Box Score Recap 9-2-2012

Box Score Recap

I’m going to go ahead and start calling Kenny Giles “KG”. Has a nice ring to it, right? KG struck out the side in his 1 IP today. Ethan “EM” Martin with a big game today, 2H/0BB/8K in 7 scoreless. Larry “LG2” Greene Jr. finished with a 14.3% BB rate and a 26.0% K rate. If he’s going to hit a mess of homers, (he only managed 2 this year but 23 doubles), that K rate is totally fine by me, and that BB rate is awesome. Maikel Franco finished with a .775 OPS, .925 after the ASB. You can make up a clever 2 letter nickname for him all on your own.

LV  REA  CLR  LKW  WIL

112 thoughts on “Box Score Recap 9-2-2012”

  2. Harold Martinez has a .304/.366/.451 line in 82 ABs since August 1st. It’s enough to make me still look for him in the box scores when next year comes around. I imagine he’ll get a bump to Reading.

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      1. Resurrected from the almost dead. Start him at Clwtr again in ’13 to give him more solid footing…and when he does well, move him to AA Reading. Franco right behind at Clwtr in ’13.

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          1. Jslasher you think you could give us a season wrap up of some of the threshers players this year? Like your opinion on your favorite prospects on the team

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    1. Hey Catch, this is marfis you responded to. You know that as the season comes to an end, he gets real testy. of course, let’s hope this is the real marfis?

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  6. Yasiel Puig…is he eligible/available to be a part of the PTBNL trade of Victorino to the Dodgers? He is a 21-year old corner OF and pricey at almost $6M, but he has plenty of sock and is a righthand bat.

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    1. Can’t imagine he’s on a list of possibilities for any PTBNL. He’s a big Intl signing and we already got Ethan Martin in that deal for 2 months of Victorino.

      Don’t know if you can trade an Intl FA this soon after signing, or if there’s a window like for draft picks. Anyone?

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  7. Brad, you said finished a few times. Are the seasons over? The schedule shows a full slate of games today except Clearwater. Shows Williamsport with games through the 5th. Saw this at MiLB.com

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    1. Oh, I see that WIL still has games like you said, thru the 5th. Thought I saw they were done. My bad. CLR is done for sure. Just saw Austin Wright say on Twitter he’s in the car on the way home. LKW and LV are done today, and Reading has one today and at least a playoff tie breaker.

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  8. BaseballRoss comp: CLW vs Reading: —‘Ruf last year playing for Clearwater lead the Florida State league in doubles with 43. For Darin Ruf to have 43 double he had to drive the ball and drive it far and long. He only had 17 home runs but the ball does not carry in the Florida State league. So put Ruf with his FSL doubles ability in a more hitter friendly Eastern League with inviting left field power alleys and viola the Phillies now have the top home run hitter in the minor leagues.’…does a similar fate await any current Thresher next year?

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  9. H mart is an after thought now with asche and Franco on board. Really thought this year in minors was really successful. Sure there were some disappointments, but with all neg there were lots of positives. You can name a few from each level AA and below. Tyson and Franco really turned it on second half. System starting to turn around and some legit prospects starting to come to surface. Hats off to jordan to promote some guys too.

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    1. I have been thinking about writing a detailed post evaluating this year but, on the whole, I’d say it was a very fine year for the minor league system. I’d give it an A- or, more likely, a B+ (a numerical grade might be better – how about an 88 or an 89?). You can’t give them an A because they don’t have any near-ready, sure-fire big league stars in the waiting – although there are definitely guys who could ultimately rise to that level, they are not can’t miss prospects at this point. Aside from that, however, I’m not sure you could ask for much more. They have stockpiled arms up and down the system. There are starters and relievers galore and many of these players could turn out to be good to excellent major league players. They have re-stocked the catching position and are now even very good at third and good in the middle infield (even if those prospects are mostly in the lower minors). And, of course, there are several outfield prospects. Yes, we’re a little thin in top to medium level position prospects, but that’s about the most damning criticism I can level at the system right now.

      By the way, I don’t know how many of you share in my enthusiasm for Roman Quinn, but if you asked me to name the position player in the system with the highest upside, right now, I’d have to pick him. I still cannot believe that this guy just learned how to switch hit and has more than held his own as a lefty this season (as a righty, he’s been superb; nearly dominant). He’s as fast as lightning, he gets on base, he shows glimpses of real power and there’s reason to believe he could become a plus fielder over time. I don’t know how good he’s going to be, but I think he could very well have superstar potential.

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      2. Oh yeah, and one more thing. We kill Ruben when he makes bad trades of prospects, so we’ve got to give him credit for what appear to be excellent trades this season for prospects. Joseph and Martin have a chance of becoming regulars for the Phillies in the not-too-distant future and the Thome trade could turn out to be a flat-out coup. On top of that, the team has now freed up money to pursue other players in the off-season. I think he did a very good job even if, by any objective measure, he significantly over paid for Pence the first time around.

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        1. Agreed, he didn’t compound the Pence mistake and got something worthwhile in return though I wish he could have gotten just a little more, even if it was a raw upside guy in Low-A. The Victorino trade looks really good even if Lindblom becomes a replacement level middle reliever, Martin is much better than what the comp pick would have been. The fact that he got anything for Thome and Blanton without eating salary is just amazing.

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      3. In terms of upside I have Quinn and Tocci neck and neck (just need more proof that he can stick at SS). Quinn is a definite steal at a second round pick and if you were going to make a list of guys who in a year could be #1 in the system he has to be on the short list.

        A good assessment of the system

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        1. I’m going Tocci, then Quinn, based on age, size and what Tocci did as a 16-year-old in the GCL. Both have superstar upsides, IMO, and are definitely worth being excited about. Also, I think Franco can be an All-Star power-hitting 3B, somewhere between Zimmerman and Sandoval or Aramis Ramirez. All three are definitely dripping with potential.

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  10. Interesting point on Martinez, was actually encouraged by LGreene and MWalding in the last
    few weeks…are we seeing young players making the needed adjustments to survive in this game?

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  11. It was good to see Martin show that he has it in him, he is going to be a real steal in that Victorino trade. In terms of a “rebuild” it is nice to see the pitching ahead of the hitting in terms of projected arrival to the bigs. It always seems that pitching takes longer to adjust at the big league level. It is nice to see Quinn and LGreene really prove their draft positions so far. I am huge LGreene believer and it is only a matter of time till the power shows up in the form of HRs, the patience is really nice and it seemed like he was tired in the middle and has come on strong. The LKW team is going to be very good next year.

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  12. I think this year has been a success for the phillies minor leagues. We have some great pitchers but our position players have really stepped up. Asche will see time next year with the big club and I think Franco ends up in AA this time next year. I think May will have a bounce back year while Colvin needs to sent to the bullpen. He has good stuff but not for a starter. He could be a good bullpen guy. As for the guys we got for pence and victorino, I have to say I’m pleased with the return. I wasn’t at first but Martin has been rock solid and Joseph seems to be legit. Hopefully they turn out and become regulars. The future looked bleak heading into the season but I think the Phil’s future looks quite bright.

    I also think it’s time to send Dom brown to another team. Get him a fresh start.

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    1. I know some people here are worried about Joseph a little bit but I’m extremely excited about him and I can’t wait to see what happens with him next year.

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    2. I wouldn’t resign Colvin to the bullpen just yet. He got a bump to a new level (the biggest jump) and he’s struggled, but he only just turned 22. He’ll still be age appropriate for Reading next year, even though it seems like he’s been around a long time. He’s a full year younger than May and Martin.

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    4. Every time Ricky Romero has a poor outing, I rag on my buddy (Blue Jays fan) about trading him to get a fresh start. His answer every time: “We’re not trading him because we would be getting back pennies on the dollar.” Dom Brown would be under this category.

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    1. Just as much as Trevor May has. If the Phillies decide to move J-Rod permanently to the Bullpen, they could bring him back as a filler who could get the call midseason

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  14. Can’t agree on swapping Brown and I think it’s highly unlikely.. He’s shown flashes of the player he can be when healthy. When you trade a young player who has not reached his peak, you better be replacing him with a better player or creating a space for a younger, equal talent. Not the case here. If you follow John Mayberry Jr.’s time in Philly, you see the extent of the team’s patience. This team wants and needs young, cost-controlled players to start and balance the other high salaries. Phils probably wish they could clone a right-handed hitting version of Brown.

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  15. hey brainc dc , first thank you for saving the site. second do you have anything planned to keep,us going in the winter months, i do enjoy the site. even like the back and forth argument, long as it doesnt get personal.I just really wish we had a legit, big time non pitching prospect, like a profar type to follow.I think the big team needs a legit right handed bat and dont see any right now in our system. fransen isnt the answer at third. he has cost us two games in the last two weeks with ninth inning errors. I cant wait to see how collier plays in afl, i think it will be huge if he comes on strong. with his defensive tools, plus some offensive will help ease centerfield, i just dont know about gillies, as far as injuries and off field stuff.maybe he will be the answer.

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    1. I echo your thoughts about this site.

      I think next year will be a nice year for position prospects, Asche will probably start in AAA so they can move HMart out of Franco’s way, and regardless of your opinion on Asche’s potential it will be nice to follow a AAA team with prospects everywhere. Franco is the RH power bat and it would not surprise me if he just mashes his way to AA by mid season. Then you will have LKW which will have a position prospect at every position and it will be nice to have that at full season ball.

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      1. Things are definitely looking up. While I was working on a top 30 I’ve found that there are around 30 position prospects actually worth going to the box scores and checking in on. And at least 20 pitchers (probably more I was just more conscious of cutting that off quicker) . There is some good depth and the position players that I think we will see really emerge next year are Franco, Asche, Quinn, LGJ, Tocci. Good performances by them will get the system some national attention coupled with the plethora of good pitchers we have in the upper levels.

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  16. 1 Tocci
    2 Joseph
    3 Biddle
    4 Franco
    5 Quinn
    6 Hernandez
    7 May
    8 Morgan
    9 Gillies
    10 Aumont
    11 Pettibone
    12 Asche
    13 Martin
    14 Walding
    15 Greene Jr
    16 Dugan
    17 Giles
    18 DeFratus
    19 Rupp
    20 Cozens
    21 Diekman
    22 Pullin
    23 Bonilla
    24 Valle
    25 Green
    26 Wright
    27 Ruf
    28 Colvin
    29 Watson
    30 Castro
    31 Brady
    32 Lino
    33 Gueller
    34 Collier
    35 Simon
    36 H Martinez
    37 L Moore
    38 Rosin
    39 Cloyd
    40 OSullivan
    41 Julio

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    2. Quick Thoughts:
      – Biddle is #1, LHP with possible #2 upside is pretty special
      – Tocci is a touch too high
      – Watson and Gueller are Top 15 guys for me based on upside (even ahead of the GCL position guys) they just didn’t get as much game time because of innings limits
      – Hernandez is high, I don’t know if he is Top 10 there just isn’t such a thing as back 2B
      – Valle is way low, drop him into the teens if you are low but he still has more upside that Rupp
      – Collier seems really low, I think he has to be ahead of Dugan
      – LGreene over Walding for me

      Otherwise I think you have the prospect “tiers” right

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      1. I have Watson and Gueller in this rough draft at like 16 and 18. For me Austin Wright on his list is way too low. I have him close to the top 10. 26 is a huge drop for him considering he put together a good season.

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      1. You know, I just started to roughly throw names down to do a top 5 and I couldn’t stop myself from doing a top 10 and before you know it I was at 41 names and my thoughts were exactly what you wrote above. Additional points of interest on rankings…

        1. It ignores graduates like D Brown, Galvis, Schwimer, Stutes, and Rosenberg, all of whom would be on this list and probably in the upper half (minus Schwimer IMO).
        2. From my rough count, 25-27 names of the 41 are likely to start in AA, AAA, or MLB to start next season.
        3. 11 of these 41 names I believe have a chance to contribute next year at the MLB level, although most not on the opening day roster.
        4. To my knowledge, 18 of the 20 pitchers on this list did not miss any time this year due to injury. The only two being Bonilla and DeFratus and Bonilla’s was not an arm injury. I talked to a scout early this season and it reminded me of something he said when I asked him one of the key’s in determining if a minor league pitcher is having a successful season he said “get innings”. His point was no matter how good or how bad a pitcher does, if he’s throwing, he’s learning. This has to be considered a big success this year and hopefully it continues.
        5. As great as it is to have Halladay, Hamels, and Lee, teams need young power arms in the rotation over time and I love the fact that the Phils have 5 of the top 13 prospects are starting pitchers, all with a good upside – Biddle, May, Morgan, Pettibone, and Martin. They may not all be #1 and #2 type starters, but they clearly don’t all have only #5 type upside. Considering all 5 will be at AA or above next year, I think the Phils can count on getting 2-3 really good major league starters from this group.
        6. As we look ahead to next year’s draft and what the needs are, the thing that looks to be lacking on this list is power bats. I see 8 names on this list that have the “potential” for above average big league power but most are either very far from the big leagues (Tocci, Cozens, Walding) or are a longshot (Ruf, Lino) in my opinion to realize that potential at the big league level. Joseph, Franco, and Greene Jr I believe are the top 3 prospects from a power perspective.
        7. My apologies to Tyler Greene, who I totally forgot (I guess you could say I swung and missed Tyler Greene style) and should be ranked in the high 30’s, I’m thinking ahead of Cloyd but behind Rosin.

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    4. Looking at this list makes me pretty optimistic about this team’s future. There’s a lot of depth in this system. Considering where it was this time last year, you have to give the organization as a whole a lot of credit.

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  17. Hey I went to the Lakewood game again and here are some observations
    – Franco likes to swing at the first pitch. Of his 4 ABs he swung at the first pitch 3 times.
    He had a First pitch double, First pitch popup, and first pitch ground out.
    Also, he had a couple of chances over at 3rd and he looked very good. On all of the plays he had to range to his left. He had no trouble making the plays and looks to be at least an average fielder over at 3rd.
    – Dugan did not look comfortable at the plate today.
    – The run the BlueClaws gave up in the 7th could have been prevented. The first batter hit the ball into RF. Altherr fell and it took him a second to get up but he couldn’t recover to make the play. If he doesn’t fall, it’s an easy out. The next batter hit a ball into center. Alvarez was playing deep and couldn’t quite get to the ball. He dove but the ball bounced off his glove. I believe the next play was going to be a double play but a bad throw to first allowed the man to score from second.
    – Kleven looked ok. He could easily have prevented the 2 runs. The one I explained above ^ and the other one was a HR that just cleared the RF fence. He was sitting at 89-92 mph the entire night.
    – Paulinos fastball was hitting 92 and he looked like he was keeping the opposition off balance
    – The Phillies Scouting supervisor was sitting behind me! 😮 I was gonna ask him if he knew who was coming up once the minor league season ends…..but i chickened out.

    Im also gonna post some videos later on

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  18. Matt if you meant me on asche potential. i never knocked him. never saw him play,but based on his numbers only, he is a nice prospect, but i want to see him play, and he is lefthanded,still no one near ready that is right handed, unless you count ruf,who has no postion..just hope we can keep the site going with winter stuff, and potential draft choices,knowing we will be drafting high, which should be exciting for us. and hope we get some winter league updates.

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    1. That is what I thought you meant, I was acknowledging the subset of posters here who think he has superstar potential, I see how it came out wrong. There is an overall shortage RH power in baseball right now. I believe in Castro more than most but he is likely only a bench bat but otherwise catcher is our only RH bats in the upper minors outside of Ruf

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    2. I think all three should go to LKW, TGreene should not be a 2B road block for Pullin who appears to be the better prospect at this point, Cozens I would send to LKW with a likely drop down to WPT unless he mashes, he is just raw enough that I don’t think he needs to be pushed through unless he proves it, and there was no real CF prospect in WPT so no point in not moving Tocci to fill that void in LKW, he has the tools to survive it is more about whether he gains power and keeps what he has shown.

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      1. Moving Tocci to LKW would be crazy, they would move him there just to fill a void, it isn’t worth it. Moving him up one level a time at SIXTEEN is appropriate. I also see Cozens there all year in Williamsport. Out of those three Pullin has the best chance of starting in LKW

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        1. It isn’t unprecedented for the Phils to do this, they sent Domingo Santana to LKW as a 17 year old (Tocci’s current age) and he had to drop back to WPT. There is room for him to play every day in LKW, is it likely he move back to WPT, yes as it is for the rest of them, but I think Tocci is likely to stick there based on his ability to make contact.

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      2. I think unless any of them really impress at instructs Williamsport is the likely destination. I’m sure they’d rather not see someone take the arc of Tyler Greene who got to play in Lakewood and struggled. Maybe he could have benefited more from XST. Instead he just had an awful year.

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    3. I believe Tocci could handle Clearwater, but I believe they will start him in Lakewood and consider a mid season promo for him if he does as well as I believe he will, and I believe the Phils have similar confidence.

      Pullin will likely start at Lakewood in my opinion and I agree with the comment on Tyler Greene. My guess is that Quinn will be playing SS at Lakewood and possibly Green at 3B or one of the college guys so I’m not sure what happens to Tyler Greene, but not too worried about him at this point.

      Cozens I think will start in Williamsport, I think they want to work with him quite a bit and ensure his confidence and perspective stay focused properly so I see him in XST in Clearwater, followed by Williamsport in mid season.

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      1. Clearwater is a real push for Tocci. I love him but the Phils would not even play him for a complete game other than a couple times in the GCL. I see him in Williamsport next year…possibly starting in Lakewood and dropping back, ala Santana

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      2. What did Tocci do that would make you think he’s ready for Clearwater? He held his own in the GCL but that’s all you can say. He slugged under .300.

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        1. With that logic, Asche should have started at Williamsport mid season. For the record, I said I think he could handle it. What he did to make me believe that is a couple of bp’s I saw him take, the 3 games I saw, and 2 scouts I spoke with. Despite that, and my belief, he’ll be 17 so I’d start him at Lakewood and if he Ruf’s that league up, I’d advance him mid to late season. This kid is special.

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          1. Asche was a college player who they had some extra background on. There are so many unknowns with how someone as young as Tocci will develop. Challenging him that much may ruin his development.

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            1. Agreed, but at the same time these guys don’t fall asleep on sept 3rd and wake up on April 1st. Lots of them play fall / winter ball, go through significant conditioning and diet programs, and work on certain aspects of their game, not to mention 6 weeks of spring training. A guy 16 will change more in that time period than someone out of college. I’m not proposing he SHOULD start at Clearwater, I said in my opinion I think he could handle it. But I don’t think the reward would be worth the risk.

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    4. where do you guys think pullin cozens and tocci should go next year…..
      Start at LKW, but my guess a couple could be back at WPT by June if they re into deep at LKW, just like TGreene this year and Franco in 2011.

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  20. I live in Durham, NC and for many years I have been treated to my hometown team the Durham Bulls (AAA Tampa) making the playoffs. Every year all of the callups go up and all of the filler players who have spent the year in AAA are put on the inactive roster as reserves which leaves room for about 5-9 AA callups. In years Matt Moore, Evan Longoria, David Price, and Chris Archer have joined the team in the playoffs. Any chance Biddle, Wright, Kenny G, Rupp, Collier, and Duffy go up to Reading and guys like Colvin, Hyatt, John Hill, Brandon Tripp are technically listed as being Inactive to make room for better players. Remember this is all too possible, because come the playoffs just like the major leagues the minor league teams expand their roster to about 30 (5 inactive) and go all in with the best possible prospects that are available (granted Tocci, Quinn, LG2 won’t be called up).

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    2. Walding’s confidence is a major concern right now. Sure, with maturity that should come, but he is very much stuck in his own head. If he doesn’t hit a homer or a gap double every time, he gets down on himself. Last night, he had the go-ahead two-run liner and called it a “bleeder”

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  22. Jake Fox with a 2 Run HR to give Reading the lead in the Top of the 1st only to be answered by a Portland three spot off of Morgan in the bottom half 3-2 after 1

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  23. Anyone think Tocci has a chance to be a Sept call up next year or possibly 2014? I’m huge on his potential and want to see him being properly challenged.

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    1. Zero chance. Let’s get a little realistic. The highest level he’s played at is GCL. The most optimistic you could be when it comes to his advancement would be Lakewood at the end of next year, Reading at the end of 2014 and maybe Philly at the end of 2015. Even this is probably way too optimistic and not very realistic. There are just so many unknowns really.

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          1. No plus pitches. Primarily cutter, fastball, changeup. His command was excellent and he kept the ball down today.

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          3. No pitch is plus (not sure any is average either, maybe the cutter), his command is somewhere between plus and plus which helps

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          4. His cutter actually looks like it has pretty good movement on it. I guess the velocity would keep it from being plus since it’s only 84 or so.

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      2. That’s an awful lot of solid outings in a row by Cloyd. His stuff is not stunning. But his consistency is. We’ll see if he can end up as a solid 4 or 5. If he does, it’s a win for the Phils.

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  25. Everyone i just want to warn you now, someone recommended PP in the Philly.com comments, so watch out for a lot of trolls

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  26. Competition for the #4 and #5 spots is going to be interesting. I bet they sign somone in the off-season as well. If they get a guy like Kuroda or Edwin Jackson, could be 1 spot between KK, Cloyd and Worley

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    1. I really doubt they would do that. Any money they have to spend will probably be on the bullpen or lineup. Hamels, Lee, Halladay, Worley, Kendrick and Cloyd going into the season, with Pettibone on the way. I could see them signing another veteran starter like Elarton, just for depth.

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    2. Lohse could be another cheap option, I believe Kuroda will be too much, having too much pitching is never a problem. I would like to keep Kendrick as a swingman so it would leave an opening unless Pettibone wows in ST

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        2. Someone will sign Lohse to a big contract 4-year contract that they will regret by mid-July (think Jeff Suppan) I would steer clear of that mess.

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          1. Absolutely.

            I’ll take my chances that one of Kendrick, Pettitbone, or Cloyd can step up and do a serviceable job.

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            1. You are probably right – it’s unlikely to be 4 years, it may be 3 years or even 2 years, but you can almost guarantee that whoever gets him will significantly overpay.

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            2. Exactly….you are correct on that, overpayment…and is his agent Scott Boras? That would be another stumbling block in the negotiation if he is representing Lohse.

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  27. Even if Cloyd is a once or twice around guy, the more reason he should of been replacing Worley long ago when they had some chance.
    BLACK CAT STATEMENT OF THE YEAR. the radio crew stated how well Horst was pitching this year at the beginning of the inning from hell

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