Box Score Recap 5-31-2012

Box Score Recap

The Clearwater nine battled many a weary inning before finally threshing the Yankees of Tampa by the Bay, defending the honor of their fallen hero, Percival Merciful Garner.  Ok, that’s probably not his real middle name.  And he’s “fallen” ’cause he got knocked out of the game, not ’cause someone dropped him with a line drive or a sword or anything.  He’ll live to fight another day.  Anyway…BOX SCORES!!!

LV  REA  CLR  LKW  VSL (suspended)

75 thoughts on “Box Score Recap 5-31-2012”

  1. Garner . . . meh. As I said during the winter, time to see what he has out of the bullpen. This “need to stretch his out as a starter” routine is becoming amusing but fruitless.

    Although I’m trying to manage expectations for Asche, I’m secretly very excited.

    I keep waiting for that Lakewood team to start hitting. Perhaps Dugan can provide a spark. By the way, Dugan on my breakout watch (noted in off-season reader’s poll)

    Giles out of the pen last night? Anyone know if that is a permanent move?

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    1. I think Garner should eventually move to the pen but he needs as many innings as possible before the move to gain experience. I feel he has too few innings for the switch at this point.

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    2. Garner is still learning to repeat mechanics and refine his pitches. Easier to do that as a starter. He also has a starter’s build, so let him give it a whirl.

      Giles is definitely a reliever long-term and he said that he was starting just to get innings and reps because he too is very inexperienced.

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      1. Agree. It is more about innings than results with him at this point. Physically he has the tools to be a starter and should be given every chance to stay there.

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  2. Indeed, the Clearwater Nine and fine baseballers, and gentlemen beyond reproach at that. The squad affiliated with the dreaded Yankees were more than equal to the challenged meted out by our local (sortof) men, thus taking more than the required nine innings for our boys to finally tally the winning mark.

    Ahhh, Olde Tyme Baseball

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  3. Giles gives you your money’s worth, doesn’t he? Three walks, a wild pitch and 4 Ks in 2 innings. Somewhere Mitch Williams is smiling.

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  4. IMO when short season opens most of lakewood players should be sent there, they are really overmatched at low a . and why do you let a pitcher give up 6 runs in one third of a inning?? same with lv on monday, why not pull him> makes no sense. last night was first time that I saw brumett pitch, wish that i could see radar gun, seem to have a decent off speed pitch, aumont can spot his fast ball down in zone, but cant get his breaking over or secondary pitchs i have seen him before.

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    2. Interesting you say that about Aumont. In his first appearance off the DL, which was televised, it was the opposite. Located his curve well but not his fastball, which was usually up.

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    3. Just curious if you think most of lakewood players should be sent to short season squads, who then plays at Lakewood?

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    1. I agree, despite the search for glimmers of hope, there is not much to be excited about. I hope last year’s draft proves productive or the system will really spiral.

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    2. I’m probably a moron, but this seems to me to be the logical result of drafting “toolsy” players who don’t understand how to hit or play the game.

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      1. I think it has less to do with the Phils draft approach and more with the trades that have gutted the system. This system would be highly ranked were Singleton, D’Arnaud, Cosart, Gose, Santana, etc. still waiting in the wings.

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        1. Give that man a cigar. Add in the 4 top-100 players in the BA rankings that were traded and suddenly the Phillies system looks significantly better.

          I agreed with the trades that were made but it can’t be denied that the system has taken a hit as a result..

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    3. Disagree with your statement totally being all based on one set of games? Allentown(with a mix of prospects) and Reading(home grown talent) are near the top of of their divisions while the others are competitive

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      1. Also, Clearwater has the third best record (out of 12 teams) in the Florida State League. Of the four Phillies-affiliated minor league teams currently playing on US soil, only Lakewood has played below .500, although admittedly, they have been bad, with the third worst record (out of 14 teams) in the South Atlantic League

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        1. I think that using minor league records to indicate we have a good system is fools gold. Look at individual performance and skill. Not a record of a triple A team with maybe one or two prospects with a shot of being above average.

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          1. This is not Fantasy Baseball – you don’t always need stars to win which is the ultimate goal. There are few superstars in the Phillies system but many potentially solid players who can be good at different parts of the game.

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            1. Minor League development is much more like fantasy baseball than it is about winning. I guearantee the Phillies would rather have 3 top, sure fire prospects at Reading and a losing record. and so on down the system. Records are nice, but future stars is what the system quality will be based on.
              P.S. what were the records of the various minor league squads headed by Howard, Utley, Rolins, Hamels, Ruiz etc? Right, who knows and who cares.

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      2. Wow, what’s the basis for this comment? Seems like we have intriguing prospects to watch at every level. At Lakewood (Pointer, Altherr, Franco, Martinez), CLW has Asche Biddle, Collier, Alonso, Hewitt, Colvin. Reading has May, Petitbone, Rodriguez, Gillies, Cesar, Valle, James, Castro, and Ruf. At LHV which is usually the worst level for prospects we can still follow Brown, Overbeck, Cloyd, Gosewish, .

        I could see your point if we had 25-30 year old mercenaries manning most positions, but that clearly is not the case. It looks worst at Lakewood because we have a lot of young guys playing their first full season and don’t have the dominant pitching that we’ve become accustomed to.

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        1. I think every major league team has a lot of ‘intriguing prospects’ on their farm. The concern is that we don’t have a lot of prospects who are actually putting up good stats this year. There have been some nice surprises, like Galvis and Asche and Cloyd and Hernandez, but too many of the other prospects really aren’t hitting or pitching well.

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        2. “Intriguing” is simply speculating that while they haven’t done anything yet to warrant discussion as a legitimate prospect, they might begin to realize their potential and put it together. The only players that you have listed that have gone beyond this classification and shown that they can produce in the minors while still having potential to improve up into the major league level are May, Biddle, and yes…Brown. Asche and Hernandez are showing signs of approaching this but it’s only June 1st (still a small sample size). You really used Hewitt as an example of being intriguing? Face it, I know it’s hard to look at your own players without bias, but we have a really bad farm system.

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          1. chase utley hit .257 and .263 in his minor league seasons with the most AB’s…everyone take a breath…

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            1. Batting Average? Really?

              His career MILB On Base was .357.

              The only time he posted an OPS lower than .800 was in Clearwater.

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        3. Every farm system in baseball has the same kind of prospects (except maybe the White Sox)

          Trevor May, Biddle, Valle (defensively), Cesar Hernadez, Pettitbone, and Gillies are really the only ones who anybody considers realistic MLB prospects.

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          2. I would guess that Schwimer, Aumont, Defratus, Rosenberg are also considered to be realistic major league prospects. Add in many of the guys from the 2011 class who haven’t really started playing yet and I would guess there are a few more.

            Phillies system weakness is the lack of high-end talent, not a lack of overall prospects.

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            1. I don’t consider Schwimer a prospect… he’s really a AAAA relief pitcher at this point.

              We do have relievers but so do a lot of systems. I’m not really big on relief pitchers as prospects… but throw them in there as well.

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    4. Lakewood is the team I’m most dissappointed in.The other three are over .500. We have seen a lot of prospects leave over the last few years but I still think we don’t have the worst Farm System. I’m very interested to see the guys play from the last class.

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      1. I share a lot of that concern and I asked Jason Parks of BB Prospectus. He thinks there are a lot of athletes in our system with promise than say a Houston or Milwaukee or CHI Sox. That isn’t saying much, but it does mean something. I think the most concerning thing about our system for me is, a lack of plate discipline for many offensive players. Aside from Darin Ruf who isn’t even looked at as anything, most offensive players in the system struggle to have an on base of .330

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      2. Lakewood has few really high picks. Guys like Dugan, Hudson, and Franco are the highest picks and biggest international signings. Lino Martinez is the biggest name on the pitching side. When we are talking relatively low picks like TGreene, Pointer, Altherr, Kleven, and Giles we should align expectations properly. By definition these toolsy players need more time, and when they are not number one picks we should not expect all of them to hit .300.

        IMO Lakewood has had a number of positive developments like Pointer and Dugan and Kleven that represent players who are now legitimate prospects when they were question marks going in. Such is the nature of a player development system that drafts younger, toolsy prospects. There is always lots of failure or lengthy development sandwiched around the bright spots.

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    5. I want to second this. The more optimistic of us this off-season were basing their expectations on a lot of players taking a big step forward. While most players are keeping their heads above water, there is not a single player who has done anything to change the “raw tools” label. Further, some of the guys we were thinking were safer bets to perform, if not with such a high ceiling, have fallen flat.

      All in all, not a great first two months. Definitely a bottom third system right now, if not bottom 5.

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    8. Look at where the Phils pick every year. Let’s see.. from 1998 – 2001 they had 4 first rounders who were in the top 15 of the 1st round. They were Floyd, Utley,, Myers (Brett not D’arby) and Burrell in descending annual order. Since then the highest they’ve picked in the 1st round is 17. That was Hamels in 2002. These are not bad choices. Since Hamels, Drabek was at 18. that wasn’t too bad but has he made a big splash in the Majors yet? Other than that we’ve had the likes of Golson, Savery and Hewitt. What can you determine from this? It pays to be higher up in the draft in the 1st round. If you can grab a blue chipper you are far more likely to hit a home run (or pitch a perfect game) than if you are picking late in the 1st round or even the 2nd round. It’s much harder to find the diamond in the rough after those first 15 or so picks. Even those top 15 are not guaranteed a spot in a major league lineup. This year’s draft might even be harder to find the next great major leaguer. You can whine and cry about the lack of blue chippers or even cup of coffee type guys but wouldn’t you rather be winning divisions and getting to the World Series once in a while then picking that blue chipper in the #5 spot in the draft? Your choice… Who knows, with the way the big club is playing, you might get your wish this year. We could be picking in the top 15 in the next draft. Let’s all hope for that!!!! NOT!!!!

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  7. The pharm system could use an injection, like the signing of Jorge Soler when he becomes available.

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  8. I’d like to seem them be more agressive with some of these college guys. Lavin and Asche should be movin up. Watching that LHV game last night you heard Brian Jordan and that other tool talk about how the Braves were sending Pastornicky down and promoted a SS straight out of AA.

    One thing I always liked about the Braves is they weren’t afraid to take talented young players and throw them in the deep end. If they really are talented they will swim with the rest of the fishes.

    And how bout that Quentin Berry going 3/5 with 2 SB’s. I always liked that kid but he never put it together when he was with us…

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    1. agree with you about the braves. they made heyward and freeman starters at the age of 21 without any hesitation. the SS they recalled is a top 100 prospect, apparently.

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      1. And Heyward struggled all of last season and still has challenges facing him. Freeman on the other hand appears to have progressed from his rookie year.

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    2. Not Lavin. He had a good start to the year but has been meh since then. Not enough speed or power. A .747 OPS from a 24 year old in high A isn’t really anything to be interested about.

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  9. @DMAR How terrible was Brian Jordan and the play by play guy last night?? haha.. He said Cloyd was from Bellvue, NE “New England”.. I think every organization has 20 “intriguing” prospects. Most have a solid 5-10 that are definitely Major League Players. With Valle hitting .230, I think you can only say Biddle and May are dead lock major league guys. Obviously not counting the Aumont’s and Jc Ramirez that will eventually be Bull Pen guys.

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    1. LOL yeah its a chore to listen to and hard to watch when you are used to HD broadcasts but hey my only other choice was BOS/DET.

      Suomi must love Gwinnett pitching because the only 2 LHV games I saw were these last 2 on air broabcasts. Anyway no he is not a prospect he is 31 has over 12 years in the minors 2700+ PA’s a career .264 hitter. He might be the better crash davis. The announcer last night tried to paint Spidale in that role. Geesh…

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    2. I really don’t think every organization has that many ‘dead lock’ major leaguers. That seems very high.

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  10. I thought I was watching the 27 yankees last night based on the evaluation of the Gwinnett team by Brian Jordan . I was glad LV spanked them 14-4 . How old is Suomi ? Is he a prospect ? looked good last night Dom Brown was not impressive

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    1. He’s 31 years old and has played for five organizations (including the Phillies twice)

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  11. What are you talking about?? Dom popped out to the catcher with 2 on and 1 out… he’d fit in perfectly with the big club.

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  12. FSL All-Stars announced, for what it’s worth. Threshers sending four players – Biddle, Morgan, Wright, and Rupp. No Cody Asche on the list

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    2. No Asche with 2nd best BA in the entire FSL and no Knigge with ERA of 0.90 in 30 IP in relief? Who are the people who pick these guys?

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        1. This is correct – there was only one spot for a 3B from the North Division, and people understandably voted for Castellanos. Hard to knock a 20-year-old hitting .409 in a pitcher’s league

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    3. Good to see Wright and Morgan picked. Wright has struggled lately. It seems like his ceiling is a little higher than Morgan’s so it’d be great to see him get back to his early season form.

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  14. Its hard to believe Asche and Knigge were left off the all star team. I guess there are a few 3rd baseman hitting homers down there but still, 350 is pretty good. I expect Asche and a few others will get moved up in a few weeks. I think the draft, with the much earlier signing deadline and more specific guidelines, will get guys signed much sooner and get them onto the field. This could cause a ripple effect combined with the two half season leagues starting up soon. We’re all waiting inpatiently for Wport to start, with fingers crossed for good luck of course.
    Last night was not a great one for our system but its a long season and it will be very interesting to see who turns it around and has a great month of June. Interesting to see Eldemire batting in the 9th spot but good to see him get on base. He started so well and then fell off the cliff I have to assume that word got around how to get him out and he hasn’t adjusted yet. He missed almost two years of playing and he’s older so this month is critical for him. If he can turn it around, he could be a prospect, if not, he won’t be. Damn curve ball…..

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  15. I think to be a braves annonuncer you have to be a homer.They were the most bias two announcers that I have ever heard. how can you call pointer kelven or dugan positve, dugan will hit his 260 in the minors never see the majors. right now still say there isnt much down there except for may, biddle, ashce, franco i keep hearing how much promise he has my answer show us something, look at heyward and brown, all the promise in the world according to scouts and both are disappointing, funny punto who we gave away will most likely have a better career than a brown or franco, sometimes you never know, but keep drafting the toolsy guys and you will have the same problem, no one to fill in if galvis is our fill in for rollins, with his weak bat, we better get a stud third basemen and left fielder, to make up the lack of offense. just dont see the minor league system having anything to get thrilled about.

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    1. I’m not sure I get this. If we stop drafting the toolsy guys, then maybe more guys would make the majors, but most of them would be guys like Galvis, who are just good enough to fill in but not be stars. And I think Galvis has some upside, but I’m using him as an example because of how you categorized him in your post.

      Dugan missed a lot of time with injuries, but hes’ showing the ability to take some walks and he’s showing some power. So what if he’s not hitting .300 right now, it doesn’t mean he’s never going to get better. And he seems to already have some of the skills we wish our other prospects would develop.

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      1. Let me throw out a few names to add some context: Kemp07 6th Round, Freese06 9th Round, Headley05 2nd Round 1 pick after we took Costanzo, Joyce05 12th Round.

        Point is even tho we haven’t drafted high in recent years we also haven’t had a very good eye for talent or we weren’t as lucky as some other clubs. Obviously lots of teams missed on these guys as well thats not the point.

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        1. Come on – this critcism is totally unfair. ANYONE can pick out random late round draft picks that worked out, compare them to late round picks that tanked (which are as numerous as the stars in the heavens) and say the team who drafted the guys who tanked are doing a bad job.

          Truth be told, the Phillies have done a pretty damned good job drafting over the last 10 years, although, like ALL teams, there are clunkers. But to your point – why don’t the Phillies get good late round talent. The answer is that they have. This talent includes Ryan Howard (5th Round), Trevor May (4th round), Ryan Madson (9th round), Jonathan Singleton (8th round), Jarred Cosart (38th round!!!) and even supplemental pick, Travis d’Arnaud (1st round supplemental). Now, they traded many of these guys away, but they did a heck of a job in drafting them in the first place.

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  16. I hope the instruction at the minor league is better than in Philly. The Phillies must have the most undesciplined and dumbest hitters in baseball. I wish Pete Rose was the hitting coach to teach these players how to work the count , not swing at the first pitch after the previous hitter walked on 4 pitches etc . Is the manager allowed to give the take sign or is that against the union contract ? Victorino , Rollins and Pence are the biggest culprits .

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  17. I think that under the new CBA, they should have let clubs have the ability to trade their first round draft choice Like all other professional sports do. What is the reasoning behind not doing this?

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    1. They are worried that this would favor the big-market clubs over the smaller market teams. Also opens up a J.D. Drew type situation where a top prospect can threaten to go to school rather than sign with team A. But if they trade that pick to team B, well, then he will sign.

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  18. This idea of not having any prospects – all those who had Stutes, Diekman, Bastardo, Worley, Kendrick, Ruiz, and Galvis on your list of guys who would play meaningful roles in the bigs raise your hands. Exactly. Most of us didn’t consider these guys prospects when they were down there, if you looked at their numbers or read opinions in national publications. The Phillies consistently prove us – and them – wrong. So who are we overlooking now? That, to me, is a more interesting conversation than just saying we have no prospects after 150 ab’s or 50 ip. People have been touching on Kelly Dugan. His development’s been slowed by injuries, but he’s starting to show what he can do, and he was personally scouted and signed by Pat Gillick out of his alma mater Notre Dame in the San Fernando Valley. He also had a full ride to Peperdine. BA didn’t even have him in their top 200 that year, and people have labeled him a bust or a reach. So who’s right? My money’s on the Phillies. In the same way they seem to have been right in drafting Singleton in the 8th. and Ryan Howard in the 5th. Has anyone heard anything about Steven Inch? Another tall, projectable rightie. I like the way the Phils are plucking Canada, with guys like Inch, Stewart, Kleven, and Therrien(?). So who else are we not considering prospects who is the next Worley or Ruiz?

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