Monthly Archives: July 2011

Phuture Phillies/Express Times On Line Chat

Mike Lore, the IronPigs beat writer of the Express Times has invited me to be a “featured guest” on an on line chat this Tuesday discussing the IronPigs first half, what to expect in the second half, and any other questions you may have about Phillies prospects.  Drop on by at 7:00 on Tuesday night at http://bit.ly/pD8tij.

Futures Game Wrap: Thoughts on Cosart/Valle

The Futures Game is a lot of fun. You’re seeing 50 prospects, and though not all of them are future all stars, most of them will make it to the majors. This game isn’t the best data point to try and evaluate someone’s future career, but its fun nonetheless. Some quick thoughts.

Sebastian Valle: Came in to pinch hit and had himself a heck of an AB, laying off a tough 1-2 pitch before lining a double down the left field line and taking 3rd on the wild overthrow from Bryce Harper. In his 2nd AB he faced Jacob Turner, one of the best RHP in the minors. He showed a quick bat, roping a hard fastball just foul and working a deep count before flying out to right centerfield. Defensively, Valle looked just fine, presenting a quiet target, framing high velocity fastballs perfectly, and blocking everything in the dirt. 3 years ago, we were wondering if Valle would have the capability to stick behind the plate defensively, and now his defense appears to be almost completely caught up to his offensive potential. Very positive developments.

Jarred Cosart: Cosart started the 8th inning and blitzed the three hitters he faced. As I noted in the liveblog, the TV gun was 2mph fast, so his 99s were 97s, but that will certainly play. He flashed a big hammer curveball to record a strikeout, and then finished off the last hitter he faced with an 83 mph changeup with solid late fade. He still has a somewhat complex delivery with moving parts, but it did not appear to hamper his command at all. With the USA holding on, Cosart is the winning pitcher.

Pretty solid night for the Phillies farm system.

Around the System–Corner Infield

Another month in the books since we looked at the corners….

Lehigh Valley

Jeff Larish, 28, .239/.330/.450 in 251 AB’s; 13 HR and 37 RBI; 12% bb rate, 30% K rate, .221 vs. LH, .246 vs. RH, .221 with RISP, .078 in July. 51 games at 1B with 2 errors (.996); 9.18 R/F; 18 games at 3B with 4 errors (.925); 2.72 R/F. Its turned into a disappointing season for Larish who is striking out a ton.  Continue reading Around the System–Corner Infield

2011 Futures Game Liveblog

The Futures Game is one of my favorite events of the year. Though you won’t see the top 50 prospects in baseball, you will see plenty of elite prospects mixed in with a few interesting guys. The Phillies are sending Jarred Cosart and Sebastian Valle, and it should be a chance for both to shine. I expect Cosart will air things out in a 1 inning stint, and you may see a few 97s and 98s, which should be fun to watch. I will post my thoughts on the entire game, assuming I get to see the entire game, below the fold. Feel free to follow along. The game starts at 6PM ET and will be shown on ESPN2.

Continue reading 2011 Futures Game Liveblog

Game Report – Clearwater 6 July 2011

Commenter “sillybones” posted an in depth review of the Clearwater game from July 6th he attended, and I think it warrants its own post. For future reference, if you attend a game and would like to contribute a writeup, I would love to add it as its own post, and I’m actually going to create a section of the site here for reader submissions and things of that sort. Note, I’m only interested in reports that contain observations on prospects/players, not how much fun you had, if the hot dogs were good, etc etc. If you have a game report you want to share, send them to me via email…phuturephillies at gmail dot com. In the meantime, check below for a report from Clearwater, featuring Jarred Cosart.

Continue reading Game Report – Clearwater 6 July 2011

Hot or Not 8 July 2011

An exceptional week for Lisaberto Bonilla…nice to see Josh Zeid bounce back from injury to sit near the top of the hot reliever list…”Under the radar” names such as Ruf and Susdorf destroying the ball.

Hot Starting Pitchers: Lisaberto Bonilla (15IP 9H 1ER 1BB 18K); Jon Pettibone (8IP 5H 0ER 0BB 6K); Brody Colvin (6IP 6H 0ER 1BB 5K); Garrett CLaypool (7IP 2H 1ER 2BB 7K); Ryan Feireabend (7IP 5H 1ER 1BB 7K); Colin Klevan (6IP 3H 1ER 0BB 4K); Julio Rodriguez (5.2IP 3H 1ER 3BB 6K);Ethan Stewart (5.2IP 4H 1ER 2BB 2K). Honorable MentionL Tyler Cloyd Continue reading Hot or Not 8 July 2011