‘Pigs Weekend Update, September Callups

7. Lehigh Valley

A review of the weekend for the IronPigs with a few notes and September call up predictions.

Friday–Lehigh Valley was in Scranton on Friday evening and lost in a slugfest, 10-7. Scranton struck early with a run in the 2nd off of Drew Carpenter, taking a 1-0 lead. Lehigh Valley answered back with a John Mayberry RBI single in the 4th, tying the game, however the tie lasted just a few minutes as the Yanks put two more on the board in the bottom of the inning, giving them a 3-1 lead. A three run 5th inning, gave Lehigh Valley the lead at 4-3 in the see saw affair, the key hits being doubles by Joe Savery and Paul Hoover.  Scranton scored 6 runs in the sixth  inning knocking Drew Carpenter (7-11) out of the game, having gone 5.1 Innings, giving up 6 runs on 6 hits. He walked 3 and struck out 3.  Carpenter was replaced by Oscar Villarreal who gave up 3 runs without getting an out. Lehigh Valley did get three back in the 7th, but by then the game was out of reach. Joe Savery led the way offensively, going 3-4 with a double, and two runs scored, while Paul Hoover was 2-3 with a double, 2 runs and an RBI.

Saturday (1)–Another one run loss in Game One of the doubleheader Saturday night in Syracuse with starter Ty Taubenheim (2-3) taking the loss, allowing 4 runs over 5 innings of work.  Syracuse took the lead early with 2 runs in the first inning, and added single runs in the 4th and 5th, before Lehigh Valley put three late runs on the board making the game respectable. Lehigh Valley runs came on a pinch hit two run double by Neil Sellers and an RBI single by Ozzie Chavez. Rich Thompson went 2-4 with 2 stolen bases (20,21), while both Chavez and the recently hot Paul Hoover added two hits as well.

Saturday (2)–Lehigh Valley managed a split of their doubleheader with a 6-4 victory in Game Two Saturday evening. Mike Stutes (4-1) got the win in relief with Scott Mathieson earning his 25th save of the season. The teams exchanged runs in the first inning (Thompson, RBi single), and the Chiefs then pushed another run across taking a 2-1 in the 2nd.  A two run single by Andy Tracy gave the ‘Pigs a 3-2 lead in the third, a lead which they extended to 4-2 in the 4th on a RBI single by Joe Savery.  Savery started and was done after 4 innings, yielding 3 runs (2 earned) on 8 hits.  He walked 3 and struck out 1. A Dane Sardinha solo homer (5) in the 6th and an RBI single by John Mayberry in the 7th put the game away for Lehigh Valley. Greg Dobbs was 2-4 with a triple, RBI, and SB, Andy Tracy was 2-4 with 2 RBI’s, and Rich Thompson scored 3 runs for the ‘Pigs in the victory.

Sunday–Another in a long line of one run losses, this time 3-2 as Syracuse scored two runs in the 7th inning to overcome a 2-1 deficit.  Both of the ‘Pigs runs came on a Andy Tracy two run  homer (19) in the first inning.  Syracuse chipped away with a run in the 4th and two more in the 7th off of hard luck starter Vance Worley (1-3) who went 6.2 innings, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits.  He walked two and struck out six. Both John Mayberry and Andy Tracy had two hits apiece for Lehigh Valley.

Notes: Drew Carpenter is winless with a 5.88 ERA over his last 9 starts.

—Greg Dobbs is hitting .140 during his time in Lehigh Valley.

–Lehigh Valley is now 13-33 on one run games.

—Mike Zagurski has not allowed a run in his last 8 appearances (7.2 innings)

–For the season, Joe Savery is currently hitting .344 (keep in mind only 34 AB’s)

—Probables–Monday: Mazone, Tuesday: Robertson, Wednesday: Carpenter.

–September Callups–Just one mans predictions….1) Greg Dobbs–The Phils are paying him a major league salary as it is, he mise well be on the bench to keep Oswalt out of LF in the 16th inning. 2) Paul Hoover– obligatory 3rd catcher,hitting well recently. 3) John Mayberry Jr.,–On the 40 man roster, decent speed, can hit a lefty. 4) Scott Mathieson–24 saves, .200 opp avg. 5) Mike Zagurski–Will allow increasing flexibility for Manuel to use situational lefties earlier in the game. 6) Nate Robertson or Vance Worley–The Phils need a starter September 6th and these look to be the most likely candidates. They will fill in as long men in blowouts as well.  Brian Mazone may be a dark horse. 7)Andy Tracy–Far from a lock, but continues to give you a good at bat and provides some left-handed punch. Would need to be added to the 40.8) Rich Thompson–My own personal dark horse and long time favorite…he has 32 stolen bases this year and has been caught only 4 times, and an excellent defensive outfielder.  The Phillies currently have two open spots on their 40 man roster and will have an additional spot if they decide to move Jamie Moyer to the 60 day DL.  Mayberry, Mathieson, Zagurski, and Worley are already on the 40.

17 thoughts on “‘Pigs Weekend Update, September Callups”

  1. I would take Thompson over Mayberry any day of the week at this rate. Mayberry has either been on fire or horrid all year long and is hitting his normal .260. Thompson can help the Phils in later innings as a pinch runner or as an OF since he has a cannon for an arm. I’ll go with Dobbs, Hoover, Mathieson, Worley, Thompson, and maybe Tracy since he seems to always get the Sept. callup.

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  2. For callups, I think consideration needs to be given for Michael Schwimer, and Brandon Duckworth, who has been more effective than Robertson and Mazone. But Worley should get the nod for the Sept. 6 game.

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  3. I’d love for Mazone to get a call. His story is that he got called up for a spot start in 2006, and the game was rained out. He’s never pitched in the majors.

    Mayberry will certainly get a call. But considering that Ben Francisco rarely sees an AB, it’s hard to imagine Mayberry getting much of a chance to hit.

    The bottom line is that with the Phils in the pennant race, the callups will see token appearances and little else.

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  4. I really appreciate the site and the info. I was wondering if any former Phils prospects that have been traded away in recent seasons might be a September call up? Such as Adrian Cardenas or Michael Taylor, etc?

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  5. Mt is a mystery . I can understand a bad year with poor average but the complete lack of power suggests that someone has been messing with his swing.(A’s style).

    If Cisco could follow up his last start I make him a dark horse for September. Hell we can all dream.

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  9. Call-ups are always interesting to me:
    I like the idea of a pinch runner type but it has to be a guy who can steal a base when everyone knows you are trying to steal a base. Thompson seems to fit that role.
    Hoover will take one spot. Dobbs or Ransom will take another as backup INF. I think Worley gets the spot start since Robertson still appears terrible, though Mazone would be a great story and he is a lefty.
    Mathieson and Zagurski deserve chances over Herndon and are likely competing for a possible post-season roster spot over Baez. Mayberry likely gets called up after LHV is done because there is nothing else to do with him.
    No reason for Escalona, Flande, Naylor, Ramirez, or Sanchez.

    So I think Hoover and Dobbs or Ransom. May wait on those guys if Mazone or Robertson is chosen for spot start but I think it will be Worley. If Dobbs then no Tracy for sure. I think I would take Thompson as the last spot since I do not consider Dom Brown as a pinch runner. If needed Thompson could be cut for a spot starter.

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  10. September call-ups – starting with the current 25 man roster and a 40 man roster currently at 38. The expected transfer of Jamie Moyer the 60 day DL would make that 37. Given that no one is subtracted from the current 40 man roster, 3 could be added and those new will be shown with N designation.
    Catchers-
    26) Paul Hoover (N-1)- frees up as pinch hitter Brian Schneider (L) or Hoover (R)
    ————————————————————————————–
    LH pinch hitting as projected currently ( Domonic Brown, (Scheneider) and…
    27) Ross Gload (activated from DL)
    that’s 3 LH Pinch hitters so maybe they add one more, so
    28) Rich Thompson (N-2) offers more utility than Greg Dobbs in this scenario
    ———————–
    RH pinch hitting – Ben Francisco, Wilson Valdez (Hoover), so maybe they add one more, so
    29) Cody Ransom (N-3) offers more pinch hitting balance than Dobbs, and can be emergency infield back-up at all IF positions
    Pitchers-
    29) Danys Baez- activated from DL
    30) Vance Worley – Spot start, help in relief
    31) Mike Zagurski- another LH reliever
    32) Scott Mathieson- another late relief option, and they can continue working him with Sutter in out of game situations.

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  11. I hope to see Andy Tracy in the bigs one more time. He’s a class act and has a better bat than Dobbs. He’s not as versatile but it’s interesting to note that Andy has played more games at 3B in the big leagues than 1B (most of them were in 2000 & 2001) . I also like that he went 5 / 12 last year in his stint with the Phils last year.

    I believe he’ll be coaching next year and he’ll be a very good coach.

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  12. Dobbs will be up because they are paying a major league salary for him whether he is on the bench or the 15th tee box.

    Rizzotti for Taylor…. Dream big Brother, dream big.

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  13. philabaltfan
    At this point who knows but the A’s seem set at first. The whole thing is a puzzlement to me. I am still a MT fan but we only get a small part of the story.

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  14. I’m biased, but each and every call-up should add immediate value and be useful from day 1 to generate immediate wins in tight situations. Combining strong defense, pinch running and ability to play all 3 outfield positions, I’d very much favor Thompson (certainly over Dobbs). Rubin has said that salary isn’t the controlling factor, so why have people just sitting on the bench, even if they are drawing a major league salary? We all love Tracy and he’s an emotional favorite, but with Sweeney on the roster, logic again favors Rich.

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  15. Oh yeah, only calling up guys who can immeadiately generate wins in tight situations, that’s the key.

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  16. I really can’t see Dobbs helping at all. The real problem is Charlie’s loyalty thing. He might even play Dobbs in important spots.

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