Box Score Recap – 8/30/2013

Box Score Recap

Lehigh Valley keeps their slim playoff hopes alive in dramatic fashion, coming back from a 4- deficit to walk off with two runs in the ninth. Maikel Franco went 2-4 including a double, and Kelly Dugan had three hits as Reading lost to Miguel Sano and his New Britain Rock Cats and his two homeruns. Clearwater shutout for the fourth game in a row. They did manage to get one hit, though, so they have to be feeling pretty good about that. Mark Leiter threw down again for Lakewood – his A- WHIP sits at 1.00 with 20K in 16 scoreless innings. Impressive.

And finally, Zach Green took his place in the Williamsport record books Friday, hitting his franchise record-tying 13th home run, matching Walter “Junior” Young’s mark, set back in 2001, when he was Pirate property. Wikipedia notes, (without citation), that Young, who had a cup of coffee with Baltimore in 2005, was “listed at 6′ 5” and 322 pounds, giving him a Body Mass Index of 38.2 (over 30 is considered “obese”), the second highest BMI of any major-league player in history, behind Prince Fielder 5’11, 275 lbs with a 38.4 BMI”. So if Zach Green hits one more homerun this year, Young will be second in two things. Bummer for him.

Young is, apparently, a corrections officer now. If Green manages one more bomb, hopefully the inmates don’t hear about it. Poor Junior will never hear the end of it.

Here’s the affiliate Scoreboard from MiLB.

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?sid=milb&org=143&ymd=20130830

8-30-13 boxscores

69 thoughts on “Box Score Recap – 8/30/2013”

  1. Would it speed up Franco’s service time if he is added to 40 man and brought up as a Sept 1 call up? If i’m not mistaken he needs to be added at years end, correct?

    Like

      1. Would not burn an option year now, but it would force the team to burn one next spring to send him back to the minors. If he’s as good as we all think, the options likely won’t be a big deal, as hopefully he’ll stick in the bigs before 2017, but you’d rather not waste one if you don’t have to.

        Like

        1. My hope is that he spends all of next year in AAA working on correcting his swing issues. If that is successful, then I’d consider him for a Sept call up next year. If not, a second year in AAA might be appropriate.

          Like

  4. Mark Leiter is becoming VERY intriguing. His dominance, even at that level, is exceptional. Would love to see him get his last start in Clearwater or Reading because, what heck, why not? Let’s see how he does.

    Like

    1. I don’t know, he’s still very old for that level and never excelled before. With his family, he obviously knows how to pitch but I don’t have much hope for him at the higher levels. I was happy to see Hansen had a decent start.

      Like

        1. He was pretty good, throwing a no hitter. My hope is that he has very good stuff but was drafted lower due to his size – he’s smaller for a righty starter.

          Like

          1. My guess is he’s like Mike Cisco in that he’s not that big and doesn’t throw that hard but really knows how to pitch with a strong baseball background.

            Like

    2. He has already pitched in CLW this season. He was very old for the Phillies to start him in GCL, but not at all old for Lakewood/CLW where he has also pitched well, although clearly CLW was a little bit of a stretch, as his K rate went down. He has shown good control, given up only 1 HR in 45 IP and has an excellent K rate in SAL league (and GCL, duh). He is a guy who ould start next season in Reading. Really, he is not at all old, other than for his initial posting to GCL.

      Like

    3. I think he only becomes intriguing if we start seeing positive scouting reports. For a college guy who was a late round pick, you’ve got to figure that his stuff isn’t known to be impressive. He’s pitched well at an age appropriate level for about 20 innings, so let’s just wait and see how next year goes.

      Like

    4. Leiter maxes out in the upper 80s with his fastball and relies a lot on off-speed pitchers. I believe he also throws a cutter a lot. That sounds pretty similar to Tyler Cloyd to me. He has the advantage of having been a 4 year pitcher in college and I’m sure his Dad being Mark Leiter probably taught him a thing or two growing up. It’s very hard to find RHP’s who throw in the 80s and have MLB success.

      Like

    6. I agree also think Hoby Milner is intriguing. Regardless of how they are originally perceived as prospects, ultimately results have to be considered. If they are old move them up. Lord knows there is a dearth of pitching talent at Reading.

      Like

  5. I looked at something similar to this a few weeks back, focusing on 19-year-olds in the NY/Penn. There are a few examples of prospects who overcame the high K rate, but the majority could not:

    Mike Honcho says:
    August 16, 2013 at 11:37 AM
    Zach Green’s K rate troubles me, even if the BB rate is much improved over last season. To this end, I set out to find a player who has had success in the big leagues despite having a K rate near 30 percent at Green’s age/level. (I’m sure there are plenty of examples out there, and I’d love to hear them if you’ve got them). I found two recent example that give me hope searching players from the NY/Penn in the past seven seasons: Will Middlebrooks and Marcell Ozuna.

    Middlebrooks (age 19, NYP): 32.3/5.3 K/BB, .115 ISO, .666 OPS
    Green (age 19, NYP): 29.7/9.5 K/BB, .249 ISO, .849 OPS
    Ozuna (age 19, NYP): 32.1/5.8 K/BB, .289 ISO, .870 OPS

    Green’s BB rate is nearly double the others and his K rate is a tick lower than both. He also hit for way more power than Middlebrooks, though he’s nowhere close to the 22 HR Ozuna hit in 2010.

    Both Ozuna and Middlebrooks were able to lower their K rates and increase their BB rates as they progressed through their respective systems (although it’s worth noting neither were able to surpass Green’s current 9.5 BB rate in any subsequent seasons), and both debuted with some success and fanfare (let’s not discuss Middlebrooks’ 2013 for now).

    Obviously the percentage of players with such high K rates flame out the vast majority of the time. But Green’s BB rate, ability to make contact and in-game power will hopefully allow him to overcome it like the above players were for the most part able to do.

    Like

  6. I could see it, maybe, but I don’t think there’s a real need to do it. Judging by his K rate it seems that there’s still a fair bit of rawness to his game. I also wonder what the org thinks of Walding. If I were to guess I’d still say Walding goes to Clearwater and Green starts in Lakewood.

    Like

  7. Larry, he’s so young that I would err on the side of letting him start in Lakewood. If dominates there for two months, then he can easily finish the year in Clearwater and start his age 21 year in Reading. He is probably now in my top ten. The more I think about all the third base situation, the more convinced I become that moving Asche back to second after he establishes himself as a major league hitter might be worth another try.

    But if an omniscient someone told me that the Phillies have a future home run king in their system and forced me to guess who that is, I would likely pick Green. He may have prodigious in game power.

    Like

  8. You have very good reason not to like comps. Comps are one of the worst misuses of statistics. First, there is a very small universe of comparisons. Second that universe doesn’t include all the similar guys who never made it. Third, very player is unique. At best, all a comp says is “It’s not impossible that a guy with this sort of record could develop to be X or Y”. Nothing approaching a high probability that he does, nothing setting that as a ceiling which cannot be broken through. It’s like sitting at a point in time when no man has ever run a 4:00 minute mile, looking at a young runner’s physique and early amateur times, comparing those stats to established runners, and declaring that his ceiling is a 4:02 mile. Then a couple years later the guy absolutely crushes the 4:00 minute mark.

    Like

  9. I would be very surprised if he went to Clearwater given his contact problems. I also think that would be a bad idea.

    I’m relatively high on Green, but he must improve his contact rates if he wants to make it, and Lakewood is the logical place to work on that next year.

    Like

  10. On the subject of Green, Cozens vs. Green is a very interesting debate. I’m not sure which way I go on it, though I lean Green.

    Like

    1. They are both really raw, Cozens especially. I think ultimately Cozens will have more power. He’s such a big guy and for a two-sport guy has done quite well thus far. If he can stay at 3B, I think Zach Green has the greatest overall value.

      Like

      1. Green is huge at 19…210/215 lbs and muscular. He may look more muscular then Cozens due to Cozen’s height to weight ratio.

        Like

        1. Sounds like he doesn’t have much physical projection left, at least if he wants to stick at third.

          Like

          1. At 6’3″, 215, does he need any more physical projection? Strength and power are not his issues – it’s pitch recognition and contact skills. Things that have nothing to do with size or strength

            Like

      2. Cozens peripherals are nice. Better BB and K rates than Green. Probably better power potential. But the difference in defensive value is huge.

        Like

      3. From what I’ve read it seems like Green has a decent chance to stick at 3B, but Cozens i probably destined for 1B. So for that reason, I’ve got Green higher.

        Like

    2. The Cozens vs. Green debate is one I’ve wrestled with most of the season, but I always come back to Cozens ahead of Green in my top prospects list. Green’s numbers are more eye-popping, obviously, but I think Cozens is set to be the better player as they continue to climb the system.

      I don’t see Green moving from third and I don’t see Cozens moving from right field. Cozens has as good a throwing arm as I’ve seen from a Cutters outfielder in my five seasons. He covers a lot of ground in right field because he does move so well. He’s not Ichiro out there as a defender, but he’s not Delmon Young either. His ceiling is probably average defense, but if he’s giving you above average offense, that’s more than tolerable.

      It’s a great debate, though, between the two, and I don’t think there’s a wrong answer.

      Like

      1. I agree here. Green has put his raw power to game power but it is not a profile that this is a jumping off point to elite power down the road. Don’t think it is a big gap, but it is a present vs projection argument of two players at the same level

        Like

    1. I agree Franco is player of the Year but I think JP Crawford, Cody asche, and Zack Greene all deserve consider honorable mentions (3 3rd basemen in there)

      Like

      1. Franco is obviously the Phils minor league POY but who gets the pitcher of the year? Some possibles are Milner, Hansen, and Andersen but it could be Severino who wins the award. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a great year pitching wise. Biddle was fair, Morgan was hurt and then fair, Martin was bad but then decent, Buchannan was actually decent, Gueller was terrible, all the relievers were even bad except for Nesseth after his promotion and Robles. I’ll be bummed after Monday…….

        Like

  13. Mark Reynolds would be WAY MORE than a decent regular with better defense and more consistency. He’d be an all star.

    Like

  14. At Blue Claws game right now. Crawford, Tocci, Greene, Carmona and Pointer are all playing.

    On a separate note, Phila must be equally disappointed in the hideous performance of their minor league pitchers including the group at AAA who regressed substantially and shockingly as they fired Gorm Heimeuller he roving pitching coordinator. Hopefully, more changes to come soon. I expect Rod Nichols to be the pitching coach in Philly next year – I’d even lay a bet on it.

    Like

    2. ‘shockingly as they fired Gorm Heimeuller’…..not fired, contract was not renewed. There is a slight difference in the legality of the action. He was expired to fired.

      Like

      2. Who’d you expect to get? The Phillies paid the Red Sox money to be able to get a prospect, or at least an actual person, in return. It’s better than Stejan Jarrin.

        Like

  17. OGANDO IS OURS!

    That solidifies our pen for ’14! What a steal. Even up; nothing for nothing. Except, the ages ARE different. So, nothing for not-very-much.

    Like

  19. This is a privately owned site and they make their own rules of conduct for bloggers/posters to follow and it is within their right to do so. I have no problems with following their rules so why can’t you do the same?

    Like

  20. It is unfortunate that good posts are deleted.
    I do appreciate those folks who run this site and try to keep it as civilized as possible.

    Like

  23. Carlos Tocci entering the weekend played in 116 games. He is just the 11th hitter since 1983 to appear in 100 games in the South Atlantic League at 17. Seven of the other 10 ultimately played in the majors. They include Roberto Alomar, Carlos Baerga, Juan Gonzalez, Ivan Rodriguez, and Elvis Andrus. All of those batters posted better – but not overwhelming – numbers in their 17-year-old seasons.

    Like

    1. I found the above to be interesting. In looking at the other players you highlighted, most held their own from a stats perspective. Pudge hit just .238, with an OPS of .668. (should I mention that he walked just 40 times in 1063 plate appearances – or roughly 3.8%? No – probably not).

      Others on this board are much closer to the details than I (i.e. have seen him in person, have talked with those that are close to player evaluations, etc). I – just looking at the raw stats – struggle to see the high-upside as a prospect. I guess, with Tocci at least – I want to see it before I believe it. I hope he proves me wrong.

      Like

      2. The most important aspect of Tocci’s season is not his Batting Average. I believe the fact that they allowed him to play an entire season at Low A, and hit at the top of the lineup at age 17, says more than anything. They demoted Santana and Valle from Lakewood to Williamsport when they were 17.

        Like

  26. I look at the Reading box score this morning, see Franco 0-4 with 3 Ks and the entire team striking out 12 times, and think to myself, “Boy, they went up against a buzzsaw last night.” Then I scroll down to see the pitcher of record was … Trevor May.

    Of course, he also gave up 6 hits and 4 runs and lost the game, so I suppose it was vintage May after all.

    Like

Comments are closed.