Guth Guts Crabs; July 21, 2014

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A day after Mark Leiter shut out the Charlotte Stone Crabs; Jordan Guth pitched 6 strong innings in his longest outing of the season. Guth and 2 of the 3 pitchers who relieved him pitched the Threshers to a 4-3 victory. Art Charles and Brian Pointer provided the offense.

Jordan Guth had been used primarily as a reliever since his call-up to Clearwater last season. He posted a 3-3 record and 6.28 ERA in 26 appearances in 2013. Guth had made 24 relief appearances before making his first start this year on July 4th at Dunedin. He pitched 4 innings and didn’t figure in the decision. The arrival of Cliff Lee for rehab temporarily squeezed Guth out of the rotation. He pitched a hitless 3 innings against Palm Beach on July 13th.

Guth came into the game with a 2.68 ERA and a 1-3 record. He had recorded 4 saves. His problem has been consistency. He had walked 24 and struck out 22 in 38.1 innings.

Tonight Guth pitched 6 innings. He struck out 6 and walked none. He never faced more than 4 batters in an inning. He threw 88 pitches, 60 for strikes. He showed swing-and-miss stuff on 5 of his 6 strike outs. He induced 7 ground ball outs, 3 fly outs, and a pop up. His only blemish was a wind-aided, solo home run in the second inning.  His line –

  • 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K

Guth turned the game over to Lino Martinez in the seventh inning. He recorded a pop up, a walk, and 2 strike outs. Martinez throws hard and gets a lot of strike outs, but his control can be maddening. In his last 10 appearances, he has struck out 25 but walked 12 in 15.2.innings.

Ulises Joaquin made his third appearance since his promotion from Lakewood in the eighth inning. He left with 2 runs scored, 2 on, and 1 out. He had given up 2 hits and issued 2 walks while facing only 5 batters.

Cody Forsythe ended the threat throwing one-pitch to get an inning ending double play. He came out to pitch the ninth inning and recorded his first save with the Threshers. In 9 appearances since his call-up from Lakewood, he has struck out 17 and walked 1 in 13.2 innings. That lone walk came tonight. Finally we can determine his walk to strike out ratio. jk

The Threshers could muster only 4 hits off the Stone Crabs’ pitchers, but they took advantage of their few scoring opportunities. They scored their first run on a sequence out of some other organization’s playbook. Roman Quinn worked a 3-2 walk to start the home first. J.P. Crawford sacrificed him to second. (Yeah, really!) Carlos Ruiz’ gapper was stunted by a strong wind from right, but Art Charles came through with a line drive single to center, more than enough to score Quinn from second.

The Threshers were retired in order in the second through fourth innings. Harold Martinez stroked a one-out single in the fifth inning, but was erased on a steal attempt when the ball skipped away from the catcher. It was ill-advised. The play was reminiscent of the Willie Mays Hayes steal in Major League where he comes up a little short.

The Threshers mounted a 2-out rally in the sixth inning. Crawford worked a 3-2 walk. Ruiz was grazed by an inside pitch to move Crawford into scoring position. By now the wind had died down. The Stone Crabs had been playing their outfield defense shallow, but failed to adjust when the wind changed. Art Charles smashed a ball to dead center that their fielder could not catch up with. The ball ticked off his glove as he dove toward the wall. Charles ended up on third with a triple. Brian Pointer followed with a single to right to provide Guth with a 4-1 lead as he exited the game.

Miscellany –

  • Quinn’s and Crawford’s walks came on 3-2 pitches.
  • Quinn and Crawford both scored after their walks.
  • Ruiz scored after being hit by a pitch.
  • That’s 3 of 4 runs scored by guys who didn’t reach base via a hit.
  • Charles went 2-3 with a run scored and 3 RBIs. He drove in runs with both hits.
  • Pointer went 1-3 with what proved to be the game winning RBI.
  • Ruiz threw out a runner trying to steal second.
  • Gabriel Lino replaced Ruiz in the top of the eighth inning.
  • The Threshers were retired in order in 5 of 8 innings, and only sent 3 batters to the plate when Harold Martinez was thrown out stealing in another inning.
  • Crawford made a nice play charging a ball to his right and throwing out the batter.
  • Quinn looked good retreating on a ball hit directly at him. He made a nice running catch on a ball to his left. He had to stop short when the wind brought the ball back to him.
  • There appeared to be some confusion on a ball toward left-center where both Brandon Short and Quinn pulled up. Quinn bare-handed the bounce and held the runner to a single. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this. I think the left fielders defer to Quinn and Crawford way too much.
  • Forsythe inherited 2 runners and neither scored.

Mark Leiter was named FSL pitcher of the week after his complete game shutout Sunday.

Aaron Nola has been announced as the starter Friday in Jupiter.

 

24 thoughts on “Guth Guts Crabs; July 21, 2014”

  1. Jim Peyton is the opposite of Amaro , thanks again for the good work and introspective I can not find anywhere else

    Thanks Jim

    1. originally above my quote about Jim being the opposite of Amaro , was the Amaro sucks saying well Amaro sucks

  2. What does Guth bring to the mound? Does he have a realistic chance of becoming a “prospect,” or just a filler for the Pharm?

    Answer(s) requested.

  3. Realistically, he’s probably just filler. It appears they gave up on him as a starter last year. The starts this year were out of necessity more so than giving him another try as a starter. But for one night, he put it together for six innings. If he continues to show progress, maybe he solidifies a role as a swingman. But, he’s no Nola, and Nola is seen as a poor use of a 7th overall pick.on this site. So that would make him another KK? Cloyd? Brummett? As for his stuff – over the top fastball taking advantage of his 6’5 frame, change, and an off-speed pitch the announcers decided to call a slurve with slider motion and curve ball speed. I’ll check his velo next appearance.

    1. Don’t mind the insanity. Us old heads realize Nola was the only justifiable player to take at #7 once picks 1-6 shook themelves out.

      1. I think Nola could end up being a perfectly good MLB player and he was probably the pick there. It’s just unfortunate that, this year, there was no Tulwotizki or Kershaw sitting there to be had at #7, but that’s just the luck of the draft process. It’s also unusual for a guy like Crawford to be sitting around at #15, so it’s just a luck of the draw type of thing depending on the year and the teams drafting around you.

        1. Well next year the Phillies may be picking in the top 5…so things are,looking up.

        2. The certainty with which you speak about recent draftees is comical, at best. You speak as if Nola’s future has already been written. You speak as if the Dodgers knew for a fact when they drafted Kershaw that he would be te best pitcher in baseball 8 years later. You speak as if the Rockies knew that when they drafted Tulowitski he would absolutely be an all star major league SS. You speak as if any of these were certain at te time of the draft.

          Comical

          1. I didnt get that at all, The guy was just pointing out that some years there is abundance of high end talent and others years at the seventh pick you take a guy who doesnt have the insane ceiling

            1. Yes, exactly, thank you. And sometimes the people who decide what type of ceiling a prospect has are entirely wrong and the player turns out to be much better than anyone projected or the player improves in ways that nobody foresaw. I’m not dooming Aaron Nola. I hope he’s the second coming of Adam Wainwright.

      2. actually conforyo or zimmer should’ve been in the mix considering phillies lack of hittin prospects. of course they had no pitching prospects either. i would’ve taken a chance on hoffman myself with the recent record of players coming back from that injury.

        1. They were in the mix. Every prospect taken in the first two rounds was, “in the mix”

    2. Check your facts on this…”necessity more so than giving another try?” Explain your insight to this. Announcers have no idea to the pitch they are watching…that is why they call it a slurve. Spend a few dollars and get a radar gun to help them out. Matter of fact, hire an intern, put a camera in center and one behind the plate and show the games. We have to dial in and listen to the opposing announcers half the time since they cannot broadcast the games without losing coverage. Fastball 92-95, slider 87-88, change up 82-84, and now curve ball since starting again around 84-85.

  4. Guth may be a filler but good for him for how hes pitched. Forsythe may be a guy to actually follow and pay attention to.

    1. When I first responded. I had included Forsythe and Pointer as guys to watch after legit prospects Crawford, Quinn, and Nola. Forsythe has pitched well in a SSS and Pointer has been hitting well for 7 weeks now (.370 in June and over .300 in July).

      1. Pointer can do some things. He has some power 9 home runs including a few oppo bombs, he runs ok and can play all 3 outfield spots and play them well. I agree with you !!

  5. I would love to see Jake Fox get a cup of coffee soon. His numbers warrant the move and maybe we’ve found the next Brandon Moss.

    1. Listenng to Fox’s interviews it sounds like he is preparing for a coaching job and not auditioning for a shot at the big leagues. He seems like a smart guy and sounds like he was brought in to mentor the young guys in Reading. A good guy to have for sure.

      1. Fox hasn’t played in the big leagues in about 3 years. He’s a career .237 hitter with a career OPS+ of 87. If he becomes the next Moss at age 32 that would be against the odds, considering Moss is only 30 himself.

  6. I think Guth is just coming into himself. He has all the tools, physic, temperament, intelligence, talent, work ethic, and perseverance. None of which can be taught, must be inherent. My money is on him as a high value prospect.

  7. 6’5 with 95 mph fastball with change up and slider…i heard them talking about now just throwing the curve. Announcers have to understand the pitch in order to call it. Nice Change up is what got him back to starting…

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