Box Score Recap – 4/13/2014

Box Score Recap

David Buchanan threw just one inning in anticipation of A.J. Burnett maybe not being able to go on Wednesday this week. By all accounts, Buchanan would be his replacement. The LV bullpen struck out eight over eight innings to hold off Rochester. Cesar Hernandez, Cam Perkins and Tommy Joseph all with multi-hit games, as A.J. Cole, the Nats #2 prospect, (per BA), got the victory over Jesse Biddle. Biddle pitched fairly well – 3R/0ER/4H/2BB/6K in 4IP – but was relieved after just 79 pitches. He was charged with two throwing errors in the third and another in the fourth, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was a big part of why he was pulled.

Cam Rupp left the LV game with what seems to be a back/oblique injury, and Kelly Dugan left the REA game after being hit on the hand/wrist with a pitch. I haven’t seen further update on either man, so let’s cross our collective fingers. (a late note: Chad Carman was on Twitter this morning saying he is on the move. My guess is he fills a hole in AA or AAA while Rupp goes to the DL. If Koyie Hill is next on the big league depth chart, it could be Carman to AAA as his back-up and leave Joseph and Valle to continue what they’re doing at AA).

Aaron Altherr joined CLR for what’s likely to be a very temporary stop on the way to his destination in AA. He had a BB and a K in four trips to the plate, while Brian Pointer tallied The Threshers’ lone XBH – he’s OPSing close to .900 thus far. A decent start from Colin Kleven in that one – 3R/7H/0BB/4K in 6.1IP. Dan Child and Colt Murray also with good outings there in relief, while Manny Martinez and Yacksel Rios‘ relief appearances appear to be the highlight of the Lakewood tilt.

Here’s the affiliate Scoreboard from MiLB. http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?sid=milb&org=143&ymd=20140413

4-13-14 boxscores

47 thoughts on “Box Score Recap – 4/13/2014”

  2. I posted this as a revision up top, but I’ll put it down here for anyone who doesn’t read my stuff just looks at the boxes and comments – Chad Carman was on Twitter this morning saying he is on the move. My guess is he fills a hole in AA or AAA while Rupp goes to the DL. If Koyie Hill is next on the big league depth chart, it could be Carman to AAA as his back-up and leave Joseph and Valle to continue what they’re doing at AA.

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      1. Not too much. The pitching is better in AAA…or, perhaps saying the overall level of play is.

        I won’t say that he shouldn’t be back in AA, but he’d likely learn more in LHV

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        1. And his K rate is over 20%.

          I’m not panicking, at all, but if I was one of the people who thought he was guaranteed to be a star and needed no further time in the minors, I might be re-examining my beliefs.

          I still think he will be a very good major league hitter, and, if he can stick at third and play acceptable defense, possibly a star. But most likely not this year.

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        2. remember BB% only matters when there is power to back it up because eventually they will gain upper hand and go right at you.

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      3. If you have been watching closely over the end of last year into this spring he is doing what many evaluators expected he would do against more advanced pitching (including me). He needs to make adjustments in both his swing and approach. He has the raw ability to do it, but making adjustments is the hardest part of the game and is the big separator of who makes it.

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            1. and then it went back down (and LD rate up) in winter ball. i think it is a small relative change in a small sample size. his abnormally low babip has a dramatically higher impact on his current BA than that IMO.

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            2. For whatever it’s worth, he looked completely overmatched at the plate when I saw him in Spring Training. I wonder if there could be some kind of a hangover there–I feel like we have seen this happen before, where a player comes in for an extended look with the big club in Spring Training and then ends up struggling when he gets back at the minors. Just a thought.

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          2. Franco ,not yet 22, is still relatively young for AAA.
            Not bothering to look it up, but has to be in the top ten if the youth category for the league.

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      4. I pretty much agree with Matt. I think it’s slightly concerning just because the doubts many had about him seem to be manifesting, and it would have been so much nicer if those doubts continued to be dispelled. But I was pretty sure that he would need some time in AAA to work on things before he was ML ready.

        Say what you will about AAA pitchers being inferior in talent to AA pitchers, but they’re mostly smarter when it comes to the game too. More consistent with location, probably more consistent offspeed pitches, better sequencing, etc. They know how to exploit weaknesses and Franco is not without weakness at the plate.

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  3. Anyone else concerned that LGJ sucking again for third year in a row. When will they cut their losses??

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    1. If we weren’t already concerned after last year, I’m not sure a week and a half this year is a good reason to start. And look at Anthony Hewitt for an example of how long they will ride a high draft pick if that man is willing to work hard.

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    2. Do you realize how little a player in A-ball is paid? Or how few solid prospects we have in the organization? There really are no future losses to cut with LGJ. It costs next to nothing to keep him for a few more years. I guess it literally does cost nothing, because he would just have to be replaced by a guy from the Atlantic League who would earn exactly as much as he does. We’ve eaten a big, big loss with the million dollar bonus and using our top draft choice on LGJ, but that lost doesn’t go away if we cut him. Yes, he seems to have close to zero chance of ever making it, but since our scouts thought they saw a huge power tool, the sensible thing to do is to let this play out for a few more years in case he actually turns things around and we can cash in on the 2% chance that he can become a major leaguer. Same with keeping Hewitt. He was as good last season as anyone else we would have put at Reading in his place and it was essentially zero cost to let him play there.

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    3. Not for a while…. That 1 Million Dollars they paid him to sign is a big pill to swallow. I have to wonder if the scout that signed him is still in the organization. Talk about a swing and a miss… Someone obviously didn’t do their homework. This kid does not have the work ethic or the make up to invest that kind of money in. What a shame.

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      1. Sorry, but you lose me when you start talking “make up” and “work ethic” without citing any evidence to substantiate your claim. It’s true that Greene has been overweight, but he was a big buy when he was picked, and those words are way too loaded for my taste.

        And my guess is that the scout is probably just fine. Sometimes you miss on guys, especially guys taken with the 39th pick of the draft.

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        1. Sorry, misstyped: meant big “guy” not big “buy.” Although I guess both are true in this case.

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    4. once you see Larry Green in person on the field…all your fears fade away because you quickly come to realization he is a non prospect. He looks ‘blubbery’ in his uniform. Barrel chested, big gut, no butt and blubbery upper thighs that appear to have very little muscularity to them. The best guess I can come up with is on draft night the Phillies incorrectly projected his body to solidify once he gained better training in their program. That did not come to fruition.

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      2. He was fitter in high school, out of high school he had elite raw power and was an average runner. You can blame Greene for a lot of it (which is deserved), but you also have to realize that you are projecting an 18 year old kid’s body. It isn’t an exact science, and you can look at a lot of people to see how their bodies changed over that time period.

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  4. When will the “Arm Bar” panick begin? Please tell me this is just a bad streak for Franco to start the season. The Phils need him to be for real. I know it is early, a small sample size, etc. but a hot start would have ben nice. Can’t we have the real deal top prospect who hits the ground running in AAA and knocks on the door of the Big Club? Something to be excited about instead of dread would be nice. Did we use up our Century’s worth of prospects in the early 2000’s?

    Okay, the sky is falling! Help me hold it up.

    — Chicken Little

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    1. Also a slow start for Biddle, who was our #2 prospect going into the season. MAG still hurt, Tocci not doing much, and Ethan Martin just resuming play, so of the BA top 6 in our organization, only Crawford has provided early season hope. The BA top 11 also included Altherr, Quinn, and Morgan, who have yet to play. Perkins a nice surprise at 12, Cesar Hernandez back to AA, and Sev Gonzales with a decent start.

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      1. Perkins, IMO, could really ascend.
        He does have the one tool that separates the players….the hit tool
        The power aspect will need to be addressed at some point however.
        But there is no reason why a guy his size…height- wise, with an added little more pounds of muscle, cannot get more lift for power down the road.

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        1. The year Ruf broke out he didn’t really hit for power until nearly the end of the season. Maybe Perkins will start to hit them out – he’s certainly hittind doubles, however, which shows he’s hitting it hard.

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          1. I certainly hope so.
            Being a 6th round pick, he does have some expectations from the organizations to eventually achieve a major league promotion down the road.
            I found it ironic that of all the ‘toolsy’ guys the Phillies have drafted in higher rounds over the last decade, that a 6th round tall lanky guy may be one that reaches a higher level of success.

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    2. the only way the ‘dread’ goes away is another good 1st round pick and trading Cliff Lee for advanced prospects. Other than that….its waiting on young players with major flaws.

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  5. SSS of course, but Pointer is walking and striking out at a much lower rate so far. I wonder if he’s trying out a more aggressive approach this year.

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    1. Makes sense as Valle is the one who should play every day now along with Joseph (who is the better prospect and should be slotted at AA where his development will be at the right pace.)

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      1. I would think Hill is going to play more than Valle. He’s the guy they would call up if someone gets hurt tomorrow, no?

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        1. They probably would lean to Hill in a callup, but it is not like there are unaswered questions from him. I am sure they would prefer to not make a 40-man move if possible, though that is an issue with Valle. I think in an ideal world they would get Valle 400 AB this year to give him one last shot at being a prospect. He did have a nice end to his winter season starring the Caribbean World Series against decent competition.

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          1. That’s true, he was really hitting at the end of his winter season. My thought on Hill is that you want him to be sharp both at the dish and behind the plate. So will Hill get as many PAs as Rupp was getting? Probably not. Maybe 3 Hill starts to 2 Valle. Could be vice versa, I guess.

            As the poet said – “We Shall See”.

            I’m the poet there. In that I say that a lot and it’s neither rhyming nor particularly poetic.

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  7. How is it a slow start for Biddle? K rate up, BB rate down – lots of hits due to a .386 BABIP. Biddle has been just fine.

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    1. He didn’t pitch much in spring training, either with the big club, or, strangely, once he was sent to the other field. In other words, it would be very surprising were he in mid-season form right now.

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  8. Valle only had one start at catcher behind Joseph at Reading. I think management will use this as an opportunity to give him some starts behind the plate and Hill will continue in his backup role.

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  9. I remember the Braves in the late 1980s. They couldn’t bring up a high-pick-young-pitcher that had any success. It took years and a couple of good trades before they formed their great staff. It takes a while to have and make the choices; then shepherd the development of talent to become a viable contender. We simply have not had the proportion of high picks it takes to have a great minor league system. Count our blessings with our 4th, fifth starters and middling hitters like Brown and Asche. Franco is still a work in progress. It will take a while to reproduce what we had the last decade.

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  10. Puddihead I am not sure, but look at the cardinals staff it is really young and good. didn’t take years there after winning in 2011, difference to me is scouting, maybe I am wrong, but they just don’t miss as much as other, Wacha, Carpenter, Miller and others, our answer, Greene, Collier, Gose,
    three wasted high picks, best right now is a Kendrick’s, Pettibone who don’t measure up to cardinals, I really am in love with that organization and the way its run. wish these owners would try to do things like the cardinals.

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    2. The Cardinals are indeed a great organization. But as Puddinhead and everyone knowledgeable on this site has told you many times, even for them, it takes years. Of the four young guys in the rotation, the only relatively recent draftee is Wacha. The other three have been in the organization since 2008 or 2009.

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      1. Which isn’t a defense of the Phillies’ poor past drafting and development. It’s an answer to the tired, wrong notion that a quick turnaround for this organization is possible.

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