The last Hot or Not for the 2012 season….lets get at it.

–Is there anymore more to say about Darin Ruf.  Put simply, he could not have had a better year at the plate.  If for no other reason than to prevent a Ryne Sandberg type mistake (and no,I am not comparing Ruf to a Hall of Famer), the Phillies need to see what they have against major league pitching.  There is no downside for the seasons final month. He needs to be in Philly.

–Brian Pointer ranks high on the 2012 disappointment list. Such a pretty swing that just can’t make contact.

–Hoby Milner is opening eyes at Lakewood making it pretty clear he is ready for a jump to High A in 2013.

–Very nice to see Trevor May have an outstanding outing after really struggling for quite awhile.

–Ethan Martin joins the not hot list after some fairly significant control issues, while Brody Colvin remains consistently “not hot”.

–Kyle Simon has opened eyes in the organization since the Thome trade and appears to be a legit prospect who could help the Phillies in 2014 in the middle to late innings.  His work against very good competition in the AFL will be something to watch closely.

Now the stats: Min 11 AB’s; Stat period 8/24–8/30.

Hot Starting Pitchers: Colin Klevan (7.1IP 5H 0ER 2BB 4K); Josh Warner (6IP 2H 0ER 0BB 4K); Hoby Milner (6IP 2H 0ER 2BB 6K); Trevor May (8IP 2H 0ER 1BB 9K); Tyson Brummett (5IP 1H 0ER 1BB 3K); Manny Martinez (9IP 7H 2ER 5BB 9K);Austin Hyatt (11.2IP 10H 3ER 3BB 8K) Continue reading Hot or Not, Final Edition →

The Phillies announced who will be participating in the Arizona Fall League and because I am very time constrained…here you have it:

Pitchers: Tyler Knigge, Jay Johnson, Colby Shreve, and Kyle Simon

3B: Cody Asche; C: Tommy Joseph; OF: Zach Collier

Have at it…should provide some interesting conversation come October and November.

According to, well, everyone on Twitter, the Phillies have selected the contract of Tyler Cloyd from Lehigh Valley to pitch tonight in place of an ailing Cole Hamels, who is out with a gastrointestinal issue. 

Cloyd has had very fine results in AA/AAA this season, posting 15-1 record with a 2.26 ERA, giving up 127 hits and a quite good 41BB (2.21 BB./9), but just 113K (6.09 K/9) in 167IP.  He gave up 15HR, at a rate of 0.81/9, which is a bit on the high side. His WHIP for the year sits at 1.01, giving up just one more hit/BB than he’s pitched innings.  He was recently name the International League’s Most Valuable Pitcher for 2012.

At AAA he sported a BB% of 6.9%, K% of 16.8 and a .233 BABIPA on 46% GB rate, and an FIP of 4.03, indicating his ERA was getting some help from a little bit of better than average luck. The knock on him is that he does not throw very hard.  His advantage is clearly a repertoire of pitches that he commands well, and first hand reports from commenters on this site have said that he seems to keep hitters off balance.

I, for one, can’t wait to see what he can do.  He could wind up baffling the Mets for innings on end.  We shall see.

Tyler Cloyd, who has been the model of consistent excellence this year for Lehigh Valley has been named the Most Valuable Pitcher of the International league.  Cloyd, 25, is the winningest pitcher in Minor League baseball this year and set a Lehigh Valley club record for wins.

Cloyd leads the league in WHIP(1.01) and ERA(2.35) and is 2nd in both Wins and opponents batting average. Cloyd has gone six or more innings in 21 of his 22 starts and allowed three or fewer runs 20 times.

Cloyd, an 18th round pick in 2008 is a combined 15-1 with a 2.26ERA this year in 26 combined starts between Reading and Lehigh Valley.