Box Score Recap 5-24-2012

Box Score Recap

Tyson Gillies with 2 triples and 2 walks.  That’s some good leadoffhittering.

Added the rain-out completion of the May 4 LV game at the bottom.

Links:

LV 5-24  LV 5-4 Rain Completion  REA  CLR  LKW 1  LKW 2  VSL

48 thoughts on “Box Score Recap 5-24-2012”

  1. Just like that Gilles’s average is back to a respectable .276.

    Really interested to hear a first hand report about Dom in CF. I wonder if they were just trying to give him a different perspective of the outfield to get him going.

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  2. Thanks again Brad. I was high on Gillies coming into our Top 30. He has the tools to be a very productive leadoff hitter as you say. I hope he sustains this through the entire season. I know he worked hard to train his body this off season.

    Another guy I was high on and so were many others was Freddy Galvis. I also know a few people were a bit snarky when I said he would hit a robust .250 in the bigs or maybe they just didn’t have the baseball sense to know what that meant.

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    1. Robust?

      Pat Burrell hit a robust .250. Galvis is hitting a so-so, respectable if you’re an ace defensive middle infielder .250.

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      1. Just think if Pat wasn’t trying to Burrell everyone’s girl he might have actually lived up to his potential as a big leaguer.

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    2. I would like to point out that very few people were high on Galvis this time last year. He was coming off a .586 OPS in AA in 2010 and had a .700 OPS in AA at this time in 2011. I felt like I was yelling into the wind with my support of him at the time (plus defense and young for his level).

      People only came around when he had some high BABIP-fueled averages in August and Sept 2011.

      He has a .279 OBP right now which is abysmal. It ranks him 23rd out of 24 qualifying 2Bs. He makes up for it a tad with his .405 SLG, which ranks him 10th. But really the only reason he is a positive WAR player is his stellar defense (12th in WAR). He is basically a league-average 2B right now. Pretty good for a 22-year-old rookie.

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      1. I put myself in that camp right up to the point where I started seeing him live with Reading. Make no mistake I don’t see Freddy becoming some kind of super star but I love his make-up and thus far he’s providing some clutch hits and big RBI’s.

        I’m big on OBP for his type of player so he definitely has some work to do there.

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        1. Yes, Freddy definitely seems to have “it”. Hopefully as he matures his approach at the plate will continue to improve. Things like that are what Manuel is supposed to be good at, right??

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      2. I’m fine with the notion of galvis being our SS in a couple years. But right now, he is part of the problem, not part of the solution. I truly doubt the .405 slugging percentage will sustain, and worse, I don’t even know if his .279 obp is a true reflection of his ability right now. His fielding stats are solid, but I always take that with a grain of salt, because it is so hard to quantify.

        I know I fall on the side of the pessimists here, but I think it’s important that we recognize galvis for what he is, and not get too wrapped up in him because he’s a guy we’ve been following for awhile. We could do worse as a stop gap, but I also think Fontenot would be a better option right now.

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        1. You are expecting way too much out of a 22 y/o rookie hitting eighth. Are you really blaming an eight hole hitter for the offensive problems of the Phillies? Also. he’s honestly one of the best defensive 2B and its his first year playing 2B. He’s one of the leaders on the team in RBI and he’s hitting like .280~ in May.

          Fontenot hit in the .220s last year and had an OBP of .300…..

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          1. Not blaming anyone. Just saying that just because Galvis is hitting better than could probably have been expected does not mean it is in the Phillies’ best interest to be playing him. Using small sample sizes does not help your position. If he’s hitting .280 in May (actually BR says .300), how bad was he in April? (bad. very bad.) Is one any more predictive than the other?

            Fontenot certainly didn’t kill it in San Fran last year, and no one can predict the future, but I think there is some real upside to playing Fontenot, and I think the most likely outcome is he gives us substantially better production than we’re getting from Galvis. Further, because I think Galvis is outperforming reasonable expectations, the foregoing goes doubly.

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        2. He’s actually got a lowish BABIP for the number of line drives he hits, and it’s hard to imagine him walking less. I think if anything his OBP will move up a little over the rest of the season, especially if he starts to get better at recognizing which breaking pitches not to swing at. He really doesn’t have that much experience against high level pitching and he’s young. I think Galvis’s batting has been one of the few pleasant surprises of the season so far.

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          1. His LD% is 14% and his BABIP is .280. I don’t think that’s lowish; more about to be expected.

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            1. Fangraphs has him at 16.8% and .274. I wonder where the differences are coming from – obviously the distinction between a line drive and a low fly ball is subjective but BABIP aught to just involve things everyone can count.

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            2. I stand corrected; don’t know where I got 14% (I was looking at fangraphs, but I was flipping through players, so I may have just not noticed I was on another player page when I made the reference).

              So I’d agree that his BABIP may be more lowish than not. Stand by the rest of my positions on Galvis. I think he’ll make a fine starting SS in 2 years.

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      3. I’m sure you’re remember things the way you describe, but I think Galvis got off to a pretty good start last year, as I recall, showing some power as early as Spring Training. I remember being impressed with how he had progressed in the offseason when I was in Clearwater and wrote as much here. I’m not patting myself on the back, I’ve been deceived about a lot of other firsthand observations (see: Altherr, Aaron) but I mention it because I distinctly recall a lot of people seeing the change in Galvis’ stats, particularly his out-of-nowhere jump in ISO, pretty much from the time he got to Reading. There’s been a lot of vigorous debate/discounting of him in the past, but I feel like that really happened when we were doing the preseason Top 30 in 2011 and 2010.

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        1. The story last year at some point later in the season was that Galvis had skipped winter ball over the 2010-2011 offseason and did strength work in Clearwater, though I’m not sure that was public knowledge in the early season. Some of his power did show in Reading relatively early from my recollections, though I think some people dismissed it as being aided by the park. Either way, he went from almost a non-entity in 2010 to #5 on the reader list last year, based almost entierly (if not 100%) on his improved hitting.

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    3. Ya 250 now Freddy will be much higher than that in a few years, he’s young where’s your sense

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    1. Good to hear his fastball is back to low-90s as opposed to high 80s. Hopefully he can maintain that through the season.

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  4. I noticed that BA had an article on our 3B depth. I’m not a subscriber but am curious if they said anything about Walding in the article. No need to respond if you don’t feel comfortable summarizing their premium content.

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    1. It was a salisbury article. Nothing groundbreaking. Here’s the blurb on Walding:

      “A fifth-rounder last year, Mitch Walding moved from shortstop as a prep player in Stockton, Calif., to third base in the pro ranks. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound lefthanded hitter reportedly took to the switch in extended spring training.”

      Another tidbit is they worked with Ashe’s swing in instructional. Added a load to his swing which has given his bat a little more life.

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        2. A load is like a tap of the foot or shifting your weight and setting your arms at a certain spot to “LOAD” your power behind the ball…

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      3. Has anyone seen Walding play in Extended,how is he at Third & how is he adjusting to the hitting.The same on Quinn has anybody heard anything good or bad on these guys.

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    1. At this point, I’d say Gillies just staying healthy the first two months of the season is a tease.

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  6. Ethan Stewart has got to be the unluckiest fargin bastage in a long time. He’s had 5 good outings and his bad outings are usually a bad inning or two. He’s 0-5 and has lost 2 or 3 games where he pitched well enough to win. I’d like to see less BBs but he’s a bright spot this year.

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  7. always thought load was , when you go back and get set for pitch,bring you body and hands back is loading up, and the most important thing to me is, keeping your hands back, even if y are fooled on pitch and shift you body forward,if you hands are back you can still drive the ball,

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    1. Gkit, thanks for providing that interesting conversation with Gorm Heimueller which gives us a little insight into how the Phillies Farm System teaches their pitchers. I liked the fact that they work with all pitchers on a individual basis and program. Also, the catchers are important in that development and the Phillies place pitcher handling over hitting for catchers at first.

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    2. That was a good one. When asked to single out anyone in the system they hadn’t discussed in the interview, he picked Morgan and Wright. Also, unsurprising, he calls Stumpo “Stumpy”.

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  10. Any chance we can get links to .. I really like to catch up on some of the guys ages especially the venuezalen kids

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  11. Very interesting that Dom played CF last night, I don’t remember him doing that before. I actually had a conversation last year with a former long time major league outfielder about Dom’s fielding problems and he suggested they should put him in CF. He thought his speed would play better there and he would be able to get a better read on the ball in CF because it hooks less and stays in the air longer. I’ll be very curious to see if it was a one game thing or whether he goes back out there tonight.
    As for Gillies, mark me down as one of the excited guys. He had a slump, took a few days off and has come back hitting a ton. Watching him in person, you can’t but love the guy. Sometimes you just want to tell him to relax and not rush everything. He definitely has the potential, let’s hope he stays healthy and keeps playing well. It also says something about the hitting coach at Reading that Castro and James also seemed to find their swings again. Valle?? I’m sorry for those of you in love with the guy but he’s plummeting down propsect lists. He’s young and can still turn things around but right now he doesn’t look good.

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    1. Valle probably will repeat AA to start next year, along with a stop in the AFL if he is eligible. His youth plays in his favor.

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  12. On this weeks Prospects Hot Sheet Castro and Gillies both made the Team Photo and Serio Velis made the Helium Watch.

    Blurb on Velis:
    Velis is a strike-thrower who mixes an average fastball with the makings of a quality changeup, with plenty of pitchability to keep hitters off balance.

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    1. Helium watch on a guy who just turned 17? Think they need another category here.

      Figured that he was a pitchability type from his size. Sounds like a slightly smaller Lino Martinez from the description. One can never have enough LHPs in the low minors.

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  13. How long before we can start getting excited about Gillies? I have been a big supporter of his ever since he was traded to the Phillies, but a few seasons of injuries made it tough to get too hopeful until he proved he could stay healthy.

    Also I have been pleasantly surprised by Galvis in the majors so far this year, with his defense being sterling and his offense being about as good as could be expected for a rookie player who’s never been projected as a great hitter. He’ll probably never be a star, but I could see him being a great utility man for the Phillies or a league average starting infielder for a bad team like the Astros or Pirates.

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    1. With the way he’s played defense and hit thus far, I’d see him as far better than an average starting infielder. Some players just figure out with the bat later. Consider:

      Omar Vizquel: Career minors OPS: .640
      Edgar Renteria: Career minors OPS: .632
      Freddy Galvis: Career minors OPS: .613

      He’s not far off, and that’s just a minor league career that has been criticized as an abject failure at the plate. He seems to have star potential with the glove and the work ethic at the plate to become a competent hitter.

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  14. I think the answer to how long before we can get excited about Gillies is, let’s talk if he’s up around .290 in July. Or still on the field in July. He’s been streaky, and I don’t want to get my hope up based on one-week stretches. Also, 11 walks in 186 plate appearances is not going to do it for a leadoff hitter. I like him a prospect, I’ve always been a fan of his energy, but there’s a lot of reason to be cautious about him right now.

    Good lord, what is wrong with the hitters at Lakewood? That is a positively Pirates-like set of batting averages.

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