A very bad week for Lehigh Valley, who were 2-5 on the week, and now stand at 13-20, in 5th place in the Northern Division, 7.5 games behind division leading Syracuse.
League Leaders, thru 5/12: Hitters: DeWayne Wise is tied for 4th in the league in doubles (11),9th in slugging (.550) and leading the league in triples (4). Cody Ransom is tied for 4th in homers (8) and 2nd in strikeouts (40), Andy Tracy is tied for 9th in Walks (18), Rich Thompson is 4th in batting average (.350).
Pitchers:Nate Bump is tied for 3rd with 4 wins; Scott Mathieson is 8th in saves (5); Brian Mazone is tied for 4th in homers allowed (6); Ryan Vogelsong leads the league in hitters walked (25) and is 7th in K’s (37).
Monday–Lehigh Valley began an 8 game road trip in CHarlotte with Tyler Flowers hitting two solo homers off of ‘Pigs starter Andrew Carpenter (3-3) in the 3-2 Lehigh Valley loss. A two run third inning gave the ‘Pigs their runs on a Andy Tracy solo shot (3), and a Luis Maza Sac Fly that scored Rich Thompson who had tripled. Carpenter left having thrown effectively in the loss, going 6.2 innings and giving up 3 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits. He walked one and struck out 8. Rich Thompson and Andy Tracy each had two hits for the ‘Pigs. THis loss was the 10th one run loss for Lehigh Valley.
Tuesday–A very nice effort by starter Brian Mazone (2-4) was wasted in the 2-1 Lehigh Valley loss to Charlotte on Tuesday, their 5th straight defeat. CHarlotte scored runs in the first and third off Mazone, who went 7 innings, giving up those 2 runs on 5 hits. He didnt walk a batter and struck out three. The only Lehigh Valley run came in the eighth when Dane Sardinha scored on a Chris Duffy ground out. No offensive notables to speak of.
Wednesday–A much needed some from behind victory Wednesday with a game winning grand slam by John Mayberry leading the way to the 6-5 win over CHarlotte. Mayberry, just back in the lineup after missing four games with ankle problems unleashed the bomb in the top of the 9th win the ‘Pigs down by 3. The home run was the cause of early problems for ‘Pigs starter Ryan Vogelsong who lasted only 2.2 giving up 5 runs on 4 hits (3 homers). He walked 3 and struck out 4. The ‘Pigs bullpen came in to throw 6.1 scoreless innings (Duckworth, Bastardo, Mathieson) with Scott Mathieson (2-0) getting the win in relief. Other offensive notables were Cody Ransom who knocked his 8th homer of the year, DeWayne Wise was 3-5 with 2 doubles and a run scored,while Rich Thompson continued his hot hitting with another two hit night.
Thursday–An excellent outing by Nate Bump was wasted with another implosion by Ehren Wasserman (0-3), this time giving up a game winning homer in the 8th to give Charlotte a 2-1 victory over Lehigh Valley. Bump gave up a lone run (solo homer in the first), while going 7 innings. He didnt walk a batter and struck out three. Lehigh Valley made its way back in the 7th when DeWayne Wise, who tripled, scored on a Cody Ransom sac fly. The ‘Pigs left 10 men on base, while Brian Bocock had two hits.
‘Pigs Prospects–Scott Mathieson threw another three scoreless appearances this week, earning a win and a save along the way. He threw 4 innings, gave up 2 hits and struck out 6, lowering his ERA to 0.54 on the year. His WHIP is standing at 0.84 and the opposition is hitting .184 against him. When Ruben, when?????
John Mayberry, Jr.–had an injury shortened 2-12 week. A week in which he missed 4 games with ankle issues. He came back to the lineup to hit the game winning grand slam on Wednesday. .284/.370/.529 with 5HR and 21 RBI, to go along with 2SB and .265 with RISP.
Andrew Carpenter had a good start this week, going 6.2 innings, giving up just 2 runs while striking out 8. Carpenter has been turning it around recently, giving up just 3 ER in his last 3 starts (17.2 IP). On the year, 3-3 with a 3.72 ERA. 12BB 19K, 1.41 WHIP; .264 opp. avg.
Joe Savery–The first really good start of the year for Savery who went 6 innings and gave up 2 runs. He walked just 1 and struck out 5. On the year: 0-2 with a 5.00 ERA, 12BB 16K, .306 opp. avg; 1.70 WHIP; .211 with RISP.
Notes: John Mayberry missed a fourth straight game on Monday with a shin bruise. He returned to the lineup on Wednesday.
–Rich Thompson is working on a 11 game hitting streak, a ‘Pigs season high. He is hitting over .400 during that time period.
—With the injury to Carlos Ruiz in Colorado, starting ‘Pigs catcher Dane Sardinha was removed from the lineup Wednesday as a precautionary measure. He was replaced by John Suomi.
–Tired??–The ‘Pigs bus left Lehigh Valley for the Newark airport at 330 a.m. Monday for their flight to Charlotte. They played in CHarlotte at 7pm Monday evening.
–12 of the 20 Lehigh Valley losses have been by one run.
Transactions: After spending just one day in Lehigh Valley, catcher Kevin Nelson was returned to Reading on Monday. Called up to take his place was Catcher John Suomi was was on the Clearwater roster. Suomi, 29, was hitting .353 in 18 AB’s for CLearwater. He hit .246 in 215 AB’s between AA and AAA in the Royals organization last season.
Phuture Phillies 
Does Mayberry have any shot of being a productive major league outfielder?
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depends on your definition of productive. An every day star? No. But a decent starter on a second division team, or a good fourth outfielder? I would say yes.
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I agree with Toddzilla.
Gregg, thanks for the write-up. In your opinion are the Pigs using the appropriate relievers based on situation? For example, using their three best relievers in a game they were losing by 3 runs, then using Wasserman in a leveraged situation? Or was this week just an aberration in terms of bullpen usage (i.e. none of Ducky, Bastardo, Mathieson were available to pitch the next night)?
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Boston–
Similar questions have been asked to Dave Huppert, the Manager of the IronPigs and he answers them by stating that it was “that pitchers turn to pitch”. So, in my opinion, the answer is no, if the goal is to win baseball games.
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Dewayne Wise looks like good depth in CF. And Bump might be a guy to pitch a game or two for Phils if a starter has to miss some starts. Here’s the guys I can see contributing a little to a lot this year, in that order:
-Ransom (injury replacement)
-Bump (same)
-Wise (same, but can handle a little longer run–more like Castro-level than Valdez)
-Carpenter (too inconsistent, but might pitch a decent game against the right lineup)
-Mayberry (can make an extended contribution, batting against lefties mostly)
-Bastardo (will make a significant contribution)
-Mathieson (will make a significant contribution)
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Also, Ducky might be another injury replacement for a 15-day DL.
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Valdez has proven putrid thus far, I’d like to see Ransom get a shot if we get another injury in the infield.
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Huppert’s response again shows that in the end, the goal in the minors is to develop players for the big club and not win minor league games.
I know fans of minor league teams don’t like hearing that but it is the truth.
And to add some perspective, I live in the Harrisburg area and a number of people contacted the local paper complaining when Strasburg was moved to AAA because it hurt the AA Senators.
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BostonPhan and Gregg, from watching AAA baseball I’ve found that managers almost ALWAYS manage bullpens based on whose turn it is to pitch. Sometimes teams keep a veteran closer around and some managers are good at cycling relievers in at opportune moments of the game.
One of the nice things about minor league baseball though is that managers almost never bother with situational lefties.
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3up, in those situations it’s often worth remembering that fans of specific minor league teams aren’t always fans of their parent clubs. While most of Philly’s clubs are planted firmly in Phillies territory, Harrisburg is in Phillies/Orioles territory, and most fans there probably aren’t big Nationals fans. And really, Strasburg is just an exciting pitcher to watch.
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Thanks Gregg and Alan, I appreciate the insight.
I suppose that making sure everyone gets regular innings helps pitchers prepare and gives management a meaningful sample of what each pitcher can do, but I would argue that, at AAA, a better preparation for the majors would be to practice pitching in certain situations. Oh well, there’s a reason I don’t work in baseball and Dave Huppert does.
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Well a guy like Mathieson will usually throw in the 7th-9th innings when it’s his turn to pitch. It’d be interesting to go back and chart situations when a pitcher appeared, i.e. how often does he appear in close games. Even then though, I’ve been to games where there is a one run lead in the 9th and it’s dead silent because it’s so cold that everyone went home. How does that compare?
I think a quality minor league reliever generally does appear in many close and late situations. He probably sees a variety of game situations, which is arguably beneficial to his development.
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I don’t agree that Valdez has been putrid. He can’t hit but that’s not a surprise to anyone. He has played excellent defense and shown a very strong arm, probably stronger than Jimmy’s. Basically, he has done exactly what they hoped that he’d do if he had to play. While Ransom has more power, he can’t match Valdez’s defense. Add Villereal to that list of possbile call ups. If he stays healthy and keeps getting stronger, he could easily be a call up. As for Mayberry, he looks like a 4th or 5th outfielder at best to me.
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I agree Alan that often fans of minor league teams don’t necessarily follow their big league affiliate but they do need to understand that AA-ball isn’t a final destination.
Just need to remember that sometimes moves are made are for the benefit of the big league club and not necessarily for the the minor league teams winning %.
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Valdez has been what everyone expected him to be. A decent defensive SS with limited offensive ability.
Seems to be a good window into a potential future Freddy Galvis era…
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Chuck Lamar was on pregame radio tonight talking about the system. He stated that he told Ruben that Mathiesson and Bastardo are game ready for the show. So I think it’s just about waiting for a bullpen injury.
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