I have a soft spot in my heart (and my head) for guys who put up really solid offensive numbers in AA. Travis Chapman, Eric Valent, Jeff Stone, Matt Rizzotti, Steve Susdorf, and, this year, at least so far …. Darin Ruf.
Monthly Archives: May 2012
Sunday: Around the Horn:
–Domonic Brown was out of the Lehigh Valley lineup yet again, continuing to recover from his hamstring issues.
—David Buchanan, who started the season very strong for Reading has been struggling lately and had a nasty line last night: 5.1IP 10H 7ER 3BB 0K.
—Darin Ruf has another multi hit game last night and is approaching 50 hits on the young season. His average stands at (.387).
—Cody Asche had three more hits last night for Clearwater, raising his average to .364.
—Stephen Malcolm made his debut at SS for Lakewood last night and went 1-4, with a run scored and stolen base.
Gotta go gear up for Mothers Day.
Saturday Update
Couple of quick notes as we get the weekend started:
First, there has been an excellent response to the call for help and it appears that boxscores will be back early next week, and Philly Jamaal has graciously agreed to keep rosters and transactions up to date. There have been a few volunteers for feature writing which I am sifting through but I wanted to offer up the opportunity one more time before I put the plan in place…Please email me at phuturephillies1@yahoo.com if you have any interest in contributing to the site. I appreciate all the offers and the kind words of support in getting us back on track here.
Now onto baseball: Continue reading Saturday Update
Around the System–Middle Infield
A look at the middle infield with the good news coming in Reading. Up next are the Outfielders, which should come out next Thursday.
Lehigh Valley
Kevin Frandsen, 29, Re-signed as a free agent in 2012; .238/.292/.286 in 105 AB’s; 0HR 2RBI; 1 SB; .256 vs. LH, .227 vs. RH, .227 with RISP; 4%bb/7%k rates; 20 games at 2B with 2 errors (.978); 3 games at 3B with 1 error; 3 games at 1B without an error, 2 games at SS without an error. Frandsen has struggled this year, not looking nearly as good as he did last year thus far.
Mike Fontenot, 31, Signed as a free agent in 2012; .319/.373/.447 in 47 AB’s; 0HR and 6 RBI; 0SB; .333 vs. LHP, .308 vs. RHP, .364 with RISP. 7 games at 2B without an error; 5 games at 3B without an error; 1 game at SS without an error. Fontenot has played well since his late APril signing but with less than 50 AB’s, still way too early to tell if he can help the big club. Continue reading Around the System–Middle Infield
Lakewood Note
SS Tyler Greene, a high draft pick that has really struggled in Lakewood during the early going has been transferred back to Extended Spring Training and will likely join Williamsport when their season begins. Greene, just 19, was hitting .147 and was also struggling in the field. Joining the BlueCLaws will be SS Stephen Malcolm, who was an 8th round pick in 2010 and hit .253 for the GCL Phils last year before missing 2011 after being sent home due to disciplinary issues.
Lets Get It Started
I really hate to use a Black Eyed Peas lyric to jump-start this transition and maybe I do in the hope that James will come back soon….but:
As James mentioned I have agreed to run the show. I wont complicate things other than to simply say a couple of things. First, the level of respect and decorum that has been demanded since the site’s inception should continue and a departure from that will not be tolerated. Ok, now with that out of the way…
Secondly, the new email address for the site is phuturephillies1@yahoo.com. I can be contacted directly there.
The transition will be a bit rocky for the next few weeks. I will try to post as much as possible but I am going to need help from all of you. If any of you would like to contribute to the site, I am listening so please email me directly. First step will be to put someone in charge of daily boxscores. I would also like affiliate reporting and continued features on players, along with work on the draft (working on James with this).
So, hang in there through the transition. While I feel like I have a good knowledge of the baseball side of things, if anyone can help with the site set up on the IT end, I would love to hear from you.
In closing….Darin Ruf!
Succession plan, thank you Gregg
Hi everyone. Before I get to this, I just want to say thank you to everyone who left their kind words in my previous post. I did not take this decision to move on lightly, this is something that has been on my mind for a while. I have new projects that I want to devote my time to (non-baseball related) and there are aspects of my life that I have not spent enough time on that require more of my attention. In many ways, this site was like a child, and I would rather pass the child on to a loving parent than to become a deadbeat dad. Saying that…
Gregg has agreed to take over control of the site. My only request from Gregg is that the site was never to be sold. Gregg will now take full control and be providing content. Anyone else who has contributed here (and I am eternally grateful) should contact Gregg about continuing on and helping out. Gregg is free to move forward with the site as he sees fit, including content and layout. You can follow Gregg on twitter (@PhuturePhilz) and you already should be, as he regularly tweets updates from the day’s games. Gregg is working on creating a new email address for the site, and when he has all of that set up he will let everyone know how to contact him.
As I mentioned, the site will never be sold, so it won’t “go away”, and everything that has been written here will remain here forever. Gregg has been around for years, he’s kept you completely up to date on the happenings in Reading and Lehigh Valley, and in a way he’s been a better parent for this site than me in the last 2-3 years. I have no doubt that the quality of the site will not drop at all, and in fact, I believe it may actually improve. I am very thankful that Gregg agreed to step in. I would hope that you will extend him the same respect and you would continue to show the respect for the site that you have in the past. As I previously mentioned, I’m extremely proud of what this site has become, and I will be proud when I check in down the road 6 months from now and see the discussions raging on in a respectful, well thought out tone.
I may pop in to the comments section at some point to offer my two cents. I may even write a guest post, but I simply can’t commit to anything right now. Its been a really special 5+ years, I’m really thankful for all of the support, the kind words, and everything else. You can follow me on twitter (@giventofly41) and you know there will be Phillies related tweets, as well as the other random nonsense. So, thank you, and I’m sure our paths will cross again down the road. Be well.
– James
Help on the Way?
The Phillies have optioned LHP Joe Savery to AAA Lehigh Valley. Savery, who was used sparingly was 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA in his 8 innings of work. Rumors are circulating about the call up associated with Savery’s departure, along with the possibility of two additional roster moves. According to the Twitter account of Michael Schwimer, LHP Jake Diekman, LHP Raul Valdes and 3B Hector Luna are all headed to Philadelpia for their game Friday against the Padres. Continue reading Help on the Way?
Not a Funeral
There are some ongoing discussions that will hopefully allow the site to continue on as the number one forum to discuss the Phillies Minor League System. Give us a few days to work out some details, but the hope is, come the weekend there will be some positive news to share.
The end of the line
Hey everyone. As you know I have a tendency to get a bit wordy and wander off on multiple tangents, I’m going to really attempt to keep this short and sweet. Over the last few months, I’ve debated in my head what direction this website was going to go. Some of you have been around since it all started back in December 2006, and some of you have only recently found the site. For the majority of my life, I’ve been an idea person. I have a lot of ideas, my brain works really quickly and in many cases, this prevents me from actually being able to focus on really important things. For 99.9% of all the ideas I’ve ever had, I get involved, I learn stuff, and then I get bored and move on. This site started in the exact same fashion. It started with a few posts, a few page views, and then 6 months later, it was actually a thing. And a year went by, then two, then 5. When I hatched up this idea back in November 2006, I figured I would start it, get bored with it, and then move on to something else. But this site has been the 0.01%.
However, I’ve reached the point where I can no longer keep updating and providing content for the site. In the last few months, putting together even a recap of box scores has become a chore. I used to get deeply involved in the discussions here but had to stop, because it simply became too frustrating and I did not have the time with my new job. Now I barely have the time and motivation to cut and paste 4 box scores a night. Though my mind tends to wander and I jump around a lot, I always commit myself 110% to everything I do, and when I realize I can no longer give 110% I move on. I’d rather go all out and try to do the best I can and move on to something else than stick around and half-ass a project, its just not my nature. The support I have received here over the last 5+ years has been amazing. From the emails to the dedicated users who regularly post in the comments to all of the people who have volunteered their time and energy to the site. I believe what I’ve compiled here makes this site unique, and it will be something I’m forever proud of. The site won’t be removed or deleted or anything else. I’ve received a few offers in the last 6 months to sell the site in its entirely and have it integrated in to some network of sites. That was never my intention, and it’s not my intention now.
I have reached out to someone about possibly keeping the site going. When I have a clear idea as to what will happen going forward, I will provide you with an update. Its been a pretty incredible ride, and I’m extremely thankful for all of the people who’ve come here and provided positive value, as I really believe this turned in to a great little community. If this site does not keep going, I know that a few of you will take the lead and form a new site/place to continue the discussion. I wish I could email all of you individually and thank you for your support, just know that I truly do appreciate everything and maybe our paths will cross again at some point down the road.
Phuture Phillies 