Long time reader/commenter DiamondDerby was kind enough to provide us with his thoughts on his trip to see Lakewood play the other day, and so I’ll just post his entire entry below the fold. Check it out and enjoy, and a big thanks to DD for his input and observations.

Update: Busy day today. Ben Badler at Baseball America was in attendance for a recent run of Lakewood games, and he shared lots of observations on the most interesting Phillies prospects at Lakewood. Check it out here.

Here are my observations and thoughts at the April 27, Lakewood-Greensboro game. Just one man’s opinion folks, lots of talk, some with basis, some speculative. To anyone who has seen one or more Claws games, please confirm, correct, or expand on my observations

Pitching

I was impressed with Pettibone. He throws a hard fastball that explodes on hitters and jams guys pretty good. Nice hard “pop” when it hits the glove, as opposed to a “thwip.” Broke at least one bat. I unwittingly picked Kids Day to go—maybe a hundred buses full of kids, so the stands were stuffed with packs of a howling, frenetic adolescents—so I could not find a single scout to observe. Pitch speed was not displayed on the scoreboard either. My guess is Pettibone was sitting between 90 and 92 more or less, and can maybe touch a little higher, not sure of that. Movement is not exaggerated like a Greg Maddux or Ryan Madson, but there is a little tail, not laser straight, and that adds to the explosiveness and the jam jobs. He also has a very nice slider that had a lot of guys fishing outside. Very effective pitch.

Pet started out a little shaky in command, missing his spots by a little at times and overthrowing, wild high. He calmed down some in the second and then was locked in until the 7th, when it looked like he started to tire and miss his spots. Another thing I was impressed with was his demeanor and resilience. When he struggled a little in the first, he never lost his cool. Just kept going after the next hitter, calmly, matter-of-factly. Good mound presence, seemed competitive and professional in terms of holding runners on and fielding his position. From this one game, I can see Pet as a decent number 3 or 4 starter or a good setup guy, but he will have to stay healthy and be this way consistently to climb the ladder. And, if he’s Lakewood’s fourth or fifth best pitcher, we are in good shape.

Outfield play

Castro looked decent in left field. On one hard-hit line drive, he hesitated as if he were about to go in on the ball, and then had to retreat very quickly and leap to make the catch. Good athleticism in this guy, but it appears he needs to work on his reads. But today, his athleticism would outweigh Ibanez’s mediocre play and he would be more of a defensive asset.

Hewitt did not have to make any difficult reads, but you could see his speed when he had to track down a few long flies. Made a nice throw into the infield with something on it. I imagine his time at 3B was not this comfortable. He looks OK in CF, at least for this game. Santana was the most interesting in the outfield, IMO. I had pictured him as a meaty guy like Ryan Howard. At 6’5”, he is actually very rangy, built like a wiry power forward. his LEGS look 6’5” and he covers ground in the OF and going up the line like a praying mantis, gobbling up ground and taking about 4 or 5 strides to get to 1B (it seemed). He looked smooth, coordinated and athletic in the outfield, closed ground very quickly on the 2 or 3 fly balls hit away from him. On one he seemed a little lazy, like he had time to get under the ball, but just read the ball instead, coasted near it, and extended his glove forward for the catch. I could be wrong; maybe he just looks effortless when he runs.

Infield play

Most of the infield plays were routine. Everyone positioned themselves in front of the ball and were fundamentally sound, catching and throwing. No butchers in this infield at all. Buschini caught everything that came to him and had three other very tough chances at third base, balls hit hard down the line. He seemed to react slowly or with average quickness and missed each of those by a foot or more, so they went for doubles. As I said, tough chances, but we ain’t got no Brooks Robinson or Mike Schmidt there. A quicker guy might have gotten to one of them. Villar and James did not play (morning game after a night game), so I did not see Villar at SS, which was high on my list. Schoenberger made all the plays there in routine fashion. Reminds me of Jason Donald. Will never look bad, but unspectacular. Ruf looked solid at 1B, very comfortable and veteran-looking there.

Physical makeup:

After entering the Grasshopper’s new stadium, I went directly to RF to watch Pettibone warm up and players, stretch, jog, play catch and pepper. Hewitt, James, Castro, Valle, Santana, Villar, etc. Looked like an Olympic track team warming up. Very chiseled guys who carried themselves like premium athletes. Had that thoroughbred look when they jogged and did light sprints. It was fun watching, seeing all the physical talent. Hewitt can use a rubber band for a belt, his waist is so narrow. James looks like an 800 meter guy, fast and lean. Santana looks like the first adult alien out of the ship in “Close Encounters.” All legs, but bouncy and athletic.

Team makeup:

These guys were supremely confident, knew it, and wore it on their sleeves. They had a blast playing catch, really getting into the horseplay that can happen in warm-ups, such as surprise behind-the-back tosses to an unsuspecting guy. That snowballed to about 10 in a row, under-the-legs, glove-hand tosses etc. They were putting on a circus and laughing their butts off. Good to see. The kind of confidence you see in physically gifted young players when they are in first place.

Now, the lineup:

Shoenberger: Led off, makes consistent contact, not a free swinger, but would like to have seen him take a few more pitches. Competent hitter at this level. Let’s see if he can take his average game up the ladder and vie for a utility role.

Hewitt: He clearly wanted to be disciplined. Took 1 or 2 pitches deliberately a few times. Once he got a strike on him though, he got more jittery and fished badly on outside breaking pitches a few times. Grounded out once, K’d 3 times. Not the good Hewitt in this game. Petersen for Greensboro was throwing pretty good though, a little more dominating than Pettibone. But Hewitt will have to learn to battle these pitchers better. That is his task this year and next.

Barnes: Has a nice stroke and makes contact, drives the ball. First AB, he tagged one, but close enough to the RF to catch up and catch the liner near the fence. Later in the game he hit one over the CF’s head for a double. To me Barnes has a better chance than Shoenberger to make it as a utility guy, with a better bat. He could also play 2B for a lower team or a team with good offense at other positions. Maybe a David Bell type? Just off-the-cuff speculation.

Castro: Drove the ball nicely to CF on first pitch in first AB. Same in 4th for a sac fly to drive in first run. Clearly can handle the bat and should do OK at this level, based on this game and what he is doing (.329 BA). One of the free swingers though.

Ruf: One of the more patient hitters in the lineup. Pretty professional and advanced in everything he does in field and at plate. Worked a nice walk. Maybe Andy Tracy with a little less power?

Buschini: Unremarkable at most ABs. Fly ball double in 9th to score winning run. Not enough info to make a meaningful judgment here. Just avg ABs.

Batts: This guy might be able to hit a little, but blocked by Ruf at 1B. Fouled off 6 or 7 pitches befor K’ing in 5th. Two sharply hit GBs.

Santana: Ahh . . . Santana. Looked confident but a little overanxious. Jumped on early pitches at times and grounded out. But it seems he has a quick swing and can make good contact. He will be all about laying off sucker stuff and waiting for his pitch. With his big body, quick swing, and good eye-hand, he clearly has very high potential and he stood out as physically imposing and a dangerous guy to pitch to.

Langley: Catcher we picked up last week. Was with Greensboro and not doing well, I guess. He left the team and then G’boro let him go. Phils picked him up. Former 3rd rounder. Looked solid behind the plate. K’d and doubled down the line in 2 plate appearances. Don’t see anything wrong with him at this level, but nothing remarkable either. Not enough info at this time.

That’s it, hope this provides a picture of some of these guys.