Clearwater Game Report

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NYPhilsManiac19 saw perhaps the best pitching performance of the year in the Phils minor league system.  Here is the report:

The obvious story of last night’s Threshers vs Manatees game was Jesse Biddle and his 7 no-hit innings.  He was absolutely dominant.  I have seen many minor league games over the years and it was amongst the best pitching performances I’ve seen (2 others that come to mind are Lisalberto Bonilla’s great game for Lakewood last year, and Ben Rivera’s 7-inning no hitter for Scranton many years ago).  It was obvious right off the bat that we were in for a special night after Jesse struck out the side with ease in the first inning (looking- fastball, looking- curve, swinging- fastball).  The second inning went quickly with a weak fly, weak grounder to third and a K looking on a filthy curve.  Inning 3…more of the same 2 K’s on sweet curves (one looking, one swinging) although one hitter did hit a screaming lineout right at Lavin in LF.  The 4th inning was his “toughest” inning- The first Batter hit a 3-1 pitch and  lined to Lavin in LF but he caught it just short of the track, 2nd batter grounded very hard to 1st, third batter drew a walk (after Biddle was ahead 1-2, he threw a low curve, then a high fastball, then was way high and outside with ball four).  Biddle bounced a curve that went to the backstop which allowed the runner to advance to 2nd, but the batter flew out to deep CF to end the “threat.”  Inning 5 was a 6-3 (nice play in the hole by Duran), an error by Duran on a pretty routine grounder, a K looking- another beauty of a curve, and a K swinging (half-hearted swing that the hitter couldn’t hold up on).  Inning 6 went quickly with a 1-3 comebacker (broken bat), and 2 K’s (looking- curve, half swing at 3-2 fastball).  The 7th and final inning was another easy one with a weak liner to left and two more K’s (swinging- low fastball and swinging- crazy curve in the dirt).  Biddle was so locked in that as soon as Rupp threw the ball back, he was on the rubber ready to throw.  It was like he couldn’t wait to make his next pitch.  He  had the ball on a string all night.  There was no radar gun so I don’t know how hard he was throwing, but the opposing hitters had trouble keeping up with the fastball and were mesmerized by the curve.

Kenneth Giles came on to pitch the 8th and 9th and he also looked excellent.  Again, I don’t know how hard he was throwing but it must’ve been gas because he was throwing just about all fastballs and they couldn’t touch him (4 K’s).  A one out bloop single in the 9th ruined the combined no-no, but it was a great day for the Threshers.
On the offensive side, Zach Collier had a strong game with a HR and a 2-2 night which inlcuded a walk and a Zach Fly (sorry couldn’t resist).  Peter Lavin also went yard and doubled in a 3-5 performance.  I was especially impressed with Cameron Rupp at the plate.  After striking out looking in his first AB, he lined 3 straight hard singles (2 to CF and 1 to LF).

34 thoughts on “Clearwater Game Report”

  1. Thanks for the report, it seems like Biddle definitely has the potential to be a top of the rotation guy. His real test will be in Reading next year.

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    1. Agreed- Reading seems to be the acid test for so many of our starters. (Austin Hyatt not withstanding ). After what I saw last night, he can definitely conquer AA.

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  4. Great report. Thank you. Boy if Rupp get hot here toward end of season, the phillies really have some decisions to make. They don’t need three talented catchers in system. Personally, I would move Valle.

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        1. And for the second day in a row everybody forgot Lino. But at least i’m not the only one who looks at Ludy in the box scores apparently.

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    2. I bet there’s someone out there who thoeretically would look at Cam Rupp and says he’s worth a shot. He’s someone you might look at and see a big league backup in 2014. Not saying I think he can do that in our system, but in a system lacking up-and-coming catchers, maybe some value there. A possibility with such a glut at the position in the Phils’ high minors.

      And yes, I did, once again, go on about Cam Rupp. I like Cam Rupp. What can I say?

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      1. Kind of funny that we are talking about stacking up catching prospects. Wasn’t long ago that we traded D’Arnaud and the cupboard seemed bare.

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    3. How did that work out when we had Marson, Jaramillo and Valle in our system?

      Jaramillo flamed out, Marson is at best a backup and Valle is in AAA at least.

      There is no such thing as too much catching. It’d be awesome if one of them develops into a starter.

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      1. Ruiz was an after thought back in ’03 sitting at Reading as an quasi over-aged 24 1/2 year old catcher.

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      2. +1

        Going back further, one could add Bobby Estalella and Johnny Estrada to that list. We shouldn’t be counting chickens until they hit a major league fastball and lay off a major league breaking ball.

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    4. It seems like Rupp starts off poorly every season and then comes around. Wonder if that pattern dates back to his Texas days?

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  5. Whats also so impressive with this is WHEN it happened for Biddle. He is at the point where he is throwing the MOST innings of his career in a season and he still has the JUICE for this kinda performance. Workhorse Like…

    Rediculous to think about Biddle, Morgan, Martin at Reading next season…

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    1. Hello, my name is Austin Wright – please include me in your future plans at Reading. I am not half bad at throwing a baseball.

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    2. I’d be shocked if Martin didn’t start the year in AAA. I wouldn’t be surprised if Morgan was there as well. They have lots of guys as options for starters in Reading, including Biddle, Wright, Rosin, Garner, O’Sullivan and several current guys that may repeat since they can’t throw strikes.

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      1. True. May, Colvin, Wright, Biddle and I guess TBD. I’m thinking O’Sullivan has the best chance out of the other three guys you mentioned. I wouldn’t be opposed to Morgan spending another partial season in Reading though.

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        1. Biddle now has 137 Ks in 129.2 innings — 15 more than Austin Wright. The only pitcher with more in the FSL is …….. Adam Morgan, whose 140 still tops the league despite being two starts into his AA career.

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      2. Well then the LHV staff will be very good, E. Martin, Pettibone, CLoyd, Morgan…… Like having prospects as starters at LHV instead of rehashed old veteran journey men like Elarton etc. etc…. Heck half of Reading roster( Castro , Ruf, Gillies , Asche, Morgan, Martin) will be at LHV..
        Reading will still be good with Biddle, May , Wright….etc..

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    3. Martin has pitched a lot in AA (26 total starts), including his time as a Dodger. I would be mildly surprised if he’s not at Lehigh to start 2013. Morgan at most will have 8 starts at Reading, so I’m betting he’ll be at AA to start unless he’s lights out the rest of the way.

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    1. I would say there were a few change ups but pretty much fastball/curve and believe me it was enough!

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      1. Yeah in the game recap he said he threw the changeup when he felt that he needed it. Which I guess wasn’t very often last night.

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        1. Yeah in interview last week he said he is still working on change up and throws it only a few times a game…

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  7. Excellent report. You sure got to see a heckuva game.

    I think that Giles has certainly got our attention this year too. There are certainly some control issues with him, but he has some serious HEAT

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    1. Would love to know what Giles hit on the gun last night. The Manatees were WAY behind his fastball. Maybe they were still suffering from nightmares of Biddle’s deuce!

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  8. It definitely was a fun game to watch. His curveball was insane last night. We were all disappointed to see him walking down the to the clubhouse after the 7th inning but you just don’t want to take too many chances with a kid that special.

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  11. Amazing for all the flack Amaro has taken for trading away the future, he is quietly building a nice farm system. Pickups like Martin, Joseph, Simon, Lino, and not to mention the drafts of ’11 & ’12.
    Also I like the progress of Gillies and Aumont.

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