87 thoughts on “Box score roundup, 15 April 2011”

  1. Starting to get really excited about Aumont.

    Hopefully this is the start of some good things for Lakewood.

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  2. “everybody wins woohoo” except for the big club 😦

    Call Stutes up, ship Baez back to Cuba!

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    1. It is very hard to watch Baez screw up a game when Mike Stutes, who I am sure is better, sits in LhV waiting for his chance.

      On Aumont, I am very encouraged, but I would be three times more excited if he were doing this as a starter since starters are three times more valuable.

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      1. On Aumont: Yeah, 3 times more value as a starter. But a pitcher who gets guys out and overpowers is 300 times more valuable than a pitcher who does not get guys out. I get as excited about a lights out relief pitcher as I do anybody, even understanding the differences in value. Guys find a role they are comfortable in and then excel, I’m there. You need 25 guys performing, as Baez proved last night.

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  3. That’s four straight games that Singleton has missed. I can’t find anything on it. Does anybody have an update?

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      1. It would help if the blogmaster restored the e-mail subscribing so we could follow the threads better the way it was not long ago.

        Singleton is supposedly “day-to-day” after a bad slide.

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        1. “Bad slide” can mean twisted ankle or bad ‘Strawberry”. Have sliding shorts eliminated strawberry’s?

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  4. Is Mendez trying to say something? Something like “Yo look at me. I am over here. Yo”
    This years surprise success story???? Maybe they will get something out of the trade yet. Aumont looks great. Maybe he is one of the guys who should not think too much. Just go out and throw the ball.
    Thanks all you hitters for waking up. The Rizz is the Rizz an on base machine.

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  5. Collier with his 5th SB in the early going. Not much else to say about the Claws’ offense. Savery, Rizz and Castro with gaudy numbers. Savery seems to be an apparent mismatch with his peers. 3 walks and only 2 Ks in his 35 PAs. Been a fun start to the season

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  6. FYI Anthony Hewitt isn’t gonna get it. Haven’t we seen enough? Nice kid, great athlete, Can’t play baseball

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    1. Easily the Phils worst 1st round pick since ’85. At least Jeff Jackson made it to AA and sucked. Hewitt cant even get out of low A. Wish they would’ve picked a ball player instead of an athlete. The last HS guy we drafted who made the majors with us was Hamels (I’m not counting Golson’s 4 ABs with us), who it took half a year and 3 years younger to advance farther than Hewitt ever has. Same with Biddle, drafted last year, and is already at the same level as him.

      Phils have to cut their losses already. At least with Savery, he could prove he could maybe do something at another position. But this kid is just never, ever gonna get it.

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      1. Well since the last HS guy the Phillies drafted, who made it was Hamels, I guess that means the Phillies shouldn’t draft athletic High schoolers. They would be much better off taking the Adam Buschini and Andrew Carpenters of the world.
        Funny how Hewitt is an abject failure as a 21 year old in low A, but Savery is now redeemed as a 25 year old hitting one level above him.

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        1. I think the criticism of the Hewitt pick is valid. The Phillies have a very bad history of picking toolsy infielders and outfielders with their top picks who have little demonstrated baseball-specific talent. Their history of picking HS pitcher is actually pretty good, so the Hamels comment is misplaced and I don’t hear anyone criticizing the Biddle pick (nor should they). And, by the way, picking toolsy players purely on projection is fine, but you can get these players in later rounds and, in fact the team has had great success with these later picks (Brown, Altherr, James). Nobody is saying that the Phils should pick low-ceiling college players, just that they should use better judgment on some of their first round picks.

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          1. Agreed. In general, the Phils do better drafting college position players and high school pitchers

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            1. But you gotta take shots at the high school position players. Its all a crapshoot. Occasionally you mike singleton.

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          2. The complaints about the Phillies’ selections of ‘toolsy’ players is tired and old. While some who complain, reasonably believe you can get the same type of player later in the draft, most just are just ignorantly repeating the same old Jeff Jackson comps for any African American HS OF.
            The Phillies have established beyond a reasonable doubt their draft strategy. They do not like giving out bonuses over 500k to ANY amateur talent. They only pay 1st rounders 1 million because of the slotting system. Because they are paying that, they take the highest ceiling athlete that will sign for the slot. They are willing to risk the investment on big return if the athlete gets it. They don’t feel it is worth signing low ceiling athletes to 1 million, because the return isn’t big enough for the risk.
            Big time athletes with big time skills are over slot signs. The arguments against ‘toolsy’ players is misplaced. The argument should be against the team for not signing the ‘over slot’ guys.

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            1. Nah, I disagree, the argument was not misplaced – it was correctly placed and correctly stated.

              The Phillies have the worst track record imaginable when it comes to picking “high ceiling” first round pick POSITION PLAYERS who are known as great athletes and have fairly undeveloped baseball skills. Horrible. Abysmal. Disastrous. Basically, a zero percent success rate over twenty years (unless you call Reggie Taylor or Greg Golson a success, which is beyond a strecth). Now, why that is, is anybody’s guess, but, it seems to me that, for whatever reason, they are not good at it whereas other teams might be. So, it seems they should re-think their strategy when it comes to this type of player.

              As for their track record, it’s very strong in the draft outside of this one area of weakness. They are exceptionally good at picking: (a) high school pitchers with high draft picks (Myers, Hamels, Biddle); (b) college pitchers who typically transition into relief pitchers (Stutes, Schwimmer, Zagurski); (c) late round toolsy players who are signed at or above slot (Brown, James, Altherr); (d) projectable high school arms signed at or above slot (Cosart, Colvin, May, Rodriguez).

              Suggesting that this a race issue, however, is insulting and inaccurate and hides the Phillies repeated incompetence in this particular area. By the way, they are also not particularly good in the area of signing developing international talent, although that seems to be improving.

              As just for good measure, I am not the only one who has criticized their “lottery pick” use of projectable, but undeveloped, first round position players. PP has questioned this use of draft picks as have many of the other people who regularly post on this site. So don’t make this about race – that’s irrelevant.

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            2. The Phillies are also very good at identifying college hitters who seem to go under the radar for the first few rounds of the draft. Howard, Taylor, Rizzotti fall into this category and I have a sneaking suspicion that Eldemire will fit there as well. So, yeah, there’s a lot they do very well. Choosing undeveloped high school position players has, thus, far, not been one of those things.

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            3. Oh, how I wish they would have taken Anthony Gose in the first round, instead of the second round. Then we could be close to finished with these old ‘played out’ generalizations.

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          3. No Sparky, the Phillies have a history of overdrafting in the 1st round because they can sign the overdraft for slot money. 2nd round talents are always happy to be drafted in the 1st round and get more money then they were expecting.

            As opposed to those Scott Boras clients and others like them. No matter how far Dylan Bundy falls he’ll never get drafted by the Phillies, just as Rick Porcello and Matt Harvey sailed on by.

            Dave $$$ Montgomery never sleeps on draft day.

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          4. Isn’t it true that the Phillies spend less money on the draft and less money on signing international players than most other teams?

            The Phils have a number of good prospects right now, but shouldn’t they be doing significantly better if they continued with their current method of identifying talent and spent as much money as the competition?

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            1. I’ve got a post about the Phillies long sad draft history with Dave $$$ Montgomery on my blog. It’s enough to make you vomit into your lap.

              $$$ needs to go.

              I’m sure John S. Middleton doesn’t know the ruin $$$ has caused.

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        2. Savery isnt redeemed at all as he was a bust as a pitcher. But I wouldn’t write him off just yet as he is (small sample size of course) raking the hell out of the ball thus far.

          Also Hewitt is 22 and a abject failure in low A 🙂

          Finally Trey McCall was a worst bust than Jeff Jackson ever was. Granted, I’m also going back 25 years there.

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        3. Agreed. but you cant fault impatient stupid people for being stupid and impatient. They were born that way.

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      2. But he had that great batting practice session at CBP with wooden bats…how could we have known?!?!?!

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  7. Twenty-five year old 1st basemen hitting in Clearwater and Reading don’t do much for me. The stars of the first two weeks seem to be Worley, Pettibone, Leandro Castro, Aumont, Hollands and Harold Garcia.

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    1. I would also add Knigge to that bunch. He’s throwing multiple innings and he’s getting alot of Ks.

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    2. Savery didn’t assign himself to Clearwater. It’s up to the team to promote him.
      So you knock is invalid.

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      1. His knock is invalid? B.S.!! he is 25 and converting to a position player. He is a joke of a prospect who, no matter what he does in the future, is a colossal bust. He is in in High A because he has not played as a regular position player in several years. Saverys prospect status has 0 to do with who assigned him to Clearwater, but is 100% connected to his experience and proven skill at the position he plays.

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        1. Is it really fair to call a pitcher who we drafted coming of an Injury a joke of a prospect when he never returned to his pre-injury form?

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  8. Last night on Phillies pregame on the radio they did the weekly interview with Chuck Lamar. As expected, he touched on Aumont and Savery. However, in passing he said was they had not completely given up on the idea of Savery as a pitcher? He also talked up JC Ramriez’s first start.

    I am impressed by Rizzotti. When he started hitting last year and it was a divergence from his career numbers, you had to wonder whether it was an anomaly. The answer thus far is – he appears to be maintaining his new level. Keep it up Matt!

    On the other hand, taking him off the 40 man earlier this year I feel makes it unlikely he’ll be at CBP soon. His going on waivers and no other teams taking a chance on him is eye opening. His continuing to only DH and play 1B – which further limits possibilities. There are no clear paths forward for him right now. I assume he’ll go to AAA this year. I wonder where he goes from there.

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    1. That’s why this is an important year for Rizz. Perhaps not in the organization’s eyes, but certainly for his own career. He needs to rake at Reading and continue to do so when he gets to LHV. It would be great to see Rizz provide us with another bargaining chip, even if it’s as a secondary piece at best. I like rooting for him, and two consectutive seasons of .340 hitting is sure to get someone’s attention. Good luck Matt

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  9. Transactions thread? Did it dissappear, as once did the comments from like April 7 to March 18? (something like that). Phased out- then maybe a brief mention If it just up and dissappeared maybe it had something to do with the irregularities mentioned about when it was coming in , down in the whatever you call it.

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  10. Very confused how can you compare HEWITT a toolsy athlete to a high school pitcher> makes no sense to me, a whole different animal, you have a guy throwing curves and change up and 92 plus fastballs, to a guy who is hitting mostly against guys in high school who can touch 80,andwill be mechanics or carpenters, no way to judge the toolsy guy until he sees real competion the only thing you go on is speed, bat speed and arm strength not like a pitcher who has the fastball, and other pitches, already has the speed it if he develolp not the same as drafting a toolsy guyand hoping he can hit?

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    1. I am curious MikeMike why “the guys in HS who can touch 80” will be carpenters or mechanics? Is there something demeaning about either job? They also may end up being an oncologist who saves your life or your child’s life, or an attorney who sues the Lakewood Blue Claws when Hewitt flails at a nasty curve ball, loses control of his bat, which unfortunately hits you right in the forehead as you sit behind the dugout watching the game. Or, he may end up building your house, or repairing your faulty break lines. Bottom line is Anthony Hewitt probably could hit a mechanic or carpenter, or a doctor of lawyer, he just can’t hit a professional pitcher at any level.

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  11. Rizzoti’s path is blocked. The Phils have an abundance of relief pitchers doing well in the minors….Trade Matthesion or maybe Defratus and Rizzoti to an organization that needs RP and a 1b or DH for some infield minor league or C prospects. Its a shame cause Rizzoti seems to just be a flat out hitter. I would hate to see him in 4 years playing 1B for say the White Sox hitting 312 with 25 hrs. We have a ton of good RP though with Matthesion, Defratus, Stutes, Aumont, etc

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    1. Not an awful comp on overall skill level, though their situations are a little different. I think Owings had the stuff to be a mid-rotation starter. We have not seen that level of stuff from Savery (though I assume in college he did have that). Owings has also not appeared at a position other than pitcher yet, so his hitting is more of a pinch hitting bonus.

      It will be fascinating if they continue to have Savery pitch a little on the side. There are LOOGYs with much less stuff out there and he could be an interesting double switch/7th man in the pen weapon if that panned out.

      I do think they need to push him to Reading and Rizz to SWB pretty soon. Rizz is beyond AA these days and Savery really has a short clock in which to develop age-wise. Hopefully he continues to succeed, though I also know this hot start might be a combination of luck and way more experience baseball-wise than the opposition. He has always taken BP, a little DH, and some instructional league, so it is not as if he is starting out from scratch as a hitter.

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      1. Are there LOOGYs with less stuff than Savery? In just about all the years he’s been in the system I haven’t seen any report that indicated he had any plus or even average pitches. What does he even throw besides a mid-80s fastball? I assume he’s got a change and a breaking pitch but I haven’t heard anything really good about any of them.

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  14. FYI, for those who are asking, we have two recent minor league injuries:

    Singleton has a bruised/twisted lower leg from an awkward slide into 2nd base a few days ago. It’s very hard to get information out of CLW, so we don’t have a lot of details on the severity, other than someone reported that the Phils said it was “not serious”.

    Collier hurt himself last night as well on an awkward slide into 2B on his first CS. At this point he appears to be day-to-day.

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    2. They are reporting Chris Frey has a stress fracture in his back and might be done for a while. First Gillies goes down after the first spring camp game and now Frey. Center fielders have dropped quickly at AA. Great opportunity for D-Mitch as the every day AA center fielder. He is off to a good start, second on the team in rbi’s and tied in stolen bases. Looks like Kennelly becomes Readings fourth outfielder with Suomi now activated along with Tuffy behind the plate.

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      1. Neither here nor there but I have been very pleasantly surprised by Derrick Mitchell at AA. I really expected this to be his last year with the org but he is keeping his head above water so far. Here’s hoping that all those tools come together this year.

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  15. Matt Rizzotti 1.396 OPS

    Why does he continue to go on? He was put on irrevocable waivers and no one took him! Does he think he’s the next Dan Uggla? Does Rizzotti really think there is a spot for him in MLB?

    Does Rizzotti think he could outperform these studs:

    James Loney Dodgers
    5 years experience 2011 salary: $4.8 million
    Career OPS: .776
    2011 OPS: .442

    Adam LaRoche Nationals
    7 years experience 2011 salary: $7 million
    Career OPS: .824
    2011 OPS: .598

    Lyle Overbay Pirates
    10 years experience 2011 salary $5 million
    Career OPS: .805
    2011 OPS: .737

    Dan Johnson Rays
    5 years experience 2011 salary $1 million
    Career OPS: .750
    2011 OPS: .434

    Someone ask Rizzotti if he does, and if affirmative put him in to a straitjacket and ship him off to the Google softball team where he belongs.

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    1. I wonder how well Loney would hit if he were in AA right now instead of the Majors…same for the rest.

      Yes, he’s performing but he’s performing against AA pitchers. Its not his fault and he can only hit guys he plays against but he’s 25 in AA. He’s no different than a Mike Cervenak or Andy Tracy. He might, if everything fell right, end up as a DH platoon bat in the AL but that’s probably not gonna happen.

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    2. Loney and LaRoche are really good fielders… but some times it is a matter of luck. These guys had no one blockin them as they came up.

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    3. Not sure people are banging on the door asking to trade for Rizzotti. They all just passed on him via waivers. He probably should not have been in AA this year, but it is his fault for apparently not coming in great shape. He has actually not succeeded yet in AAA or really Arizona, so he has much to prove before we could count on him putting up a 750+ major league OPS.

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        1. He blocked himself by not coming in to camp in good physical condition. He’ll make it to AAA in the next month or two… if he keeps hitting he may become someone you can trade to Billy Beane. But the road does not lead to CBP. It’s either minor league free agency or a trade.

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          1. How did Beane miss him on waivers? That’s what I want to know.

            But Beane’s entire intellect is for pitching. When the subject is a pitcher he’s Rain Man, counting the matches at a glance, but when it’s a hitter he moves his index finger rapidly up and down across his lips.

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  16. Handzus, how about JC Romero? I am believing Mike Zagurski would do a much better job than Romero.

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    1. Well I was originally talking about Savery and his stuff. I think Zagurski does have decent stuff and will probably pitch in the majors again at some point. It’s too early to say anything about Romero- last night he made a good pitch but let himself down with defense- and Zagurski hasn’t been good in his recent callups so who knows if he would actually be any better.

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      1. All Romero had to do was let the ball go. Rollins throws him out and we probably would have had to endure Cholly let Denys pitch to a left handed batter then bringing in Bastardo.
        Harold Garcia nice start; needs walks.

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  17. Just got word that Lakewood game will be postponed….another dbl hdr tomorrow. Made it to Hagerstown game last night and if anyone is interested here are the velos for the arms in yesterday’s game:
    Buchanan 88-90
    Knigge 91-94
    Pettis 87-89

    -BillB

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  19. Carpenter with 38 pitches in 3 innings, 2 Ks, and only 1 baserunner allowed?! Maybe the Carpenter experiment will pay some dividends when things are said and done. Aumont has been fantastic, starting to get really excited about his prospects again. Like was mentioned before, very happy to see Knigge hitting 94 mph.

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  20. Have to like what Travis “Moose” Mattair is doing with the Treshers. Last night he just missed by a few feet a grand slam and had to settle for a three run double and tonight so far he has an rbi double and a two run homer.

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      1. I’ve been critical of “Moose” for dumping out of last season, but I’d be gleeful if it was him that answers our 3rd base question.

        He supposedly is a good glove and arm at 3rd base, so his hitting needs to grow: Good luck to him; it seems he could worth watching in ’11.

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  22. I have to say…it’s starting to piss me off the amount of negativity surrounding Rizz, and Savory. If hitting .400 in AA is so easy why the f*** dont the best prospects do it? Matter of fact, why did heyward only hit .323 between A and AAA in 2009 and have a pretty damn good year last year, and dont give me that him being young bullshit either because while it’s valid for long term projection, it doesnt mean crap in a comparison from age 19 to 20.

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    1. Heyward’s counterpart in the Phils system is Singleton.

      I’m sure Rizzotti is not going to hit .400 even if he does stay in AA (which would be criminal), but Rizzotti would have to be compared to Ryan Howard, Marlon Byrd, Nelson Cruz and Travis Hafner, not Heyward.

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    2. You are so right. Rizzotti is every bit as good as Heyward. Hitting 400 for 2 weeks in AA, at age 25 as a DH signals greatness.

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        1. The velocity was obviously very important, but if you see the footage, the impressive thing about the fastball was that it moved and sank like crazy. It was a nasty pitch; the kind that Roy Halladay would like to have.

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  25. if Baez still stinks by mid season do they finally call up say Stutes and release Baez? Baez’s contract is Finally over this year and does anyone trust him in the playoffs? I trust a newbie Stutes more than Baez. I know Baez pitched good in spring training but he is showing is old form again ( see blowing Friday’s game).

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  26. I’m by no means a Baez fan, but injuries happen and releasing Baez could have consequences. If you release Baez and two pitchers end up on the DL at some point, you then have to dip pretty far into the minors. And with Contreras’s age, Romero and Bastardo’s injury history, and Madson’s desire to replace David Akers, its always a risk.

    The more important issue is finding someone strong to pitch the 7th inning – Stutes, Herndon, Bastardo, Romero, Kendrick. Looked like Charlie was going to use KK today if he needed him which means he has lost a little faith in Herndon and Baez in that role which is justified. After seeing that, you have to think an opportunity for a reliever in the minors is close to reality if this continues.

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