Minor League Workout Groups

Spring Training 2013

From Baseball Betsy’s site, the minor league workout groups have been posted.

http://baseballbetsy.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/20130303-171146.jpg

Quick Thoughts:

– Ludy ahead of Rupp in the catcher depth seems to be more about who is still up with big league camp (Valle, Joseph, and Rupp) than where they will play

– Kennelly is in pitching group 2, he will definitely be one of the most interesting arms to follow

– With Collier, James, Mitchell and Gillies up in big league camp for right now there is a lack of CFs in minor league camp which looks like it forced Altherr up a group, we will have to see if this sticks throughout the spring

– Gueller is in the last group pointing to his rawness (behind both Mecias and Vargas), Marek Minarik is in group 3 and could make the move up to WPT

– I would guess that Pullin in the last group has to do with the positional transition

Don’t worry too much about people in higher groups with some players still in major league camp.

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About Matt Winkelman

Matt is originally from Mt. Holly, NJ, but after a 4 year side track to Cleveland for college he now resides in Madison, WI. His work has previously appeared on Phuture Phillies and The Good Phight. You can read his work at Phillies Minor Thoughts

38 thoughts on “Minor League Workout Groups”

  1. What happened to: Drew Hillman & Blake Mascarello, and who are Tyler Henson, Shawn Williams, & Troy Marks,

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    1. Hillman retired. I don’t see a “Troy Marks” on this sheet. Where did you pull that name from? Looks like Shawn Williams is an Independent League signing. And Tyler Henson played for the Dodgers AAA team last year, must’ve been a Minor League FA recently signed.

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    2. Looks like Blake Mascarello is retired from baseball – he has a LinkedIn profile saying he’s an Account Exec at a SMB Financial Services – and lists the Phillies as previous experience.

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  2. This gets me so excited for the season. Nice to see Shull and Walter ready to contribute. Perkins with his full time move to OF. Does Pujols on this list mean he’s definitely staying in the States?

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  5. Interesting to see Franco probably at AA, Larry Greene working out higher than his HS peers, and Tocci and Cozens hopefully in full season ball next year? That how I read this.

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    1. It is good to see Franco in with the most experienced group, but I don’t think it’s an indication that he’s headed for Reading. Joe Jordan flat-out said he was headed for High A in the Inquirer last month.

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      1. Though Franco mentioned last September to the local Lakewood BlueClaw paper affliate he was told he could go to Reading. Odd…rarely do they tell the prospects long-term placements.

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        1. I’d love to see Franco in Reading, where the power would be on full display. I just don’t see it happening. Here’s the link and the quote:

          Jordan’s comments: “He’s heading to the Florida State League. Any time you have a 19-year-old struggle as mightily as he did for almost three months and then be able to turn it around and have an incredible July and August, that means he has good makeup. There is no surrender.”

          http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/Top_25_Phillies_Prospects.html

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  6. The things that stands out to me:

    Pitchers:
    1. Shane Watson, Yoel Mecias and Franklyn Vargas are in group 3, while Mitch Gueller is left back in group 4. Preview of the likely Lakewood assignments, IMO.
    2. Jonathan Musser assigned to group 2, (seems out of place).

    Hitters:
    1. Maikel Franco in group 1, over Harold Martinez in group 2.
    2. Altherr in Group 1 over Dugan in group 2.
    3. Tyler Greene and Angelo Mora in group 3, over Andrew Pullin.

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        1. It could mean that, but Jiwan James, Leandro Castro and the great Derrick Mitchell are all in that group. They seem to have CF covered.

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    2. Early answer to the question that Tyler Greene may be headed for Lakewood at 2nd base over Pullin.

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    3. Are you really surprised that Franco is in a group over Martinez?
      Martinez seems like he’ll be looking for work in 6 months.

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      1. It goes without saying that Harold Martinez was terrible last year, but I’m still surprised they jumped Franco over him in the work groups. That would indicate that they are thinking about moving Franco to Reading.

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        1. He was terrible last year, and not very good the year before. It appears they’ve lost all interest in him this spring.

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          1. I’m not debating you that Harold Martinez is near irrelevant at this point. The original comment was directed at Franco. Group 2 would seem to be the Clearwater group for everyone except the Catchers.
            I was just surprised they placed Franco with the guys expected to play at Reading and Lehigh Valley. That’s all.

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            1. Gotcha – and I agree with you re: Franco. That is a surprising group for him since Jordan has stated that he’s headed to Clearwater.

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  7. Of the four 16 year olds, the Phils took to Instructionals last fall, 3 are in the workout groups: Grullon, Alezones and Pujols. Only the infielder Isava’s not there. Sam Hiciano, Severino Gonzalez and a few other guys from the Latin Leagues are on the list. Some will stay and some will be back in the the VSL/DSL by April.

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    1. You missed one of the 16 year old signees. Catcher, Gregori Rivero. He’s in the same workout group with Grullon. Supposedly has an advanced bat.

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    2. I’d love to see what Severino Gonzalez can do stateside. He was a man among boys in Venezuela last season, with a 1.63 ERA and a 86/6 K/BB rate in 92.2 innings as a 19-year-old.

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    3. In the completely new name category, anyone know where Victor Delgado signed from? Angelo Almonte is also new (18 year old Dominican LHP) but at least he was on the DSL roster last year.

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  8. Another guy I thought I’d see is Wilson Garcia. He’s a catcher… at least some of the time. He hit .353/.391/.512 with a .903 OPS last year in the VSL. He was 18 years old last year. He had a 47% CS rate and he only had 4 errors at catcher. He only played 24 games at catcher and was an even better fieldin first baseman. Just thought I’d see him in a workout group..

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    1. It looks like they are converting Francisco Herrera to catcher from that team instead. Another good, patient bat though with defensive questions.

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  9. What does the # next to Jiwan James’ name mean? Is he on the DL? If so, that could explain Altherr’s aggressive assignment to the top group–they need a CF. Presumably Gillies will play center for Lehigh Valley and James for Reading, right?

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      1. Ah, that explains it. But now the aggressive Altherr placement becomes a bit more intriguing, even if these lists don’t always mean much of anything.

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  10. Whatever happened to Chance Chapman? I know he was on the DL all of last year, but don’t see his name on any list this year.

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  11. Not a big deal at all, as he wasn’t a prospect, but I’m wondering if Spidale finally retired? It was really amazing how long he was in the Phillies system as a roster fill in type player. Guy had close to 2000 AB’s in Reading.

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