Box Score Recap – 5/8/2013

Box Score Recap

Scratch the surface on Perci Garner’s night, (and season), and you find a guy who has improved a fair amount – walks are down a little, (9.0% from 10.6 last year), Ks are up a little, (19.4% from 15.2% last year). That’s the kind of progress we’d love to see for a prospect advancing a level. Repeating A+, it’d be kind of a bummer if he didn’t improve that much. Not sure why they won’t find him a spot in Reading to see if that kind of progress holds against better hitters.

Ruf and Asche each went 2-4 with a solo HR. Altherr and Perkins each went 2-4 with a double, giving them both 14 – that’s a crazy pace, and a couple more spots the club might need to open up in Reading in a few weeks.

Here’s the affiliate Scoreboard from MiLB.

 http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?sid=milb&org=143&ymd=20130508

5-8-13 boxscores

45 thoughts on “Box Score Recap – 5/8/2013”

  1. Would love it if Perkins is last years Asche. Also, has anyone seen Altherr live and can you give an breakdown of his tools?

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    1. Aaron Altherr, OF, Philadelphia Phillies
      Current Level: A-
      2012 Top 15 Prospects Ranking: 15th
      Current Value: Monitor Closely

      The organization lacked a first round pick in the 2009 draft and its first actual pick (second round, 75th overall), outfielder Kelly Dugan, hasn’t done very much. The club still found a lot of talent, though, with the likes of Brody Colvin (7th round), Justin Singleton (8th), Josh Zeid (10th) and Altherr. At the time of the draft, Baseball America had a telling report on the outfielder: “He hasn’t played a lot of baseball, and the game doesn’t come easy to him. He’s a project, but has athleticism you can’t teach.” The Arizona native was an astute selection by the organization that has been burned by its love of raw athletes in the past with the likes of Greg Golson, Anthony Hewitt and Zach Collier. Altherr is still putting everything together but he’s showing flashes of brilliance on a more regular basis while taking the field in low-A ball.

      From fangraphs

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      1. Should’ve mentioned that’s from 2012. Looks like he’s taking another step in that lengthy learning process.

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  2. You are right about the crazy pace of the Clearwater three. Here is the 160 game projections.
    AAltherr 610ab 110r 205h 70d 10t 20hr 110rbi
    Perkins 645ab 105r 230h 70d 15t 15hr 100rbi
    Franco 650ab 105r 195h 65 d 00t 30hr 145rbi

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    1. Ha. I love extrapolating SSS into season long stats. Hopefully they follow through haha.

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        1. Yeah, he started hitting well in July last year. If you take out his April 2012 and replace it with April 2013 (essentially looking at the last calendar year of performance) he is hitting .290/.342/.463 in 574 PAs approximately. That includes May 2012 when he hit .210/.269/.320 and June 2012 when he hit .205/.253/.330

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          1. Pretty frickin impressive. I’m sure he’s going to have a better May/June this year, probably pushing his OPS for the calendar year into the .850 range.

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    2. Interesting projections, but I don’t believe any minor league team ever plays anything close to 160 regular season games.

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  3. The merits of a quick promotion aside, I’m not sure how they would move Altherr up to Reading, seeing as the team already has three outfielders that the organization is still somewhat committed to: Gillies, Collier and Hewitt. Hewitt is obviously the odd man out there, in that he’s not on the 40-man, but his OBP of .310, while not great, is still 80 points better than Collier’s and 110 points (!) better than Gillies’. The hopeful scenario is that one of either Gillies and Collier catches fires and hits well enough over the next month or so to merit promotion to LHV. But I’m getting skeptical. I hate to keep beating up on Gillies, but his regression this year has been truly depressing.

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    1. There’s been talk that they’re retooing Gillies’ swing. If so, he’s got some leash from the org, I am sure. As for where to go with them, I think Perkins can stay at A+ longer than Altherr, since he’s nowhere near any kind of roster decision. If they’re only making room for one and the two are about equal, I think they ought to find AA playing time for Altherr so they can be sure he’s worth a 40-man spot this off-season. But really, if they need to move people, they can find ways to make some room. Turf toe, shin splints, unconditional release, things like that.

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      1. Agreed. The 40-man decision with Altherr necessitates being a bit more agressive with him this year. You can find enough playing time for 4 OFs in the Eastern League.

        The best case scenrio would be that Gillies gets his swing in order and can go back up to AAA

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      2. This is the first sustained stretch of success Altherr has ever had. Why rush him to Reading where he’ll have to fight for ABs? Isn’t AFL where they usually send guys who are on the bubble for the 40-man for evaluation?

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        1. Yeah, that’s an option as well. Exactly what they did with Collier last year, though he had a delayed start because of his suspension. Altherr has time to learn all they can teach him in say, 2 months at A+, then move up.

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        1. He would be if he wasn’t on a 40 man roster. He will be out of options so next year they can’t send him to the minors without exposing him to waivers.

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          1. MattWinks,

            You are wrong concerning Tyson Gillies option situation. Tyson Gillies is not out of options after this year. He was put on the 40-man roster on November 18, 2011 so the first option year was used in 2012. The second option year was used this year in 2013. The 3rd option year could be used in 2014. Additionally, because of the injuries he is eligible for a 4th option year in 2015. The Phillies if they keep him on the 40-man roster do not have to worry about him clearing waivers in order to be sent to the minors until after spring training in 2016. Which is approximately the first week in April 2016. The big question is he deserving of being kept on the 40-man roster for that length of time when you may have more capable “Prospects Du Jour” who may have to be left off the 40-man in order for him to remain on it. Complicating the situation is the fact that if Gillies is removed from the 40-man roster he will have to clear waivers. Even if he clears waivers and is sent to a Phillies minor league team he will become a minor league free agent after the season.

            Bradindc,

            A couple days ago, you asked if the 4th option was a new rule. No it is not. It has been a part of major league baseball rules since the late 1950’s. It was set up as a response to the debacle of the bonus baby rule. It was designed to eliminate situations like the Phillies had with Tom “Moneybags” Qualters.

            The first Phillie that the Phillies used the 4th option rule on was a player by the name of Richie (Dick) Allen in 1963. The Phillies gave Richie Allen a huge bonus for the time of $70,000 in April 1960. In order to prevent other major league teams of drafting him out of their minor league system in December 1960 in the first year player draft, the Phillies had to put him on their 40-man roster when they signed him in April 1960. That resulted in the Phillies using the first three options in 1960, 1961 and 1962. Because he was still not ready to remain on the major league roster in 1963 the Phillies received a 4th option year on Allen for 1963. In 1964, Allen made the Phillies and was Rookie of the Year. If he did not make the Phillies in 1964, the Phillies would have had to ask waivers on him in order to send him back to the minors.

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    2. If the Phillies instructional staff believe that Alterr will develop better at Reading, then he will be promoted to Reading. There is absolutely nothing blocking him. There are 3 names/bodies in the Reading OF, but none of them is playing at all well. Rather than wait for one of Gillies/Collier/Hewitt to catch fire, they can swap places with Altherr at Clearwater. Perhaps the Mendoza line will not be a bridge to far for Collier at Clearwater.

      The Phillies supposedly remade Gillies swing over the winter. That experiment has certainly worked well — on a par with taking FLoyd’s curve ball away from him to speed his development.

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      1. On Gillies, let’s withhold judgment for a little while anyway. They retooled Brown’s swing and it was both necessary and it looks like it worked. I assume they are retooling Gillies swing to unlock his power. I saw him hit in ST – he is a phenomenal physical specimen and he can hit the ball a long way (only Cousins hit the ball farther than Gillies – admittedly, however, I did not see Joseph hit). It’s worth the gamble, especially if he can stay in centerfield.

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        1. Brown’s grip was ‘re-tooled’ by Wally Joyner in February. In the off-season Brown works with Gary Sheffield on his hitting.

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    3. I’m very impressed by Aaron Altherr’s start. But I’m not ready to sacrifice Zach Collier, after one month, to get Altherr to AA. Collier is the same age as Altherr, has missed almost 2 years developemental time to injury and adderall suspension, and he is still playing at the higher level.
      In a month, if Altherr is still dominating High A, then move him up. There is a DH in the eastern league. There is no reason to cut ties with anybody until the 40 man decisions have to be made.

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      1. That DH spot is occupied by “the other catcher” may nights. I know it would be admitting defeat, but if Altherr is progressing for real, (in another month, I agree with that as a timetable), I see no reason Anthony Hewitt should get playing time over him.

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  4. Agree on Garner. Another thing I like is the dramatic improvement in his ground out rate, 2.59 on the season and was 1.38 last year. Pretty impressive when you couple with the increased K rate. Scouting reports were he had a heavy fastball, looks like it is more so evident this year than in the past. At his age, and with this being a repeat year, I would hope he’s not long for Clearwater.

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    1. Unless he really gets along well with a particular coach in CLR, I don’t know what they’re waiting for. I know Colvin’s injury’s supposed to be short term, they just went out and signed a journeyman guy to come eat some innings when they could have used Garner and put Neris back in the pen when Colvin comes back. Could be they suddenly like Neris as a starter, also. He’s been getting some results, so hard to argue if that’s their logic. Just seems like they had re-penned him when Colvin came back the first time, and so likely they don’t see him as a starter.

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    1. No. No one would. We got Mayberry for Golson and Golson was much farther along then Gillies.

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      1. And that prospect for prospect trading rarely happens, anyway. Can’t think of another high-level prospect swap the Phils have been involved in recently that didn’t involve a big-leaguer.

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        1. Michael Schwimmer trade comes to mind although he was a much more known commodity then Gillies

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          1. I considered that, but he was a big leaguer for parts of two seasons. Not really prospect for prospect.

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        2. the Michael Schwimmer trade comes to mind although he was a more known commodity then Gillies

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  9. I’ll guess that Garner will be moved up if he continues what he’s doing over a few more starts. There seems to be some spots open for him at Reading, with Colvin and Wright injured. If both guys come back, then somebody who is of prospect age would get bumped from the rotation- probably Buchanan. I’m not sure that Garner isn’t destined for the bullpen at this point and the team just wants him to get some innings as a starter.

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    1. Repeating Reading has not seemed to help David Buchanan. Quite the contrary. He used to put up respectable if not spectacular numbers with an occasional special performance. However, he is now 24 years old and has had only 2 “quality starts” out of 7 and an ERA of 6.46. Opponents are hitting .333 off him with right-handed and left-handed hitters the same. Could he be injured?

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  10. Isn’t it time to consider Harold Martinez a 3rd round bust?…and give his playing time to another? In every game he seems to verify his non-prospect status. Let somebody else play and get the benefit of playing experience. I have nothing personal against the guy, but it appears that we should cut bait because he prevents somebody from getting playing innings.

    I wish him well, but in another profession

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    1. While I agree he is a huge dissapointement he is DHing most nights with Franco playing 3rd. There are likely to be one or two spots at clearwater opening soon (Alther, Perkins) and there really isn’t anyone at lakewood pushing for promotion so I don’t think there is anyone better he is blocking so let him play out the year with fingers crossed just because of his draft slot.

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    2. My only question would be who needs those ab’s? i would most certainly back cutting ties but i want to see it done for a reason, i.e. a real prospect has earned that spot at that level but i don’t see it.

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      1. There is no other player losing ABs due to Harold Martinez. If anything, Harold, Martinez is losing ABs to Chris Serritella, who is performing as badly as Martinez, without the defensive flexibility.

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