Singleton mania

Ten Pack/Hot Sheet

Sweeping the nation. Kevin Goldstein at BP gives Singleton a little love in his daily posting.

An 8th-round pick last year out of a Southern California high school, Singleton had classic first base tools, including plenty of raw power, but also enough hitting mechanics to project as a high-average hitter, but he was also seen as extremely raw. A surprisingly good debut last year excited the Phillies, and after spending the first part of the year in extended spring training, the team opted to test him at Low-A instead of the New York-Penn League, and he’s responded by going 19-for-44 (.432) with 34 total bases in his first 13 games. There’s explosive potential here.

To balance out this love, he gives a pessimistic assessment of the 3 guys we received for Cliff Lee. To sum up his points, basically none of the 3 have gotten off to awesome starts. Aumont’s velo is down with his new mechanics, Gillies has been hurt, and Ramirez still hasn’t shown much progress with his secondary pitches. All are valid concerns, but in the case of all three, I’m going to give them the rest of the year before drawing conclusions, for various reasons.

31 thoughts on “Singleton mania”

  3. Just bought tickets to the Hagerstown Suns/ Lakewood game for next Wednesday. I got seats 1 and 2 in row 1 right next to Lakewood’s dugout. For 9 bucks a piece you can’t go wrong. Hopefully the young guys don’t disappoint. Really hoping the rotation cycles that I get to see Cosart but Singleton, Santana, Valle and Gose are more than enough to be excited about.

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  5. What about Rizzottimania. A three run walk off home run tonight. Matt drove in all 5 runs in the game with an earlier two run homer. The only problem is the Phils minor league department insists that he is a DH and do not play him at first base. Why is he not playing first? The last I checked the NL does not have the DH.

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  7. rizzotti has played 147 games at 1st base and 27 at DH in his career with a fld% of .988 with 17 errors

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  8. Rizz always had the power but from the get go the Phillies pitching staff messed around and changed his swing.

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  9. what does rizz do now hes bloked with howard and plays DH a lot. is he trade bait? like whats his trade value

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  10. He’s got less than 40 ABs in AA. He doesn’t play a position well. He is not considered a top prospect and therefore has little to no trade value.

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  11. Yeah, Rizzotti’s value is limited. Other OPS leaders at 24 in the Eastern League include guys like Alex Presley (PIT) and Lucas Duda (NYM), and no one is talking them up as serious prospects. You might use Rizzotti as an August waiver wire deal piece.

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  12. I’ve went to games in Reading, on Fri, Sat, Mon, Tue and tonight. Rizzotti has been in every game over the weekend he was playing first against Richmond, but against Portland they can use the DH even at home. I will say this I’ve been going this much recently mainly for him, he has hit four HR’s since Friday, I seem to to remember someone on here (poss another board) saying he was on pace “for what, 4 HR’s?” He has hit that many in 5 games. Also he is hitting extremely well also. He had a double tonight on top of the two homers. His 4 HR’s is already 3rd on the team behind Brown’s 8, and Tagg Bozied”s 6 (awesome name). Only 12 games of work true but he is always “on” it seams. I’m not saying he is destined for major league greatness, but he should get some respect. The walk off shot tonight was incredible to watch and be there for

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  13. I can’t tell if that is a joke. the guy was a top 10 SONAR guy coming into the year and has done nothing but smash the ball this season. I’m not saying he is the second coming, but he is at least a solid B level prospect at this point.

    His big knock has been power. If the power comes….

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  15. nvr mind he was assigned to extended spring training does this mean he wil b in lakewood again

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  16. I think we’re finally going to see Rizzotti show off his power now, having played in Lakewood as his home park in low A, then hitting in the FSL will really lower your power #’s.

    Overbeck may not be a true prospect but what he’s doing in Clearwater is ridiculous 11 homers, and 17 doubles in less than 200 at bats. The guy’s just killing the ball, in an environment that isn’t known to be favorable for power hitters.

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  17. Jeremy, I just wanted to say thanks for the firsthand reports. Keep going to games and keep letting us know what you see! The velocity reports, like what you said on Naylor in another thread, can be particularly interesting.

    While it’s not quite time for Gosemania, perhaps Goseenthusiasm? He looks like he’s catching up to A+ pitching.

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  19. Also some Mathieson love in that same update! Unfortunately, also some Travis D’Arnaud love 😦

    On the bright side, Ramirez did have an 8K/0BB start yesterday. Was marred by giving up a 3-run bomb, but it’s progress…

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  20. oswalt is really going downhill. 2.34 era and the lowest run support in bb. btw donald is 6-8 in his last 3 games. good to see our sustem players doing well.

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  23. I think we are way ahead of ourselves but how about Ton-80? It’s the homerun of competitive darts.

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  24. From over at BA. Free Content:

    Low Class A Lakewood’s lineup was already loaded with young talent, populated by prospects like Sebastian Valle, Domingo Santana and Jiwan James. Well, add 18-year-old first baseman Jonathan Singleton to the list. An eighth-round pick last year from a California high school, Singleton was called up to Lakewood from extended spring training two weeks ago and has done nothing but hit since joining the BlueClaws. Singleton boasts plus bat speed and an advanced feel for hitting for his age and has shown those assets off in starting out with a .442/.519/.773 line through 44 at-bats. He’s already homered four times, with the latest coming last night as part of a 4-for-4 effort against Hagerstown. He’s also drawn nine walks already in 13 games and is riding a 10-game hitting streak.

    “For 18 years old he sees the ball way beyond those years,” Lakewood hitting coach Greg Legg told the Asbury Park Press. “You’ve probably seen him already laying off changeups. He doesn’t waste at-bats. I’m not tinkering with him.

    “He’s one of those guys that when they come to bat you’re not going to go get a popcorn. You’re going to stay and wait and say, “Hey, let me watch and see what he does.’ Hopefully he keeps that focus for a long period of time and we get to see him some day over there at Citizens Bank Park.”

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  28. Greg – I’m implying after he does AA and AAA. Every year the Phils have to import bench players to round out the team mainly because they trade those types (Marson, Donald, ect…
    The team may be getting stale and could use some home grown talent infusion

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  29. 2-2 with a double and two runs scored so far tonight. Average up to .451

    this gets more ridiculous by the day!

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  30. Singleton is yesterday’s news. Trade Howard and Singleton for two hot dogs. Luis Martinez went 4 for 4 with a triple, a double, and a walk.

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  31. Obvious question is if they actually suspended the game just to stop Singleton from punishing the opposing pitcher further

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