Daily Archives: July 11, 2014

Around the System, OF–Lakewood, Williamsport, GCL

Other Stuff

Definite reasons for optimism at the lower levels, which to a degree makes up for next to nothing at the higher levels in the OF.  Next up will be corner infield.

Lakewood

Carlos Tocci, 18, SIgned as a free agent in 2011; .238/.291/.307 in 323 AB’s; 0HR 20RBI; 4/13SB; 4%bb/18%k rates; .325 vs. LHP; .208 vs. RHP; .214 with RISP; .252 since June 1. 83 games in the OF with 3 errors (.986); 5 OF assists; Certainly improved over last year, now with well over 800 plate appearances for Lakewood over 2 years.  Still very young, the offense will have to continue to improve if Tocci is going to become a viable major leaguer.Plenty of time.

Dylan Cozens, 20, Phils 2nd round pick in 2012; .238/.296/.405 in 341 AB’s; 11HR 37RBI; 16SB; 8%bb/26%k rates; .271 vs. LHP; .221 vs. RHP; .176 with RISP; Hitting .350 in July thus far; Just over a year older than Tocci, Cozens avg and obp are almost identical, however Cozens is showing a huge power and speed tool.  There is plenty of reason for excitement in my opinion.  Needs to shorten his swing and strike out less, but to an extent, that is the price you pay for power. 79 games in the OF with 6 errors (.979); 7 OF assists. Continue reading Around the System, OF–Lakewood, Williamsport, GCL →

Box Score Recap – 7/10/2014

Box Score Recap

Some roster notes for you – Grady Sizemore was called up to the bigs and David Buchanan was optioned to make a 25-man spot for him. The Phils won’t need Buchanan for a while, especially if Cliff Lee is back July 19 as many people are predicting/reporting, (Matt Gelb being the one that sticks in my head as first reporting it as fact, rather than rumor or speculation, but I could be wrong on who had that scoop). Lee went to the 60-day DL to make a 40-man spot for Sizemore, but he’s eligible to return 7-18, so there’s a cut coming next weekend. I’ll guess it’s Tony Gwynn Jr., if they don’t go ahead and pull the trigger on a trade before then, or they could option someone and cut maybe Luis Garcia, I guess. I don’t think Jon Pettibone is eligible to go on the 60-day DL since he’s on the minor league DL right now, not the major league. That, my friends, is a dumb rule.

As for Thursday’s action, Cam Perkins was 2-5 with a triple, his second multi-hit game in a row, as he tried to bust out of his seemingly-endless AAA slump. The Lehigh Valley and Reading bullpens worked a combined eight innings of scoreless ball. Well done. Two more XBH for Brian Pointer, he’s OPSing near .750 now. Wonder if they’d challenge him shortly with a promotion to AA. He’s only been successful at A+ for about 100PAs, so they might still want to get him a little more experience. There’s only seven weeks left in the minor league season, so decisions like may come soon.

Every Lakewood Blueclaw save Carlos Tocci had a hit, led by two a piece from Willians Astudillo and Zach Green. Green’s been good lately – he’s got 16 hits in his last 10 games, five for XBH, and an OPS of .935 over that time. He’s nearly halved his K rate from over 30% last year to about 17% this year in what’s a reasonable ~170 PA sample. not bad. Jia Tromp (7) and Jan Hernandez (4) went deep for Williamsport, and catcher Sean McHugh from Purdue had his first three pro hits. Mitch Gueller was good again – that makes three in a row. He’s struck out 11 and walked just four over his last 18 innings as he tried to figure it out. If he gets comfortable with his pitches and amps up the velocity a little, as Mitch Rupert has reported the club feels is possible, you could see the Ks increase as well. We shall see.

GCL finished off the game that was suspended Wednesday, and played another. Freddy Galvis, Clete Thomas and Tommy Joseph all rehabbed in that second game. @BaseballBetsy reported that Joseph’s wrist was heavily wrapped, though he was behind the plate and not otherwise limited, so that’s good to hear. Franklyn Kilome’s been getting some interest and mentions on Twitter – the 19-year-old RHP seems like someone to watch as he gets stretched out.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/10/2014 →