Lehigh Valley Update

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Lehigh Valley enters the final weekend of the regular season riding a four game losing streak, but still in the playoff hunt, as they are two games behind division leading Pawtucket and tied with Gwinnett for the wildcard with four games remaining in the regular season.  Lehigh Valley completes their home schedule Friday and Saturday with two games against Buffalo (New York Mets), before traveling to Syracuse for two games against the CHiefs (Washington) on Sunday and Monday.

Probables: Friday: Edell; Saturday: Bass; Sunday: Mathieson; Monday: Bump

Notes: After winning months in April, May, June and July, Lehigh Valley failed to have a winning August.

–Catcher Erik Kratz received a three game suspension from the International League for an incident that occurred 8/26 in Louisville.  With Dane Sardinha not hitting much more than I am this year(.124), Kratz is a huge loss, both offensively and defensively.  Kratz is eligible to return on Sunday in Syracuse.

–Lehigh Valley is hitting .232 with RISP, the worst in the IL by 10 points.  EVen worse, Lehigh Valley is hitting just .197 with RISP and 2 outs.

–1B Cody Overbeck has hit in 9 of the last 10 games (.483) and 15 of his last 17 (.383).

—SS Freddy Galvis is hitting .347 over his last 21 games.

–RP Joe Savery is unscored upon in 12 of his last 13 games (2-0, 0.53, 17IP 2BB 20K).

–Left handed starter Ryan Edell is 5-3 with a 2.69 ERA in his last 14 outings (7 starts).

–Since his transition to the bullpen, Ryan Feireabend has thrown 8 innings, giving up just a lone run.

Transactions: With Erik Kratz’s suspension, Catcher John Suomi was called up as the Lehigh Valley 2nd catcher. TO make room on the roster, Tagg Bozied’s left shin contusion flared up.

—RP Michael Schwimer was optioned to Lehigh Valley from Philadelphia on Tuesday.  He is expected to be activated for the game this evening.

22 thoughts on “Lehigh Valley Update”

  1. Is it considered heresy t0 hope that LV loses, gets eliminated, and the Phillies call up a bunch of players to help, you know, the actual team that is the point of having a minor league system for?

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    2. I don’t hope they get eliminated. The only guys I really want them to call up are Aumont, DeFratus, and Galvis.

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    3. What’s the point? The Phillies aren’t in a pennant race. Let the Iron Pigs have there glory. Hopefully guys like Aumont gain some experience in the IL playoffs, pitching in pressure situations.

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      1. Exactly, although, I’d like to get Aumont up to the big leagues ASAP. I’d like to see guys like DeFratus and Galvis get that playoff experience.

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  3. “SS Freddy Galvis is hitting .347 over his last 21 games.”

    How big is that? Honking big for him to finish strong.

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    1. Seen it on Philly Baseball News. com or something. Kratz suspended 3 games for “instigating a confrontation” by International League. Recap of game in question said Louisville batter hit by pitch in bottom of 8th, D. Young hit by pitch in top of 9th (approximations) then Louisville manager ejected, might have been related to that. No mention of Kratz in recap.

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  6. I guess Kratz’s suspension explains why the Phillies haven’t called up a 3rd string emergency catcher yet for September. Or it could be they don’t want to spend a 40-may roster spot on a third string catcher, but I doubt that. Amaro has said he wants the Iron Pigs to have a strong roster for the playoff run, but as soon as they are eliminated, we’ll see a few call-ups.

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  7. The Phils haven’t had a AAA team in the playoffs in so long. Once there season is over look for Kratz, De Fratus, Galvis, Orr, Mathieson, Schwimer,etc to be called up. Maybe Zagurski to give the Phils another lefty. I have heard Brown is having some struggles and now he is sick. Not sure how high Amaro is on him right now. We may have the future in left field already in Mayberry.

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      1. So this is a minor league baseball site. I’m not handing in my homework to you. I will make sure to use the proper “their” for you so you don’t have a breakdown. Now how about Lehigh Valley and Reading winning tonight!! It looks like “their” seasons “could have” taken a turn for the better!

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  8. Amaro is still very high on Brown, as far as I know. One thing I’ve been thinking about for Brown is that he should see a sports psychologist. This not meant facetiously at all. I think at points in his career recently he has grossly underperformed his talent level. In spring training for instance he couldn’t even make contact in the first 15 at-bats. Now he can’t hit pitching he was raking against before. His problems are not physical. Some people are just not strong enough or coordinated enough to be major league players- a lot of people, in fact. Brown does not have this problem. So it must be mental. I think a sports psychologist could help him with confidence and handling pressure.

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  9. IMO it is time to let J-Roll go at this season’s end. With the lineup fix obtained by Pence’s arrival, a much better OBA at the lead-off spot would be by Victorino and IMO Galvis (with relief, if any, by Valdez) can cover the position and would not be an automatic out as had been feared. Hitting at the #8 spot, Galvis would do some good there, and, as we know, he plays a superior SS.

    J-Roll wants a multi-year contract at substantial monies. A problem is in our faces: he has become an injury about to happen, and certainly is not a good bet to continue to play 145 games a season. Is it worth giving him a multi-year contract at mucho dinero with these fact on the table, especially when thety have Galvis proving his worth both ways…at the age of 22…and for time “interminal” ahead.

    Also…the savings would allow better flexibility in Signing Hamels AND maybe more meaningful investments in LA, as well the draft…aside from any off-season signings.

    Just thinking.

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    2. Or you can have Jroll and Victorino at the top of the order, Polanco at the bottom and have a better line up. Galvis can get more AAA seasoning and could potentially play third base until Jimmy’s contract’s up, then he could shift back over to short stop and a guy like Franco or Martinez could take over at third.

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    3. You have valid points—I am sure the FrontOff, are thinking along those lines. JRoll has become injury proned—-comes with age.

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