Recap: Lakewood went 4-3 on the week, splitting a four game series with Charleston, then taking 2 of 3 from Savannah. The Claws currently sit in second place in the SAL North with a 17-14 record, two games behind Hickory. The week was marked by pretty solid starting pitching and capped off with a 15-inning win on Sunday on Jonathan Villar’s walkoff single.
Hitters: The BlueClaws hitters struggled in general this week. The best week was turned in by Domingo Santana who raised his average from .171 to .209 on the strength of a 7-26 week which included 3 2B and 4 RBI to go with a 10/4 K/BB ratio. He continues to pace the SAL in Ks while ranking 3rd in BB. Adam Buschini had an 8-30 week with 4 XBH and two steals, although he did make 5 errors at 3B. Leandro Castro went 6-29, although an 0-8 Sunday sabotaged his week, dropping his average from .302 to .282 in one afternoon. Jonathan Villar went 7-28 with 3 RBI and 10 K–he did have a noteworthy game in Sunday’s marathon, entering as a PR, then going 3-3 and knocking in the game winner. Darin Ruf went 8-26 on the week with 4 XBH and 3 RBI. His average now sits at .308 and he’s tied with Santana for third in the league in walks while ranking 2nd in OBP. Jeremy Barnes had a 6-29 week that pared .034 off his average (to .307) although he did knock in three runs. Anthony Hewitt went 5-25, with two 2B and a HR and four RBI. He also struck out ten times. Sebastian Valle continued what has to be one of the most disappointing starts in the system, as a 3-22 week leaves him at .222 for the season. Jiwan James also struggled, going 3-23 dropping his average to .200.
Pitchers: Solid week across the board. Nick Hernandez continued his spectacular start (despite taking a loss) by going 7 inning, allowing 4 H, 1 ER, striking out nine and walking 2 against Charleston. He lowered his ERA to 1.98, and ranks among the SAL leaders in IP (3rd) and strikeouts (4th). Brody Colvin had his best start of the early going, going 6.1 innings allowing no earned runs on two hits, striking out 5 and walking 4. Matt Way was also very good, going 7.2 in his start, allowing one earned run on five hits, striking out 10 while not allowing a walk. Jarred Cosart and Jon Pettibone had up and down weeks. Pettibone’s first start was stellar as he went seven shutout innings allowing just two hits against Charleston. However, he didn’t make it out of the second inning in his start against Savannah, allowing eight runs (four earned) in 1.2 IP. Cosart came off the DL to make two starts (four innings each), posting a combined line of 8 IP, 5 ER, 7 K, and 3 BB. Colby Shreve pitched in three games this week, combining for 6.1 IP, allowing 6 hits, 4 runs (one earned), with 2 BB and 2 K. Finally, it’s probably worth mentioning Josh Zeid, who’s been closing at Lakewood. He was a 10th Round pick out of Tulane last year and was named Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Month. His peripherals aren’t great and he is 23 already, but he does have a 0.87 ERA and is holding apposing hitters to a .145 average through his first 20 innings.
Other: Not really a Lakewood story per se, but since it was his last team, I figured I’d throw in here that Travis Mattair has been accepted to Boise State and is attempting to walk on to the basketball team there as a 21-year old freshman.
Phuture Phillies 
Thanks davput. Interesting about Mattair. Good luck to him!
I thought it strange they used Shreve for 1/3 of an inning this past week. That does not sound, to me, like a good way to use a promising pitcher coming off of injury. Anyone know why that happened?
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Good for Travis! Glad to hear he’s going to college – he seems like a nice, smart guy.
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Here’s what Travis said last year about what he’d do if he weren’t a ballplayer – he’d teach special ed kids – very nice.
Henry in Havertown: If you weren’t a baseball player, what would you want to do with your life?
Mattair: I have worked with Special Needs kids for a long time, starting in 3rd grade, and I want to teach SpecialEd and run a branch of the Special Olympics in my area back home. That is what I really want to do. I feel like I have a gift for it, and that is what I want to do when I am done playing baseball.
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Yeah, I remember that interview with Mattair, and he seems like a class guy. It’s a shame his pro baseball career didn’t pan out (and I was a huge supporter of his), so I wish him the best of luck.
Heckuva game yesterday for the Claws. Santana certainly seemed to be in the middle of a good bit of their offense – 3 runs scored amongst his two hits and a walk. It’s also good to see that he had only one K in his eight at-bats. He will be a frightening prospect when he cuts back on the strikeouts
– Jeff
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Mattair is a perfect example, why I believe you take the money out of high school.look he got his bonus money, failed and now he is going to college with a nice financial start.If he went to college and stunk it up like he did in the minors, he would have gotten nothing to start his life with, nice to have that bonus money to help pay college cost.And when i say take the money it must be nice bonus money, not 50,000 or 100,000 thousand .but if there is 3 or more hundred thousand then you should take it try to play if you fail then go on with your life. at 21 cant he get the college experience everyone talks about.
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Or maybe he coulda just went to college for free, developed his bat more, and been a high round pick, 30 credits away from a degree. I agree with you, but college works too.
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going to college for free is like getting 100,000 dollars anymore.
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Mattair is a thief. He got much more than 100K to sign as a high pick. He stunk it up for a couple years and kept his bonus. The Phillies should ask for some of that money back (like they do in football, when a guy prematurely retires) and get a mid level international guy.
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No wonder you’re “anonymous”
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“Mattair is a thief. He got much more than 100K to sign as a high pick. He stunk it up for a couple years and kept his bonus. The Phillies should ask for some of that money back (like they do in football, when a guy prematurely retires) and get a mid level international guy.”
Seriously, this is one the most stupid, mean-spirited things that has ever been written on this site. Perhaps you should change your handle from “Anonymous” to Jackass.
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To finish – Travis Mattair didn’t want to fail. I’m sure he wanted nothing more than to be the next Scott Rolen or Mike Schmidt, but it’s funny how trying to hit an 85 MPH curve after seeing a 94 MPH fastball can make even the best athlete look incompetent. He gave up three years of his life to miss going to college out of high school in order to run around and make a terrible minor league salary. It didn’t work out for him or the Phillies, but to call him a thief is ridiculous, inaccurate and unconscionable. I shouldn’t even dignify this outrageous remark with a meaningful response, but I’m not used to see truly nasty stuff on this site and that’s one reason I like to come here. Go away.
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I second Beard and Catch. Anonymous, get over yourself and then get a basic understanding of labor supply and demand.
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Good for Travis! Not everyone is cut out for pro baseball. It took him a couple years to find out. I suspect he was mentally never 100% there, with his interests in helping kids, but that’s just a guess. Not a criticism of him. He gave it a try and found out who he really is. Getting the basketball experience will broaden his athletic repertoire and help him in Special Olympics and coaching.
Finding out who you really are is the first step to success. There are some MLB players who just draw a paycheck are are not deeply motivated to play the game. Yeah, they are making some bucks, but Mattair may have the better life.
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