July 23rd Discussion

Box Score Recap

Last night, there were games played, and we’ll discuss them here. We won’t discuss trade rumors. You have places to discuss that, this post isn’t one of them.

GCL Phillies lost 7-4.

* Franco was 2/3 with a BB, now has 3 multi hit games in his last 5, and he’s hit safely in all 5. Doesn’t turn 18 for another month.

Williamsport won 7-2.

* Altherr goes 1/4
* Buchanan; 6 IP – 1 ER – 4 H – 2 BB – 5 K

Lakewood won 10-1.

* Trevor May; 6 IP – 1 ER – 4 H – 2 BB – 6 K

Check below for the rest….

Clearwater lost 2-1.

* Gose 2/3 with a 3B (11) and SB (34)

Reading won 4-1.

* De Fratus gets his first AA save.
* Naylor; 8 IP – 1 ER – 4 H – 2 BB – 5 K

Lehigh Valley won 3-2.

* Brown went 1/5
* Stutes and Bastardo each get their 3rd hold
* Mathieson with SV #19

89 thoughts on “July 23rd Discussion”

  1. Naylor, Hyatt and May all pitched well last night. Harold Garcia hit his 1st HR in AA. He has a 7 game hit streak and 9 of his last 10. I did a quick check and I think Garcia has been on base in all 14 games at Reading. He’s taken an 0’fer in only 2 games since his call up and he was hit by a pitch and had a walk in the two games he didn’t get a hit. His consecutive on base streak is at 54. Going through game by game, I’m pretty sure he’s been on base every game since May 21 and I’m not talking about reaching on errors or force outs.

    Interest item in the VSL box score. All 3 VSL Phillies OF’ers had assists in yesterday’s game. That’s not something you see very often.

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  2. The game that stuck out for me was Valle. 2-4 with the bat, picked a runner off of second from behind the plate, and stole his second base of the year!

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  3. A few days ago, they moved Jesus Sanchez up a day to pitch when Hyatt was supposed to pitch. That was done right after Worley was promoted. I’m thinking Sanchez is in line to take Worley’s turn in the rotation. Just my educated gurss

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  4. I assume Worley is to be option in the minors in due course; didn’t the Phillies announced Happ and Kendrick are weekend starters. Vance could go to AAA. But if to AA then he likely starts in his normal spot? I guess it is all about timing.

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  5. Anybody have any insight on Schoenberger in Lakewood? I don’t see him mentioned too often, but he’s put up decent numbers in a good sample now – given he’s 21.

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  6. Yes, Worley will be sent down after Saturday’s game to free up up a spot for Happ but he’ll be the long man if needed on Saturday when Kendrick pitches. It will be interesting to see if they send him to AAA which is what I think they’ll do. They sent Bump down to Reading which I found odd.
    Schoenberger is an Australian guy who is tiny but he’s played well all year and plays all three positions and gets his bat on the ball very well. I think his performance this year has opened some eyes but a utility role at the majors would be his highest upside.
    I loved seeing so many good pitching performances yesterday. The starters all pitched well at each level and I’m enjoying watching Defratus keep improving at AA. And what else can you say about Harold, his stock is way up!
    One major league related comment: Why is Baez still in Matheson’s spot when its obvious he has nothing left??

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  7. Saw the Reading game last night. Overbeck looked solid at third and at bat. Rizzotti looked lost against the lefty starter. I don’t know his splits, but he looked far more confident against the righty reliever. The result was not spectacular, but his whole demeanor was different. He had a checked swing that looked better than any of his full swings against the lefty.

    The Reading speed gun appears to be an automatic one that records and posts the speed of any ball that crosses its beam. So, you could see the speed of warm-up pitches and the catcher’s throw back to the pitcher. I wonder how accurate it is for pitchers.

    Naylor was solid, if unspectacular. Around the plate all night. Lots of weakly hit balls.

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  8. Maikel Franco doesn’t have the greatest numbers but I like the BB/K numbers, especially at 17. I feel like we’ve beent here fairly recently though (Domingo Santana, cough)

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  9. Said it before they dont want to eat baez contract? thats why I believe mathieson is still at triple a

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  10. Note: Nate Bump now back at LVIP, and Michael Cisco back at RDG.

    GCL- Also good game (in addition to Franco) by Chachee Numata (just a matter of days older than Franco) caught the entire game, went 3 for 4 to raise average to .267 ( it was under .200 yesterday, least AB’s of the catchers, but getting closer there, so maybe he’s ready to play more). Geancarlo Mendez, regular in LF, hit 3rd HR and that’s the team leader, average down to .208 now, but has raised a little lately, and expect some more rise. Promoted Aaron Altherr and Lisalverto Bonilla, Replaced by L Hitting OF, Bill Rice (who may be undrafted free agent from New Jersey, and the RHP Tim Brown ( from St. Louis, MO) who may be undrafted Free Agent also, not sure.

    WPT- Altherr’s promotion gave 1st game line-up of Altherr in LF, Miguel Alvarez moving to RF, Kyrell Hudson in CF, and Domingo Santana as DH. I think they will spot Altherr every day in an OF position and move one of the other OF’s to DH.
    All are top fielders.

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  11. Don’t know why it is seemingly implied D. Santana had good BB/K numbers at 17 (0r more accurately 16 and 17) as compared to M. Franco. Santana may have walked alot, but always struck out alot also, at a rate moreso than any player in the system.

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  12. Reading’s stadium radar gun is slow by 2 to as much as 3 mph. Sat near the scouts a few times this year and would compare the speeds.

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  13. Another strong outing by Hyatt . Don’t know what he needs to do to get promoted to Reading ? …Rizzotti should also be in LV and they should release the 36 yr old first baseman Tracey
    .
    Also why did they sign the 35 yr old Timo Perez for Reading ? I thought the minor leagues was to develop YOUNG talent ?

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  15. RE marfis

    That’s a good point, the overwhelming K numbers aren’t there for Franco really. Slighty concerning is a 60% GB and 16% IFF which implies he isn’t making great contact

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  16. What do we make of Naylor? Great in his first year at Clearwater. Then struggled for two years. Now finding consistency and ability to go deep into games.

    Chronic arm problems that went away? In which case, they could easily come back.

    Maturation and better command? That would be a good thing and we may have a real asset.

    New pitches or delivery?

    Anyone have any insights into how real he is?

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  17. @ Dom agreed about Perez, went to the game last night checked the board for starters and was like “who the hell is Perez” only after he got an AB and heard the first name did I know who it was and then I was even more confused as to the “what’s the point of this” kind of thing

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  18. 2 BBs in 6 innings for May; I guess that’s an improvement. Only if he could get his command together…

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  19. The perez sign seems like a precursor to someone getting promoted, dom brown maybe? We can only hope…

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  20. Timo Perez- if people would trouble themselves to view the minor league rosters of every team in baseball you will find the vast majority of players are beyond prospect age and their prospect status is firmly in the non category except for emergency fill-in basis. Reading has had 3 OF’s for the last month or so all 3 in MiLB norm status, including Kevin Mahar who is really the only backup at 1B or 3B, and the team has no Middle Infield back-ups, so the need for position players is there. It is likely they could have called up one of the CLW OF’s Susdorf, D. Mitchell, D. Myers , or even Gose, but they did not choose to do so. That would have forced promotions all the way down the line, as most of those teams have only 3 or 4 OF’s as well, and some would have been younger players clearly not ready for disruption. There is also merit to keeping players in one spot and let them finish the season, rather than a one month period of transition, which they might not finish till the end of the season. They can let the players from Clearwater on down finish the final month and see what they have next season.

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  21. After Schoey’s two run, rbi double last night he is hitting .407 with over 50 at bats with runners in scoring position. Soon he might replace the slumping Singleton to lead the team in overall batting average. Looks like Parent is getting him in the starting lineup somewhere in the infield everyday. He has come a long way since I last saw him huddled up in a hoody riding the pines on a freezing night in Hagerstown earlier in the season. Parent said recently he is one of the first in the weight room everyday. It’s paying off for him.

    Drew Naylor is an enigma. When I have seen him pitch his fastball usually sits at 87-88 with an off speed pitch in the low 80’s and his sometimes effective 12-6 curve in the mid 70’s. He gets on rolls where can retire 12-13 hitters in a row after having a bad inning. He is an innings eater. In the All Star game two of his pitches were desposited over the left and right field walls both on off speed stuff up in the zone at 81-82 according to the stadium gun. A guy who hit one of them out said later it was a curve ball he hit out but it looked like a change up that just hung belt high over the plate. Must have been spinning. His fastball that night was at 89-90. He seemed to be overthrowing it mssing his spots up in the zone because it was hit hard too. Let’s see what he does at AAA next season. Guess they will keep him on the 40 man .

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  23. According to Phillies.com, the Phillies signed Bill Rice, Timo Perez and Tim Brown as free agents on Wednesday. Yesterday, they assigned Perez to Reading and Rice and Brown to their Gulf Coast League team. They also signed an a shortstop named Alejandro Villalobos and assigned him the the VSL. He will turn 19 on August 20th. There are not yet any transactions recalling Kendrick or Happ listed on the web site yet.

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  24. Marfis ….Why not bring up Susdorf ? he is 24 yrs old hitting .270 . I believe college players now 23 to 25 need to be tested at a higher level to see if they are keepers.

    There are a many 35 yr old guys ( Timo Perez types ) that can be signed as emergency players if needed.

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  25. SIFPA….according to today’s daily news , Kendrick is pitching Saturday and Happ on Sunday .

    Also their batting coach , Milt Thompson was fired last night . G Gross will take his place

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  26. marfis, I’ve noticed you type this a couple of times, but it is “Chace” not “Chachee”. Unless you’re making a joke that I’m missing, or Chachee is his nickname and I just did not know it.

    Also, do you think Altherr will stay in WPT? When Dugan comes back, don’t they have five young OFs, all of whom are good fielders? My assumption is that one of them will head back to the GCL when Dugan comes back and Altherr was most likely to be sent down since he started there (though Hudson would be another choice).

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  28. When Dugan comes back, they don’t have to send Altherr back. They could promote Miguel Alvarez to Lakewood. Lakewood only has James in the OF since Castro got hurt.

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  29. Gillies should be back in AA soon as well no?

    Baez is signed to an expensive 2 year contract; and while I acknowledge his struggles; relievers are notoriously streaky guys.

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  30. Dom, they will probably make the a roster move just in time for each game. That is an advantage of having your top farm clubs only an hour or so away from your big club.

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  31. as far as worley being demoted back to the minors one of the reasons they called him up in the first place is he might be used if they try to aquire roy oswalt.

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  32. After allowing a lead-off triple and run to start the game, Biddle has 8k’s through 3 IP today.

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  36. Worley was brought up because they needed a rested long man on the roster and Carpenter had just pitched 3 innings and wasn’t available. Without him, Herndon will be the long man. If the Phils do trade Werth, Mayberry not Brown will be the one called up. That’s my interpretation of Mayberry and Brown flipping positions for the last three nights with Mayberry now playing RF.

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  37. “If the Phils do trade Werth, Mayberry not Brown will be the one called up. That’s my interpretation of Mayberry and Brown flipping positions for the last three nights with Mayberry now playing RF.”

    O god no. I just punched a hole in the wall.

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  38. Murray, that actually makes a lot of sense. Mayberry has been hitting better lately. He could be platooned out there with Gload or Dobson, as he is hitting .263 overall, but .316 against lefties, with an .800 ops.

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  39. Of course, we’d all like to see Brown, but they probably think that they need a right-handed bat to protect Howard.

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  41. From the Prospect Hot Sheet Chat With Matt Eddy on Baseball America:

    Ben (Leland Grove): If you had to pick one team’s farm system as the most impressive overall at present, who would it be and why?

    Matthew Eddy: I’m really coming around on the Royals. I liked Moustakas, Hosmer, Myers and Lamb perhaps more than most coming into the year, and they certainly have done nothing to extinguish that flame this year. The Braves and Phillies would also have to be in the discussion, but what separates the Royals is the two elite hitters at the upper levels.

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  42. I find it awesome that BA thinks the Phillies are in the discussion for top 3 most impressive systems. Craziness.

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  43. Worley should have gotten the start on Saturday instead of Kendrick. I realize KK has more experience but he was just recently demoted for lack of positive results wasn’t he? What are the Phillies afraid of?

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  44. ehh, don’t make too much of these “demotions.” I think they may be somewhat procedural as to free up roster room. See also: Bump, Nate. Did KK fly to Indy? Did NB fly back to Reading?

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  45. Here on holidays and at the Norfolk game. Was sitting behind home plate overhearing a few scouts talk about Brown as if he is the next Hank Aaron. Talked to one Oriole scout and he said they clocked his arm at 92 from the outfield! Also told me Brown is unlikely to be traded and he thought clubs were zeroing in on matheson and said what club wouldnt want a high 90s guy? I asked him if oswalt was likely coming to philly and he laughed and said you never know but thought the Cardinals were a more likely fit. He thought Phillies would look for an infielder and a starting pitcher. Asked him what the Orioles want and again he laughed and said, “you name it”

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  46. Mayberry should have been playing RF all along with Brown in LF
    If , when Werth is traded ..Mayberry will platoon in RF with Gload
    Brown will replace Ibanez in LF after they dump him next year

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  50. Yeah, I agree NEPP. Another said it best… with greater than 1200 AB at AAA, he’s a .260 hitter… which I don’t think makes him much better in ML. Career splits lefty v. right are strongly biased to lefties… last 3 years GT .300 v. lefties in ~250 AB. So I guess used appropriately he could be useful. But I think there is little chance he’s on the Phillies this year before Dom Brown; or as anything but a Sept call up. I daresay he’s no longer a prospect.

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  52. Question on sheve, he is pitching well, but not a lot of strikeouts, coming off surgery,wonder if he has velocity back or still working on it? anyone seen him?

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  53. Numata- I spelled it Chachee because that is how I think it should be pronounced. At the draft they pronounced it as “Chase” but Don’t like that pronounciation for that spelling, because don’t know that he is not Italian , so I gave an Italian sounding moniker, and this way he won’t be confused with Utley et.al. Maybe if he advances more or somehow makes it known he doesn’t like it that way, I’ll change the spelling to Chaz, but if you really object , I’ll change it now.

    Altherr situation- Kyrell Hudson sat last night- Altherr CF, Miguel Alvarez LF, Domingo Santana RF, Jeff Lanning was DH, while Rupp returned to Catching. Complicating matters is Rupp seems to really be making strides as a hitter and is hot now, and Lanning has been very good, though just a little older than some, so the moving folks to DH role when not OF’ing thing is iffy. Don’t know if Kelly Dugan will return, maybe it will be like when it was debated for months on here, what to when the imminent return of Zach Collier occurs, and he’s not back yet and will not be back. They’ll work him in somehow, if he returns, and maybe they move him to 1B with Cusick, if they don’t call up Patrick Murray or even Chris Duffy by then.

    Demoting Miguel Alvarez- just one problem, been their best player by far, and I think even the stats would show that. Wouldn’t demote Hudson either, looks like he will hit eventually, excellent OF and running. Alvarez and Santana also look like excellent OF’s .

    Williamsport coming to State College on 28th and 30th maybe those closer to there than Williamsport can look the situation over.

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  57. I’ll be going to the Williamsport game in Batavia, NY tomorrow…it’s about 2 hours away but I think it’ll turn into a rewarding day trip.

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  58. Shutting him down until the Instructional Leagues sound like a bit more than just a precaution. Kinda worrisome.

    I’m happy they’re limiting Shreve and Colvin. Both are high ceiling guys who’ve already shown they’ll be in Clearwater next season…and hopefully Reading by the end of 2011.

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  59. Worley will most likely relieve “Boom Boom” Kendrick as soon as he offers up some boom booms.

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  60. Not worried about Cosart. They took him to a cut first-ask questions later doctor who gave him a clan bill of health. If it was anything serious he would have gone under the knife already.

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  61. I agree skunky, the phils want to gradually increase his innings every year. There’s no need to bring him back too early. He’ll be fine.

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  65. Worley is warming up, wonder if we get to see him… KK did alright today surprsingly, would have expected reverse results given the starters

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  68. Following the guys on this site and then seeing one of them make it. The first thing I said to myself was I hope his parents are there cause I am realing rooting for him. 2 outs for Vance. Looks good. Hope he gets the 3rd 1 Hawpe can be tough. Crowd is up K swinging. Good 4 him.

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  71. Didn’t know he threw 95 nice velocity, curve look like a decent pitch, was about 12 miles less than fastball, nice first outing,glad for the kid

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  72. Nothing like blowing away swinging two major league hitters on 95 and 94 mph fastballs. Good job Vance.

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  74. jenna – MLB Trade Rumors says that possibility of trade w/Ramirez being scratched and not injured

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  76. I also enjoyed watching Worley bit appeared he threw two different fastballs. One, VERY straight sat 94-95. The other had good tail, left to right, with a downward movement, sat at 90. Just seeing that pitch helps me understand his low hit, low strikeout games as it is a true groundball pitch. Only noticed one curve, a very good 12-6 curve, not very tight, but it was located well down in the zone and induced a weak swing resulting in a pop-up.

    Job well done!

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  79. Watch last couple of innings of lv game on channel 59,saw swimmer pitch, and mathieson, Mathieson is just throwing so hard , it amazing 98 mostly, swimmer to me is a chad durbin type breaking ball 92 fastball spotted well, and some other offspeed pitch that he kept down, these two look like they are ready for next season to take the place of herdon and someone else like baez i hope.

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  81. Schwim back in AA last night? I didn’t see anything on Reading’s transactions page. Hmm.

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  83. Schwim is still with the ‘Pigs. I have family working in front office. Ty Taubenheim off the DL and placed in Reading.

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  84. Aaron Altherr is a beast. 3 hits and he threw a guy out at the plate on Sunday. He will be shooting up the top 30 this year.

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  85. Seems like James had a good nose picking Altherr as one of his breakout players this year.

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  86. I took a nice day trip yesterday over to Batavia, NY yesterday to catch the Williamsport game. Here are my observations from the 8-1 loss:

    Lisalberto Bonilla – I thought it was going to be Angelle starting, but I was pleasantly surprised to see LB making his W-port debut. He was in and out of trouble for the most part, but there’s a lot to like here. Like others have documented, he’s very lean/lanky, but the ball just flies out of his hand. There was no radar gun, but Rupp’s mitt was popping. I’m guessing Bonilla was probably in the low 90’s. He threw mostly fastballs, but missed a couple of bats with a promising changeup. If anything, his fastball might be a tad straight, but the good news is that I think he was throwing even harder in his last inning than in his first. He did get rattled once when he dropped the ball on the mound, resulting in a balk.

    Other notable player performances:

    Altherr – finished 3/4. His first two hits were absolute rockets…his triple went off the wall in right-center, very close to a HR. He also showed a cannon in LF…on a line drive single to left late in the game the Batavia coach sent home a runner from second, and Altherr’s throw was an aerial missile to Rupp’s mitt, who was waiting with the ball before the runner was even halfway between third and home. Looks like quite a promising prospect.

    Domingo Santana – Had an infield single in his first at-bat, but struggled to make contact all game. Definitely has trouble with offspeed stuff. Didn’t have much action in the field.

    Kyrell Hudson – VERY smooth in CF…some deep flies looked like big trouble off the bat, but he just glides over and makes the catch without any sense of panic. At the plate, looked overmatched except in his second AB when he lined a hard single to left. Got picked off trying to take second, but the pitcher’s throw to first went wide, and Hudson ended up on third. I was sitting in the first row right near W-port’s on-deck circle, and I noticed that “Huddy” doesn’t have a square inch on either arm not covered in tattoo ink. Carries a very hardcore, serious demeanor…looks kinda ticked off all the time.

    Rupp – Didn’t show much with the bat, but did a good job managing the pitcher and leading the infield in general. Bonilla needed several “calming-downs,” and Rupp seemed to handle them well.

    Morgado – Had a 1-2-3 6th inning, but the wheels came off in the 7th when he was pulled after walking the first 4 batters. Hard-throwing lefty seems to have good stuff, but obviously needs to learn how to harness it.

    Miguel Alvarez – had a rough night. 0-4 with 4 K’s…the first two K’s were a result of fastballs getting blown by him…second two he got fooled with slower stuff.

    Cesar Hernandez – Couple of nice hits, solid in the field.

    Duran and Jake Smith looked pretty lost at the plate. Neither of them hit the ball out of the infield.

    Julian Sampson – Was pretty “meh.” Looked much larger than I expected him to be…I thought he was a college guy at first. Fastball was probably in the high 80’s. Gave up some hard-hit shots.

    Here’s a couple of novice videos I took from my camera. The light was really tough to work with, but if you’re bored you may have some interest in them.

    Domingo Santana infield single – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlkPGNWYkek
    Bonilla warming up – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1uuBZb246Y
    Altherr’s fly to right – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHseEariKHA
    Morgado warming up – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvyz9wW21kY

    I’m hoping to get to the game tonight as well…will be back with a similar field report if that works out.

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  87. Don’t look now, but the “fake” minor leaguer Matt Rizzoti has another 4 hits so far tonight. I say that in jest. In all honesty I don’t know what to make of him. I keep expecting him to cool off and stop hitting at this pace, but he doesn’t.

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  88. Rizz is hot for sure now. He looks like he’s dead set on tearing it up this season. So how come he gets not even the slightest mention from Baseball America? Is he not an MLB prospect as a 1st base or DH?

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