Hot or Not

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Another week in the books.  Talking points: Scott Mathieson with several good starts in a row…Perci Garner’s first hot list mention…Jesse Biddle bouncing back from his hip injury…continued troubles for JC Ramirez…Joe Savery earning his first save…Is Brandon Moss the answer for a left-handed bat off the bench for the Phils?…Kyrell Hudson streaking…and some troublesome names on the not hot list (Brown, Franco, Collier).

As I will be on vacation next week, Hot or Not will be condensed into two reports, spanning the last three weeks of the season.  Look for the next report Sunday the 28th or Monday the 29th.

Hot Starters: Scott Mathieson (10IP 4H 0ER 8BB 8K); Garrett Claypool (7IP 3H 0ER 2BB 6K); Dave Bush (6IP 3H 0ER 0BB 5K);Ryan Edell (14IP 8H 1ER 2BB 13K);  Lisalberto Bonilla (7IP 4H 1ER 1BB 4K); Tyler Cloyd (6IP 4H 1ER 2BB 6K); Jesse Biddle (11IP 7H 2ER 2BB 12K); Lino Martinez (6IP 6H 1ER 1BB 3K); Jon Pettibone (5.2IP 3H 1ER 1BB 4K); Perci Garner (4.1IP 5H 1ER 0BB 6K).

Not Hot Starters: Ervis Manzanillo (2.1IP 1H 4ER 7BB 1K)Casey Barnes (4IP 9H 7ER 1BB 2K); Josh Warner (3.2IP 7H 55ER); Tyson Brummett (4IP 8H 5ER 0BB 1K); Nate Bump (6IP 7H 5ER); Steven Inch (3.2IP 7H 3ER); Ramon Oviedo (5.1IP 6H 6ER 4BB); JC Ramirez (5IP 9H 4ER); Steven Inch (3.2IP 7H 3ER); Colin Klevan (4IP 3H 3ER 4BB 3K)

Hot Relievers: Les Walrond (5IP 3H 0ER 1BB 4K 1SV); Tyler Knigge (4IP 3H 0ER 0BB 4K); Juan Sosa (4IP 4H 0ER 1BB 4K); Joe Savery (3.2IP 2H 0ER 0BB 5K, SV); Austin Brough (3IP 1H 0ER 0BB 1K); Colton Murray (3IP 2H 0ER 1BB 3K).

Not Hot Relievers: Andre Kinder (0.0IP 2ER, 3BB); Gabrial Arias (1.1IP 4H 4ER); Eric Pettis (3IP 4H 4ER); Chance CHapman (2IP 5H 3ER); Derrick Loop (1IP 2ER); Paul Cusick (1IP 2H 2ER); James Birmingham (3.1IP 3H 3ER); Juan Perez (3IP 4H 3ER); Chris Kissock (5IP 6H 5ER)

Hot Hitters (Min 10 AB’s): Brandon Moss (.500, 2HR 9 RBI); Michael Marshall (.500, 4RBI); Paco Figueroa (.500); Kyrell Hudson (.476, 5R, 2SB); Bill Rice (.409); Mike Spidale (.407); Cyle Hankerd (.375); Josh Barfield (.368); Erik Kratz (.365); Peter Lavin (.364). Honorable Mention: Tuffy Gosewisch, Freddy Galvis

Not Hot Hitters: Edgar Duran (.059); Maikel Franco (.100); Cody Asche (.111); Troy Hanzawa (.118); Ozzie Chavez (.120); Domonic Brown (.133); Steve Singleton (.133); Jiwan james (.143); Chris Lubanski (.150); Zach Collier (.160)

50 thoughts on “Hot or Not”

      1. Tom, you’re not really adding anything to the discussion by pointing out a minor typo.

        Mrmoose: I’d think the allure with savery might be that he could pitch in more than one inning, and you wouldn’t have use up a pinch hitter for him if he’s due up at the plate. But I still think that’d take a back seat to other factors like remaining available hitters / pitchers.

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        1. Jason, I wasn’t pointing out a typo. He used the same word twice. Was only pointing it out to teach the correct word, that’s all.

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      2. Tom B – If you really wanted to bust’em, you could have wrote “Yes, he could PINCH hit in the top of the inning and then “PINCH in the bottom half” … of course, that said, this is not really the scope of the site, but a little levity now and then never hurts. I thnk Savery could be a welcome addition to the Phillies, both as a much needed LH reliever, and as a much needed LH bat. As bad as Gload is hitting right now, he could not be much worse. Maybe the Phils could end up with Thome and Savery as LH bats off the bench and, of course, Thome would be a terrific option as a LH DH should (when?) the Phils get to the WS. Finally, I am happy for Schwim. I hope he gets into a game sooner than later.

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    1. Yes, probably. That is his projected upside at this point.

      His fastball/sinker/curveball is a pretty lethal combination.

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      1. The Phils look like they’re going to have an unbelievable bullpen for a while. I’m assuming they keep Madson, Contreras has a year left, Lidge walks. Bastardo, Stutes and Herndon are a year wiser. Schwimmer, Aumont, Savery and DeFratus all look like attractive candidates for next year’s pen and even this year’s. Maybe use some money freed up from losing Lidge and Ibanez or maybe Oswalt and you can add a quality veteran to provide more stability.

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        1. Manuel usually has at most 7 relievers. Barring injuries, Bastardo, Stutes, Herndon, Kendrick, Contreras will be back. That leaves 2 spots and that’s if Madson walks.

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  5. No objective reason not to bring up Brandon Moss right now. Gload’s injury has pretty much taken away the one ability he has, to go out and smack line drives. Only reason to keep him now is loyalty. Moss has had the best year, is a power threat, and LH. Bring him up.

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    1. While I agree that Gload needs to just back it up for the season, Moss has done nothing in his career that says he should get a shot over Jack Cust.

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    2. I hear you. I would love to see Moss come up right now. Let him get acclimated to the PH role and give him some ABs when Raul gets mired in one of his monster slumps (4for his last 34 – .108 BA) . In fact, if Moss hits, I see no reason to re-insert Ibanez, who knows how long this slump might last. Also, assuming with get to the WS, Moss could very well bethe LH DH solution as DBrown is working his way out of a job this year.

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    3. I believe there is one potential reason not to bring him up now, maybe two. First, if they leave him in AAA until 8/31, he gets way more AB’s than if he is with the big club and then he can be a PH the whole month of September with the Phils to see how he does. Second, if they end up trading for a Thome or Giambi or Damon, they wouldn’t need to create a spot on the 40 man roster for Moss. Considering some guys they can move to the 60 day DL, this should not be a major concern.

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  7. Wow, I’m really excited by what garner has done. He’s thrown 11 innings without a walk and that’s his only problem as he has a great arm (and is a great kid). Go Perci!

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  9. Serious question: Does anyone feel that Mathieson and/or Savery could have decent Major League careers in some capacity or another?

    I honestly am not sure, but i’m not especially confident that either will until i’m shown reasons to believe otherwise. Would love to see both of them put everything together finally, but it’s tough to expect too much by this point.

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    1. I think the problem you run into is that the population of prospects who could have decent major league careers, if everything breaks right for them, is much larger than the available openings. The players who get shots are (a) players who are regarded as likely to be decent major leaguers, and (b) less well regarded players who are in the right place at the right time, and then make the most of their opportunity.

      Savery and Mathieson IMO are in the second, not the first, category, and thus might get a shot but are maybe more likely not to. Along with a host of other “marginal,” usually older prospects who get talked up around here.

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      1. And I think you could make the arguement that Mathieson was already in the right place at the right time when he got called up 5 years ago before his arm fell apart. If i was a betting man (which i am), I’d say that Savery has the best chance for the simple reason he is left handed. There is always a need for a lefty if he can throw strikes and this year has certainly made his prospects seem a little brighter, even though its a relatively small sample size.

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        1. I agree, and he also had a chance this year, although limited. Had he come in the few times he got to pitch for the Phils this year and gone 1-2-3 and showed good command, he would have stuck around this year, as Bastardo and Stutes have, and Perez and Schwimer also have been given opportunities (or will be hopefully in Scwim’s case). It seemed every time he pitched in the bigs, he wouldn’t give up any runs, but he’d walk two, run deep counts, and have a 30 pitch inning.

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      2. This is where injuries have a silver lining. They can open playing time for a guy who would otherwise get lost and he ends up playing his way into your team’s core.

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    2. I know Scotty is inconsistent with his breaking stuff. But he’s got to be better than some guys, Kyle Farnsworth, for example. A guy who can overpower half or more of the hitters he faces will get a chance, IMO.

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      1. Farnsworth has been a very good pitcher the last two seasons after learning the cutter. He’s been doing a lot less throwing and more pitching.

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      2. Why is it that you say Mathieson has to be better than Kyle Farnsworth? There is enough evidence to the contrary. Besides the fact that Farnsworth has better pitches, in a year that the Phillies have lost the entire back of their bullpen at the same time, Mathieson still hasn’t impressed the coaches enough to keep a job in the major leagues. The Phillies have even promoted 2 pitchers that weren’t on the 40 man roster, past him.
        He isn’t a major league pitcher. Give it up.

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    1. Last night he threw pretty well still got mad at himself and lost command a bit after walking a guy but he managed to bounce back and go 5 scoreless

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  12. Colin Klevan’s biggest problem so far that I have seen has been mental. Whenever he walks a guy or gives up a hit he has problems retiring the next guy.

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  13. Our Friends Over @ the Astros affilites are all on the hot list(Sant, Cos, Sing). its fun to watch.

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  14. Austin Wright—by next June he will be a top five starting pitching prospect in the system. Maybe even third, behind Biddle and May.

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      1. One report-J Steckels—–Big 6-4, 235 lefty, once a top prospect out of Illinois high school ranks, but stagnated in college for Chipola JC and Ole Miss. Still hits 94 MPH on good days, but erratic breaking ball and spotty command limit his success. Deep sleeper, but seems like the kind of guy the Phillies could do something with. 4.73 ERA, 67/25 K/BB in 70 IP, 79 hits………….so he is a deep sleeper, But early on he is showing ability to make hitters miss.

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  15. Giles first outing today in GCL. Mixed results.

    1 inning, 1 hit, 1 run, 2 balls and 2 Ks.

    Sort of fits his raw scouting report.

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  18. Colvin—needs to regroup this off-season. Jon Mayo still has him listed as Phillies top prospect, but today’s performance is becoming more usual then wanted. It would seem he needs a huge dose of confidence.

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  20. The Thome situation is interesting. Reports say now that 600 is out of the way and they’ve honored him at home, the Twins are willing to accomodate him to a team with a chance to win it all, much like Sweeney last year. He would obviously love to play for the Phils but as much as the Twins and other teams would love to do good by Thome, nobody is going to do the Phils any favors. For pure baseball reasons, I’d prefer to see Damon, but the Thome story would be a great one.

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