Box Score Recap, 3 August 2011

Box Score Recap

REA
LKW
WPT
GCL

As a reminder, your big league club related chatter goes here —> link

77 thoughts on “Box Score Recap, 3 August 2011”

  2. Current Mid-season Top 30

    5. OF – Domingo Santana (LWD-8/5/92) – (.274) 2 for 3 with a 2B (27), run, BB
    10. 3B – Maikel Franco (LWD-8/26/92) – (.250) – 1 for 4 with a run, K
    17. 3B – Harold Martinez (WIL-5/31/90) – (.260) – 2 for 4 with an RBI (14), SB (3)
    18. LHP – Adam Morgan (WIL-2/27/90) – (1-2, 2.36) – 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
    19. C – Cameron Rupp (LWD-9/28/88) – (.272) – 2 for 3
    20. OF – Brian Pointer (GCL-1/28/92) – (.258) – 1 or 5 with an RBI (16), 2 K’s
    21. OF – Kelly Dugan (WIL-9/18/90)–(.296) – 1 for 4 with 2 K’s
    22. RHP – Austin Hyatt (REA-5/23/86) – (10-5, 3.76) – 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 12 K
    24. 1B – Matt Rizzotti (REA/12/24/85)– (.287) – 0 for 2 with a BB
    26. OF – Kyrell Hudson (WIL-16/6/90) – (.263) – 1 for 4 with 2 K’s
    27. OF – Aaron Altherr (WIL-1/14/91) – (.281) – 1 for 4 with a HR (4), RBI (17)
    30a. 2B– Cody Asche (WIL-6/20/90) – (.194) 0 for 3 with a BB
    30b. OF – Derrick Mitchell (REA-1/5/87)- (.270) – 1 for 3 with a 2B (17), run, K

    Other names of interest

    2B – Carlos Valenzuela (GCL-9/18/90) – (.339)- 2 for 2 with 2 runs, 2 BB
    SS – Edgar Duran (LWD-2/10/91) – (.250) 0 for 3
    OF – Anthony Hewitt (LWD-4/27/89) – (.244) – 2 for 4 with a HR (12), 2 RBI (45, SB (31), 2 K
    OF – Miguel Alvarez (LWD-8/27/89) –(.262) – 0 or 5 with a K
    LHP – Fabian Cota (GCL-4/13/92) – (1-0, 4.50) 0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, BB, 2 K
    RHP – Garett Claypool (LWD/8/21/88) – (3-7, 3.51) – 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K

    Like

  3. Reading is now barren of position player prospects. Anthony Hewitt- 12 Hrs and 31 steals. He still needs to make more and better contact. Warner with a fine start. Mikail Franco continues to hit doubles in Lakewood. Didn’t Altherr have zero homers in Williamsport last year? We could be losing Lendy Castillo.

    Like

    1. You think Lendy could get picked in the Rule 5? I guess I could see it. He has been great ever since he converted to a pitcher last season. It would be a pretty big stretch for a team to take a guy out of low a. I think the Padres did it with Everth Cabrera a few years ago.

      Like

    2. Yes. With Mattair in Clearwater, I fully expected Barnes to move up. He cut down on errors and has hit for some ( I guess not enough) power. Reading can improve anyone’s power numbers. Mattair is showing decent power. Galvis moving up exposed the scarcity of shortstops in the organization. Maybe we’ll have a glut in the next few days.
      Just when you think Hewitt is done he does something like tonight. The one time he hits the ball is the game winner.
      Houston could get both Castillo (Rule 5) and Bonilla (player to be named).
      I would like to see Valenzuela at Williamsport for the rest of the season.

      Like

      1. There’s nowhere for Valenzuela to play at WSport. Asche needs to play and he certainly can’t get pushed up.

        Like

        1. Valenzuela started as a SS. It wouldn’t bother me , if they curtailed the playing time of Taylor Black and the longshot Miramontes a bit.

          Like

    1. I saw the score was 1 to 1 suspended late in the game and my first thought was Hyatt must have pitched. I scroll down and there he is in the box score. Bonus was 12 stikeouts. Hewitt keeps doing just enough to keep us looking for him in the box scores. Hey at least I can admit it. Santana is getting hot. Hope he doesnt have a B-day let down. Probably not since he isnt old enough to buy a drink regardless of what some on this site may think.

      Like

  6. I know its a small sample but Singleton is batting at a .455 clip with 2 doubles and a homerun since moving to the Astros farm system. I have a feeling he’s gonna be a rising star in the majors in a couple years. I would’ve rather gave up another top pitching prospect. I really wish we could’ve kept him.

    Like

    1. So does everyone else, including the Phillies, but Pence has made a sizeable difference in the Phillies line-up, hasn’t he. They look at their minor league players as assets to improve the major league team, as the other teams do. I have no problem with that.

      Like

    2. Which will be easy for Jon, since no one on the Astros will get in his way. We needed at right-handed bat this year and a replacement for Ibanez next year. It was a good move for both teams. Move on.

      Like

    4. Moved from a bad offensive park to a good offensive park and league. Stats should take a jump as well. Part of our evaluation of him was considering that both Lakewood and Clearwater are not good home run parks.

      Like

  7. BJ, I was talking about the PTBNL in the Pence trade. Anyway, Gillies is back on twitter. All hope is not lost. He’s talking about playing in the fall and the winter.

    Like

  8. Gillies could prove to be the second coming of Mathieson…who worked his way to a favorable prospect status, and then suffered a series of injuries that seemed to take all of that away.

    If Gillies does play in August without another physical breakdown, then he almost has no choice–he’s got to play winter ball.

    Wishing him better health…

    Like

  9. I think the Phillies sold low on Singleton + Cosart considering the return was Hunter Pence. I expected Singleton to have a real bust out year next season power-wise at Reading and to find himself in the top-15 prospects in baseball and possibly moving to top-10. Moving to the Astros farm system and better hitter’s league for A+ he’s getting a jump-start. By mid-season next year he’ll be a top-15.

    Like

    1. i agree… i may have been clearly in the minority, but i would’ve been happy if amaro had just stand pat. it’s like he wasted bullets on a good but not great player. i could see singelton really start to take off offensively at reading and i would have promoted steve schrenk to reading where he could work with all those top arms again. now these guys will have turned into bigger and better bullets for a target much bigger than a hunter pence.

      Like

      1. i also think singleton will be a fine big-league hitter, but the phillies needed a five-hole hitter THIS year, because of the departure of werth and the disappointing performance of francisco. if you have a chance to win a WS with this kind of pitching staff, you don’t stand pat.

        btw, i suspect if singleton played third base instead of first, for example, the team wouldn’t have traded him. ryan howard’s not going anywhere. speaking of howard, he has nine RBIs in five games since the pence deal. he’s getting better pitches to hit because the guy in back of him is actually a threat.

        Like

        1. Victorino was doing pretty well in the 5 hole. .306/.405/.528 in 85 PAs. He’s certainly been more of a “threat” than Pence has. A playoff lineup with Polanco batting 2nd, Victorino 5th, and Brown 7th isn’t too much worse than one with Pence batting 5th.

          Like

          1. Come on, you can’t honestly say that Brown is Pence’s equal at this time. Brown will hopefully become a great player but he’s not now and Pence is a very solid player. he’s a huge addition to the lineup and its obvious to all.

            Like

            1. You’re missing the point. Brown wasn’t hitting in the 5 hole; this was a response to the comment about the alleged benefits to Howard, which is nonsense. Absolute nonsense.

              Now, as for Pence versus Brown, the issue is what are their performances likely to be (or have been) going forward this year. The idea that you just need to look at their statistics from this year in the major leagues and project the rest of the season is IMO naive and inaccurate. I do happen to think that Pence is likely to be a little better than Brown would have been this season as a hitter. But I think a reasonable prediction would include some BABIP driven regression from Pence towards his career mean, and some improvement from Brown (based upon reasonable projection of his minor league performance, plus some BABIP related improvement). I am not saying that that would close the gap, but it would narrow it a lot. Of course Pence is more of a sure thing than Brown, and a better fielder. Which leads to my estimate of a one win advantage. Which is significant, but on this team (again) not IMO worth the cost.

              Like

        2. Sigh. Just simply not true about the 5 hole hitter. Look, the deal could work out for the Phillies – maybe Pence is better than I think, maybe the prospects don’t make it, maybe they would have had a tougher time replacing Ibanez than I think. But Howard is going to have his hot streaks & cold streaks, probably completely independently of who is hitting behind him, but certainly independently of whether it is Pence or Victorino. Victorino, who like Pence is hitting above his career norms, but is hitting MUCH better than Pence this year, and, over the course of his career, is nearly his equal as a hitter.

          Like

  10. Nice game for Valenzuela. Also a good pitching performance from Warner.
    Home run Altherr! And two hits for Martinez.
    Like Santana’s line. Good outing for Claypool.
    Austin Hyatt, that’s a lot of strikeouts.

    Like

    1. Hyatt has been pretty darn good in his last 5 games. 30 IP, 21 H, 5 ER, 41Ks, 9 BBs. 1.50 ERA and, drum roll please, 1 HR allowed.

      Valenzuela is my choice for surprise of the year. In his multiple seasons in Latin America, he showed next to nothing. Now he’s a hitting machine. I was irritated when I saw him on any state-side roster. I agree with Puddnhead that he should be in Williamsport. He’ll be 21 in September so now is the time to find out if he’s an older guy beating up on young kids.

      Like

      1. Check out Hyatt interview on CSN-Phillies Clubhouse from 2 August. Very mature with positive attitude.

        Like

      2. Yeah, Hyatt’s overall HR rate is still pretty high, but it’s going in the right direction lately. Hopefully he keeps pitching well.
        I like that Valenzuela’s putting up a good hitting line this year, but I’m afraid it’s BABIP-driven (he’s over .400 there, I think). If he can cut some Ks and walk more it’ll help when his BABIP regresses, though. Would be nice to see if he can get anything done a level higher.

        Like

  11. Yeah, Santana is quietly having a pretty decent year. The strikeouts are still ridiculously high, but he’s got a healthy ISO around 175

    Like

    1. For an 18 year-old (turns 19 tomorrow) in full-season ball, he’s having more than a “pretty decent year.” Check out his first half/second half splits: the walk rate has come back, strikeouts are down, power is up. Definitely top five in the Phils system now and potentially a top-50 MLB prospect.

      Like

  12. I’m surprised that no one ever mentions that the PTBNL could be Collier or Santana as easily as it could be Bonilla or Rupp. All we know is that the 4 players are all on the LWood roster and does not include Biddle.

    Like

    1. Didn’t see anything that said it was only 4 players to choose from. Seems to me if it was a position player they are looking at, why the wait, they know about what these guys could do. Figure that it is either one of the starting pitchers, and they want to see them again to be sure of their choice, or it is one of the players from last season’s draft who would not be eligible until August 15 (I believe) due to the one year rule.. The only draftees that might fall under that would be: the starter Garrett Claypool, the catcher Cameron Rupp, and maybe an outside shot for reliever Tyler Knigge. Also an outside shot for Maybe Mario Hollands now a reliever. Other starters: Ervis Manzanillo, Lisalverto Bonilla, maybe the (have as relievers) Lendy Castillo, Chase Johnson, maybe even Colby Shreve.

      Figure last season’s draftees more likely, first I think Claypool as he seems like the type of pitcher Houston has gone for lately. Texas Product Cameron Rupp, C, next , I say.
      Then: Bonilla, Manzanillo, Castillo, Shreve, C. Johnson.

      Like

      1. I heard Amaro say in an interview that Houston will be choosing from a list of four players on the Lakewood roster.

        Like

        1. OK, then is that where the theory , as it has been issued on here,
          that 2 of the players may be Bonilla or Lendy Castillo comes from.
          And the other 2 might be anybody’s guess or no.

          Like

    2. I will be pissed off it’s Santana. He’s not a classic second tier, PTBNL. I am hoping we are talking about a player like Rupp, or Ruf, or even Bonilla.

      Like

      1. If the player is indeed at Lakewood, it will not be Ruf, because he is at Clearwater. Doesn’t seem to be similar to players Houston has gone for in trades to date, either.

        Like

        1. Sorry, you are right, after sending that I recalled that Ruf was at Clearwater. I am still very opposed to sending Santana and, in fact, I think the presence of Santana as a long-term and possibly elite prospect was one of the things that made trading Singleton palatable to the team.

          Like

    3. I would be absolutely shocked if it were Santana. I would be surprised if it were Collier. My impression is that it was not a top-tier prospect and those guys both have top-tier tools. I think the guesses of Bonilla and Rupp are good ones.

      Like

      1. If they take Collier, they have to take Hewitt too. In wishful-hoping land, Hewitt would be my choice to be the PTBNL. I would not be happy if it was either Collier or Santana. Rupp has grown on me too but I think Houston will take him. I’m assuming he’s one of the four.

        Like

        1. Lets all hope for a number one round draft choice as the selection–Anthony Hewitt.
          Number one rounders have a certain aura about them!

          Like

  13. GCL- Gustavo Gonzalez plays over Tyler Greene at SS. 2-5 starting to rise to a more respectable average, and if he gets playing time , maybe, no word of injury to Greene.
    Catcher- the other Moore gets his average over .200, might develop into a more reliable hitting threat by end of season, if all goes well.
    Valenzuela- 2-2 with 2 walks 2 runs scored. Looks like a possible 2nd , SS, 3B, candidate going forward. Maybe also Villalobos, and how ever many of the IF draftees they wind up signing. If they wind up with too many promising players for too few positions, some will be shorted on the playing time thing, similar to the situation w/ catchers on last season’s GCL team.
    Josh Warner started, seems like first game with all right stats, or one of a few.
    Fabian Cota, though hit some, continues with good rate of strikeouts.

    Like

  14. Lakewood BlueClaws:
    Anthony Hewitt- 12 HR’s now, exceeding last year’s high of 11. 12 HR’s in a full season league, how many of the more highly regarded OF candidates on here , could even do that much? Not more than 3, I believe, so Hewitt will continue to advance and to get playing time.
    Also a team leading 31 steals.
    Let’s see, hit with power, runs bases, steals, excellent defense in RF with top throwing arm. The lag in batting average between Hewitt and the shoo-in on here, Zach Collier, would probably amount to an extra hit every several hundred at bats. Those are what you call occupational skills which will cause Hewitt to continue to move up and get playing time, And the negativism of the nay-sayers will be what it is, sour grapes over the organizations decision to not follow the Internet edicts of who to draft in “08.

    Like

    1. Hewitt is not a prospect. He may indeed move up; org filler often does. That’s what he is at this point, org filler. As for the Collier comparison, you forget the many metrics in which Collier is (much) better – BB%, K%, age.

      Like

      1. I just gave you four areas which can get Hewitt to an MLB appearance which would be power , speed, defense , throwing arm. He has had numerous games without a strikeout this season and should continue to increase these, and show improvement with more experience. If he does the other stuff, strikeouts don’t really matter as it is just another out, with no chance of hitting into a double or triple play. And that’s what the high-o’s on here said when that was mentioned in favor of Ibanez, shortly after his free agent signing. Walks are really just a side effect of being a dangerous hitter, or the result of pitcher malfaesance. The batter is given a stick to hit the ball, and if they can do this on the first or second strike thrown, they do not need a walk. Getting hits and stuff is the important part and walks are a side effect, That is why they call them peripheral. Hewitt was born on about the same day as Jiwan James, and if the theoretically each advanced one level per season to MLB , James at 25, Hewitt at 26, not an uncommon age for MLB introduction. I don’t see any meteoric rise for Collier, he will likely be mired in A level for a couple of seasons or go back into the injury trap. Collier had a most favored status upon being drafted, and any positive output from him whatsoever, and he is advanced way beyond the natural status he should receive. When I say these guys a few seasons back, I would put Hewitt as the best athlete, followed closely by James and Jonathon Villar, and a step down would be Collier and Leandro Castro , all these would make the top 2 tiers.

        Like

        1. These are strong words. So can we safely call this a prediction? You are predicting Hewitt will be a major leaguer? I just want to be sure so it is very clear.

          I will predict you are wrong. That said, I hope it all clicks for him and he becomes the next Derrick Mitchell and then becomes the next Raul Ibanez.

          Like

          1. Since you asked, and due to the array of skills outlined above, I go with Hewitt will someday appear on an MLB roster. Even the naysayers say he should continue to rise through the system, and at the very least after acheiving a high enough experience level, when a team needs to tap into the skills presented so far, a reserve role after September 1, or during the regular season should not be far-fetched. Even a higher role could be thought of, as Hewitt has increased the number of no-strikeouts games to higher levels lately , after very few when starting off, given the advanced physical skills improvement should be in order.

            Like

        2. Wow, just SO much there that is SO wrong, probably about as much concentrated error as I’ve seen on this site in a long time. I can’t lose another day like I did earlier in the week regarding Pence, so I’ll leave you with just a couple of quick, underdeveloped bullet point:

          (1) Regarding BB, that was the conventional wisdom 30 years ago. Reams of subsequent research has demonstrated conclusively beyond a shadow of a doubt that that is dead wrong. I’m accused of being arrogant sometimes, but there are plenty of areas where either (a) I am not an expert and admit it, and/or (b) where reasonable minds may differ. BB isn’t one of them.

          (2) You’re wrong about Ks also, without the excuse that it was ever the conventional wisdom. Ks are indeed no worse than any other type of out – except a guy who Ks as much as Hewitt (a) is AT BEST going to be hit around .250 in the majors, probably less, because he won’t be making enough contact to hit better, and (b) probably won’t hit that well, because he will never see a good pitch to hit from major league quality pitching.

          (3) Please point to one player, ever, who was in low A as a 22 year old, with BB and K data as bad as Hewitt’s, that had more than a cup of coffee in the majors. Exclude SS and catchers. If you can identify even one, I’ll concede that he is a prospect, albeit still a marginal one with very little chance of making it.

          Like

          1. Preston Wilson but the Mets moved him up before years end. Same thing the Phillies need to do with Hewitt – up or out.

            Like

          2. Does Babe Ruth qualify?
            Year Age Tm Lg Lev Aff G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
            1914 19 2 Teams 1 Lg AA 46 121 28 2 10 1 .231 .438 53
            1914 19 Baltimore,Providence IL AA 46 121 28 2 10 1 .231 .438 53

            Like

            1. Umm, no. Let’s see. Your cut and paste is clearly from baseball-reference.com, which doesn’t even have the BB and K data. And he was 19 in AA. So let’s see, doesn’t match on any count.

              It “proves” I guess that a 19 year old in AA with a lousy BA but some tremendous power could be a prospect. But we already knew that, didn’t we?

              Like

        3. This belongs in the “best of Marfis” category. Your sense of delusion must have been aroused with the (re)signing of Ozzie Smith Chavez from the Lancaster Barnstormers,

          Like

        4. Here’s a fun tool I may use more often. Translate Hewitt’s numbers into a pitching line. IP = (AB-H+DP+sac+CS)/3, other stats a direct translation, except ERA is calculated with the FIP formula. The pitcher would have 115 K and 13 BB in 91 IP with an ERA of 2.67, and might well be considered the Phillies’ top prospect (depending upon age and “stuff”). So basically Hewitt is the inverse of that.

          Like

    2. Anthony Hewitt stinks. I’m not a nay-sayer or a hater. I’m not a believer in internet sites who demanded the Phils draft any number of better players, I just wish we’d have taken someone that could, what’s the term??? Oh yeah, actually play. Time to move on.

      Like

  15. Does anyone know what Hewitt’s issue is at the plate? Can he not hit a breaking ball, does he not have any patience, does he swing at bad pitches? Or all of the above?

    Like

    1. I’d have to say he only hits what touches his bat. Unfortunately he looks like he’s swinging a willow switch. I wasn’t angry about his draft position. He was an incredible athlete who might have become the 2nd coming of Brown but we certainly haven’t seen anything like that. He was a draft miss… we have to move on.

      Like

    2. He doesn’t read off speed pitches well and he’s a bit of a one path hitter. If the ball is in his path, he’ll crush it. the better pitchers tend to be able to stay out of the way of one path hitters. pat burrell is a one path hitter for the most part and he also looked awful on sliders away but can crush a middle in fastball.

      Like

      1. Well if he could become Burrell I think a lot of us naysayers would have some egg on our faces. 🙂 That said, Burrell’s major league career BB/K ratio was 0.59, so one path hitter or no, he seemed to have had quite a bit better strike zone judgment and contact skills.

        Like

  16. I think is what they said when he was drafted. Boom or Bust and it appears to be the latter… When we drafted Golson he has a similar tag with less power I believe. Here is hoping we have a late blomer on our hands…if he ever develops an eye at the plate he could make some noise…

    Like

  17. I do not expect Hewitt to become a prospect, but almost everyone gave up on Galvis last year. I know they are different situations, but honestly, he figured out enough to become a decent hitter, and now he is a legit prospect. Would it be that shocking if Hewitt was able to hit .260 with some power and speed?

    Like

    1. Honestly, yes it would be. Most guys (like 99.9%) who are as bad as he has been in the low minors never ever even make it to the Majors let alone become successful. In Anthony’s case, its not for lack of trying or a lack of hustle. From all accounts, he’s a great kid who works hard but baseball just isn’t for him…at least not at the MLB level.

      Like

    2. Galvis was always too young for his league, and he always had reports of excellent defense at a premium position. Hewitt is half a year older than Galvis and two full levels down. Even if Hewitt got himself to an .800 OPS, which is horribly unlikely, he’d still be a mediocre-hitting corner outfielder who’s too old for his level. Completely different situations.

      Like

  18. Hewitt is the Phillies minor league version of BJ Upton. Extremely raw, bad average, bad OBP, will hit HR’s and steal bases and theoretically speed and arm should have him be a good defensive OF.

    He has yet to have a good average or OBP at any level he’s played as a professional.

    Like

  19. I agree, bill. I’ve never really understood the compulsive desire to write a guy off. Are the chances that Hewitt makes it very good? No. Is he showing some definite signs of improvement? Yes. His steal rate certainly encourages me, as do the flashes of power. And yet, while refining these skills is a substantial positive in his developmental trajectory, the make or break areas with him are always going to be contact and selectivity. He’s been pretty slow to make any sort of progress there, but that doesn’t mean he can’t, or he won’t. Like Mitchell, he’s just the kind of prospect you’ve got to give some room to. Forget about him being a 1st rounder. He was always gonna be a project. Yet, as long as he’s making some sort of progress, refining at least some of his skill-set, for me at least, he’s a fun guy to follow, and dream on.

    ps- i’ve been a lurker, and occasional poster here for three or four years, and recently noticed someone else posting under the same username. jersey number style, whoever you are, i’d be happy to cede it to you if you’d like it. just buy me a car, or a vacation or something, and it’s yours.

    Like

  20. Hyatt brilliant today. Hope he finishes the season on a high note. He’s quietly put up solid numbers in his first full season at Reading.

    Everytime I see ‘Singleton’ (Steve) in the Reading boxscore I have a micro-moment of elation. Short lived unfortunately

    Like

    1. 9k’s through 4ip just to add to what you said. 2 walks but when you strike that many out, you’re going to walk some.

      Like

      1. I wouldn’t mind seeing May get kicked up to AA for hte last couple weeks of the season to at least get his feet wet. His SO numbers are just sick (12.26 SO/9)

        Like

  22. The Crosscutters are on SNY tonight. Aaron Altherr hit an absolute bomb over the LF scoreboard. A guy with his kind of power who can play center field really is a significant prospect, especially when he’s just 20 years old. It seems like the Cutters have a few players who are hard to grasp who could really be sleepers. Francisco Diaz for one.

    Lino Martinez is showing polish with an 87 mph fastball.

    Like

Comments are closed.