Monthly Archives: May 2014

Looking to Add More Writers

Announcements

We have been really excited about the content we have been able to provide you this year.  I cannot speak highly enough of the work Jim has done reporting on the Florida teams, and we are looking forward to Victor’s work going forward on Reading.  Also, look for more work from Chris King as we move into the summer.  We are not looking to add a ton more content to the site as we don’t want to drown out the work already occurring here.  We are looking to add some diversity to our coverage to fill in the gaps.

Lakewood & Williamsport Corespondents:

  • 1-2 Articles a week covering the team as a whole as well as highlighting individuals
  • The ability to contribute long form articles about the organization as well as minor league baseball or the draft
  • Must be able to attend games on a semi-regular basis
  • Should have a good feel for the Phillies organization
  • You may approach this from the perspective of a fan, reporter, statistician, or a scout
  • Should be able to proofread and edit ones own work

Continue reading Looking to Add More Writers →

MAG pitches at XST! May 10, 2014

Game Reports, , , , , ,

I arrived at the Carpenter Complex and prepared to watch Cord Sandberg, Trey Williams, Luis Encarnacion on Ashburn Field.  Adam Loewen was warming up for the start, so I walked over to see who would start for the GCL squad on Roberts Field.  Miguel Gonzalez and Cameron Rupp were to be battery mates, and I was going to watch this game instead.

Gonzalez started off with 2 fast balls for balls. They were low and at 92 and 93 mph. Continue reading MAG pitches at XST! May 10, 2014 →

Box Score Recap – 5/9/2014

Box Score Recap

Maikel Franco went 2-5 with his third home run of the year. Justin De Fratus and Cesar Jimenez worked clean innings of relief, before Ken Giles made his AAA debut – he walked one, allowed a hit and a run and struck out one. Some guy named “Derrick Mitchell” hit three home runs off of Lehigh Valley pitching. Never heard of him.

Jesse Biddle with another poor showing – 5R, 4ER, on 8H, 3BB and 6K over 5.1IP. He only threw about 57% of his pitches for strikes. Cesar Hernandez was back in the lineup after a groin tweak made him a late scratch Thursday. Tommy Joseph left the game early. Jay Floyd (@PhoulBallz) reporting it as a left wrist issue, which is better than a head/concussion issue.

And for CLR, Kuis Paulino pitched pretty well – 1R on 2H, 3BB and 5K. Ethan Martin loaded the bases in the sixth before being pulled –  he was bailed out by Jeb Stefan. Our friend @BaseballBetsy said Martin appeared to be laboring through the inning. Darin Ruf had two hits in his second rehab appearance.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/9/2014 →

XST and Threshers May 9, 2014

Game Reports, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Okay, before I start with the notes from the XST game, let me give you the big news.  Ethan Martin pitched in the Threshers’ game tonight.  He gave up a single and walked 2 batters. He lasted only 2/3 of an inning.  He threw 23 pitches, only 8 for strikes.  Now for the bad news.  He hit 92 only once. (Dunedin’s Florida Exchange Stadium posts the pitch speed.)  He was in the 89-91 range for all of his other fastballs.  After ground balls to first on 3-1 counts for each of the first two batters, he surrendered a single on a 1-0 pitch.  Then he walked the next batter on 4 pitches.  After a visit by Milacki to the visibly aggravated Martin, he ran a deep count before walking his last batter to load the bases.  I’m not so much concerned about his command, the umpire was erratic all night, prompting catcalls from the fans all night.  But the lack of velocity was alarming.

So, let’s finish the Threshers’ report. Darin Ruf started in left field. Continue reading XST and Threshers May 9, 2014 →

Around the System–Corner Infield

Other Stuff

A first look at corner infielders throughout the system.  Next up will be middle infield, early next week.

Lehigh Valley

Maikel Franco, 21, Signed as a free agent in 2010; .215/.280/.322 in 121 AB’s; 2HR 10RBI; 1SB; 8%bb/18%k rates; .222 vs. LHP; .212 vs. RHP; .176 with RISP. 24 games at 3B with 2 errors (.970); 7 games at 1B without an error;  A very disappointing first 6 weeks for Franco, but some recent signs of life to hang onto.  He ultimately will come around, question is how long it takes.

Jim Murphy, 28, Phils 17th round pick in 2006; .277/.354/.482 in 112 AB’s; 4HR 18RBI; 9%bb/23%K rates; .200 vs. LHP; .312 vs. RHP; .273 with RISP; .321 in May.  26 games at 1B without an error; Murphy has been one of the most consistent performers for Lehigh Valley this year swinging a good bat and playing well at 1B.

Reading

Cesar Hernandez, Soon to be 24, Signed as a free agent in 2006; .353/.423/.518 in 85 AB’s; 3HR 13RBI; 1/3 SB; 11%bb/11%k rates; .367 vs. LHP; .345 vs. RHP; .368 with RISP. 14 games at 3B with 7 errors (.829); 7 games at SS with 1 error (.962); 2 games at 2B without an error;  Hernandez has simply scalded the ball since being sent to the minors in mid April.  The Phils have tried to get him acclimated at 3B and that has proven to be an uphill battle with some significant troubles at the hot corner.

Chris Serritella, 24, Phils 4th round pick in 2012; .216/.260/370 in 46 AB’s; 2HR 7RBI; 6%bb/32%k rates.  3 games at 1B with 1 error; Has shown very little in his limited playing time this year. Has been used almost exclusively at DH. Continue reading Around the System–Corner Infield →

Giles, Simon, Galvis to AAA, Brignac to MLB, Camp to FA, and Murray to AA

Transactions

Roster musical chairs continue and Cesar Hernandez still doesn’t have a seat.  Ken Giles moves on up to LHV where he will have to prove that the control is for real and learn to not pitch up in the zone as much (more AAA than AA hitters will crush or lay off those pitches).  Kyle Simon gets another crack at AAA after finding some control in 6.1 AA innings.  Colton Murray finally gets past Clearwater.  Murray is missing less bats this year, so we will see how he holds up against better hitters.  Reid Brignac is a former top prospect (Top 100 2006-2009, #17 in 2006), he is coming off a hot week in AAA and could provide more offense to the bench than Freddy.  Freddy Galvis needs to relearn how to be productive both in the field and at the plate, there is talent, but he hasn’t really had consistent playing time in 2 and a half years.  Shawn Camp will now be looking for a new job.

Is it too early for the return of Cesar Hernandez?

6. Reading, , , , , ,

After the week that was the Great Blue Jay Massacre of 2014, we were bound to see some roster shuffling with the big club. It began with the outrighting of Shawn Camp and the promotion of Luis Garcia, which certainly did not pay any dividends for the team Thursday night.

It continued with the demotion of Freddy Galvis following the Phils’ 12-6 loss, a shock to none considering his hard-to-believe 2-for-42 start to the season. The Phillies will make a corresponding roster move prior to Friday’s game against the Mets, and the team now has a question that needs answering: Is it time for Cesar Hernandez to return? Continue reading Is it too early for the return of Cesar Hernandez? →

Box Score Recap – 5/8/2014

Box Score Recap

Maikel Franco was 2-4 plus a BB, and Reid Brignac hit two three-run home runs in Lehigh Valley’s win over Charlotte. With Freddy Galvis demoted, and Brignac swinging a hot bat, you wonder if maybe that’s the move, especially after Cesar Hernandez was scratched yesterday with a sore groin.

Darin Ruf began his rehab assignment with CLR last night. He walked and struck out in 4PAs. Ken Giles put up 2Ks in a clean inning for Reading. Tommy Joseph seems to be doing fine after his latest concussion scare – he’s hit in four of the five games since he came off the DL. He’s OPSing .905 on the year, though he’s still well under 100 PAs.

And last, but (as they say) certainly not least, J.P. Crawford extends his hit streak to 10 games with his third double in two days. He’s OPSing 1.178 over those ten games. I think he might be pretty good at baseball. He should seriously consider it as a career.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/8/2014 →

XST and Threshers May 8, 2014

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I was all set to watch the Williamsport squad with Denton Keys starting when I went over to see Davis Whitehead warm up for the GCL game. He throws a heavy ball with some movement. He’s 6’4, 240 and reminds me of a thin Joe Blanton. I decided to watch him pitch since I hadn’t seen him since his return from TJ surgery last May. Since I went back and forth between the 2 fields, I don’t have a whole game summary for either game, but rather a few observations of individual players.

David Whitehead. The 34th round pick out of Elon University broke the bat of the first batter he faced but the third baseman air mailed the throw over Luis Encarnacion. The second batter broke his bat on a ball he punched into shallow center. Herlis Rodriguez charged and fired home preventing the runner from scoring. Unfortunately, the cut off man couldn’t handle the throw and the batter was able to take second. The third batter hit a line drive that Olvy Marte missed twice at second. He leaped to glove the ball but couldn’t control it. The ball landed on him as he hit the ground, but again he couldn’t get a handle on it. The runners had to hold. So, after breaking two bats and facing three batter the bases were loaded with no outs instead of a runner on first with two outs. The clean-up hitter lofted a double to left center and the Pirates scored 2 unearned runs. Whitehead’s one inning line was 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K. He deserved a better fate. I left to watch the Williamsport squad and hopefully better defense. Continue reading XST and Threshers May 8, 2014 →

Box Score Recap – 5/7/2014

Box Score Recap

Can we be done with Mookie Betts already? Seriously. Enough.

Jonathan Pettibone and the Iron Pigs bullpen held Charlotte to two runs over 11 innings, with Justin De Fratus, Seth Rosin and Luis Garcia locking down 5.2 of those without allowing a run. It’s weird to see a bunch of right-handed relievers capable of such things. Wonder where the Phils could find a couple guys like that…

Carlos Alonso, Zach Collier, Cameron Perkins and Aaron Altherr each had two hits, while Albert Cartwright had three, as Reading went off for six runs in the sixth inning to take down Portland. Hoby Milner‘s best start of the year gets the job done, though he continues to be homer prone. He’s allowed seven in his last three starts. Less would be better. A revelation, I know.

A rehabbing Ethan Martin worked around two hits to pitch a scoreless sixth for CLR, while Andrew Knapp got his season off to a mixed start, doubling, but striking out three times (less would be better) in his first game as DH after Tommy John Surgery last fall. The Phillies released Chad Carman and sent Justin Parr to XST as part of the roster maneuvering to get Knapp and Willie Carmona on the CLR active roster. Sorry to see Carman go, as he was friendly on social media, and by all accounts, in person. And his dad and I once had a spirited argument about the role of The Red Cross versus local non-profits in disaster relief in the comments on this very website. So there’s that.

And finally, J.P. Crawford had two doubles for Lakewood – he’s now OPSing near .900, though he does currently have one more strikeout than walk on the year. WASHOUT! Drew Anderson took the worst of the Kannapolis offense, surrendering eight runs in 3.2 IP. He left with the bases loaded in the fourth, and Yacksel Rios couldn’t get an out before all three men crossed the plate.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/7/2014 →