Maikel Franco 2-3 with a double and a walk (wait, a walk?!?!?). Which is more surprising, Franco walking or Tony Gwynn Jr. hitting a home run? It’s the home run, but it shouldn’t be as close as it is. Logan Moore (4) and Jake Fox (22) went deep for Reading. Six CLR guys had multi-hit games and every starter had a hit except Brian Pointer, who drew two walks and stole a base, as the Threshers came from behind to beat Tampa in 11 innings. Roman Quinn was a late scratch. We’ll see if that was just an off-day they decided on late or if there’s something more going on.

Seven Ks for Jon Prosinski in a good outing for Lakewood. Mitch Walding hit his seventh home run. His August was respectable after a scalding July. Don’t give up all hope yet, I suppose, but take any success this year with a grain of salt, as he was repeating the league. Two hits a piece for Cord Sandberg and Jose Pujols as they got blanked by State College.

And a nice one from Denton Keys. His August – 5R 2ER on 20H 5BB 18K in 23 IP. He didn’t allow a home run all year and is third in the league in ERA and fifth in WHIP with just one day left for anyone to change those rankings. Good season for the late signing 2013 draft pick. The GCL club was eliminated from playoff contention yesterday. The Phils had a rain-out on the 16th and it won’t be made up, so while they’re only a game down in the loss column, NY1 is two up in the win column and clinched the division’s only playoff spot. Had they tied, a one game playoff would have occurred, but it just was not in the cards for the Phils. A bummer for those guys, I imagine, especially if they win and NY1 loses today. They should just  tank to they don’t suffer from “what-if”s all winter long.

Ok, probably teaching young guys to tank isn’t wise. I’ll admit that.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/27/2014 →

Maikel Franco again – grand slam on his 22nd birthday. He’s the King of August this year. Mike Adams worked a rehab inning for Lehigh Valley. So that’s something. Sounds like Kelly Dugan is out for the rest of the year with a broken bone in his foot. Bummer. Seven shutout innings for Ryan O’Sullivan. He’s done alright as a starter. We’ll see what they let him do in the AFL – he may be innings limited, but if they really want to see how he handles a good roster the second time through, starting him there would be a way to do it. Brian Pointer was 2-4 for CLR. Dylan Cozens hit his 16th home run of the year. Playing half his games in that Lakewood hitting environment, that’s pretty good.

Seven Crosscutters had multi-hit games, led by Jia Tromp’s 3-4 with a double and a walk. Cord Sandberg took the collar. 0-6. A good outing there from Feliberto Sanchez. 7H 0BB 5K in 5.2 scoreless IP. And nice work by two NDFAs for GCL – Jason Zgardowski and Josh Taylor combined to allow just 1R 5H 2BB and 13Ks in beating the Yankees1 squad to come within 1 game of a first place tie. Two games remaining in that league.

And Arizona Fall League Rosters were announced yesterday. The Phillies have six guys on the list, with one pitcher to be determined. Roman Quinn and Ethan Stewart make up the A ball contingent, with Ryan O’Sullivan, Colton Murray, Nefi Ogando and Logan Moore from AA. No AAA guys were announced, but I’m guessing you could see Ethan Martin from the Pigs, or Seth Rosin from Reading. Matt suggested Austin Wright on Twitter yesterday, and that could be a possibility, too, I suppose, or someone seen as less prospecty like Mike Nesseth or Tyler Knigge. Either way, Quinn’s the headline, and getting Ogando is interesting because it means his Dom Rep Winter team had to allow him to go to AFL – they have right of refusal.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/26/2014 →

Maikel Franco hit his 15th home run of the year off a good prospect in A.J. Cole Hmm…been starting a lot of posts with “Maikel Franco” lately. That’s a good sign. Kelly Dugan’s been out two days in a row now. That’s the opposite of a good sign. Haven’t heard about it, hopefully he’s just dinged up and will be back shortly.

Three hits and three strikeouts in three innings for Edubray Ramos for WIL. His ERA is sliding down to near 1.00. And GCL lost to the rival Yankees to fall two games back of the Bombers’ affiliate in the playoff hunt. The 7-2 score could have been worse, but the Phils managed two double plays and three pick-offs. Three games left in their regular season. Not looking good for a playoff berth there.

Just FYI – there’s a good conversation about historically lousy Phillies pitchers going in the General Discussion thread. Head on over there to join in.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/25/2014 →