Around the System, Corner Infield

Around the System

One last post trade deadline trip around the system, prior to post season reviews. Look for Middle Infield sometime late next week.

Lehigh Valley

Andy Tracy, 36, 301 AB’s; .282/.392/.502; 14 HR 53 RBI; .310 vs. LH, .274 vs. RH, .282 with RISP, .257 in July; 15% bb rate, 23% k rate. 67 games at 1B, 5 errors (.991); 8.33 R/F. Tracy has struggled with shoulder problems most of the season and it has shown in his recent power numbers.  Still consistent however.

Neil Sellers, 28, 330 AB’s; .258/.326/.355; 3HR 31 RBI; .299 vs. LH, .255 vs. RH, .241 with RISP, .253 in July, 9% bb rate, 18% k rate. 32 games at 1B with 1 error (.996); 8.72 R/F. 48 games at 3B with 2 errors (.983), 2.38 R/F. The disappointment with Sellers has been his power numbers which have dropped precipitously since his AA days.  His fielding, which was questioned in years past, has been serviceable.

Reading

Tagg Bozied, 31, 229 AB’s; .293/.374/.555 with 13 HR 55 RBI; .302 vs. LH, .290 vs. RH; .355 with RISP; 11% bb rate, 23% k rate. Has missed most of July on the DL.  Recently activated. 25 games at 1B without an error; 5.48 R/F. 32 games at 3B with 8 errors (.905); 2.38 R/F. Has also played 7 games in the OF.  When he has been in the lineup, his bat has been productive.

Matt Rizzotti, 24, Clearwater: 109 AB’s; .358/.426/.477 with 1HR and 10 RBI; 11% bb rate, 18% k rate. READING: 244 AB’s; .361/.453/.643 with 16 HR 59 RBI; .380 vs. LH, .356 vs. RH; .372 with RISP; 13% bb rate, 19% k rate. TOTALS: 353 AB’s, .360/.445/.592 with 17 HR and 69 RBI’s. 55 games at 1B this year with 2 errors (.996); 8.65 R/F. Has been simply mashing all year at the plate. 

Cody Overbeck, 24, Clearwater: 215 AB’s; .302/.380/.553 with 11 HR and 41 RBI’s. 11% bb rate, 21% k rate.  Reading: 142 AB’s; .232/.321/.394 with 5HR and 17 RBI’s; 8% bb rate, 29% k rate.  TOTALS: 375 AB’s; .275/.356/.490 with 16 HR and 58 RBI’s. 96 games at 3B this year with 17 errors (.935); 2.53 R/F. Has struggled in his step up to AAA, striking out a good deal with some questionable defense.

Clearwater

Jim Murphy, 24, 303 AB’s; .248/.321/.386 with 6 HR and 37 RBI; .209 with RISP, .176 vs. LH, .278 vs. RH, .241 in July. 8% bb rate, 28% k rate. 63 games at 1B with 2 errors (.996); 8.56 R/F. Has also played 3 games at 3B and 1 game in the OF. Can’t hit lefties and still striking out a lot.

Darin Ruf, 24, Lakewood: 115 AB’s; .320/.443/.548 with 4 HR and 17 RBI’s. Clearwater: 237 AB’s, .274/.350/.409 with 3 HR and 28 RBI; .300 vs. LH, .266 vs. RH, .284 with RISP, .278 in July, 8% bb rate, 22% k rate. TOTALS: 352 AB’s, .293/.382/.455 with 7HR and 45 RBI. 67 games at 1B with 7 errors (.989); 9.04 R/F.  The 20th rd pick in the ’09 draft has transitioned nicely up to High A.  Some issues in the field must be improved.

Lakewood

Stephen Batts, 24, 201 AB’s, .259/.323/.398 with 3 HR and 23 RBI. .200 vs. LH, .273 vs. RH, .275 with RISP, .242 in July, 8% bb rate, 32% k rate. 11 games at 1B with 1 error (.990); 8.64 R/F; 10 games at 3B with 2 errors (.929); 2.60 R/F. Not bad, not great for last seasons 19th rd. pick.

Jonathan Singleton, 18, 260 AB’s, .315/420/.523 with 12 HR and 60 RBI, 6 SB 7 CS, .317 vs. LH, .315 vs. RH, .310 with RISP, .260 in July, 15% k rate, 15% bb rate. 66 games at 1B with 4 errors (.994); 9.74 R/F. Has slowed down a bit, but continued to make a great impression. ’09 8th RD. pick.

Adam Buschini, 23, 302 AB’s, .219/.310/.328 with 2HR and 28 RBI; 16/22 SB; .291 vs. LH, .190 vs. RH, .227 with RISP, 11% bb rate, 16% k rate. 82 games at 3B, 19 errors (.912), 2.40 R/F. Last years 4th round pick has struggled at the plate and in the field (although its his first year at 3B).

WIlliamsport

Jeff Cusick, 22, 136 AB’s; .191/.247/.272 with 1HR and 9 RBI; .250 vs. LH, .173 vs. RH, .098 with RISP, 6% bb rate, 7% k rate. 39 games at 1B with 4 errors (.989)8.95 R/F. 18th round selection in 2010 draft from Cal-Irvine.

Jake SMith, 22, 64 AB’s; .141/.149/.234 with 0 HR and 5 RBI; 45% k rate. 17 games at 3B with 3 errors (.925). Has also played 2 games at 1B. 15th round pick in 2010 draft out of University of Alabama.

Carlos Alonso, 22, 63 AB’s, .206/.359/.317 with 1HR and 5 RBI. 17% bb rate. 17 games at 3B with 1 error (.979); 32nd round selection in 2010 draft out of University of Delaware.

Matt McCOnnell, 23, 58 AB’s; .241/.348/.293 with 0HR and 4 RBI; 36th round pick in ’09 draft out of Metropolitan State. 9 games at 3B with 1 error (.958); 8 games at SS without an error, 2 games at 2B with one error.

GCL

Patrick Murray, 23, 117 AB’s, .342/.419/.462 with 1HR and 13 RBI; 9% bb rate, 16% k rate. .333 with LH, .346 vs. RH; .237 with RISP. 18 games with 2 errors at 1B (.986); 34th round pick in 2010 draft.

Chris Duffy, 22, 97 AB’s, .258/.387/.402 with 3 HR and 17 RBI; 16% bb rate, 20% k rate; .233 with RISP; at 1B 14 games without an error. 26th round pick in 2010 draft.

Maikel Franco, 17, 127 AB’s; .228/.298/.354 with 2HR and 18 RBI; .167 vs. LH, .253 vs. RH, .317 with RISP; 8% bb rate, 20% k rate. 33 games at 3B with 9 errors (.920); 3.12 R/F.

17 thoughts on “Around the System, Corner Infield”

  1. They seem to have given up the full time catching experiment with Kennelly. He has been playing more third and right lately. Less catching more hitting. He hit .388 for the month of July and .447 in his last 10 games. The other third baseman I follow is 18 year old Yeisson Morales down in the DR. He is tall and lean and is hitting over .400 with runners on base.

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  2. With howard going down today, this corner infield report becomes incredibly relevant to the big team. I would have thought tracy be promoted, but given recent injury, there seems no reason not to bring up rizzotti for a stint with the big team.

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  3. They almost 100% will not bring up Rizzotti. Even if they did, they wouldn’t play him. It’ll be Gload and probably Ransom (for some sick reason UC seems to like Ransom).

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  4. if howards injury is day to day, I agree. If he goes on the DL, I find it hard to believe they play gload and ransom every day and accept a combined 200 avg over the next couple weeks. Rizz is red hot. Its stupid not to showcase the kid.

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  5. It’s time they did something edgy. If the Riz doesn’t hit in 10 days, send him back.
    It’s that simple. If you play Gload who pinchhits?
    Sadly Nepp is probably right as usual.

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  7. Yeisson Morales- has played 1B lately and DH’ed. Carlos Valenzuela has played by far the most at 3B.

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  9. Dan … the assumption is that if he had ANY ability to play another position, it would have been tried by now. There are many here who think they need to just put him in LF and that he can’t be worse than Greg Luzinski or Pat Burrell. My feeling is the Phillies aren’t stupid, that if there was any chance he could possibly succeed, they would be experimenting now. The fact that he still occasionally DHs leads me to believe first base is his only option.

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  11. Tom, Phil, Rizzotti is a guy I totally missed so far this season, though I don’t follow the minors as much as many on this site I’m still a little suprised I have heard so little of him. What gives? Is it because he’s blocked by RH? He doesn’t really seem old for his level, and I don’t care what else you can say anyone who can hit AA pitching like that should have a shot somewhere, it seems to me…

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  12. He’s a bit old and this is really a breakout season for him. No previous high avg/power years. As he goes, he seems to be proving he’s a breakout player and maybe this isn’t an anomaly, so I think his true value lies in doing this all again next year.

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  13. Burrell was drafted as a 3B, Jim Thome played 3B for several seasons for the Indians. They were both “big men” that had to move to other positions. Rizzotti is likely below that level of “athleticism”. If there was any possibility that Rizzotti could play another position, you’d have to think he’d already be doing so.

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  14. The thing about Rizzotti – for the benefit of those like Dan who haven’t been following the ongoing discussion – is that his BABIP is around .400, which isn’t sustainable. Nor is anything close to it sustainable. While some people misuse that stat – some hitters can sustain a higher than average BABIP – the fact is (a) no one comes anywhere near .400, and (b) the very few players who manage to have a BIBIP over .330 tend to be EXTREME line drive/speed guys, which Rizzotti is not. Even .330 is optimistic; at that level, his BA would be around .300, still nice but not nearly as impressive. Combine that with some other comments made above (almost certainly limited to 1B and DH; prior performance suggests at least some caution; and as always, doing it against AA pitching is not the same as doing it against Major League pitching) and it explains why many of us are not getting ready to anoint him a superstar just yet.

    Mind you, among the Rizzotti skeptics I tend to be actually a bit optimistic; I think he can be a regular 1B for some Major League team for a few years & do a decent job. Expecting much more than that probably isn’t realistic.

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  15. LarryM: actually, I think that many of Rizzotti’s fans see him in the same way: as a potential starter at first for a few years with a major league team.

    That said, I doubt the Rizzotti as a LF has been tried yet, simply because before this season, there was no reason to try it: his hitting wasn’t enough to justify being a hit-first outfielder. I suspect that the Phillies might suggest to him that he work on chasing down fly balls this offseason. Also, I’d bet that the Rizz is DHing because the Phillies feel it’s better preparation for a pinch hitter.

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  16. LarryM – The BABIP arrguement is valid, but look back over Rizzotti’s carrier. He’s had well over 1,000 minor league at bats and his career BABIP is probably right around .350, and he’s never had a season where he averaged less than .321. He’s pretty slow so what this tells me is that he hits with authority when he connects. For some reason he’s just connected more frequently this season – and that’s the real outlier. Why is he making MORE contact than in the past? Some have mentioned a change in mechanics…

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