Box Score Recap 5-30-2012

Box Score Recap

Dom with three hits, including a HR.  Also, zero errors playing left field.  +1 to him.

LV  REA  CLR  LKW  VSL (suspended)

80 thoughts on “Box Score Recap 5-30-2012”

  2. Ethan Stewart with an el stinko performance. I hate to see these types of outings because often we find out later that it’s a physical problem. Let’s hope it was just a snowballing learning experience.

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  4. The folks who rake Dom Brown over the coals should watch him play a little on video (through the minor league baseball website). When you watch Brown, it is clear that they are working with him on a lot of things while he is in the minors, not the least of which is that they are trying to shorten his swing to get rid of the super high hand position and early loop, which made his swing longer and made him vulnerable to inside pitches. Brown has eliminated both of these things. His hand position is now slightly higher than most players, but he goes right into his swing without any loop or hitch – it is a much shorter swing and one that he is probably adjusting to now but which should position for better long term success. These swing changes don’t happen over night, it can take months or more for the player to become comfortable with a modified swing.

    Also, BJ Rosenberg has flat out great stuff. He struggles with command and is not quite ready for the majors, but his fastball and curve are excellent pitches. Fastball must be in the 94-97 range with late action (he gets swings and misses when he throws the ball down in the zone) and the curveball breaks hard and late.

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      1. Well of course they are. It’s obviously to their benefits to have Brown and all of the other prospects they draft crash and burn. That way they are justified to go out and sign washed-up bench players off the FA market for big $$$.

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    3. I watched Dom on tv the other night and instantly noticed the same thing in his swing, He looked much more compact and more fluid. I also watched him track a fly ball and catch it and he looked smoother on that too. This kid has lots of tools and everything I read says he’s working hard to improve. Let’s hope….

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  5. Why do people hate Dom Brown?? Freddy has hit under .240 all year, and has looked totally overmatched at times, yet everyone loves him. Does his glove really sway public opinion like that? Brown came up for a short time was yo yo’d in and out of the lineup and sent back down. He still was always on base and in his 2nd call up he definitely improved at the plate. Isnt that what you are looking for out of a young guy?

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    1. I love Dom Brown as a player, but he and Galvis are apples and oranges. Dom must produce big time at the plate to overcome his defensive liabilities. Galvis is the opposite — his glove is so special, anything he does with the bat is gravy.

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    2. You know what they say about first impressions. The casual fan remembers Galvis’ double in his first home AB, and Domonic’s struggles during his 2010 callup.

      At this point those narratives will follow them throughout their careers in Philly, sad to say. There will be WIP callers in 2015 that will still think of them primarily based on those initial impressions.

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      2. The “casual” fan remembers that one plays a defense first position and the other a power/offensive position.

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        1. It’s not really a defense first position anymore.

          The difference is that nobody (realistically) expected Freddy to hit at all whereas Domonic Brown was supposed to make an impact right away.

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    3. Its all about expectations. The expectation for Brown were set that he was untouchable, a top prospect in all of baseball while Galvis was seen as a good glove / no-hit IF who might develop into a passible starter. While Galvis has generally met his expectations, to this point Brown has not.

      I don’t think most people who post here “hate” Dom Brown. There are a few vocal critics who are over the top but then again, there are also a few vocal supporters who are overly optimistic.

      My personal concerns with Brown is that based on how he reacts to failure, he doesn’t appear to be tough mentally. That doesn’t mean he’s lazy, disinterested, has a bad attitude, etc. It just means that he doesn’t seem to react well when facing adversity. Unfortunate in professional sports, especially baseball where a 70% failure rate is considered good, that is not a good trait to have.

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    4. Part of it also is that Galvis is really fun to watch play. It feels like every game he does something that makes you go “Ooo!” I personally do not feel this way, but Brown got to the point where every game it felt like at some point you would cringe or go “uh-oh”. Those emotional highs and lows are more memorable.

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    1. I was just looking at Franco’s stats – his batting average is quite lousy, but his peripherals aren’t too shabby – ISO around 150 and a decent amount of walks and a pretty solid glove. If he can get the batting average up a bit, then we got ourselves a serious prospect

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      1. I think he’s a serious prospect regardless. If he hits .225 on the season, that’s a problem. But in less than 200 at bats it’s fluky and doesn’t really affect my evaluation of him regardless.

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      2. His BABIP right now is .243, and as a 19 year old in Lakewood with at least passable (if not better) defense at third, I think he is a pretty serious prospect.

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        1. I agree that he’s a “serious” prospect – I’m just thinking that if he gets the average in the .260 area or so, he’s probably our top position prospect. Even if his average doesn’t climb too much, he still could crack the top 5

          As a side note, from what I’ve seen of him ( a whopping one game), he has “catcher” speed – and we’re talking Johnny Estrada-eaque – on the basepaths, so he’s not legging out too many infield hits,

          If you think about it, if his lack of speed costs him five infield hits per year, that’s roughly ten points off the batting average – and he hit a little bleeder should’ve been an infield single when I saw him (he was out by a couple steps)

          – Jeff

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  7. Cholly, I think it’s because people need to rationalize why when called up he wasn’t a star from the get go and his defensive mistakes overahadowed anything he did offensively. People then attach this poor work ethic/bad attitude/lazy trait because it fits a narrative and it makes him easier to write off. He had all eyes on him both call ups and was better than Ibanez in every offensive category. People will believe what they want to believe.

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    1. there is video, but you need a minorleague baseball subscription to access the archives. It was a liner to right, just over the fence.

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    2. Here’s the video of Brown’s 1st home run of the season.

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  9. Dave Murphy..CSN on Freddy…a glimmer of hope for Freddy with the saber guys:
    Galvis has shown more power than many probably expected. It is worth noting that Utley began his career hitting .239 with a .311 on-base percentage, and 16 extra-base hits in his first 177 plate appearances. After Tuesday’s game, Galvis had 17 extra-base hits in 177 plate appearances. At 22, he has plenty of potential, and plenty still to prove.

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    1. Let’s not get too crazy. Utley is about 4 ot 5 inches taller and around 15-20 pounds heavier than Galvis. This is 2012 and you don’t see 5’10, 170ish pound middle-infielders suddenly turn into power hitters anymore due to the testing that exists for PEDs. Utley was always a power hitter. He had 20+ dingers his last season at UCLA, his slugging % in the minors was atleast .450 every stop I think.

      Freddy Galvis could definitely turn out to be a better MLB hitter than he was in the minors. He was extremely young at every little and he started off with no hitting skills. He’s not going to be Utley, but he could be Placido Polanco. Polanco started off around 17 or 18 in the minors and was never a great hitter (although he was better early on than Galvis). Still Polanco’s career minor league OPS sits around .660 and up until the last two poor seasons with the Phils Polanco’s career MLB OPS was over 100 points higher.

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      1. I don’t think anon was saying Galvis could be the next Utley, just that Freddy’s batting lines in the future could realistically be a lot better than they are now.

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      2. Pedroia is a midget though I agree, there aren’t many guys like that.

        Galvis’s ISO right now at .141 is higher than all but two of Polanco’s seasons though obviously he has to keep it up. I don’t think Galvis is going to turn into a power hitter but if he hits 10-15 HRs a year and a bunch of doubles while keeping the strikeouts down that’s not a bad hitter, especially considering the average OPS in the middle infield is down in the high .600s this year.

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  10. Zach Collier coming out the shoot hitting. It will be interesting to see who the Phillies decide to protect on the 40 man roster in the off-season. Zach Collier, Jiwan James, Leandro Castro and Anthony Hewitt are all eligible this year. I would think Collier will be protected, but not sure about the others. I think Castro would be the most likely to have the ability to stick on a roster as a 5th OF.

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    2. James and Castro, probably. Collier and Hewitt are too far away for even a bad team to realistically carry all year; same reason James was unprotected (and unpicked) last year.

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    3. I would probably protect James and Collier of those 4. While Castro may be the closest to the majors, he also has the lowest ceiling. Ceiling is important in protection decisions, especially if it is a guy like Castro who might need all his option years (assuming he is a 5th OF).

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  11. Galvis definitely has legit power. He has 17 extra base hits in the majors right now. Two years ago he had 25 the entire season. So he’s grown in that area. Comparable players I’m thinking Orlando Cabrera, Erick Aybar. Granny Hamner for the older fans. Guys who weren’t greatly disciplined at the plate, but had good defense and some pop in their bats.

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  12. Now that we’re a third of the way through the season, I think it’s a good time to look at the top 30 for the first time. I use Baseball America’s list because it’s reputable and I have it sitting here. In the style of Stock Up/Down

    STOCK UP
    Jesse Biddle
    Freddy Galvis (loses prospect eligibility)
    Lisalberto Bonilla
    Cesar Hernandez
    Aaron Altherr
    Perci Garner (Raw stats are iffy, but I see a pitcher who can contribute out of the ‘pen)
    Leandro Castro
    Austin Wright
    Adam Morgan

    STOCK DOWN
    Trevor May (slightly)
    Jonathan Pettibone (Slightly)
    Phillippe Aumont
    Justin De Fratus (injury)
    Brody Colvin
    Jiwan James
    Ervis Manzanillo
    Kyrell Hudson
    Harold Garcia (injury)
    Austin Hyatt
    Michael Schwimer

    STOCK STEADY
    Sebastian Valle
    Maikel Franco
    Julio Rodriguez
    Joe Savery
    Zack Collier
    J.C. Ramirez

    YET TO PLAY
    Roman Quinn
    Carlos Tocci
    Larry Greene
    Mitchell Walding

    My top five right now would look something like this:
    1. Trevor May
    2. Jesse Biddle
    3. Sebastian Valle
    4. Cesar Hernandez
    5. Maikel Franco

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    1. Have a few disagreements. In don’t see Altherr as having his stock up. He is doing about what should be expected. This is the 2nd time I’ve seen someone on the site say that Pettibone is down, but I don’t see it. He is doing what he always does except that he has walked 1 batter per 9 more, at the higher level.
      I would put JC Ramirez in the stock down category. He hasn’t received a jump in numbers even though he has been relieving. Garner is also down, IMO. His numbers are Colvinesque, and he is an older pitcher. Colvin should have his own category, he below “down”.

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    3. After Galvis, the biggest stocks up in the minors are guys not on the top 30 — Dieckman, Asche, Ruf, Dugan. I don’t see Garner as stock up. It is getting to be time that he actually showed something, stat-wise.

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    4. Since I beat the Diekman drum pretty hard this winter and not many listened, I am turning my attention to Rosenberg. He is on the older side – teetering on non-prospect status – but the man can flat out pitch; he has a classic power reliever arsenal. He is not far off from being a very helpful bullpen arm.

      By the way, May has had two not so great starts, but I don’t view him to be a disappointment at all. He has a bright future.

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      1. Ditto on May. He was lights out to start the season–how quickly we forget.

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      2. It’s not hard to be the first to tout a relief pitcher, when every post you make is touting every reliver who comes through the system with an ERA under 4.

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  13. Alan,
    For the most part I agree with your list. Few comments:

    Garner is a stock down for me. era approaching 5 with more walks than SOs. His K rate isn’t high enough to see a guy with good raw stuff. Maybe his stuff plays better in short stints as you say.

    Jiwan James is steady. His OPS is about the same as last year 1 level higher. He’s slugging more walking less.

    JC Ramirez as a starter is down but as a reliever it’s up. So I can see why you have him as steady.

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  14. Why is Gillies absent from the list? I still think he can be a Michael Bourn type player.

    Anyone know why Austin’s outing was so short? Can Ruf be like this Adams kid the Cards have starting at 1B? Its weird to see a guy that big have the bat control that he does.

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  15. i am very confused with altheer , do you rate him hight based on what the scouts and front office say, have y seen him play/? he is toolsy but really wht has he shown to warrant all the attention. franco is not doing anything special right now, young or not for the league, he isnt showing anyhing but heresay from the phillies, that he is a top prospect.imo the stock is up for two players biddle, and herdanez, both you showing good numbers in higher leagues, at young age in biddle case, and i dont care what age he is so if ruf.

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    1. Altherr’s OPS this season in Lakewood is 128 points better than last season. That’s an improvement any way you slice it.

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      1. I understand that reasoning, but if the guy is repeating the level, and is age appropriate, shouldn’t improvement be expected? I’d call doing what is expected status quo.

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  17. why such love for Franco…am I missing something here? I think stock up certainly would include: Cody Ashe, Dominic Brown, Zach Collier and B.J. Rosenberg.

    My Top 7 would look like:
    1. Trevor May
    2. Jesse Biddle
    3. Ceasar Hernandez
    4. Sebastian Valle
    5. Jonathan Pettibone
    6. Phillippe Aumont
    7. Cody Ashe

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    1. Franco is only 19 and is a very good 3rd baseman with a strong arm. His power is still coming and will continue as gets stronger.

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    2. Asche’s stock definitely up. Why would Dom Brown’s be up? Even though I’m not writing him off, based on his performance so far it would have to be down.

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      1. Brown has multi-hit games in 4 out of his last 5 games (9 for 21 .428 avg). His defense seems to be settling down also.

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        1. That’s fine if we’re doing stock up/down over the last week. But from the beginning of the season till now, he hasn’t done anything to raise it. His stock was pretty high to begin with.

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  18. Its a very small thing but I love that Sanberg brought Schwim back into a game the next night and Schwim closed it out in style.

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  19. Since we are giving two month re-rankings and lists are always good conversation I thought I would weigh in.

    1. Biddle (Left handedness breaks the tie)
    2. May (1A)
    3. Valle
    4. Franco
    5. Hernandez (I am wary here, he is a slap hitting 2B so the bat must carry him)
    6. Pettibone (Strikeout numbers are very concerning)
    7. Asche (reserving judgement until he proves it more at higher levels)
    8. Pointer (20year old showing power in lo-A)
    9. James
    10. Gillies (Proving it when healthy)
    If we had stats on Greene, Quinn, or Tocci they would likely be on the list.

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    1. I don’t think James should br considered for top 10. He was borderline to begin the season and Hernandez, Asche, Morgan and Wright have all passed him. Not sure Pointer should be top 10 either, but I wouldn’t argue much. I’d take out James and Pointer, and replace with Bonnilla and either Morgan or Wright.

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      1. I forgot about the pitchers. I would put Bonilla behind the two lefties. That would mean.
        8. Morgan
        9. Pointer
        10. Wright
        11. Gillies
        12. Bonilla
        13. James

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  20. I think you have to do it in context of what we the readers put together as the top 30. Colvin at 4 moves way down, Tyler Green at 11 Moves way down, Gillies at 14 Maybe a few slots forward, Cesar at 17 moves up quite a bit, Asche didn’t even make the top 30 so you have to put him on now and Darin Ruf isn’t ranked so he needs to be accounted for as well.

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  21. This is relative. Garner I have stock up essentially because he skipped a level and he’s accumulating innings. Also has only surrendered one home run. Baby steps, but I think the Phillies may have a piece there.

    Franco, agree or not, is pretty much what we had him at before the season. If you thought he stunk before well, he’s still steady.

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  22. As far as unranked players who have raised their stock so far:

    Darin Ruf (Very slight. At this point, 80% of his improvement is the park effect difference between Clearwater and Reading.)
    Cody Asche
    Tyson Gillies
    Brian Pointer (Skipped Williamsport, showing good peripherals)
    Gauntlett Eldemire (Showing plate discipline and older is better than a string of ???????s.)
    Kelly Dugan
    Bryan Morgado
    Jake Diekman (Biggest stock jump in the organization)
    Tyler Cloyd
    B.J. Rosenberg
    Kenny Giles

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    1. Regarding Ruf: Fangraphs has him at 178 wRC+ compared to 151 last year, so that’s a sizeable improvement even accounting for park effects. To put that into perspective, Ryan Braun was second in MLB last year with a 179 wRC+.

      His .366 BABIP is high, but he sustained a .356 clip over 549 PA last year. I’m willing to call him a prospect at this point.

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      1. He’s a legit hitting prospect, unfortunately, he appears to be another guy with limited position options. They’ve tried a little bit of LF with him but so far, that has been limited to a few trial efforts.

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  23. Jamie Moyer was DFA by the Rockies. Maybe the Phillies will bring him in to replace Halladay? I’d rather have him than Dave Bush or anyone else from Lehigh Valley.

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    1. No. Rotation will be Lee, Hamels, Worley, Blanton, and Kendrick, and Bush will be called up today or tomorrow to be in the “Kyle Kendrick role” as long man / sixth starter. Joe Savery will be optioned to the minors.

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      1. I’d like to see Cloyd get a shot. He has good command sporting a .903 WHIP and 6.9 K/9 is not to shabby. Not to mention I always like the excitement a young guy can bring to an old club.

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  24. Bush has an opt-out June 1, so he seems likely. He may get the starts and KK may go back to the pen, as he’s shown he can do. Either way.

    I’d think it’s unlikely Cloyd gets this call. They have no room on the 40-man roster, so no matter who goes up now, there will likely need to be a release/DFA to make room for whoever is next ready to come back from the 60-day DL. Could be a bench bat, could be an older pitcher like Bush, but they won’t want to add another young prospect type to the 40-man right now, IMO.

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    1. He can only opt out if he’s guaranteed a spot on an MLB roster… at least that’s what I’ve heard.

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      1. Fair enough. He may very well have the chance. There’s a lot of bad starters out there.

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  25. Also, it’s not positive they make a move at all. If they think they can get Worley back in time, (today is an off day), there’s no reason they can’t try Savery in a multi-inning role. In which case, Bush walks or maybe they can get something in trade, another Rich Thompson-ish trade, where Bush goes to the bigs and we get another AAAA kind of guy who isn’t about to opt out.

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  26. And oh yeah, if you bring up Bush, you have to 60-day DL or release someone. Not sure which they would prefer, though they have options to do either, (I am in fact, thinking of cutting Pete Orr, but also Utley or Howard or maybe Herndon to the 60-day. I don’t think any of those three is there right now). The likeliest available 40-man guy to take a spot start right now is probably Savery. I doubt they’d use JC Ramirez, though if you’re looking for expendability, he might be your man.

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    1. I think they would put Howard on the 60 day DL, then when he comes back you designate Luna.

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  27. Great to see Dom’s bat heating up. Question about him for someone more actively following Lehigh Valley than I am. Whats the end game here with him defensively? One day he is in CF, the next he is in LF. Is his CF defense any good or even passable? Just curious what if any plan the Phils are employing here.

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    1. Brown is a natural right fielder with good range and a good arm. His defensive issues have more to do with his “first step” after the ball leaves the bat and some more “concious” decision making issues. He has the skills to be an average CF, an above average RF and a gold glove LF if he ever irons out his decision making/off the bat reaction. While his ceiling is probably as an average RF, you don’t find many “average” right fielders with a plus arm and above average speed… which is why many people here initially felt his defensive woe’s would be resolved quickly.

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      1. Thank you for the feedback. Sorry if I was a bit unclear on my query. I have been following the Phils system and check this site daily although I rarely comment.

        My question is more pertaining specifically to his recent shift in CF. I heard much about the shift happening and then nothing. I am curious how he has performed. But I have also noticed the IronPigs have recently been shifting him between LF and CF. Seems odd to me if you are trying to see if he can learn either position to yo-yo him back and forth between the two given his defensive struggles and his need for repetition in order to improve.

        So I am curious if anyone has any feedback as to how he has been performing when in CF and also if anyone has any actual insight as to what the Phils are hoping to achieve with this (beyond the speculation that his means Victorino is gone and that Brown is his heir apparent).

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        1. They may be trying to get him time in both Center and Left to improve his overall route running and reading the ball off the bat regardless of where he is in the field.

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        1. If we’re playing him somewhere that his skills make sense, his arm says he’s probably a right fielder. How natural he looks doing it is another story.

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  28. Whoever mentioned that Brown was just a few multi-hit games away from a respectable stat line on the year a little bit ago is a freaking prophet. Just saying.

    Keep it up, Dom. I’m pulling for you to replace Pierre A.S.A.P. And that’s not necessarily a knock on Pierre, because he’s performed admirably thus far for us. But a guy with virtually zero power that relies entirely on speed and is up there in age worries the hell out of me. Plus I don’t like the guy who pretty much can only hit a single in the best case scenario to be batting when we’re down 1 run with 2 outs in the ninth.

    Also, Cesar Hernandez, Darin Ruf, and Cody Asche. Common thread? Deserving of a promotion.

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