range (Halladay can, on occasion, hit 94 or 95, but he, I think quite intentionally, sits in the 92-93 range).
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I agree with one minor caveat…he needs to command/locate it in that range (94-96ish). If he can do that, then he’ll be elite.
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All this Cosart talk is taking me back to Schwin’s bold prediction … that Cosart will be a top 25 prospect at years end. If he continues at this pace, I guess that’s possible. Didn’t really think it was possible when he said it, but will be interesting to see if it happens.
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I meant Swhcim!
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Or … Schwim!!
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I saw the Blue Claws on Sunday. Santana is lankier and faster than I expected. He made two excellent plays in rightfield and he also beat out an infield hit. He was thrown out stealing twice and needs work on his sliding. He slides headfirst and slows down before reaching the bag. His swing looks long, I am sure that will improve with seasoning. I am interested to see how he hits as the weather warms up. It was a cold weekend in New Jersey.
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In the 9th. Two more hits for Hewitt. No Ks so far. Threw a guy out at 3rd from RF. Redemption. Keep it up.
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Having hard time focusing on minors – Jason Heyward and a couple of his frieds just brought on the symptoms of a migraine headache.
Folks, those MLB Braves are for real – whoever doesn’t win the division is probably going to get the wild card and the Braves will be hell on earth if we have to face them in the playoffs – it can’t be easy every year.
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and enjoy the prospects while u can, cuz i have a feeling we will be seeing a few more go at the deadline this year as well
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Welcome Heath Bell!!! I’m guessing Gose and others go to get Mr. Bell to Philly come June or July.
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If the prospects go at the deadline, so be it. The minor league exists to help the big club. As far as I am concerned, they can trade as many as they want, so long as they keep developing good talent/trade pieces.
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Oy. What a rough night for Colvin.
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I guess Colvin isn’t a mudder. Couldn’t get out of the 2nd inning. The weather summary said it was raining. But pitching was pretty ugly all the way round. Both teams combined: 20 H, 19 R, 12 BB, 7 WP, Balk, 2 HBP & 1 PB.
Colvin needs to see warmer, drier weather to see what he can do.
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Bellman Maybe pitching in foul weather is a learned thing too,
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