Box Score Recap 6-14-2012

Box Score Recap

Hewitt hit 2 HR, Asche was 5 for 5, Hyatt struck out 9 in 5 1/3.  But the news of the day has to be that Dom Brown left the game after he “tweaked his knee” (quote from Sandberg).  Brown will see a doctor tomorrow, according to a tweet from Michael Lore from The Easton Express-Times, or “the Easton paper”, as my Grammy used to call it.

LV  REA  CLR  LKW  DSL No Report (rain?)  VSL Postponed

103 thoughts on “Box Score Recap 6-14-2012”

    1. It could be they needed to shut him down for a while. Sometimes you get tangled up in your underwear and you need to detangle.

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    2. I think he’s shown enough to stick at LW, though he was one of the players I had felt ‘might’ be assigned to NYPL this weekend. It could still happen I guess, but I hope he stays

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      1. I saw Mitchell Walding say he’s on the way to Williamsport, for whatever that’s worth. If they were planning to reassign him for the start of that season, he’d likely not have played last night. Good for him, and here’s hoping he plays well enough to stay where he is for the rest of the season as well.

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  2. Asche just manufacturing hits…looks like 4 out of 5 hits were singles. If he shows even slightest inkling of power…he is in Reading by end of July. Collier better than I expected.

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    1. His last hit really could have been a double, but he laced it so hard off the wall in RF that he had to stop at first. His second hit I thought could have been an E4, since the Tampa second baseman fielded a routine grounder but never got it out of his glove. But I’m not the official scorer, so, hey, good for Asche!

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      1. Jslash…..the correct pronunciation of Cody’s last name…is it ‘ash’ or ‘ashee’? Heard both from media sources.

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    2. A few weeks ago a few of us had mentioned that it be best to remain reserved until Cody gets another 100 abs or so. Well, he now has 250+ PAs and it’s getting difficult not to become somewhat excited. Consider;

      * Sitting at .343 on the season, Asche has hit above .300 every month and has seen a nice drop in his K-rate in June, albeit from a small sample

      * Asche, a left-handed batter, has hit .361 against righties and .310 against lefties

      * His K-rate sit around 13.8% for the season. More than acceptable in spite of an absence of power, particularly when considering his double-jump from the NYPL

      For him to get this kind of start after a double-jump is really exciting. Hopefully he can keep up his stamina for the rest of the year and finish at .320 or so. Question now is, what does his 1st half due to his prospect ranking?

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      1. Its very possible we have something in Cody. His OPS number of .815 is a huge positive. Utley’s first 2 seasons (Batavia/Clearwater) by comparison were roughly the same if not slightly lower. Utley was then double jumped to AAA the next season and the rest as they say is history…

        Now Utley had logged over 1800 PA’s in the minors before finally getting the permanent call so our excitement for Cody needs to be tempered. Thats not to say Asche will become Chase Utley but then not to many players will.

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  3. also nice little outing for Giles in Lakewood. And speaking of relievers…thankful Aumont was not apart of that mess in Lehigh

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    1. Those stats would be nice and give me hope but at the same time I wonder what will be closer to 250. His average or how many times he strikes out this season?

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    2. The stolen bases haven’t caried over from Lakewood- he’s only got 6 on the year so I think 30 is out of the question. But he only stole 10 his first year in Lakewood so maybe he likes to take his time before he starts running.

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    3. Hewitt’s got to improve his hitting with runners on base (.218) and runners in scoring position (.132). If he could hit .250 overall and improve those stats (significantly), I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. RISP of .132 means he is the opposite of clutch (I didn’t want to use the ch— word).

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    4. He’s made some strides this season, but he still has a long way to go. His contact rate is scary low, it’s improved, but he needs to take it to another level. If he can make additional adjustments and continue to improve next year in Reading…who knows, hope springs eternal!

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      1. I still think he is likely no prospect – and I don’t like Nik’s metrics – but if he can build on his recent improvements in his contact and plate discipline skills – say bring his K/BB ratio under 5 and keep it there – I’d think a back of the top 30 ranking wouldn’t be out of line.

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        1. Yes, by no means is he on the map as a legit prospect based on these results, but he has exceeded expectations going into this season and at least warrants continued playing time this year, and probably next year at AA. By the end of this year, he may set an all time error record for an OF.

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          1. At this rate a cup of coffee in the majors is not out of the question. If the power tool is there along with plus speed and defense he’ll find his way.

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            2. You only see the errors. The rest of his defense is not that bad. 5 assists so far in 45 games. Range is at least average. The errors will come down and they are overrated (as they are with Brown as well).

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            3. Still, 13 errors in 45 games for an outfielder has to be a pretty historic pace. Maybe he’s seeing time in the IF from time to time? Or maybe he slept with the official scorer’s wife…

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            4. Or maybe he just has had some bad luck and can’t hit the cutoff. The main point is that errors are not the only thing to evaluate on defense. If he has good range and a good arm I can live with a few errors. It is one of the least important things to look at when evaluating a player, especially considering it is something that many players work out by the time they get to the majors.

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            5. At this rate? At this rate he might get a cup of coffee at LHV but he would need a miracle to make it to the bigs, even in a complimentary role. You guys are way too generous. His plate discipline has always been atrocious; And at 23, playing against younger competition for the most part, and still struggling, I’d say his window is all but nailed shut. Minimal improvement at this stage is not going to get him anywhere.

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            6. Not many gave Golson a chance to make the majors. As long as Hewitt continues to show progression at each level he has a chance.

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            8. Kill for? Exaggerate much? And Golson had a head start coming out of Texas.

              This is a blurb that came out of the BA chat at the end of next year:

              “Hewitt, he’s not a top 30 guy. He wasn’t last year either. But I did talk to one scout who still gave Hewitt a shot and noted his growth this year, and you can’t blame him. if you were grading Hewitt’s tools on the 20-80 scouting scale, it would look something like this: 55 power, 60 arm, 60 run, 60 field. See what I did there? His hit tool is a present 30, if you like him. So if you’re the Phillies, you never, ever give up on the tools. Send him to high-A Clearwater next year and see what he can do.”

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            9. I don’t know that he has shown progression at any level. He’s still not handling himself at the plate. He has some power and speed, but if he’s striking out this much against A ball guys, how long will it take to get him “progressed” to the big leagues? Pencil him as the 5th OF for 2018, maybe?

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            10. Progression is relative. OPS is up 2 years in a row. Strikeout rate is going down. Not much progress on his walk rate. Last year he was great on the base paths. He is learning a new position.

              This is slow progress, but it IS progress in the right direction. He still needs to do much more, but it is hard to argue he is not better than he was 2 years ago. Up one level and stats across the board are better.

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            11. I won’t belabor my prior comments, which are at least more positive than some. But I think you got the BB and K progress reversed – maybe having not looked at his numbers in the past week. His K numbers are a tad better but probably not meaningfully better than last year. OTOH, his BB data is a lot better – almost a 60% improvement. Sample size, etc. – that’s an improvement of only 4 BB over his 196 PA. But if he can sustain that, or, even better, build on it, that’s meaningful.

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            12. His OPS is up after two great games, 6 times on base, including 3 HR and a double. Prior to last night, it was essentially even versus from last season. It’s likely to regress some as he has more usual results, (even if they are better than earlier in the year). His K rate is down to 29.6% from 30.9% last year. Still quite bad. And walk rate is up 3 points from 2 yrs ago, which is actually kinda nice, but they are still still low at 5.6%.

              As for any supposed progress from 2010 in Low A to 2011 in Low A – it was arguably not enough to outpace the fact that he was another year older and simply more experienced than his competition.

              So I’ll concede the point and call it relative progress if you want. If his OPS is holding closer to 750 than 700 in another month, great. But two oh-fers after their all-star break and he’s back where he was two days ago, hovering around 700 OPS or lower, and striking out as often as he gets on base. And that’s quite weak progress compared to someone on track for a big league career. It’s a long season, and he was hurt for part of it, so we’ll keep watching and see if maybe he’s turning a corner.

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            13. I guess his K rate has leveled off a little. 29.6% now as opposed to 31.0% last year. He was running around 26% or 27% for a while. The walks have been mainly in the last couple of weeks, though I guess 5.6% is a major step for him (3.5% last year). So small improvement in both areas which is progress.

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    6. Hewitt’s production isn’t what you want from a 1st round pick, but he is performing better in his 5th minor league season, and 1st try a A+, than everybody’s favorite 4th OF.

      An Hewitt: age 23, avg .244, obp .301, slg .433, iso .159, bb% 5.2, K% 29.5
      D Mitchell: age 22, avg .208, obp .254, slg .384, iso .175, bb% 5.4, K% 26.5

      … so if Derrick Mitchell has a good chance to contribute to a major league club, I suppose Anthony Hewitt does too.

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      1. Hewitt’s experience is more like that of a 21 or 22 year old too as opposed to 23. He just gets evaluated in a harsher light because of his number one pick status. Who else do we have in the upper minors that might potentially hit 30 HRs? Brown. Ruf is a little bit of a stretch.

        Hewitt still needs to do lots of things. Improve his defense (errors mainly). Make better contact. Increase his walk rate to respectable levels. Not sure he can do that, but if he keeps putting up 700+ OPS numbers he is going to get at least 2 more years to try.

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        1. Holy Moly. Now a Mitchell comparison as a means of validating Hewitt’s prospect status? I hate to suppress anyone’s opinions, but that’s a reach on so many levels including the prospect of Mitchell himself. Time for a bong hit after reading that one

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      2. Derrick Mitchell has one massive cheerleader on here. Let’s not start using him as a measuring stick of this site’s commenting prowess.

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      3. I see what you did there … and again, I’m still at the point of basically seeing Hewitt as no prospect, with maybe a small glimmer of a chance as opposed to no chance at all.

        But Mitchell, after a sort of breakout year in 2010, contrary to popular belief, leveled off (at best) in 2011, and has tailed off a bit in 2012. It’s possible (though quite unlikely) to imagine a scenario where Hewitt has the kind of sort of breakout year that Mitchell had, but then builds on it instead of leveling out.

        Hewitt also has more raw power, and probably more speed, than Mitchell.

        I’m probably just encouraging the guys around here who go overboard on prospects sometimes, Hewitt isn’t worth so much thought at this point. But seeing what looks like maybe some progress in one of his greatest weaknesses – plate discipline – is, I think, worth noting.

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        1. I really don’t see Mitchell or Hewitt as serious prospects, but just wanted to point out the absurd difference in which the two players are perceived here. They’re basically the same guy, except Mitchell managed to have one (1) not so terrible season in his 7th year in the minors.

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      1. against??? Just wishing he would pick it up before the funeral
        Why the angst about a 21 year old’s power? Some take longer.

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          1. sorry two different statements Utley against who.
            the other cody asche needs time to mature. don’t forget my brain will be 70 years old

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    4. True, not many AB, but still 17 games from having to be on the Phillies and he has also yet to play the field.

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  6. Alonzo is in a little funk right now. He’s hitting .184 in his last 10 but he has 6 BBs to go along with that so his OBP is .326.

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    1. Alonzo is the organizations chew toy. If we know he is getting no respect so does he and that isn’t good

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  7. Per twitter, Larry Greene, Roman Quinn and Mitchell Walding all made it to Willamsport. They must have showed a lot in extended spring. Also been seeing consistent reports of Roman Quinn playing SS over Tyler Greene, who is playing 2B. Either way, a lot of posion players to follow.

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    1. So happy they all made williamsport, i’ll be able to see them when they come to Lowell in July!

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    2. Greene was making a lot of errors at SS in Lakewood for whatever that’s worth so maybe Quinn has a better arm and range in the pro game at SS then Greene.

      I am glad they’re all starting in Williamsport tho, that’s a good sign in their development.

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      1. Today, was the 1st time I’ve read that Herlis Rodriguez was working with the Crosscutters group, in extended. I had only read about Yon Olmo and Jiandido Tromp previously.

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          1. In the blog referenced below. Baseballross.wordpress.com. He isn’t a talent evaluator and is more reactionary than the worst commenters on this site, but he is about the only source for what is going on in Extended spring.

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      1. It’s the same site that said in May “the Nationals can have their nineteen year old Bryce Harper, I’ll take the Phillies sixteen year old Carlos Tocci!” so I wouldn’t get too excited about their rave reviews.

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        1. That statement was OBVIOUSLY very tongue in cheek and hyperbolic in a way to display excitement.

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          1. From a May 26 post:
            “What interested me from last nights game was the play of Tyson Gillies. The previous day in Erie he ran out two triples to take the lead in the Eastern League with six and last night he went deep for a home run. Should he play the second half at AAA? Can he be the starting center fielder next year in Citizen Bank Park? My answers to both of those questions is yes he should and yes he can!”
            and:
            “Any fan in the stands who has watch Freddy play the last couple of seasons would know that he would be ready soon to play in the major leagues this season. Yet, General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. decided Jimmy Rollins was so valuable he had to give him a three year contract with an easy to achieve fourth year option. Galvis is already better than Rollins offensively and defensively. Now we will have to wait until the 2016 season for Freddy to take over at shortstop. With Utley’s knee condition, a move to left and keeping Freddy at second only makes sense since Chase is still under contract for the 2013 season.”
            It’s nice to hear who’s playing what, but the blogger’s a ridiculous homer.

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  10. Really great article. Really will watch willport these season. Love that that whole class will play together. Curious about Walding and Quinn. As well as the others too. And the two draft picks. Saw Klaw trashed the young guy. Who care Keith. Think the astros are calling they need a ticket guy.

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    2. Dunno, we’ve been hearing for years that the Phillies take “good character guys,” so it’s disappointing that a kid who is obvious a jerk is entering the system.

      Also on the prospect writers front, article on BP today has a scout calling Biddle a 4th starter at best, and comping him to, get excited, Randy Wolf. In fairness, Biddle would probably be thrilled to have Wolfie’s career, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what folks on here are hoping for.

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      2. If you told me right now that Biddle would be the next Randy Wolf, I would very happily take that.

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  11. Baseball Prospectus blurb on Biddle:

    Jesse Biddle got off to a rough start in his first taste of Advanced Class-A, going 0-2 and giving up 15 runs over his first 11 1/3 innings. He’s shined in nine starts since, however, compiling a 1.84 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 49 innings. The 20-year-old left-hander possesses only average velocity and doesn’t project to add much more, leading one scout to compare him to another former Phillies first-round pick: Randy Wolf. “For me, he’s a number-four starter. He makes adjustments, but his fastball may be too straight. He gets in on right-handed hitters well, like Wolf.” —Bradley Ankrom

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    1. To put it in perspective, Wolf has started 355 games at the MLB level and has posted a 102 ERA+.

      I’ll take that.

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    2. disappointing. wonder why he “doesn’t project to add much more” velocity? Young, big frame, etc.

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      1. I guess you have to give the scout’s comments some consideration, but it’s presumptuous to say that he doesn’t project to add more velocity. Comments like these show you that projecting is far from an exact science, nor is it commonly consistent even among industry ‘experts’. The kid is not even 21 yet. Hell, I know dudes who grew a few inches in their 20’s, let alone the amount of natural strength men tend to add as they fill out their frames.

        This doesn’t mean he’ll be hitting 95 mph in two years, but I certainly won’t lose any sleep over Bradley’s comments

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        1. The scout’s observation is superficial. I know first-hand that Jesse’s focus, this year and last, has been on control, not displays of velocity (I’ve written on this several times on this site). The velocity is there. If you look at his walk stats, you’ll see his control is markedly better over last year. Expect the velocity to creep back up over the next year.

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  12. well the phillies are turning into the sixers, the sixers have all 2s and threes the phillies have all blanton an kendrick types coming up.cant believe biddle doesnt project better. but these guys know.

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    1. Nobody knows. It’s just one scouts opinion and I’m sure there are other scouts who see bigger things in Biddle. Maybe this guy is right and maybe not.

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      1. Just to be fair, I’m sure there are scouts who see Biddle’s upside as a middle reliever. The fact is, he’s not a truly elite prospect and his ultimate upside is probably not star-level at this point, barring something new in his repretoire (or hidden velocity as “Robin” claims). There is certainly value in having mid-rotation starters in your system, but that Biddle and May are our top 2 guys is an indictment of our system.

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    2. If you hear “2 and 3 “and think “Blanton and Kendrick” you obviously have no idea what a 2 or 3 is or what Blanton and Kendrick are. There’s a disconnect somewhere.

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      1. I think he meant that the Sixers have all 2’s and 3’s, meaning they have all shooting guards and small forwards, while the Phillies have all Blanton/Kendrick types of pitchers. Not necessarily that Blanton and Kendrick are 2/3 starters in a rotation.

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      2. Agree that there’s a disconnect, but I don’t think he’s calling Blanton and Kendrick 2s or 3s. He’s comparing the glut of shooting guards and small forwards on the Sixers to the glut of back-end starters in the Phillies’ organization.

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  13. Bob Stumpo is such a great name. I can totally see him wearing one of those maroon, earflap-less Phillies batting helmets tucked under an old school catcher’s mask, a la Bo Diaz.

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  14. Just got this answered on the prospect hot sheet:

    Patrick (Atlanta): What’s your take on Cody Asche’s success this year? Can he stick at 3B, and do you see more power potential in the bat?

    Matthew Eddy: A 4th-rounder from Nebraska last year, Phillies 3B Cody Asche should be able to add power to his game as improves the load in his swing. Check back in two years, but so far so good.

    Nothing real specific or enlightening there, but it’s good to know the scouts are likewise taking note of the numbers he’s putting up.

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    1. There’s no doubt that he is a real prospect and his performance this year is quite encouraging. As always the disconnect is between people who have a positive but realistic assessment of his status, and those who go overboard. See also Galvis and Hernandez for other examples. Then those of us who like the prospect, but aren’t overboard on him, end up being portrayed as negative when we really aren’t.

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  15. Off Topic: Kyle Drabek upate: 4-7 and lost for 3rd time in his last 4 starts. He walked off the mound on wednesday because he felt popping sensation in his surgically repaired right elbow. Test reveled no structural damage. Stay tuned.

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  16. A comment about Biddle’s velocity, since it’s been mentioned a couple times now; He has been clocked up to 95 MPH on multiple guns. I don’t know whether he can maintain that velocity through an entire start, but he has it in him to throw it. I think it’s more likely he’s holding some back than it is multiple guns are inaccurate.

    That being said, velocity is less important than movement on pitches when all is said and done. I’d be more worried about his fastball being “straight” than just average velocity.

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  17. Brad in DC comment on Hewitt: (the replies were getting pretty narrow)

    His OPS is up after two great games, 6 times on base, including 3 HR and a double. Prior to last night, it was essentially even versus from last season. It’s likely to regress some as he has more usual results, (even if they are better than earlier in the year). His K rate is down to 29.6% from 30.9% last year. Still quite bad. And walk rate is up 3 points from 2 yrs ago, which is actually kinda nice, but they are still still low at 5.6%.

    As for any supposed progress from 2010 in Low A to 2011 in Low A – it was arguably not enough to outpace the fact that he was another year older and simply more experienced than his competition.

    So I’ll concede the point and call it relative progress if you want. If his OPS is holding closer to 750 than 700 in another month, great. But two oh-fers after their all-star break and he’s back where he was two days ago, hovering around 700 OPS or lower, and striking out as often as he gets on base. And that’s quite weak progress compared to someone on track for a big league career. It’s a long season, and he was hurt for part of it, so we’ll keep watching and see if maybe he’s turning a corner.
    _____________________________
    I think we generally agree that there has been slow progress. Yes he just had a couple good games, but the OPS is for almost 200 plate appearances. Once you get to this point in the year it starts to mean something. For everyone complaining about Rollins early in the year, his OPS is now .668 for the season and probably around the ML average (which is all we anticipated from his contract anyway). I suspect he will finish the year around .700 which will be fine.

    Back to Hewitt – he moved up a level this year and still has made progress. He has indisputable tools. He was a 19 year old draftee that played little in high school. So this is more like his age 21 or 22 seasons relative to some other prospects. Do I want to see more progress? Of course. But IMO he is back on track and probably should be in our top 30 again. 20+ HR in a tough park in Clearwater is not out of line. AA will be a huge jump for him next year, but at least he is putting up better numbers than Jeff Jackson ever did….

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