Minor League Workgroups (21March2012)

Spring Training 2012

Thanks to reader “gkjdk” for taking a picture of the work groups yesterday and sending it my way. Remember, these groups aren’t hard and fast groupings of where prospects will start, but they do give us some idea how the org feels about particular guys and how advanced/ready they are. Click this link, the photo is too big to display.

Just a few things I find interesting:

* Jiwan James is working out with Group 1, and Tyson Gillies is in Group 2.
* Miguel Alvarez is in group 2, after struggling last year at Lakewood
* Kevin Walter is in group 5

Tell me what jumps out at you.

73 thoughts on “Minor League Workgroups (21March2012)”

  1. 1. Lisalverto Bonilla being a work group ahead of Jesse Biddle
    2. D’Arby Myers languishing in Work Group 3
    3. Drew Hillman all the way up in Work Group 2
    4. Harold Martinez not listed anywhere – I thought they listed injured guys on the sheet somewhere in the past
    5. Cody Fick going from a college 3B to a Williamsport Reliever to a Workgroup 5 catcher

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    1. Myers is actually older than Eldemire by a couple of months. I would not have guessed that. You have to admire both those guys for wanting it so badly that they keep coming back.

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    1. It did last year. They switch their catchers around often. The ones I’m looking for are Valle, Rupp, and Moore. Groups 4 and 5 are developmental and will probably stay there. The others will catch where they are needed. LaFrenz seems to be the next Gosewisch.

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  3. New Latin signees, 16 year old Carlos Tocci and 18 year old Jiandido Tromp in group 4, ahead of Herlis Rodriguez and U.S. draftee, Johnathan knight in group 5.

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    1. Lavin and Rice jumping D’arby Myers, into group 2, is a little stunning. For that matter, Hewitt passing Myers is a little surprising at this point.

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      1. I remember right after the draft Johnathan Knight’s mom (or some relative) posted on here that he is very raw, but eager to learn and improve. I’m not surprised that he’s that low.

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  5. Myers and Lavin switched groups. They may want to play Lavin in A+ to see what they have. He was impressive where he should have been last year.
    Eldemire and Amaro switched also and probably for the same reasons. Eldemire seems to have made an impression.
    Ebelin Lugo has disappeared. I didn’t see him released. Could he be injured like Martinez?
    Gillies is in the group that will probably play in Clearwater.
    Kennelly switched from outfield to infield. He is going to play in many places because he can…and he can hit some.
    Group 2’s infield looks like Reading and Clearwater working together. Ruf, Hernandez, Hanzawa, and Barnes with Murphy, Alonso, Duran and Ashe.
    Malcolm, who was sent home last year, is back and has been rewarded for his improved play. He looks like he’ll be in Lakewood.
    Lakewood looks interesting with Stassi and Villalobos at first and second with Ford, Greene and Gonzalez competing for shortstop, with Franco at third and Malcolm backing everyone up.
    The Williamsport outfield may be worth a trip to see after what we have heard from Florida.

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    1. I think they separated he CFers for playing time and the one losing out is Hudson who is playing down sometimes to allow James, Gillies, Myers to all play CF.

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  6. I think Gillies will still start the year in AA even the most of the OF guys he is with should be ticketed for A+. Some of the guys in the first group are ahead of him because of their tenure in the minors but I can’t see them starting ahead of him (guys like Clevelen, Susdorf, Spidale, and Tripp). I see Mitchell and Thompson possibly at Lehigh. James at AA. Clevelen and Susdorf at AA. Tripp possibly at A+ and not sure if there is room for Spidale. Seems like he has been at Reading for 10 years. Did find it interesting that Bonilla is w/the second group. Looked like he ws only pitching 1 inning when he pitched this Spring. Is he back in the BP. Glad Eldemire move up a group. Really like the group 3 outfielders. Cody Asche and Drew Hillman w/group #2. Are they fighting for the 3b spot at Clearwater w/Harold Martinez hurt and Franco playing at Lakewood. Chris Duffy w/group four. Is he not doing well? Figured he would be ticketed for Lakewood. Is Stassi and Dugan ahead of him for 1b there?

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  8. How about Arias in group 2? He played as high as Wlmspt last year. Slash, I assume you saw him last year. What was your take on him?

    Plus the fact that his name is spelled differently every year: Gabril, Gabriel and now Gabreil. could just be a typo but it’s interesting how it’s different each year.

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  9. Albert Cartwright in Group 1 stands out.
    He is an unsung name due to getting injured after coming over in a trade.

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  10. I’d have to say Cody Asche (*) making a jump to Reading from Williamsport. I assume these groups are actually representative of the minors levels. For a 21 y/o 3 star draftee, a jump from rookie to AA is enormous.

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    1. It looks like Reading and Clearwater are grouped together, so I’d say Clearwater is the most likely destination.

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  11. I think that for the most part, it seems like group one guys will play at AA/AAA, group 2: AA/A+, group 3: A+/A, group 4: A/A-, group 5: A-/R

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  12. Perci Garner pitched for Clearwater yesterday (Video at TheGKita on You-Tube), the inning I saw he gave up a bunt single and a walk but no runs.
    Franco hit another HR and Altherr a triple and 2 singles
    In the Lakewood game Walding had a single and Quinn a double while I was there .L Greene 2 Ks

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    1. I’m getting really excited about Franco. I expected him to have another good year this year but it sounds like his power is really developing and he might be able to turn into something special. How has he looked defensively?

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  13. Thursday Games
    Yesterday in Clearwater, the Lakewood and Clearwater clubs played Yankee affiliates while the Lehigh Valley and Reading clubs played each other. Recaps of the first two below.

    For Lehigh Valley and Reading, no recap because the game was simply an intra-squad scrimmage.

    Clearwater (lost 9-7)

    Maikel Franco hit another home run, his third in the last two days. He added a single in his five at bats.
    Aaron Altherr went 3-5 with a triple and 3 RBIs while Gauntlett Eldemire, he of the previous post, was 1-3 with a double and an RBI.
    Tyler Greene played short and went 1-3 with a walk and two runs.
    Positionally: Brock Stassi played first, Stephen Malcolm second, Greene short and Franco third. The outfield was Diego Gonzalez/Altherr in left, Eldemire in center, and Brian Pointer in right.
    Perci Garner gave up five runs in three innings.

    Lakewood (lost 7-4)

    Mitchell Walding, Chris Duffy and Logan Moore each had two hits while Roman Quinn and Geancarlo Mendez added doubles.
    Chace Numata had a single and two RBIs.
    Chase Johnson and Mario Hollands, both 2011 BlueClaws, each threw two scoreless innings but starter Colin Kleven allowed six runs in his two innings.

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  14. I was high (in comparison to the group) on Franco in our top 30, excited to see him getting off to such a great start. Could you imagine a 3B prospect with legit 25-30 HR power and an OBP over 360? Cause after these first few games sure looks like we’re seeing it with him.

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    1. He’s definitely the position prospect I was most excited about going into the offseason. He has not disappointed so far in spring training. Last year his struggles in Lakewood seemed to really help him and his plate discipline when he returned to Williamsport. If he can maintain that kind of discipline and keep turning that double power he had last year into homer power he might be something special. Especially if he has at least an average glove at 3rd.

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      2. In three years of covering the Crosscutters, Franco is the only prospect I’ve been legitimately excited about. I really liked Valle when he came through. I thought Barnes had potential to be a good utility type. Hernandez, Hudson and Dugan let you see enough to think highly of them. But Franco was exciting to watch. He’d swing out of his shoes at two fastballs and then dial back and serve a breaking ball into center for a base hit. Seemed to have a good idea of the strike zone, knew when to take his chance to drive the ball. Definite raw power that had that 25 HR potential when combined with his strike zone discipline. I always thought he was a little better than average at first base. Morandini and Lance Carter used to hit the ball almost to shortstop and in foul territory to get ground balls past him and he’d flag them down. He’s not fast by any means, but a good first step with a strong arm. His only problem is he’d get careless from time to time with his arm and become a little wild. Would love to see him in Florida to see how much he’s grown.

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    1. Not really. Their list acknowledges Kyrell Hudson and ignors Tyler Green. They’re also higher on Tocci and Altherr, while the PP lists are higher on Walding and Hyatt.

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      1. a source Vor… not a verbatim plagirism….omiting Green(e) would appear to be a faux pas on their part..three writers trying to collarborate is an accomplishment in itself.

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        1. I’d guess they didn’t even look at this site before making their choices. Their list looks much like the Baseball America list.

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        1. Got me. Won’t be the last time I misspell a name. I’m terrible with that.
          T Greene is one of the 10, or so, players that I am most interested in following this year though.

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          1. He is probably the one I’ll be watching the closest this year. its intresting he is working with the clearwater group

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            1. I’m going to follow them all, but I’m most interested in Biddle, Valle, Franco, Aumont, Bonilla, Tocci, Walding, Quinn, T Greene, Eldemire and Perci Garner. I think they all can have big years.
              I don’t have a good feeling about Larry Greene jr or B Colvin right now, but I’ll hope for good things.
              My super sleeper for the season is Jiandido Tromp.

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            2. I would add May, Pettibone, and Julio Rodriguez to that list. I think there is a wide range of outcomes for all those guys. It will be very interesting to see if any of them can succeed in AA.

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  16. Friday Minor League Report

    (All games against Blue Jays affiliates)

    Lehigh Valley (lost 4-3)

    Thomas Cochran gave up three runs on six hits in five innings of work.
    Mike Cisco gave up one run in one inning and Michael Schwimer threw two shutout innings.
    Derrick Mitchell went 2-3 with a home run and two RBIs and Kevin Fransden drove in the other run.

    Reading (lost 3-0)

    Four of Reading’s pitchers in this game were 2011 BlueClaws. David Buchanan started and gave up three runs in 4.1 innings before giving way to Garett Claypool. Claypool retired all five hitters he faced.
    Tyler Knigge and Hector Neris each threw one scoreless inning.
    The R-Phils had just two hits in the game, one by Darin Ruf and another by Jim Murphy.

    Clearwater (lost 7-4)

    Brody Colvin started and gave up four runs on five hits in his three innings. Matt Way followed with two scoreless innings of relief.
    Gauntlett Eldemire continued his strong spring going 2-3 with a run and RBI.
    Maikel Franco, who had three home runs in the previous two games, went 2-3.
    Carlos Ruiz got six at bats here, going 2-6.
    Positionally: Cameron Rupp/Ruiz caught, Kelly Dugan played first, Alejandro Villalobos second, Tyler Greene short, and Trey Ford third (Franco DH). The OF was D’Arby Myers in left, Brian Pointer in center, and Eldemire in right.

    Lakewood (won 6-1)

    Lino Martinez started and threw four shutout innings in the win. Ryan Duke, a 2011 BlueClaw, threw two shutout innings of relief.
    Chris Duffy was 3-4 with a home run and four RBIs and Roman Quinn homered as well.
    Diego Gonzalez, Geancarlo Mendez and Zach Collier each had two hits.
    Positionally: Chace Numata caught, Duffy played first, Jairo Cardozo second, Quinn short, Mitchell Walding third, Larry Greene left, Collier center, and Diego Gonzalez right.

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    1. Interesting that both Eldemire and Pointer have played CF now. Do we really have this many guys who can play CF? Gillies, James, Myers, Hudson, altherr, pointer, Eldemire?

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  18. There are some good videos on Eldemire and Biddle on the Blue Claws Blog site. It seems like we are not seeing Larry Greene in the write-ups. That can’t be good news. I have seen Quinn, Tyler Greene, and Walding all in there multiple times. Nice to see Quinn go deep. Seems like Franco and Eldemire are the hitting stars of the camp so far and Lino Martinez seems to be pitching really well. Garrett Claypool could be making a double jump (I have seen some good things written about him)

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  19. The only thing I have read on Larry Gerene is that he strikes out a lot . They rave about his size but it would be nice to see him make some contact .

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    2. Rave about his size? LOL. The Phils could have signed plenty of big dudes for a lot less than $1M.

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  20. Utley to speak on Sunday about his knees. If Amaro knew at the end of the season that the knees were bone on bone with no cartlidge then he needed to go after Ramirez from the Cubs to play 3B and move Polanco to 2B . The bench players he brought in are not going to put runs on the board . Without any trades it looks like a 90 win season

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    1. So you figure Utley and Howard combined account for 12 wins? Maybe at their peak… Even if we’re without both for the entire season, other injuries notwithstanding we’re still at 95+ wins.

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      1. Seriously……without Utley/Howard for the entire season you believe they win 95+. Must be good weed!

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        1. I don’t think he’s that far off, the difference between 90-92 wins (which is what I predict), and 95 is only 3 games, a couple bounces of the ball (aka luck) can easily make up the difference.

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          1. Don’t be ridiculous…….the combination of Howard and Utley’s total season run productions have been instrumental in the success of this club. Howard alone in Septembers has carried the club to strtch drives culminating in first place finishes. To diminish their contributions to the point of meaninglessness is absurd. I am sure Manuel and Amaro share your callousness toward their efficiency and effectiveness!

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            1. Did I say they were meaningless? We’re a better team with them, certainly, but I think you overestimate the impact of a single player.

              You also seem to be under the assumption that we are simply losing all production from their spots in the lineup. They won’t be there for most of the year, but somebody will be. Will their replacement put up similar numbers? Probably not, but even if they don’t we’ll be getting SOMETHING still.

              Let’s do some number crunching, shall we? Chase Utley in 2011 accumulated 454 PA. He put up a .259 average, 11 HR, 14 SB, 54 runs, and 44 RBI (not a fan of this stat, but hey, I’ll use it for the sake of our conversation). Awful? Not really, by Utley standards it is, but it’s not terrible as 2B goes. However, it is undoubtedly defense where Utley gave most of his value to the team. Sound familiar? Like Galvis a little bit? Let’s say Galvis puts up the same defensive excellence with a 25% decrease in run production for 2 months from Utley’s numbers last year (and then Utley returns and puts up identical numbers to last year, not a stretch). So what do you figure? We score 15 fewer runs, tops, in those two months? That’s about 1.5 wins. So now instead of 102, we’re at 100.5.

              Now Howard… an offensive juggernaut, isn’t he? Well… in a sense, I guess. 644 PA, .253 BA, 33 HR, 1 SB, 81 runs, 116 RBI. His defense is nothing to write home about, but outside of Mayberry and maybe Nix, I don’t see anyone on our bench being heads and shoulders above him in that regard anyways. We’ll call defense a wash, but to be clear I am being generous with that. Now how much of an offensive output are we losing? Those HR numbers most likely won’t be there, but the average will be higher (meaning more hits), we’ll almost certainly get more SB, RBI are probably down, but runs may in fact go up. I’ll be generous again and say it’s a 50% decrease in offensive output for 3 months. So we lose, what, 35 runs tops? another 3.5 wins. That brings us to 97.

              So, what exactly were you saying about a 90 win season?

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  21. General comment: Ryan Madson’s Tommy John surgery now makes Ruben look like he made the correct move in signing Paps.

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    2. Phormer Phillie Phamhand Escalona needs elbow surgery. Not a good day for phormer Phils…and yes Sergio played in Philly for 14 games. He was traded for Albert Cartwright. Cartwright has already had his year of injuries.

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  22. KC and Cinn are now both looking for a closer…..do we have any extras that could get us something in return?

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    1. Both teams have good options already on their rosters to close. In fact, Soria wasn’t the best arm in KC’s bullpen last year by a good stretch – Holland was, and he is their closer of the future.

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  23. Not sure if anyone else heard this yesterday but during their interview on 97.5 Mike Missanelli was asking Ruben Amaro about Freddy Galvis playing 2B, and during his response Amaro said that if the team didn’t sign Jimmy Rollins this off-season, then Galvis was going top be the Phillies shortstop. I thought that was interesting, as I hadn’t heard anyone from the Phillies state that for sure in the past.

    Amaro also called his trade of Wilson Valdez “foolish” now that he looks back on it. Some rare candor from Ruben.

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    1. The hand wringing over the Wilson Valdez trade is really amusing. Valdez is easily replaceable. Just like they got him (a replacement level player) signed off the streets. They can get another equal player for the league minimum on March 31st. They’ll pick up Jose Lopez, or someone like him, and be in no worse shape than if they had kept Valdez.

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      1. Well actually I agree with you. Just passing along what The Rube said.

        No hand-wringing here

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      2. ‘Valdez is easily replaceable. Just like they got him (a replacement level player) signed off the streets’…..any suggestions, perhaps more of Martinez.

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      3. I’m with you on this, valdez is easily replaced. I personally think we need a 3B/2B not a SS. And in light of that, you should be able to get a better offensive player then valdez. I don’t mind players like that (or martinez) who are only used for short stop, but if you’re going to have a utility player, i’d rather them be able to put up a .700 OPS in their 300 AB’s between 2B, 3B relief and the occasional LF relief.

        At this point, Glavis should be our back-up short stop, and late inning defensive replacement at 3B and 2B, but our primary utility man should be someone like polanco. this is why I think Chad Headley would be a great fit here, especially if utley could put up 400 AB’s this year. That said, i’m really worried about this press conference today. There’s an outside shot that Utley is going to announce the end of his career.

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    1. I think you get both. Dugan has to move along and Altherr started there last year and then was demoted. Altherr seems to be having a very good spring but I don’t think they’ll jump him to CLW. Dugan will be playing mostly 1B and Altherr will be the regular LF’er. Aaron can play all OF positions and they even tried him at 3B but they played him mostly in LF in Wlmsprt last year. The Phils have a fleet of CF’er so it’s good Altherr works out mostly in one spot in the OF. Something I didn’t know is Altherr is actually 4 months younger than Dugan.

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    2. 1B: Dugan
      2B: Villalobos
      3B: Franco
      SS: Tyler Greene
      LF: Altherr
      CF: Hudson
      RF: Eldemire
      S1: Adam Morgan
      S2: Lino Martinez
      S3: Manzanillo
      S4: M Nesseth
      S5: C Klevan

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  25. A source deep inside Germantown Friends School tells me Jesse Biddle today will be visiting the current team, which is on a spring break training trip to Tampa Bay. That source is extremely excited.

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  26. Per PhoulBallz.com: More Phils Farm Hands Released 3/25/2012

    Early Sunday morning, the following players were informed that the Phillies no longer required their services: Luis Unda, Ian Durham, Paul Cusick, Chase Johnson, Juary Gomez and Rye Davis.

    Unda, a 22-year-old infielder had been signed by the Phillies in 2008 and played as high as Class A Lakewood, where he went 0-for-8 in 3 games played last season. The Venezuelan native was a member of the Phils’ championship Gulf Coast League team in 2010.

    Durham, 23, was signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2011. The righty pitcher went 1-0 with a 3.62 ERA and 2 saves in 18 appearances for the Gulf Coast League Phillies last year.

    Cusick, a 23-year-old right-hander, was signed as a free agent last year as well. In 18 combined appearances (1 start) with the GCL team and Williamsport in 2011, the University of Penn product went 3-2 with a 3.79 ERA.

    Chase Johnson,, a righty reliever that was selected in the 21st round of the 2009 draft, had a respectable season with Class A Lakewood in 2011 (4-6 record, 4.31 ERA, .268 batting average against). As the closer for short-season Williamsport in 2010, Johnson was a New York-Penn League All-Star. Johnson will turn 24 years old next month.

    Gomez, a native of Venezuela, had a very good campaign last year for Williamsport, as the team’s closer. In 28 relief appearances, Gomez went 4-1 with 10 saves and a 2.84 ERA. The right-hander was signed by the Phillies back in 2008. Gomes turns 22-years-old in May.

    Davis, a Western Kentucky grad, was also signed as a non-drafted free agent last year. In 17 combined relief outings with the GCL team and Lakewood, he posted a 1-1 record witand a 2.33 ERA. Davis turned 23 years old over the off-season.

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    1. Shocked at some of these cuts. Epecially Gomez and Johnson. But the one thing the Phils are is deep in the pen in the minors. I mean guys like Friend, Rosenberg, Cisco, and Kissock will probably all repeat at Reading because Lehigh Valley is stacked.

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