Box Score Recap – 5/9/2013

Box Score Recap

Not really prospect talk, but Humberto Quintero threw out Billy Hamilton stealing second. As impressive as almost anything else you’re going to see in there. As reported firsthand by @BaseballBetsy on Twitter, we know that Aaron Altherr was involved in a collision with shortstop Jose Mojica. Altherr left the game under his own power. No update beyond that that I am aware of. Hopefully it’s not serious

Altherr’s exit did bring Cameron Perkins into the game on his day off, and he failed to extend his hitting streak in 1 PA. I don’t care, though. I’m not counting that one.  The streak stands at 13. So watch out, Joe Wilhoit.

Here’s the affiliate Scoreboard from MiLB.

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?sid=milb&org=143&ymd=20130509

5-9-2013

78 thoughts on “Box Score Recap – 5/9/2013”

    1. Gillies- soon. They’re trying to change his swing so I give him a break, but it would be nice to see some improvement.

      Greene- I’m a little worried now, because of the less than enthusiastic scouting reports as much as all the strikeouts.

      Walding- I’m not sure he has a high enough profile to get worried about him. I know some people like him, but I haven’t bought in yet.

      Valle- Last year.

      Rupp- Not soon. He’s doing pretty well lately.

      Joseph- Also not soon. Unless his injury is bad. I haven’t heard what it is.

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      2. Joseph’s a concussion. Foul ball to the mask, I think. Someone can correct that if I’m wrong.

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    2. The dude did hit .311/.410/.420 with 155 stolen bases last year. I think the hype would of literally exploded this site if he was a Phillies prospect(if not the current panic over his bad start would).

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        1. To be fair he is always going to have a high BABIP, anything hit on the ground to left side of the infield is a hit. It is not out of the question that he is a .370+ BABIP guy on the major league level.

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  4. Carlos Tocci, raising that batting average. And Roman Quinn with two hits in what seems like forever now.

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  5. Did biddle reach his pitch count last night only five innings?? really cant believe the lack of any real prospects at reading, except a backup catcher in rupp. Hopefully this draft brings in some real talent.This system needs a upgrade in talent in the worst way.

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    2. Roccom I get that you’re upset about the system being down, but do you really need to say it everyday?

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  6. We’re nearing the time when the Latin teams start playing so I took a look at my predictions at the start of the year. I can’t believe how far off I was. Almost nothing has gone according to my plan. LHV looked like a team full of guys ready to ascend to the big leagues. I’m still waiting for them to beat AAA teams. Reading is in such a tail spin that it’s hard to look at the boxscore each day. The bullpen let them down last night but it seems to be something different every day. Clearwater had the guy to watch this year: Franco. But Perkins has surprised me the most. He wasn’t even on my radar. I’ve always liked Altherr and Murray was talking during ST about how he’d grown into a man. I’d pretty much given up on him and now he’s one of the first guys I look for in the boxscore. Lakewood was supposed to be exciting but they are duller than dull. At least Quinn had a couple of hits last night and I can’t remember the last time that happened.

    There was a Lino Martinez sighting last night. It wasn’t pretty but he needs to shake the rust off before I pass judgement.

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    1. Great synopsis, it’s been a really crappy year so far up and down the farm. Which leads me to my next point…

      One of two things is true:

      A. Our system is far less talented then anyone including the national publications thought.

      Or

      B. It’s as talented as we thought, but we’ve just been unlucky thus far and things will turn around shortly.

      At this point I’m leaning towards B, mid-season top 10 is going to be an exercise in futility beyond the first few. In reality it looks something like this to me:

      1. Franco
      1a. Biddle

      5. Morgan

      8. Altherr

      15-45. Everyone else

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      1. What I’m really trying to say is 6 of the top 10 slots will be filled by prospects who in any other system in the majors wouldn’t be in the top 10. To be fair, I think Quinn probably turns it around before the year is over and ends up in the 5-10 spots, Joseph maybe 8-12, and perhaps Ruf though I suspect he’s a major leaguer by year end.

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        1. I think you’re being a little harsh … you acknowledge Quinn, Ruf and Joseph … Asche belongs … Pettibone still qualifies, though not for long …. Tocci was in the reader top 30 and IMO hasn’t hurt himself – really amazing to be doing even that well in full season ball at his age. Martin is still a guy. I’m a bit of a Hernadez skeptic, but you can make a top ten case for him now, and not just because of the weakness of the system.

          It’s thin, but of the reader top 30 I think you need to go down to 12 and 14 before you find players whose stock has tumbled significantly.

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      2. I think the system is a bit thin, but I still think there’s talent there. I also think you’re not going to be able to judge the system until sometime late in the summer for the following reason. The Phillies have become MUCH more aggressive about promoting players. In the old days, the Phillies didn’t promote a player until the thought of his playing any longer at that level was ludicrous. That’s no longer the case – with their best prospects, it seems the team agressively promotes the player to the level at which the player will be very challenged but should, over time, succeed. For example, in prior years, I am pretty sure we would have seen Asche, Morgan, Joseph and probably Martin return to Reading to at least start the season. Now, all of those players are being promoted. Give it time, they are adjusting.

        That being said, the following players appear, thus far, to be very disappointing.

        Larry Greene – let’s see how this develops, but I’m not seeing much of a hit tool and we’re seeing no power – none; which is kind of a bad then when the ONLY thing he’s supposed to be particularly good at is hitting with power. He might devlop, but right now, it’s looking much more likely that he’s a complete bust, which is weird given his extraordinary plate discipline.

        Tyson Gillies – Again, let’s see what happens with the swing adjustments. He’s a premiere athlete and looks to be a good ball player, but, so far, with him, it’s always something. At a certain point, you just have to move on. Not yet, mind you, but that day may approach rapidly.

        Quinn – the one thing I thought was pretty solid to special was the hit tool – not sure what’s happening, but he’s really struggled. It’s too early to be overly concerned, but, obviously, it’s not good. The errors are also not good, but they are almost to be expected.

        Joseph – it’s not the hitting. That should come around. It’s the extraordinary number of passed balls. It’s like he’s trying to break a record.

        Diekman – I don’t understand how a guy with stuff that good not only walks so many people but gives up so many hits. His arm is too good to give up on, but he’s not doing himself any favors with his performance. Let’s be frank, so far he’s sucked.

        Rosenberg – I was so high on this guy. I’ve seen him dominate as a starter and reliever because his stuff is really quite good. But, like Diekman, he struggles with command. We’ll probably release him, the Pirates will pick him up, and he’ll win 13 games this year in their major league rotation.

        Collier – looked like he, not Altherr, was the guy poised for a break through year, especially with his great performance in the AFL. He still might be fine this year, but he’s got to start hitting. I think it’s pretty clear that Altherr has passed him by as a prospect.

        One more thing, I’ve actually been encouraged by Ruf’s performance. Apparently, his fielding has improved tremendously and he’s hung in there with the bat and is ready for a big surge in the near future, which I expect. Also his at bats are very good and he has fine plate discipline, excellent power and superior plate coverage. It is noteworthy that almost all of his ABs have come against right handed pitching (I think if you’re a decent lefty at AAA, you get promoted to the big leagues), so his numbers in the big leagues might translate fairly well.

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        2. Good point about promotions. The handful you mention are more aggressive than I think Chuck LaMar would have done, (though he may have made the same move with Joseph out of the catching “crowd”).

          I think I’ll give Larry Greene a lot more time than a lot of people on this site. Power without approach will flail and fail, but he’s got a good enough approach to draw a mess of walks. It’s super early in his year to be judging his 2013 stats, so while I am worried about scouting reports and conditioning issues, I’ll give the man some more time to find his swing.

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          1. When did he ever have ” his swing ” ? the only numbers he has ever put up were in H.S. He has been horrible since they signed him .

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            1. His 2012 was far from horrible. Take another look. Lots of XBH in a big park, a good OBP, and fair K rate for a power hitter.

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            3. He hit 2 in about 300 PA, plus 22 doubles. If HR counts are all you care about to consider prospects futures, then go ahead and assume he’ll never hit for power. But keep in mind two things: first, not every power hitter hits homeruns in their first year of pro ball – power often develops later. Second – the park in Williamsport is very large – just a recent example, Maikel Franco, only hit 2 HR there in about 230 PA in 2011, (plus 17 doubles and a triple). By your logic that means he’ll never hit for any power. Check the stats in 2012 and 2013 and you’ll see the opposite. Am I suggesting that Larry Greene will become a 50HR guy in the bigs because he hit a bunch of doubles? No. But you suggesting he won’t become a successful power hitter because he only hit 2 HR in his first (short) pro season ignores obvious examples to the contrary.

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        3. Obvious SSS, but Ruf has weird numbers against LHP this year. Only 3 singles in 16 at-bats, yet he’s only struck out twice. He’s hit quite well against RHPs on the season, so the ABs against lefties are actually dragging his line down.

          In other weird SSS news, unless the website has this flipped, Kelly Dugan is hitting .188/.278/.313 against righties and .533/.563/.600 against lefties.

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          1. Yeah, with Ruf, it’s probably just a SSS and not seeing lefties that frequently. As I recall, he completely rocked lefty pitching last year.

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  7. Is it me, or are the minor league teams’ strikeout totals outlandish? Game after game, it seems each affiliate hovers around double digit k’s.

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  8. Catch did you read what I SAID??never said biddle wasn’t a prospect. my god all I said was why only 5 innings. was wondering if it was pitch count or something wrong. He is imo our only real legit top prospect.This kid has a chance to be a top of rotation guy.

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    1. You don’t think Franco could be a legit top prospect? He was probably top 150 nationally last year, this year if he finished the year with his current line I suspect he moves up to 55 ish.

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    2. roccomr I read what YOU SAID. Your post easily could be read to imply that Biddle was not a prospect. Glad that you agree he is one and glad that you agree he has the ability to pitch at the top of the rotation. To my mind, he’s clearly our best pitching prospect since Hamels – it’s now not even close. Biddle is one of those rare prospects that is special due to a curve ball. I’m generally not a fan of guys whose out pitches are curves (especially righties – hence my concern about Shane Watson) – they do very well in the minors (where the Anthony Hewitts of the world are completely befuddled by a good curve ball), but rarely develop into top of the rotation pitchers in the big leagues without another pitch that is at least above average or plus. But Biddle is different because he has an above average to a flashing plus fastball and because the curve is a potential plus plus pitch – when he’s on, it’s otherworldly good.

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    3. Your original post made it sound like you thought Rupp was the only prospect in Reading.

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    1. No one who isn’t a long way away from the majors, but Cozens, Pullin, Gueller, Vargas, Green, Pujols, Grullon, Lino, and Velis all of major league ceilings with some of them having much more than that.

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        2. Most of these guys have been healthy. They are in XST because their talents are too raw for Lakewood. Some, like Pujols, are still very young for Lakewood and Pullin has the excuse that he is learning to become a 2B for the first time, but guys like Cozens and Gueller have simply been deemed not good enough, while some of their draft classmates are already in Lakewood.

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      1. For the Dodgers he was effective but not for us unfortunately. I would wait until the season is over to fully judge his performance.

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  12. The Phillies’ farm system is the worst I have seen in the last 15 years of any team.

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    1. I’m very sure you’ve followed every major league teams’ minor league system, for the past 15 years.

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    2. Actually the farm system is much better right now than it was a year ago. Last year De Fratus and Aumont were rated in the Top 10. The system was headlined by Biddle and May. Biddle has gotten better, Morgan and Martin are better than May, then you add in Franco and this system is way better now.

      Also you should look at the Astros system from 2005 to 2010. Jim Murphy would have made their Top 30 consistently

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      1. At this time last year, Roman Quinn, Larry Greene and Mitch Walding had never played yet. Tommy Joseph, Ethan Martin and Seth Rosin were in other organizations. Zach Collier was on a 50 game suspension and had never played above low A.
        So yes, it’s hard to see how the system isn’t better than last year, pre-draft.

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        1. And Aaron Altherr was no more than a question mark and Pettibone was in AA, just getting his feet wet. I will say, however, that our relievers have taken a half step backwards – which is both troubling and difficult to understand.

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      2. The farm certainly looks worse than it did prior to ST this year. A lot of guys who were near the top of our prospect lists have regressed severely: Ruf, Asche, Joseph, Martin, Valle, Quinn, Greene Jr., Collier. Gueller, Pullin, Cozens left in XST. Some guys have done better than expected: Altherr, Franco, Hernandez. Some guys have ratified their prospect status at a higher level: Biddle, Watson, Pettibone, Morgan, Tocci, which is a net plus for their ranking. On the whole, I’d say our farm, which BA ranked

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        1. … 23rd has underperformed expectations as a whole. We can celebrate Altherr’s breakout, in particular, but there have been multiple serious disappointments.

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        2. i wouldn’t say asche has underperformed severely. he’s never been ranked as a top 100 prospect.

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          1. Asche had a 103 WRC+ coming into today and he’s 3 for 3 with Double. Asche is doing just fine and his defense is supposedly improving.

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  14. Just a thought (a hope really) but is there any chance that LHV, Reading and Lakewood play in the northeast and the weather has been crummy so far and they’ll start hitting more when it warms up a little? Its easy to shoot holes in this but I’ll try to hold out hope anyway. The big league club plus 4 minor league clubs yesterday = 4 x 1 run losses and a 2 run loss. Not a good season so far anywhere in our system except for a few exceptions. Watching the Sixers and Flyers’ playoff runs should help but…never mind. Its a tough time to be a Philly fan….but we’ve had lots of practice…

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    1. I’ve been living the Philly area since 1988 – this last year or so has been the worst drought of all 4 teams that I can remember. Only the Eagles appear poised to improve dramatically in the near future – and even that’s not a sure thing. The future of the Phillies is unknown, which is absolutely unacceptable given the amount of fan support.

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      1. I would say until Eagles get true QB (who fits there system)…their projections are no better than any of other teams. I think the flyers (if they add defensemen) is most poised for rebound year.

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        1. Not only did we get off the discussion of the minor league system… we left the sport entirely. Tennis anyone?

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          1. Yeah, I hear you, but it’s depressing man. Can’t we grope and complain a little bit about the dark spots cloud that looms over our city and brings an additional amount of frustration to our lives almost every day?

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    2. As for the weather theory, it was definitely true early in the season when it came to pitching (there have been some first hand reports that there a decent amount of Joseph passed balls due to pitchers not being able to hit their spots). But now that has warmed up the numbers should start creeping up.

      As for Lakewood they have played 18 home games and 12 away games. Their home park is a huge pitchers park, but it seems that they are doing much better at home, the pitchers have been punished on the road with all of Watson’s HR coming on the road, including the 4 at Ashland with is a home run hitter’s park.

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      2. I think it may have something to do with ‘The Phillies Way’ and how the players and teams are prepared for the season. The big Phillies often slouch out of the gate and do far better at the end of the season.

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