Lehigh Valley Weekly Report

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Lehigh Valley began an eight game road trip against Indianapolis with a rain out last evening  and  stand at 7-10, 5.5 games behind division leading Buffalo in the Northern Division of the International League.  The road trip continues with four in Indianapolis, followed by four in Louisville.

‘Pigs League Leaders:Cesar Hernandez is 4th in hits (22); Darin Ruf is tied for 3rd in doubles (6); Cody Overbeck is tied for 5th in HR (4); Tyler Cloyd is tied for 2nd in losses (3), has the 2nd worst WHIP (1.95); 3rd worst in ERA (7.65), tied for 2nd in HR allowed (3) and is 7th in strikeouts (19); Adam Morgan is 4th in ERA (1.42) and is 8th in WHIP (0.84); Jake Diekman is tied for 2nd in games (8).

‘Pigs Prospects: Cody Asche has hit in 6 consecutive games, hitting .417 (10-24) over that time period.  After a slow start, Asche seems to be making the adjustment to AAA pitching. Asche is now at .279/.353/.393 with 1HR and 7 RBI on the year. Additionally, he works very hard, as one of the first one the field each and every day.

Tyson Gillies–After starting the year 2-32, Gillies has gone 5 for his last 13 over the last 5 games to make things more respectable. That said, it hasn’t been pretty. A .156/.296/.267 line along with a couple of critical pickoffs have made it a rough early going for Gillies. He has played pretty well defensively, but not without committing a critical error.  Hitting .083 vs. LHP and .083 with RISP.

Mike Stutes has really been struggling as of late having given up 6 earned runs over 2.2 innings, including a blown save in his last two outings. On the year, he has thrown in 7 games and gone 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in 9.1 innings of work.  He has walked a problematic 7 hitters and struck out 9.

Adam Morgan’s start was rained out last evening but should be on the mound today. He has been outstanding this year in his three starts, going 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA.  The opposition is hitting just .172 against him and his WHIP sits at 0.84.  Morgan could easily be 3-0 as the bullpen blew saves in 2 of his starts.

Ethan Martin: Has made 3 starts thus far, and is 1-1 with a 8.10 ERA, spanning 13.1 innings.  His last start was very rough, lasting just four innings, giving up four runs and struggling badly with his control, walking four.  Opponents are hitting just .220 during the early going against Martin.  The problem is he has walked 10 in his 13.1 innings.  Martin has struck out 15 and can be dominant, but the walk rate must come down.

Jake Diekman-It was very bumpy in the early going for Diekman with significant struggles with his control but over his last 4 games, he has thrown 5.1 scoreless innings, walked two and struck out four.  Left handed hitters are hitting just .100 against him.  On the year, 8 games, 1-0 with a 3.12 ERA in 8.2IP, but with 9 walks.

Tommy Joseph had well documented early struggles defensively that he has spent a good deal of time working on over the last week with Phils Minor League Coordinator Mike Compton, and Joseph has shown improvement defensively.  That said, a start to the season far from what had been hoped for.  In 41 AB’s, Joseph is at .171/.227/.341 with 2 HR and 12 RBI. He has been one of the leading run producers on the Lehigh Valley club with his 12 RBI’s, but a miserable triple slash.  Joseph is currently in an 0-14 slump and has thrown out 1 of 10 would be base stealers this year.

Next Week: Ruf, Castro, DeFratus, Cloyd, Overbeck, Hernandez

News and Notes: Darin Ruf hit his first AAA HR last Wednesday after 46 AB’s.

–Delmon Young is likely to join the ‘Pigs lineup on Thursday to continue his rehab assignment.

–RP JC Ramirez has started his season with 10 scoreless innings over 6 games between Reading and Lehigh Valley.

–Catcher Steven Lerud has thrown out 4/9 would be basestealers.

–Lehigh Valley pinch hitters are now an impressive 5-6. Just sayin.

Probables: Wednesday: Morgan;  Thur: Martin; Friday: Rosenberg; Saturday: Cloyd; Sunday: Morgan

Transactions: Pitcher Jon Pettibone was called up to Philadelphia.  RP Joe Savery was optioned to Lehigh Valley to make room for Pettibone

7 thoughts on “Lehigh Valley Weekly Report”

  1. Thanks gregg, really like the format this year. Appreciate the time you put into this for all of us.

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  2. You just watch Asche play and he has such a Utley-like work ethic to him. He did the same thing last year in Reading, started off slow, then kicked it into gear. Hopefully he stays on track and gets his Sept. callup.

    Good to see Overbeck showing the power early too, I know at this point he’s no more than org filler, but its nice to see.

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    1. I think the key to Overbeck is structuring a deal where we loan him to a NL team for only a year. He does so well in his second year in a league that we couldn’t risk him on the team in his rookie year, but if he automatically came back to the Phillies in his second year he could be a RH Greg Dobbs.

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  3. Speaking of Overbeck, we did exactly that with two pitchers of note from other teams. Jason Grilli, who is the Pirate’s closer and Vogelsong came to the Phillies for a year and then went on to do very well (closer and World Series major contributor). I guess nobody noticed their potential. Can I add Dave Stewart or was that too long ago?

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    1. Stewart’s career might have been made by the Phils. He was broken down when he was signed by the Phils. He didn’t pitch well and the Phils released him but they agreed to pay for arm surgery. The rest is history. He might have been out of baseball but he got new life. I wish they had paid for the surgery and given him a shot after that. He wouldn’t have disappointed.

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