Lehigh Valley

Elvis Arajuo, 24, Signed as a free agent in 2015; 3 games, 0-0 with a 4.15ERA; 4.1IP 3H 2ER 2BB 6K; After accruing a 5.87ERA and 1.91WHIP in 27 appearances with the Phillies, Arajuo was sent down to Lehigh Valley to gain command of his pitches.

Luis Garcia, 29, Signed as a free agent in 2013; 29 games, 6-1 with a 2.57ERA; 1SV; 35IP 24H 18BB 33K; .202 opp avg; 1.20WHIP; 2.37 GO/AO; 4.6BB/8.5K per 9; .167 vs LHH, .217 vs RHH, ,217 opp avg last 30 days; Garcia has thrown well for Lehigh Valley this year with the exception of a walk rate that is too high.

Frank Herrmann, 32, SIgned as a free agent in 2016; 15 games, 4-1 with a 2.45ERA; 18.1IP 15H 5BB 16K; .214 opp avg; 1.09WHIP; 0.50 GO/AO; 2.4BB/7.9K per 9; .130 vs LHH, .255 vs RHH, .152 last 30 days; Herrmann has thrown well this year after missing the firsy month plus injured.  His reverse splits are eye opening.

Phil Kline, 27, Signed off waivers in 2016; 12 games between AAA Round Rock and Lehigh Valley; 3.22ERA; 22.1IP 21H 7BB 19K; .241 opp avg; 1.25WHIP; 0.92 GO/AO; 2.8BB/7.7K per 9; .313 vs LHH, .200 vs RHH, .200 opp avg last 30 days; Picked up off waivers from Texas in early June, Klein has given Lehigh Valley solid bullpen depth with major league experience.

Michael Mariot, 27, SIgned as a free agent in 2015; 16 games with Lehigh Valley; 2.86ERA; 22IP 12H 9BB 14K; .162 opp avg; 0.95WHIP; 0.85 GO/AO; 3.7BB/5.7K per 9; .281 vs LHH, .071 vs RHH, .171 opp avg last month; .308 opp avg with RISP; Mariot missed the first portion of the season injured but has been extremely effective for Lehigh Valley without overpowering the opposition.

Edward Mujica, 32, Signed as a free agent in 2016; 34G, 3.65ERA; 21SV; 37IP 41H 3BB 26K; .273 opp avg; 1.19WHIP; 1.02 GO/AO; 0.7BB/6.3K per 9; .305 vs LHH, .253 vs RHH, .222 opp avg last month; 1.59ERA and 0.79 WHIP over last 10 games.  After two awful appearances to start the year, Mujica has been extremely consistent and leads the IL in saves,

Colton Murray, 26, Phils 13th round pick in 2011; 11G; 5.28ERA; 15.1IP 14H 6BB 18K; .241 opp avg; 1.30WHIP; 1.17 GO/AO; 3.5BB/10.6K per 9; .316 vs LHH, .205 vs RHH, .211 last 30 days; Murray was sent down two weeks ago from Philadelphia and has allowed 2ER in 5IP in his 5 games since arriving back in Allentown

Dailier Hinojosa, 30, Acquired off waivers from Red Sox in 2015; 5G; 1.80ERA; 5IP 3H 1ER 4K; Hinojosa was optioned to Lehigh Valley just last week after completing his rehab coming off his early season injury with the Phils.  He is a guy that showed quite a bit of promise late in the 2015 season with the Phils.

DL: Jimmy Cordero

Reading

Jeremy Bleich, 29, Signed as a free agent in 2016; 29G; 4.24ERA; 40.1IP, 49H 14BB 24K; .299 opp avg; 1.56 WHIP; 2.29 GO/AO; 3.1BB/5.3K per 9; .302 vs LHH, .306 vs RHH, .377 opp avg last 30 days; Bleich is an arm that is generally used to eat innings and isnt used in may high leverage situations.

Mario Hollands, 27, Phils 10th round pick in 2010; 14G between Lehigh Valley and Reading; 3.74ERA; 21.2IP 27H 7BB 18K; 2.9BB/7.5K per 9; 5.02ERA and 1.74 WHIP in last 10 appearances; It has been a challenge for Hollands in returning from his arm injury that cost him 2015.

Gregory Infante, 28, Signed as a free agent in 2016; 24G between LV and Reading; 3.24ERA; 41.2IP 37H 25BB 34K; .253 opp avg; 1.49 WHIP; 0.98 GO/AO; 5.4BB/7.3K per 9; Infante has been skating away without too much damage but his control caused his demotion to Reading and has not been much better with the Fightins.

Hoby Milner, 25, Phils 7th round pick in 2012; 28G; 1.62ERA; 39IP 27H 9BB 43K; .193 opp avg; 0.92whip; 1.18 GO/AO; 2.1BB/9.9K per 9; .192 vs LHH, .233 vs RHH, .255 opp avg last month; Milner has thrown very well this year, with a hiccup or two as of late.

Miguel Nunez, 23, Signed as a free agent in 2009; 30G between CW and Reading; 2.41ERA; 13SV; 33.2IP 26H 16BB 43K; .217 opp avg; 1.25 WHIP; 0.80 GO/AO; 4.3BB/11.5K per 9; .208 v LHH, .238 v RHH; .175 opp avg last 30 days; Nunez is progressing quite well with occasional control issues that need to be kept in check.  Projects in the back end of the Phils 2018 bullpen.

Alexis Rivero, 21, Signed as a free agent in 2012; 28G between CW and Reading; 2.87ERA; 6SV; 37.2IP 30H 12BB 40K; .214 opp avg; 1.12 WHIP; 0.95 GO/AO; 2.9BB/9.6K per 9; After 23 games for the Threshers where he had a microscopic 1.13ERA and .162 opp avg; Rivero was promoted to AA and has had all kinds of difficulties with the transition thus far. In 5 games with the Fightins, Rivero’s ERA is 12.71 and opponents are hitting well over .400 against him.

Joely Rodriguez, 23, Acquired from Pittsburgh in 2015; 31G between Clearwater and Reading; 1.77ERA; 4SV; 45.2IP 33H 13BB 44K; .213 opp avg; 1.01 WHIP; 2.57 GO/AO; 2.6BB/8.7K per 9; .186 vs LHH, .262 vs RHH, .214 opp avg last 30 days; Rodriguez continues his successful transformation into reliever having alot of success in Reading.  I expect him in Allentown soon.

DL: Tom Windle

A look at organizational leaders in the important categories: Williamsport not included as its too early in their season.

Runs: Dylan Cozens (70), Rhys Hoskins (58), Scott Kingery (49); Jesmuel Valentin (44), Roman Quinn (44), Nick WIlliams (44); JP Crawford (42), Taylor Featherston (41), Jorge Alfaro (41), Jiandido Tromp (40); Jake Fox (39)

Hits: Rhys Hoskins (88),Josh Tobias (87);  Dylan Cozens (87), Scott Kingery (83); Carlos Tocci (80);  Nick WIlliams (80), Jesmuel Valentin (78), Taylor Featherston (76), JP Crawford (73)

2B: Scott Kingery (25); Dylan Cozens (25), Jiandido Tromp (23); Jake Fox (20), Rhys Hoskins (19), Josh Tobias (19); Nick WIlliams (18), Brock Stassi(16), Taylor Featherston (16)

3B: Darnell Sweeney (4); Nick WIlliams (4), Taylor Featherston (4), Jesmuel Valentin (4), ROman Quinn (4); Malquin Canelo (4); Mitch Walding (4)

HR: Dylan Cozens (23), Rhys Hoskins (22), Jake Fox (15), Jose Pujols (14); Jiandido Tromp (12); Kyle Martin (11); Zach Green (10); Jorge Alfaro (10), Darin Ruf (9), Taylor Featherston (9)

RBI: Dylan Cozens (68), Rhys Hoskins (68), Jake Fox (50), Josh Tobias (48); Kyle Marn (47); Zach Green (47); Jose Pujols (45); Jorge Alfaro (44), Mitch Walding (39); Nick WIlliams (39),

BB: JP Crawford (49), Dylan Cozens (41), Brock Stassi (37), Mitch Walding (31); Jesmuel Valentin (30)

K: Jose Pujols (107); Dylan Cozens (102), Mitch Walding (83); Rhys Hoskins (80); Nick WIlliams (77), Jan Hernandez (72);  Zach Green (68); Kyle Martin (67); Taylor Featherston (66), Andy Knapp (64)

SB: Roman Quinn (25); Scott Kingery (21); Dylan Cozens (14); Carlos Tocci (11); JP Crawford (10), Grenny Cumana (10); Jiandido Tromp (10); Darnell Sweeney (8)

OBP: Zach Coppola (.392); KC Serna (.380), Brock Stassi (.372), Josh Tobias (.371); JP Crawford (.364), Dylan Cozens (.364); Roman Quinn (.361), Scott Kingery (.360); Jesmuel Valentin (.356), Cedric Hunter (.352)

AVG: Zach Coppola (.345); Cedric Hunter (.315), Andrew Pullin (.313); Josh Toias (.300); Jorge Alfaro (.296); Wilson Garcia (.294); KC Serna (.292), Rhys Hoskins (.289); Jesmuel Valentin (.288), Roman Quinn (.288) Continue reading Organization Leaders →

With their 3-2 win on Friday, Lehigh Valley is now 2-3 on their seven game home stand which concludes on Sunday after two more games against Charlotte.  Over the last six weeks, the ‘Pigs are 32-18 and are 47-35 overall, good for 3rd place in the Northern Division of the International League, 3 games behind division leading Scranton. In the wild card race, Lehigh Valley sits just 0.5 games behind Rochester for the wild card spot.  AFter finishing their series against CHarlotte, Lehigh Valley heads to Scranton for a quick two game series before returning home for two games against Rochester.

News and Notes: Jake Thompson has made six consecutive quality starts.

–C Andy Knapp, OF Cam Perkins and P Edward Mujica were all named to the IL ALL Star game upcoming July 13th in Charlotte.

–Over the last 10 games, the ‘Pigs bullpen has allowed just 2 ER in 26.2IP.  Edward Mujica, leading the bullpen corps has converted 11 straight save opportunities.

—Cedric Hunter remains very hot for Lehigh Valley hitting .348 over his last 26 games with 14RBI in those contests.

—Anthony Vasquez is tied for 4th in MILB in wins with 9 between Reading and Lehigh Valley.

–Since June 8th, P Frank Herrmann has made 8 appearances and allowed a lone run in 10IP.

—Cam Perkins has been slumping badly going 2 for his last 26.

—Darin Ruf continues performing at the AAA level hitting for both average and power, with a .326 average in his last 34 games, to go along with a .581 slg %.

–In his last 18 games, RP Luis Garcia is 6-0 with a 1.23ERA (22IP/3ER)

—Emmanuel Burriss has played well since being sent down from Philadelphia hitting in 13 of his 15 starts (.297)

–Taking the loss Monday, Ben Lively lost for the first time in his last 23 starts, spanning almost a year.

–In his last 7 starts, David Buchanan is 1-3 with a 5.95ERA.

‘Pigs prospects: JP Crawford has hit in 15 of his last 19 games, hitting .329 over that span to raise his average to .243 since joining the ‘Pigs.  On the year, Crawford is at .254/.362/.338 between Reading and Lehigh Valley with 3HR 24RBI and 10SB.  He has played 74 games at SS with 9 errrors this year (.975).

Nick WIlliams has been playing well when not benched, having hit safely in 14 of his last 15 games (.306, HR, 8RBI, 8R).  Since JP Crawford arrived on May 20th, WIlliams has hit .319 with 5HR and 21RBI. Over his 275AB, Williams is at .287/.329/.469 with 8HR 39RBI to go along with 5SB.  WIlliams is hitting .272 vs LHP and .295 vs RHP.

Next report: Jake Thompson, Ben Lively, Andy Knapp

‘Pigs Probables: Sun: Russell; Mon: Buchanan; Tue: Vasquez; Wed: Thompson

‘Pigs league leaders, Hitting:Nick Williams is 6th in runs (44), 8th in strikeouts (77) and 8th in SLG (.469); ; Tyler Featherston is 8th in runs (41) and  6th in triples (4); Brock Stassi is 7th in walks (36) and 6th in OBP (.374). Pitching: Luis Garcia is 6th in wins (6); Jake Thompson is 7th in ERA (2.76), 2nd in IP (97.2) and tied for the league lead in starts (16); Edward Mujica is 3rd in games (33) and leads the league in saves(21); Zach Eflin leads the league in WHIP (0.88)

Transactions: Comings: P Phil Klein (claimed off waivers), P Elvis Arajuo (from Phillies); Goings: P Edubray Ramos (promoted to Philadelphia)