NYPhilsmaniac19 is at it again with his insightful first hand reports:
PITCHING: Not much to report here since no prospects pitched.
Austin Wright started and got the win despite giving up 10 baserunners and 5 runs (4 earned) in 5 innings. Few of the hits against him were cheap. He topped out at 92 on the gun. I’m not sure if he was hiding his best move, but he barely lobbed the ball to first on pick-off throws. I figured he was setting them up, but he never showed anything better.
Hector Neris came on for the next 2 innings and looked excellent. He only gave up one baserunner on a walk and he K’d 4 (struck out the side in the 6th). He topped out at 94 which he reached a few times.
Kyle Simon pitched the 8th allowing 2 runners via a walk and a Murphy error, but he pitched out of it.
Michael Nesseth came on to shut the door and pitched a scoreless inning. He did allow 2 hits, but one was on a slow roller to 3rd that Franco played non-chalantly and the runner beat the throw.
OFFENSE:
Franco: I tried to really study his swing (though I will never be confused for a batting coach). As he sets, he rests the bat against the back of his neck. Then he brings it up just before the pitch. What concerned me is that after the pitch is delivered he loads his hands back further, and then comes forward (might this be the infamous arm-bar I keep reading about?). He has very quick hands which seem to make up for the late load, but this kind of hitch isn’t going to play well in MLB.
At Bats:
1) Lineout driven to right center (near the track)
2) Line single to left
3) Fouled off 3 pitches, including hanging with 2 curves and fouling them into the shallow RF seats, then got plunked by a fastball.
4) Chopper between SS and 3B on a 2-0 pitch. SS threw to 2nd for a FC. He almost got doubled up at 1st due to his less than blazing speed.
On defense, he looked solid with a strong arm except the play in the 9th where he didn’t show enough urgency to get rid of the ball and the batter beat it out.
Dugan: (DH so no fielding report)
1) K’d swinging on a curve in the dirt
2) Grounded to 2nd (almost got through). Made it close at 1st with some good hustle.
3) With 2 strikes he hit a hard liner to LF which went as a Sac Fly
4) K’d swinging on a 94 MPH fastball
Valle: Sebas was the hero of the day. He ended up with 5 RBI’s.
1) Slow roller to SS
2) Liner over the RF head for a 2-run triple. RF misjudged it so he got a bit lucky.
3) Fouled off 2 straight 2 pitches and then hit a 3-run shot over the left field fence.
4) K’d swinging on an 80 mph curve
One runner tried to steal and was successful. Otherwise he caught a clean game.
Hewitt and Collier: More of the same. Both K’d twice though Zack did get one hit. Collier made a bad error on a soft liner right to him in LF. I found it kind of strange that he was playing Left while Cartwright (who I believe usually plays 2B) was in CF. I saw Collier play a nice CF last year in Clearwater. Guess Hewitt saved his best work for the next day since he hit 2 HR’s.
Murphy (OK- not a prospect but hey, he’s a nice guy and he leads the league in HR’s):
1) Hard ground out 5-3
2) Nice soft liner the other way for a base hit
3) Bases Loaded Walk
4) Walked on a 3-2 Pitch
Phuture Phillies 
Nice work, Maniac!
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Thanks for the on-site reports and updates
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Good Stuff! Thanks.
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“What concerned me is that after the pitch is delivered he loads his hands back further, and then comes forward (might this be the infamous arm-bar I keep reading about?)”
No, that is not the arm bar concern. that is the concern about loading. he does have a lot of wasted motion pre-load. but as long as his hands are set before the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand (which it is from what I have seen), then it is not an issue. if he is setting his hands mid-pitch it could become an issue. but it is a fixable issue (See: Dom Brown).
the arm bar concern is that he locks his arms early in his swing, rather than keep the elbow flexed. the concern is that locked arms would make it impossible to hit the inside fastball…leaving a gaping hole in his swing.
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Have you seen him do what you’re describing and do you think it’s a huge problem?
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I am not a swing expert. My opinion is that it is that it won’t be an issue. I base that opinion on a few data points:
1. A bunch of people who are swing experts have seen him swing and the opinions are split on if he even “bars” or whether that’s an issue
2. There is zero evidence that he has any hole in his swing. The key to me is that he consistently hits the ball hard every game. I know the pitchers at AA are not all MLB caliber, but they are good enough to pound a guy inside if he is clearly susceptible. Word typically spreads on a guy. Which is why you often see a guy start out hot and then tail off (See: Aaron Altherr). Those guys you should be concerned about IMO. Those type of stat regressions means the pitchers adjusted to him the second time around and he hasn’t adjusted back.
just one man’s opinion.
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