58 thoughts on “Box Score Recap, 24 April 2012”

  1. Four wins for the minors tonight…two walk offs…Tyler Cloyd definately the top pitcher for April for the Phils minor league system. He is 4-0 1.80 with 21ks and 0 walks. Is he putting his name in the hat for a call-up in the next year? Diekman blew a save but he was eventually going to give up a run. Ruff and James with good nights for Reading. Nice 6-0 win for Reading. Clearwater was being no hit for 8 innings and walked on the hit by Lavin. Adam Morgan getting no support this year. Lakewood still scoring runs…still giving up runs. Seems like Franco is getting hot (3b and Hr). Pointer with 3 rbi’s

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    1. I’d peg Trevor May as the top pitcher. He’s got a 2.02 FIP right now, 3.18 ERA, 10.6 k/9 and a solid walk rate.

      He’s really gotten off to a solid start.

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    2. Cloyd belongs at AAA right now but who are you going to drop: Elarton, Bush, Cochrane, Hyatt? Misch might be the guy but who has an opt-out clause in his contract. If someone opts-out then Cloyd is up.

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      1. That is a good point. Someone else the other day pointed it out and i never thought of it. These older veteran guys don’t get cut because they usually have another purpose like future coach or coach on the field and an older presence for much younger kids. Also, if you start cutting these guys they stop coming to the franchise to help fill out rosters. Sadly, Cloyd just has to tough it out until one leaves or performs so badly that cutting is necessary

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  3. What a game in Clearwater! Lavin spoiled the perfect game with a walk; then won it bringing in Myers with a single. Morgan and Bonilla were outstanding. Reading just beat Richmond soundly. Ruf has impressed since halfway through last season. He and Alonso in Clearwater certainly play under the radar. They do better than many of the well-scouted, high potential players. Friend made it interesting in the ninth, but escaped OK. Cochran deserved the win. It seemed that all balls went to Frandsen in the ninth. If anyone was there, can you comment on his defense? He stopped both balls, but couldn’t get the out.The Lakewood offense was awesome. Franco just went off on the pitching .

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    2. I can’t comment on yesterday’s game but historically he’s been been a solid second baseman. He’s not elite but he’s limited his errors. with that said, I saw him in ST games and he couldn’t field anything. I saw him make two errors in one game that were easy plays. I’ve been checking up on his defense since. He’s has a lifetime fielding percentage of .978 that doesn’t seem to deviate between Majors or Minors. This year he’s .957 in 11 games at 2B (SSS and all). Maybe someone can quote some of those advance metric fielding stats. He doesn’t field 3B very well but he can play it. He can also play SS and !B. He’s a good guy to have around because when the bat gets hot he’s darn good.

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  5. Maikel Franco is going to rocket up the charts this season. If he keeps this up he represents a pretty legit prospect that isn’t a pitcher.

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  6. Great pitching duel in Clearwater tonight, won by the Threshers when D’Arby Myers led off the 9th with a double (their 1st hit) , moved to 3rd on a bunt in which he beat the throw from the pitcher. Then with 5 infielders and a drawn in outfield Lavin hit a 0-2 pitch on a line to center to score Myers. There was no CF because of the 5th infielder, but I think it would have been deep enough anyway to score Myers. So after being no-hit for 8 innings Threshers come alive in the 9th.
    Adam Morgan really pitched well tonight throwing 91 pitches, 35 balls, 56 strikes and 10 swing and misses. His FB was 91-92 for all 7 innings hitting 93 five times. He was throwing a pitch at 83-85 that I think was a slider and another that was 75-78 that at first looked a curve ball but at times looked like a change. So by my count he threw 24 offspeed pitches, 11 for strikes.
    Bonilla went two innings and made 27 pitches, 19 strikes, 8 balls and 6 swing and misses all of which came on his change-up. His FB was 92-94 with his change at 82-83. They actually made good contact with his FB, but had no chance with his change. I heard some scouts saying they think his change is either a split change(like Halladay throws) or a circle change that gets downward movement because of his arm action.

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    1. gkit, you are the best. Have I mentioned this before? Because if not, I want you to know that you are the best.

      That’s very encouraging on Morgan’s velocity – I remember scouting reports when he was drafted saying he was more upper 80s. Let’s hope he can sustain low 90s!

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      1. My condolences on your having to live someplace where you are near (and actually know!) Astros fans.

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  8. Just saw on post game live that Schwimer got called up. Was surprised to not see Diekman come up and get an audition… guessing they want a multiple innings guy.

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    1. I think you hit on the head and Diekman threw two innings tonight and I think they want someone ready to go tomorrow.

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      1. Yup, I doubt Conterras will be available and Kendrick is in the rotation now so they made need some innings.

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  9. Some quick thoughts, I’m loving Jiwan James’ quick start and I’m crossing my fingers that he’s finally hit his breakout year.

    I also noticed that Clearwater’s 2 hits were really well timed.

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    2. He also has a .429 BABIP, compared to .338 and .339 in 2011 and 2010 respectively. I think he will cool off, but I think it is great that he’s off to such a good start against the better pitching in AA. He’s a guy who theoretically could suddenly break out. Let’s hope it’s happening.

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  10. Interesting stat of the day: Ruf is leading the Eastern league in BA. He bats in the middle of the Reading lineup but he’s 5th on the team in RBIs. Castro (2nd in the league), James, Hanzawa and Hernandez are ahead of him in that stat. Hanzawa is probably the biggest surprise but he seems to have a ability to knock guys in. I think he was 3rd or 4th in RBIs on last year’s CLW team. He’s always hitting out of the 8 or 9 hole but if there’s a duck on the pond, he’ll bring it home.

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    1. Ruf has been amazingly consistant for his career so far, should we start paying more attention to him?

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    2. I think that goes to show that RBI are not a good indicator of a player’s hitting ability. Perhaps Ruf has fewer RBI so far because the two guys hitting in front of him have OBPs of .309 and .317.

      Ruf is a monster so far this season. I love that he is showing off his wheels too! Too bad he is 25, turning 26 in July.

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      1. Ruf is a big boy but what do you do with a 25 y/o who rakes at the lower than age appropriate levels.

        I think its time to thin out some of the filler at AAA

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        1. It’s like Rizzotti all over again. Hopefully he’s a better fielder than Rizz but if the past is any indication the Phillies won’t promote him to AAA this year.

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  11. Pointer is definitely the best of an interesting group at Lakewood. Very good eye at the plate, hits the ball hard to all fields (though still mostly a pull hitter). Franco’s power is interesting, but his swing is much too long.

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  13. Harold Martinez sighting in Lakewood! (at 1B no less). Hopefully he is moving up to CLW and the time in LWD is just a minor league rehab assignment. I guess the question begs, should he be splitting time in A- with Franco at 3B or A+ with Asche? With Dugan getting the lions share of ABs in A- at 1B, I would imagine there would be more 1B at bats in A+, what with Brandon Tripp and Jim Murphy seeing the majority of appearances there. That is of course if Martinez is going to get reps at both infield corners…

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    1. Doubt they would send him up to Lakewood on a “rehab assignment” only to bring him back down to Clearwater (where presumably he was rehabbing his injury) a few days later. More likely they’re hoping he’ll rake and earn a quick promotion to A+. Though at the rate he’s going, Franco might beat him there.

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      1. Yeah, if they had plans to bring him up to A+ after recovering from his injury, having him come up to Jersey with the idea that he would be back in Clearwater in a week or two would be an exercise in futility.

        My feeling is that it is interesting that the Phils are having to find other ways to get all of their lower level 3B prospects at bats. Seems like forever since Moose was the only possible 3rd bagger to get any pop in the whole system…nice to have Franco, Asche and Martinez all vying for PT.

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    1. Yeah, this is not good. Anybody know more about what kind of errors, box score says fielding which could mean lots of things.

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      1. 1st error was a dropped fly. Ball hit halfway between Brown and Andres Blanco, Brown got a glove on it but muffed it.

        2nd error was a ground ball single through into left field. Brown reached down to field it, failed to pick it up and the runner advanced.

        Brown really had only one other fielding chance, a routine fly. Everything else was out of reach. When Brown had to field a ball off the wall, he seemed to handle things mechanically. Didn’t make a mistake but wasn’t tremendously smooth.

        Hitting wise I was in center field, so I couldn’t analyze much from that vantage point.

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    2. Errors are a terrible way to measure an outfielder’s defensive ability… can’t make an error on something you can’t get to.

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        1. It shouldn’t be. Like I said you can’t make an error on a ball that you don’t touch.

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      2. Yes errors are a terrible way but making errors isn’t good either. He’s too talented to make errors like this, these are clearly things that indicate he isn’t focused out there. Just not good.

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        1. Maybe but just because he’s making errors doesn’t mean he’s inadequate fielding left fielder.

          Ibanez made few errors as Phillie and I don’t think an argument could be made that he’s a good defensive outfielder. Brown can save runs with his arm and speed.

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  17. btw, if singleton played any position other than first base, he would’ve been an untouchable, in my estimation.

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  18. Cloyd is more consistant than any pitcher the Phillies have, either give him the chance or let him go someplace else where he can be in the Big Show.

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  19. On Asche: glad he was assigned to high A, since the coaches thereby indicate he could make “quick” progress to MLB or at least he is worthy of being tested for hoped-for such success.
    As to how he was at 2nd base in ’11, I believe your answer is contained in his 3b assignment.
    In the original draft assessment, he was said to lack some lateral movement for that 2b position. The summary also suggested that he might be moved to catcher. He gets props for his hitting potential.
    It seems he is not overwhelmed offensively at Clwtr keeping his BA at near /280 with power yet to come. It seems he is smartly concentrating on making contact; power later, but soon, according to his draft report.
    PP has maintained his 2011 draft summery at this site, so you can check on Asche there.

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