Monthly Archives: August 2013

Box Score Recap – 8/10/2013

Box Score Recap

Cam Rupp went deep, his fifth at AAA. Trevor May pitched ok in beating Reading. Severino Gonzalez was very good for CLR, and Kenny Giles blew the save there. Wille Carmona OPSing .824 since the SAL all-star break. As a 22 yr-old, that doesn’t tell me much. Drew Anderson was strong in a loss for WIL. Nick Ferdinand with his second HR in two days, and JP Crawford is OPSing .977 on the year for GCL. He leads the league in AVG, OBP, OPS and is fifth in SLG, tied for fifth in SB and sixth in BB. Stellar.

Here’s a place for your discussion on Saturday’s action. I went out to Nats Park last night at the last minute for the Phils game, and that threw off my whole weekend plan, so I’m going to have to skip the graphic today. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/10/2013 →

Box Score Recap – 8/9/2013

Box Score Recap

Cam Rupp knocking on the door of a .700 OPS in AAA, after 2 doubles Friday night. He’s hit in 8 of his last 9, with four two-hit games in that span. With Eric Kratz in his way, and the possibility of Carlos Ruiz coming back to the big club, Rupp may not start 2014 with the Phils, but I would say that as of September 1, or maybe the last Lehigh Valley game of the year, he’ll supplant Steve Lerud on the big league depth chart, if he hasn’t already. With serious questions about Tommy Joseph’s future behind the plate, Rupp’s become the org’s best catching prospect outside of the short season leagues, and probably ahead of all but Andrew Knapp.

Around the system – David Buchanan with another good start in his second AAA appearance – throwing strikes and getting outs on balls in play. DMitch 3-5 with his second AAA HR of the year. Zach Green was 2-4 with just 2 singles. I hope he’s alright. Keivi Rojas with a kind of rough outing, giving up 2 runs in 2 innings on 2 hits and 1 walk. He also struck out five of the 10 men he faced. Guy’s been pretty much dominant this year in the NYPL, after being the same last year in the GCL. 27K and just 8 bb in 19 IP. Ricky Bielski is indeed human, Jan Hernandez hit his third homerun, and Nick Ferdinand walked it off in the second game of that double header. JP Crawford continues to rake, OPSing 1.151 over his last ten games.

And a great line from Seranthony Dominguez in the DSL – 2H 2BB and 7K in a rain shortened 5.1 inning shutout. Really, that was just an excuse to use his name, though it was a nice line.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/9/2013 →

Around the System–Relievers, Top Half

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A look at the bullpen in the upper reaches of the organization. Stats are through Thursday August 8th and a warning before you read: This is not pretty, especially in Lehigh Valley and Reading.

Lehigh Valley

Phillipe Aumont, 24, Acquired from Seattle in 2009; 24 games; 0-1 with a 5.18ERA; 2 saves; 24.1IP 21H 27BB 31K; 0.86GO/AO; .233 opp. avg; 10.0BB/11.5K per nine; 1.97WHIP; .273 vs. LH, .196 vs. RH, .220 with RISP; 0-1 with a 3.97ERA in his last 10 outings (9BB in 11.1IP). Simply look at the names in the Philadelphia bullpen and you will see how far Aumont’s stock has dropped in the organizations eyes.  He simply can’t throw strikes consistently and some attitude issues have cropped up. Continue reading Around the System–Relievers, Top Half →

Box Score Recap – 8/8/2013

Box Score Recap

Zach Green went deep again, his tenth. He leads the league in HR and is second in Ks…just to temper your enthusiasm a little. 19 year olds don’t hit double digit homeruns in 200 NYPL PAs without real power, and real power will take you a long way up the ladder if you can harness it. If his K rate is exploitable, (you’d have to think it will be at some level), then he may crash and burn, but for now: WOO DINGERS!!!!!

Elsewhere, Jesse Biddle somehow walked 7 men in 6 innings and did not allow a run. WOO NO RUNS!!!!!

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/8/2013 →

Phillies Sign Luis Encarnacion

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Luis Encarnacion turned 16 today and the Philllies immediately signed him to an amateur contract with a $1 million signing bonus.  Rather than have me paraphrase it, here is Baseball America’s report on the signing http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/phillies-sign-no-4-international-prospect-luis-encarnacion/.

Encarnacion will be limited in his defensive profile, but if he develops at least a plus hit tool and plus power, the position will not matter.  BA comps him to Allen Craig and Billy Butler.  It is tough to rank Encarnacion on any Phillies prospect lists until people see him outside of the showcase events.  If the Phillies follow past precedent they will bring him stateside for Florida Instructional League before starting him in the GCL in 2014.

Williamsport Game Report

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NYPhilsManiac reporting on quite the barn burner here:

Williamsport @ Tri-City 8/7 Game Report

 Good News:  The Cutters hit 5 home runs!
 
Bad News:  We threw 4 pitchers who all 4 gave up 2 runs (both earned), we struck out 14 times, and we lost the game!!
 
PITCHING:
Julio Reyes started the game and had a terrible first inning including 2 walks and 2 hits (the first batter walked on 4 pitches).  What bothered me the most was when a wild pitch barely bounced away from Knapp, Reyes didn’t run all the way to the plate so when the flip from Knapp arrived the runner slid behind Reyes and scored easily.  To his credit, Reyes bounced back with three straight 1-2-3 innings (with 4 K’s) before exiting the game after 4.  The radar gun was not on at first and then was intermittent, but Reyes was around 89-90 with his fastball when it was working.
 
Next up was Matt Soren who gave up 5 baserunners over 2 and 1/3 along with 2 runs. Continue reading Williamsport Game Report →

Tommy Joseph’s Season Over Due to Concussion Symptoms

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The Phillies have sent Tommy Joseph home due to lingering concussion symptoms.  Joe Jordan has said that they may move him to another position in spring training.  First base seems to be the only option and Joseph’s bat is not special at first and makes him a borderline non-prospect.  There will likely be more coming out on this over the next few days.

The important thing here is Joseph’s health.  Concussions are very serious and it is Joseph’s best long term interest to not be put in a situation that good cause another one, the long term risks are too great.

Mid Season Ranking Supplement

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I had these grand plans of a full re-ranking and write-up to fit on all the new prospects from the deadline, but that didn’t happen.  Instead I am going to highlight some guys I think are trending up and guys I think are trending down.  That will be followed be a list of 30 names and numbers that you are free to pick apart but please realize was rendered obsolete at 4pm central time on August 7 when I stopped tinkering with it.  For reference here is the original mid-season list https://phuturephillies.com/2013/06/18/midseason-top-20/

Trending Down:

Maikel  France/Jesse Biddle: Yes Franco went on a tear in AA, yes they are both still in the exact same spots on the rankings, but I think the gap between them and the rest of the system has closed for a variety of reasons.  For Biddle the command is a real worry because the allure was always the safety in the profile, now there are some doubts in whether he does have the high floor we thought he had.  Franco started off red hot in AA but over the past 25+ games his strikeout rate has trended towards career rates while the walk rate remains low, additionally he is not hitting for a ton of power over that stretch.  I have real worries that the swing/approach will continue to limit the utility of the power until fixed. Continue reading Mid Season Ranking Supplement →

Box Score Recap – 8/7/2013

Box Score Recap

Zach Green hit a home run (9, puts him in sole possession of the league lead), added a double, and struck out twice. 2-5 with 2XBH and 2K shall henceforth be know as the “Zach Green Special”. Let’s see if that catches on.

2 HR from Andrew Knapp (2,3), and he went 2-5 with 2K. HOLY COW HE HIT A ZACH GREEN SPECIAL!

Jiandido Tromp was 2-4 with a homer, (1), a double and 2K. One more ground-out and he could have had a “Zach Green Special”.

And Dylan Cozens was 1-4 with a bomb (6) and 2K. Just a late-inning XBH shy of a “Zach Green Special”.

Boy, that really caught on fast. And all that from the same game? Wow.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/7/2013 →

Hot or Not

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A look at the time period of August 1 thru August 7. Quick thoughts…Its time to move JP Crawford up. There is nothing to suggest he couldnt handle to NYPL and he is likely to be in Lakewood anyway next year, so why not challenge him? Cody Overbeck is putting up a very quiet 2o plus HR season…Mitch Walding has been one of the larger disappointments over the last two years. I havent lost hope, but he just cant put it together for a prolonged period…Cameron Perkins is pretty clearly still bothered by his wrist injury, as he has landed consistently on the Not Hot list since his return from the DL…Adam Morgan has been effective but has thrown alot of pitches in each of his starts, leading to a 5 inning max since his return from the DL.

Hot Hitters: JP Crawford (.524, 4R, 1HR 9RBI, SB); Jair Morelos (.500); Cody Overbeck (.407, 3HR); Pete Orr (.414); Zach Collier (.379); Troy Hanzawa (.357); Delvi Gruillon (.357); Harold Martinez (.353); Herlis Rodriguez (.348); Zach Green (.333, 5R 3HR 6RBI); Honorable Mention: Knapp, Oberto, Susdorf, Rupp, Continue reading Hot or Not →