June 15th open thread

Box Score Recap

I supply last night’s box scores, you supply the commentary

Lakewood wins 5-3.
Clearwater wins 3-2.
Reading loses 7-2.
Lehigh Valley loses 7-6.

88 thoughts on “June 15th open thread”

  1. wow, lakewood seems to really have somethin special goin on there. great start from cosart, late heroics by hewitt and james, and justa typical 2 double night for singleton. those guys are exciting

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  2. JC Ramirez with a great start in Clearwater — 7 K’s and plenty of ground balls. His strikeout numbers are climbing. I’m pretty happy with what we’ve seen from him and anticipate a smooth move to Reading in 2011.

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  4. Would not rule out a mid season promotion to AA for Ramirez. He’ll be 22 in August and already on the 40 man so they may be a little more aggressive.

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  5. I was wondering, If we hadit to do over again would we put domingo santana at Lakewood?? Was it good for him to get a couple of months in the SAL where he struggled mightily, or would it have been better to keep him in XST then start him at Williamsport??

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  6. I don’t think that question can be answered until after he finishes the rest of the season at W-Port.

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  7. Attended the Reading game of course. Dom Brown looked good and Michael Stutes hit 94 on the stadium gun (sat at 91, and I’m told that gun is slow). They had a couple rally killing double plays. As I mentioned in the Overbeck thread, he really should get the bulk of playing time as Bozied at 3B is a minor joke.

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  8. Where can I find the probable starting pitchers for Reading and Lehigh for this weekend? Its not on their websites.

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  10. Saw the end of the Buffalo-Lehigh Valley game, which was televised on SCNY. Mathieson did not look good as he blew the save. Had trouble with both control and command. Can see why the Phils haven’t brought him up.

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  11. JeffS,

    I’m not on the Mathieson needs to be in Philly now bandwagon but I would also suggest to not read too much into one bad outing. All pitchers have them and Mathieson has been terrific this year.

    Right now, its simply a numbers game.

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  12. NEPP: I usually look at the last 5 or 6 game boxes in the MiLB Schedule page and establish the rotation, then extrapolate from there.

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  13. I also am in love with the Lakewood team. A lot to like there, guys improving, star potential in a few.

    So here is a bucket of cold water on us:

    Guys who look very real:

    Cosart, Colvin, Singleton, maybe Barnes as a utility guy, maybe Hernandez, who is performing well at borderline age 21, maybe Villar, but I see him more as a Tomas Perez.

    Valle and Way intriguing, but high risk of falling down along the way, IMO. Valle for defense and inconsistent bat (higher level pitchers will discover and exploit the holes in his batting approach). Way’s stuff not really great

    James, Hewitt, Santana could be illusions. None has developed the consistent plate discipline that leads to handling the pitchers in high minors and majors. Even one of those making it will be a surprise.

    Lots of other guys, such as Zeid (23), Ellis (25), Wertz (25), are very old.

    So as a whole they are performing off the charts. But in reality, the core, real prospects are only a small (but highly significant) part of that.

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  15. Who classified him as an illusion? Reading comprehension? I said could be. That means lots of risk. If you think those guys are sure things, I have a bridge . . .

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  16. NEPP –

    Going with Diamond Derby’s theory, Saturday should be Naylor. Does anyone know who follows Naylor in the rotation? I’m going to the game on Sunday, so hopefully I get a good prospect as the starter. Regardless, I plan on giving some reports on Overbeck, Brown, Galvis, etc. Hopefully Schwimer gets in so I can see some Schwimlocity in action.

    – Jeff

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  17. Yea great, lets be a jerk and argue over semantics and ignore the fact that you are lumping a 17 year old– someone who would be a junior in high school– with a 21 year old at the same level.

    And where in “I’m going to give him four years before I classify him as an illusion” does it say that I think those guys are sure things? Reading Comprehension?

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  18. That Lakewood team is loaded. There is no doubt in my mind there is at least 3 MLB players on that team at least. It’s going to be fun seeing how those players progress

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  19. Speaking for myself, I am still pretty optimistic with Jiwan James. If not for a horrible April, he would be hitting almost .290 right now. He was around .212 in April, .246 in May, and .340 in June so far (50 AB’s). Considering he stepped up from low A to A ball this year, and he also just switched to a fulltime position player at the beginning of last year (2009)…it seems he is moving in the right direction so far. Even if not as fast as we might prefer.

    I am also at least approaching cautious optimism with Anthony Hewitt, even though I know he is still a real longshot. But if you look at the glass half full vs. half empty…he has went from .197 in the GCL, to .221 in low A, to .235 in A. Assuming he at least maintains his current pace, he will have improved in most key categories (HR, RBI, 2B, R, TB, OBP, SLG, and OPS) with each level move up. On the downside his strikeouts are up. But nowhere near a total bust yet. Maybe a bust relative to where he was drafted (1st Rd) but not relative to what he has done so far. Anthony Hewitt might turn out to be the Phillies version of Mike Mamula.

    Santana? Who knows. Have to wait and see him at Williamsport. He certainly never got it together at Lakewood.

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  20. Just to put my Hewitt remarks into context, it could be worse. He could be 2008 #1 overall pick Tim Beckham.

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  21. ****Going with Diamond Derby’s theory, Saturday should be Naylor. Does anyone know who follows Naylor in the rotation?****

    I got Naylor on Sat and Worley on Sun…does that sound right?

    And Carpenter on Sat and Figgy on Sun for Lehigh…why is Lehigh running a 6 man rotation all of a sudden, anyway?

    On Hewitt: We’re 3 seasons in on the high strikeouts/no walks against low Minors guys. I can’t imagine what he’d do against A+ or AA…I doubt it would be pretty. We’ll see….maybe it clicks for him at some point.

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  22. Naylor is listed as today’s starter. Things are up in the air as Reading has been using a 4 1/2 man rotation lately. Fogg would be in line to start Saturday and maybe Worley on Sunday?

    As for Hewitt, he is beyond clueless at the plate.

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  24. I do not see how Jiwan James and Domingo Santana gets lumped into the same category with Hewit. Santana is 17. To be critical of his performance at this point is ludicrous. Jiwan James is 21 and in his first full season as a position player. He had a terrific 1st two weeks, a terrible next 4 weeks, and now a terrific 3 weeks. He has a .364 obp in June.
    It is beyond me how Jeremy Barnes could become classified as a better prospect than James. His numbers are going backwards.

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  25. Just a couple of general questions which I would appreciate some feedback from those on the site who are more knowledgeable than myself: Yes it is still early, but should Singleton still be hitting this well at this point in his pro career? I mean, how common/uncommon is this?

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  26. Santana is the equivalent of a HS Junior playing in A ball…look at the positives and temper your expectations on the rest of it. He kept his OBP fairly respectable (.323 OBP) despite not doing much else. Basically, he showed good plate discipline but is very very very raw against guys 2-3 years older than him…at a time where that’s a HUGE age gap. He’s still a kid among men.

    ****Yes it is still early, but should Singleton still be hitting this well at this point in his pro career? I mean, how common/uncommon is this?****

    Not very common at all…and it bodes well for his future.

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  27. Sorry, the above should say “Santana is the equivalent…not Hewitt” I was reading and typing a reply and threw out the wrong name.

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  28. Of the OFs at Lakewood, I’ve been most impressed with Castro the 2 times I’ve gone so far and he was left completely out of the discussion.

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  29. I think it’s still too early to say if what Singleton is doing is uncommon. It’s only 112 ABs. What amazes me is the consistency in all situations, average is very consistent between day/night games … home/road … RSIP/Bases empty/Runners on. That seems to indicate to me that he is a very professional hitter, treating all at bats as important.

    I’m sure he will have to hit a difficult point at some stage and I’ll be curious as to how he handles it. Even when he slowed down a bit earlier, he was still walking, which is a good sign.

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  30. I’m far from optimistic on Hewitt, but his improvement is still encouraging. He’s always been a phenomenal athlete who needed time to learn how to play the game, especially how to hit. Regardless of the BB/K numbers, hitting .300 with power could represent a positive step in his development. Its already been established that when Hewitt hits the ball, he hits it hard. If he keeps making solid contact, pitchers will start pitching around him and maybe he’ll learn a little bit of patience. Even for him, this would not be a huge stretch; its simply how power hitters develop. Maybe he’s learning these skills four years late, but we always knew he was an extremely raw, late bloomer, who needed a lot of time. If starts laying off breaking pitches, he’ll get a lot more fastballs to drive, and then maybe he’ll some damage.

    Again, he’s still a very, very long shot, but just as everyone was ready to write him off, Hewitt started hitting. That has to be taken as a positive sign that maybe something has started to click. Patience is important, but he needs to learn how to hit the ball before we focus too much on walks and strikeouts.

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  31. On Singleton . . . not all truly great hitters hit a crisis point. I don’t think Albert Pujols or Jason Heyward went into crisis mode at any time. A mini-slump, of course, but Singleton may be so good that he never truly struggles in the traditional sense. We’ll see.

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  33. Another interesting Singleton stat is his lefty/righty splits. I think he is something like 12-27 vs. lefties. As his sample size increases, I think we are getting close to (if we’re not there already) to being able to say “Holy S***” this guy is a player. We’re not there yet, but in my opinion 140 plate appearances, is beyond a “hot streak.”

    – Jeff

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  34. Where the heck did this thread go? A wonderful and rare thing happened last night… Hewitt took a walk. When was the last one before that.

    Cosart is still impressing me but he’s walked a total of 15 guys all year but he’s had 6 in his last two games. He’s also had 3 Wild pitches and 2 HBP in those games. Is he working in some additional pitches or trying something new? If that’s the case, I applaude it but I also hope he’s not developing an issue. Ks are still where we want ’em (13Ks in his last 13 innings).

    A quick note on Adrian Sierra, a 19 year old lefty in the DSL. In his last two outings he’s pitched 13 2/3 IP. He’s given up 3 Hs and 1 ER. Pretty impressive in his 3 outings. He has a .96 ERA. He’s 5’11” and 155 lbs, Bastardo size.

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  35. Interestingly, Valle, Hewitt and James are all over .300 for June and the team is 12-3 in last 15 games. What Singleton has done so far is terrific but not out of this world. As long as he keeps taking his walks he’ll keep it going. As for Cosart, I’m sure he’s working on off speed pitches because he knows that’s what he needs to do to get to Clearwater. He was still throwing 95 in the 7th inning.

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  36. ****hewitt is 21 yrs old he is no HS Junior.****

    Did you read my correction post immediately after where I c clarified I was referring to Santana, not Hewitt?

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  37. This June 11 scout.com article “7 players ready for promotions” lists Schwimmer, Overbeck, De Fratus, Dom Brown, Luke Wertz, Cosart and Mathieson as possibly ready for promotions: http://phillies.scout.com/2/976766.html
    Overbeck has since been promoted, but of the remaining 6, who should come up?

    -Luke Wertz needs to be promoted. He’s been unhittable and is far too old for Low A ball. If Wertz has regained his mid 90s velocity, he’ll continue this success in the GCL.

    -Cosart could also handle the GCL, but it would be unwise to breakup Lakewood’s successful core. However, a few of them should move up together, especially as 2010 draft picks begin to alter lower level rosters.

    -Dom Brown still has a lot to learn, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t help the MLB team. Still, I am not in the “bring Dom Brown up” camp. I’m not firmly opposed to the notion, just ambivalent.

    -Mathieson, Schwimer and De Fratus are all in the same boat. They’re relatively advanced and ready to get bumped, but their fate is probably determined by circumstances beyond their control. Hopefully Mathieson gets a well-deserved shot before Madson returns, which would open spots at Reading and Lehigh Valley for the other two.

    -Our boy Schwim gets a nice compliment in the article: “Schwimer has developed his slider into one of the best in the organization and he has all the making of a potential closer of the future at the major league level.” CLOSER? Big money! Congrats. Keep up the good work. Sounds like we’ll see you soon enough.

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  40. That’s great news for Schwim. My overall take is that the organization has become extremely good at finding and developing relievers. A great sign, to be sure, but a bit of an odd one knowing that the major league team likes to sign grizzled veterans for the pen. Well, maybe that will change. Maybe our young relievers are trade bait. Either way, it’s a very pleasant development and is occurring at all levels of the system, something we cannot say about other aspects of the club.

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  41. If we send Wertz and Cosart to the GCL, we might have some players go AWOL (fyi – I know you mean FSL, just kidding around here).

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  43. “Cosart is still impressing me but he’s walked a total of 15 guys all year but he’s had 6 in his last two games. He’s also had 3 Wild pitches and 2 HBP in those games. Is he working in some additional pitches or trying something new? If that’s the case, I applaude it but I also hope he’s not developing an issue. Ks are still where we want ‘em (13Ks in his last 13 innings).”

    I heard both pitchers were getting squeezed last night. Cosart was throwing his fastball, curve, and change last night, but stuck primarily to his fastball, which most of the hitters couldn’t catch up with.

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  44. Also following a link on that scout thing I see Tyson Gillies was activated and Brandon Pinckney was released.

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  45. NEPP et al.: Minor League Baseball lists pitchers for the next two or three games on the Scoreboard section of its website-just choose dates of games that are upcoming. Naylor is listed for tonight and Worley for the 16th. So, Worley does follow Naylor. Unfortunately no listing yet for the 17th and (presumably) beyond.

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  46. Interesting notes from the FSL All Star Game. May & De Fratus mentioned below…

    TOP-10 PROSPECTS AT FLORIDA STATE LEAGUE ALL-STAR GAME

    1. Trevor May, RHP, Clearwater Threshers (PHI)

    May’s numbers aren’t very good because he’s struggled with control, but the 6’4”, 230 lb righty has a big arm. His 92-94 MPH fastball has big league run and both his curve and change have the potential for plus pitches. At age 20, there’s big upside on the former 4th round pick from 1998.

    2. Henderson Alvarez, RHP, Dunedin Blue Jays (TOR)

    The 6’1”, 200 lb Venezuelan showed a lightning quick arm, throwing 95-97 MPH with four-seam action. The 20 year-old Alvarez doesn’t have much feel for his change and his slider is in the early stages, but look out when they come together!

    3. Justin De Fratus, RHP, Clearwater Threshers (PHI)

    De Fratus was the hardest thrower at the event, dealing in the 95-98 MPH range. The 6’3”, 220 lb righty has been groomed as a closer. His slider and change have a chance, but are not nearly as developed. At age 22, he’s come a long way since being an 11th-round pick in 2007.

    4. Brett Jackson, OF, Daytona Cubs (CHC)

    Former first-round pick has lots of tools including a quick lefthanded bat, a plus arm, and above-average speed. At 6’2”, 200 lbs, Jackson has the prototype slope-shouldered baseball physique. Power will come down the road and Jackson has a chance to become an impact outfielder.

    5. Corban Joseph, 2B, Tampa Yankees (NYY)

    Lefthanded hitter generates good bat-speed and has enough lift to develop power. Joseph has a decent approach at the plate and he makes the plays at second base with average range and soft hands. Former high school 4th-rounder has the upside to become a starting second baseman for a good MLB team.

    6. Matt Daly, RHP, Dunedin Blue Jays (TOR)

    The 5’9” righty is being groomed as a closer and he showed premium stuff, including a 93-94 MPH fastball with good command. Daly’s slider was at times a plus pitch. The former 13th-rounder turns 24 in August and can move quickly as a short reliever.

    7. Travis d’Arnaud, C, Dunedin Blue Jays (TOR)

    The younger brother of Pirate farmhand Chase d’Arnaud, the 6’0”, 190 lb. Travis is a good receiver with a slightly below-average arm and good pop in his right bat. He’s also shown an ability to use his hands and make adjustments. d’Arnaud has the potential to become an average MLB starting catcher..

    8. Billy Bullock, RHP, Fort Myers Miracles (MIN)

    Former 2nd-rounder has the stuff to move quickly as a short reliever. At 6’6”, 225 lbs, Bullock has imposing presence and threw 92-94 MPH with cutting action on his fastball. Slider comes and goes, but #1 pitch can make him middle reliever on its own.

    9. Neil Schenk, LHP, Charlotte Stone Crabs (TB)

    Strong-bodied 6’3” lefty comes over-the-top and gets a good downward plane on his 89-92 MPH fastball. Cutter works against righthanded hitters and his big curve has solid-average potential. Schenk was surprisingly just a 23rd round pick out of Memphis in 2008. Schenk has starter potential though he’s worked only out of the pen thus far in 2010.

    10. Adam Warren, RHP, Tampa Yankees (NYY)

    Righthanded starter from UNC worked well off his running 91-94 MPH fastball. His curve and change-up are below-average, but have a chance to become workable; his splitter works as his best off-speed right now. The 6’1”, 190 lb. Warren isn’t particularly athletic, but his delivery and arm work okay. He has a chance to become a big league longman.

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  47. I’d feel really bad for those poor GCL kids if they had to face Cosart.

    Good article in all seriousness.

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  53. I’m taking my son to Lakewood for our first BlueClaws game on Father’s Day. Excited to see the team. Has anyone been to the park? Any pros/cons or tips?

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  54. Pretty much all pros Rich. Parking is ample. The ballpark is beautiful and there are plenty of angles and the entire concourse is open.

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  58. Yeah, they have been re-assigned there, and it looks like they called up Mikail Bolsenbreok, RHP, and Kyle LaFenz, C to take their place, with more change likely when the Draft Picks sign and/or report.

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  60. I wonder if Collier is close to being activated or whether an older prospect will get sent to Lakewood (Dabbs, Duffy etc.). Seems odd to have only 3 OFs on the Lakewood roster right now.

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  61. Halophan — Where was that write up published? (And did the Phillies really draft Trevor May when he was 8 years old?)

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  62. nevermind, Halophan. I found it on bucsprospect.com. It was written by a guy named Anup Sinha, who used to be a scout for the Cardinals.

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  63. NEPP–
    Lehigh Valley weekend probables are: Friday, Carpenter, Saturday: Figueroa, Sunday: Bump

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  64. I agree with wayne I have been to two games and castro in the oufield has impressed me also the most. I saw singleton the one game and he looks very put together and could turn out to be something special. Jiwan James dropped an easy fly ball and villar booted an easy ground ball. I believe they had 4 errors that game and lost. Santana was way over matched batting.

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  65. “should Singleton still be hitting this well at this point in his pro career? I mean, how common/uncommon is this?”

    There have been two players age 18 or younger to put up an OPS better than .990 in the South Atlantic League over the past 20 seasons _ Adrian Beltre (.992 as a 17-year-old) and Mike Stanton (.993 as an 18-year-old). Singleton’s OPS so far is 1.214.

    So, yep, pretty uncommon.

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  66. Calling May the #1 prospect in the all star game despite his terrible stats this year is very encouraging to me. And Defratus, well, that’s old news. The Phils have several minor league relievers with major league potential but you know they’ll never come out of spring training with more than 2 rookies on the roster and these guys really have no trade value yet so I’ll be curious to see how it plays out. Glad to hear that Gillies was finally activated. Yea!

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  67. I never lumped Santana in with the other guys based on performance. I lumped those three together because they all carry considerable risk. James and Hewitt because they are not disciplined hitters yet. Sure James is hitting the ball better, but he is seeing FBs and his patience is not being tested as it will in 2012 at Reading. Santana carries considerable risk precisely because of his age, and there is no guarantee he will develop as desired, as much as we would like to believe based on a few early indicators, his age, and his physical talents. He looked good at GCL and has had his moments in Lakewood, so there is plenty to encourage. But others with great potential at 17 have failed. We simply do not know. I hope they become solid players. If they do not, they will fall by the wayside.

    Like most posters here, I know Santana is young and has great potential and don’t need a lecture on it. I am as bullish on these guys as anyone and hoping for the best, believing it might happen and we develop some exciting, athletic players beyond their current level.

    But any rational view of these guys sees a risk factor–for different reasons–at a much different scale than that of Cosart and Singleton.

    The lumping together comments grossly misread my nuanced statement and seem provocative Over and out on this one. Have fun.

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  68. Game notes from the IronPigs web site reveal the upcoming probables. The apparent six-starter rotation was caused by a rain-out/doubleheader where Duckworth got another chance to be a starter. Probables for the Yankees series this weekend:

    Thu: Mazone vs. McAllister
    Fri: Carpenter vs. Moseley
    Sat: Figueroa vs. Redding
    Sun: Bump vs. Sanchez

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  69. was listening to lakewood game, colvin was throwing in the mid 90’s and struck out a couple of guys with 96 mph heat

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  73. counting tonight he is 333 in his last 10 with a 4BB’s against 7SO’s… wonder if he is starting to catch up to AA pitching

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  74. Fangraphs did an article today about who could be the new top third base prospect in the minors after Alveraz’s callup. Listed 5th on it was Overbeck with this being said.

    Cody Overbeck | Philadelphia: It’s hard to know exactly what the organization has with Overbeck. An over-ager at 24 and in high-A ball, the former University of Mississippi player was also repeating the level for the second straight year. He hit .302/.380/.553 with 11 homers in 215 at-bats. He also significantly improved both his strikeout and walk rates. Overbeck was promoted to double-A recently and made his debut on June 14. Keep an eye on him, as the second half of the minor league season will speak volumes in regards to his future potential.

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  75. Seems he will never have power, but a SS with his glove who can hit .275 has real good value.

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  76. What do you know. Only two, six year free agents in the starting lineup for Reading tonight and the R-Phils are winning 7-1. And Flande has already picked up my favored stat in baseball: A quality start.

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  77. Yeah. A SS with no power and no speed and questionable hit tool has great value. He could be the next Wilson Valdez

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  78. Another great night for Colvin. 8 ip only 1 er. 8 k and ZERO walks. Did give up 8 hits, but an impressive outing.

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  80. I missed some good stuff here today, particularly on the FSL AS game write-ups on May and DeFratus. We were led to believe that DeFratus’s stuff would play out much better (the quote from the expert – I forget who- was something like “crazy better) from the bullpen.

    Look at the bullpen, I’d have to think that, as a group, we must be doing as well as any club. I cannot ever remember us having nearly this many top bullpen prospects at the same time. I expect many of them to get traded within the year as there is just a ton of redundancy there and only so many slots in the majors.

    I also agree on Overbeck. It’s hard to know what to make of him except that when he hits the ball, he generally hits it very hard, an encouraging sign.

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  84. I hope they don’t trade the young bullpen studs. Their is nothing better than having three or four shut down guys in your bullpen. Also this could be a major source of value in the future for the big club. You can never have too much bullpen in my opinion.

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  86. You guys are right on it. I had Galvis, Flande & Colvin on my radar today. Galvis gets hiot from time to time. Each time I say, maybe this is the time it will all click in. Flande, the last couple of years, has had a mid-season funk. Then he comes back to life with a couple of outings like last night. It should be noted that prior to those 3 horrendous starts, he had 3 darn good outings pitching 21 Innings and giving up 3 Rs. Colvin is really turning heads. In his last 6 outings he has a 1.62 ERA with 39 Ks.

    Trevor May had a nice outing except for the 5 BBs and a balk. Only 2 H and 1 R to go with his 7 Ks. Another guy who I’m really starting to like is Ebelin Lugo. As many people on this site point out, he’s a reliever with little value but he has been solid. 16 G, 27 IP, 23 H, 4 R, 23 K to 9 BBs & a 1.30 ERA. Opponents are hitting .232 against him. Middle reliever is probably his max upside but heck there’s always need for a couple of these guys. He’s 20 so keep an eye on him.

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  87. It’s likely on one of these other threads, but Phillies website put up the bulk of the Signings of Draftees. Since they have not replaced Domingo Santana right away, I will guess they assign Gauntlett Eldemire to Lakewood after he acclimates a bit. If they wanted to promote someone from XST they could have just stuck their name on there right away.

    Overbeck played 3B in first full game in Reading. They played Rizzotti at 1B , and it was a DH game, so Bozied was DH. Ozzie Chavez was 2B, but they really have no Middle Infield reserve, so I am thinking they promote Harold Garcia to play 2B and Chavez in reserve. OF was Berry-Gillies-D. Brown.

    Clearwater- absent Overbeck they start Kennelly at 3B. Given the new catchers on board, maybe they leave him there and add a catcher here, maybe if Rupp signs quickly. And if they sign one of the College Draftees at 3B, Kennelly can move to a moving around role, not that he’s hit alot.

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