Monthly Archives: April 2013

Box Score Recap – 4/29/2013

Box Score Recap

Shane Watson hit around pretty badly in his start – 7R (6 earned) on 6hits, (four of them Homeruns), no walks and 2Ks in 3IP; Kelly Dugan goes yard to continue his good start back from injury; and Cesar Hernandez with another 3 hits to lift his AVG to .380. His BABIP is .443 – unsustainable, even with line drives ticking up a little over last year. He has had several seasons around .350-.360 BABIP, so while 2013 will come back to earth, (at least 80 points or so, most likely), he has played full years getting balls through or beating them out with his legs at an above average rate.

It doesn’t appear here, but Asheville stole 9 bases on Chace Numata and Kevin Brady/Jeb Stefan, which included a couple double steals and a throwing error by Numata. Anyway – not good.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 4/29/2013 →

Jim Murphy: The Next Darin Ruf?

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 Hey, it’s Joe again. Sorry for the hiatus between articles, as I’ve been pretty busy.

             By now, I’m assuming all followers of the Phillies’ farm system have noticed Jim Murphy’s exceptional start: 75 AB .360 AVG .400 OBP .587 SLUG 3 HR and 1 SB for good measure. Obviously, his good start could be a fluke, but what if there’s a chance of him having a Darin Ruf-type season?

             If you look at it, the similarities are eerie. Both had raked in Clearwater before they came to Reading, even having the same number of homers for Clearwater (17). Their batting averages and on-base percentages were somewhat similar too, with Ruf (.308/.388) and Murphy (.274/.355) getting on base at a good rate. Continue reading Jim Murphy: The Next Darin Ruf? →

Taking Stock A Month In – Slow Starts

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We have about a month of games on the system plus spring training so it is time to take a quick look at the system and some starts to the season.  I am going to start with the cold starters and on Wednesday look at some guys doing what we thought they should do and on Friday look at the guys getting off to great starts.

Slow starts don’t necessarily derail a year or even mean much.  However, there is information to be had especially when looking at what has changed or not changed about a prospect coming into the year.

Don’t Panic:

Tommy Joseph – It hasn’t look great for Joseph to this point, at the plate he is batting .204/.259/.389.  In a small sample size the strikeout rate is a little up and the walk rate is down, the BABIP is also only .211 but he is hitting for power closer to his year in the Cal League.  The receiving is a problem and always will be, but it should improve over time and the passed balls have dropped considerably since the first week.  He may not be ready as quickly as some people may like but it is just a slow start for the 21 year old in AAA. Continue reading Taking Stock A Month In – Slow Starts →

General Discussion – Week of 4-29-2013 – “April Was the Cruellest Month” Edition

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Most of the Phillies’ April was a Waste Land, don’t you agree? Hopefully summer will surprise us. With wins.

Box Score Recap – 4/28/2013

Box Score Recap

Three Stars: Jesse Biddle Maikel Franco, Darin Ruf. Unlike hockey, my three stars don’t include the other team. Also no shaking hands at the end of a series. And hitting a puck with a bat would be really hard. Also throwing strikes seems like it would also be hard. Though catchers’ masks would all be way cool. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 4/28/2013 →

Box Score Recap – 4/27/2013

Box Score Recap

As has been pretty obvious to those of us watching the stats every day, Cesar Hernandez is having a fine month at the plate – he added another three hits Saturday, including a triple, and he swiped two bags to get his season total to five in five chances. If he can steal 20-25 bases a year at a higher rate than he’s had the last couple years, (ugh% and eww%, respectively – I’m not doing the math – “ugh” and “eww” sum it up), that would be a huge plus. Cesar’s in his last option year, so he needs to put it all together in 2013. At least in the small sample of the first three weeks, he seems to be doing just that. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 4/27/2013 →

Draft Retrospective: “Toolsy” Outfielders

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Before really ramping into 2013 draft coverage I am going to look back on some prototypical Phillies draft types.  The goal is to find a pattern of success or failure and see if there is a trend in the developmental process.  I am going to look at the tools that caused them to be drafted and how amateur scouts saw them, how they looked a year later when professional scouts had a chance to look them over, and then how it all ended up.

One of the most common complaints of Phillies drafts have been their drafting of “toolsy” outfielders, that just don’t know how to play baseball.  There have been some disastrous picks such as Greg Golson, which is where this series will begin, with the 2004 draft.  Not all of these players were “toolsy” but it should get a larger picture of the type of players drafted and how it turned out.

Greg Golson  – 1st round 2004

What Got him Drafted: 70+ speed, 60 hit / 60 power projection, 60 arm, 60 defense

A Year Later: While the other tools remained the hit tool projection took a big step back when his pitch recognition was not where scouts thought it was.  He struck out 106 times in 401 PAs.

How’d it end up: The Phillies traded him in 2008 for John Mayberry Jr.  He has bounced around organizations since as a AAAA player who can play CF and steal bases.  The hit tool never materialized. Continue reading Draft Retrospective: “Toolsy” Outfielders →

Box Score Recap – 4/26/2013

Box Score Recap

Maikel Franco hit 2 HR and a 2B, (just a single short of The Big Wheel), and drove in 7 runs. SEVEN. If you’re curious, that’s a lot. Also for Clearwater, Aaron Altherr hit one out also, plus a double, a fine line from Hoby Milner, (1R, 3H, 1BB and 5K in 5IP), Kelly Dugan made his season debut, and Kyrell Hudson returned from XST.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 4/26/2013 →

Box Score Recap – 4/25/2013

Box Score Recap

Well, I’ve been ignoring it for a while and hoping it would go away, but it hasn’t. Roman Quinn is in a funk. A real, James-Brown-counting-to-eight-but-replacing-the-last-couple-numbers-with-grunting-noises-and-maybe-a-screeching-“woo” funk. He should probably try to get up off of that thing. Perhaps dance ’til he hits better. Ok, now, if you would, please allow me to take it to the bridge. Can I take it to the bridge? Continue reading Box Score Recap – 4/25/2013 →

Box Score Recap – 4/24/2013

Box Score Recap

Adam Morgan and Nick Hernandez come back to earth, and a nice outing from one of my darkhorses in 2013, Colton Murray. 4K in 2 IP. Throws hard, could move fast if he performs, though he hasn’t much so far in 2013. And Larry Greene had 1 hit, 2 walks, and 2 Ks. The man is physically incapable of grounding out.

A note here – looks like they’re stretching out Hector Neris – 5H 2BB 8K and 2ER on 2HR in 5IP. Worth watching. The Phils have used him as a big league extra man at least once for two springs in a row, so he’s on their radar, but he’s been in the pen for his entire career, (save 1 start in the DSL in 2012). Was a late signing, (20 at the time), and so he’ll need a 40-man spot this off-season. Historically has good K numbers and good BB numbers. We shall see.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 4/24/2013 →