38 thoughts on “Box Score Recap – 4/15/2017”

1. Still can’t believe we took JoJo Romero over Bobby Dalbec.

2. 3rd basemen in LKW have been non-existent with the bat. Lucas Williams and Danny Zardon are hitting a combined .091 in 55 ABs. They have 16 Ks and 3 BBs between them. Their combined OPS is in the .230 range. Anyone in XST who can help here?

   1. Cole Stobbe

3. Is JP Crawford not what we thought. At this point SS might be weakest position in organization with Galvis batting < 200 and Crawford < 100. Do we consider trading JP before he is the next Dom Brown.

   1. Too early to call him a bust yet but he needs to start actually hitting the ball pronto. They say he carried over some “bad habits” from AA, so maybe it’ll just take some time to break out of them. But, also, despite their surface similarities there’s not much alike between Crawford and Brown. Yes, they were both our perennial top prospect for years. But Brown actually PRODUCED at AA/AAA, which made his failure at the ML level all the more tragic. If Crawford keeps this up, I don’t think he’ll have garnered the same level of expectation that Brown did, so he fall won’t be as hard/unexpected/frustrating.

      1. First of all, who is “they” that says Crawford carried over bad habits from AA?

         Second, Crawford played 87 games and had 385 PA in AAA in 2016. His hitting wasn’t great (.244/.328/.318), but was at least semi-respectable.

         Third, Crawford turned 22 in Jan 2017. He is quite young for AAA.

         Fourth, I haven’t filed my taxes yet; i.e., it’s EARLY (like 11 games) into the 2017 baseball season. Yes, Crawford is clearly scuffling out of the gate, but at this point in the season, it’s silly to freak out about it. If his BA is still under .200 at the end of May, then maybe it’s time to worry a bit.

         1. I would agree that it’s still early to panic over Crawford. I have two thoughts. 1- I haven’t given up on JP as a prospect and 2- If he’s the “face” of the rebuild as some suggest, then we may be in for a disappointment. Alfaro is in my mind their top prospect when you consider he’s on the threshold of the major league level along with his overall skill set. The Phillies have way too much going for them right now that to hang our hopes on one guy is misguided. Organizational depth and financial muscle are the foundations for this rebuild.

            1. IMO, at this point it’s silly to even suggest that Crawford might be a bust, such as I’ve seen in this thread. These statements appear to be based on, what, an 11 game sample at the start of the 2017 season? It’s ludicrous.

               That said, some of us (including me) thought Crawford might have been rushed a bit from AA to AAA last season. However, I’m not a professional baseball evaluator and don’t see the kid play everyday.

         2. 1. “Phillies director of player development Joe Jordan said before the season that Crawford developed some bad habits at Double-A Reading last season that he carried with him to Triple A” http://www.csnphilly.com/philadelphia-phillies/phillies-mailbag-velasquezs-future-crawfords-slow-start-1b-situation

            2. Everything in context. Sure, he’s young for the league. I get that. But his stats were trending downward toward the end of last season, and, even though it’s early, he obviously hasn’t broken out of this “funk” (and, yes, I know he was injured).

            3. I don’t know your definition of “freaking out”, and perhaps I wasn’t clear enough in my first post, but let me rephrase my intended message: a) It’s too early to call JP a bust b) that said, he needs to hit the ball more (if wanting our top prospect to produce makes me the guy, so be it) c) I wouldn’t compare JP to DB because DB produced way more than JP. For example, here are DB’s splits from 2010 (when he 22 years old, like JP) before he got called up for the first time.

            Reading: 318./.391/.602
            LHV: .346/.390/ .561

            Overall: .327/.391/.589

            Now, obviously, this shows that minor league stats don’t always translate to ML production, so you have to take these things with a grain of salt. What really matters is progress/development. Now, I’ve noticed that JP has been getting more walks in the past couple games, which is encouraging. However, at some point the kid is going to have to produce over a long enough stretch to warrant his being called up.

         3. You really should get working on your taxes, they’re due tomorrow!

      2. In the Great JP Debate, I side with patience. It is very early in the year. On the other hand, this is a continuation of last season. Maybe I’m being wishful, but he appears to be coming out of it a little the past three games, drawing walks again, cutting down on Ks and getting some good swings to go long with the weak ones.

         Meanwhile, Nick Williams showed what a couple good days can do in the stat department this early in the season.

         I liked that Quinn stayed in the game after hitting the outfield wall and then got a key hit.

         Finally, for consistency and impact, ya gotta love Hoskins and Kingery so far.

   2. This is clearly the biggest development (or lack thereof) so far this season. It’s early but come May 1 and JP is still languishing at the plate, the FO would have to be thinking about ‘plan B’ at SS. And it isn’t Freddy Galvis, either. Ok for now but he’s a long term utility player.

      The current imbalance at the keystone leaves me to ask “what to do about our feast at 2b and famine at SS”. Count ’em, 4 deep at 2b. Brito has played SS. Hernandez also has on rare occasions. (Didn’t he also play CF a few years ago?) One of these guys will likely be traded if they all continue their development.

      In the meantime, let’s hope Crawford snaps out of it.

      Happy Easter!

      1. One idea – since LHV is off until Tues, have JP hang out with Matt Stairs for a couple days to see if he can redirect his focus at the plate.

      2. Which 2b is most likely to be trade bait ?? cesar, valentin, kingery???

         1. I would say Cesar, but we would have to be absolutely blown away by the deal. Cesar won’t be 28 until next month, and his WAR is trending in the right direction the last few years. He won’t be a FA untl 2021.

            1. 27 – he’s 26 now.

         2. Cesar is the most likely trade bait since he’s the most proven of the 3 right now. Valentin or Kingery would only be traded as part of a bigger deal involving multiple players..

4. Hanging out with Matt Stairs? Maybe if the big club was actually hitting well.

   1. Yeah I don’t know why ppl are making it seem like Stairs is the best hitting coach in the history of baseball.

5. Fanti keeps on going.
   For a guy who many analysts I read, believe he has ordinary stuff he seems to continue to get outs.

   1. Like a left handed Ben Lively?

      1. Perhaps…but five years younger.
         And RHPs and LHPs are like oranges and nectarines.

   2. That is one of my guys romus. He lacks velocity. but this kid had a fabulous high school career. since last year i been trying to get a reading if he increased his velocity.

      1. rocco….one of the posters saw him on Monday nite in Hagerstown and had him guessed in the low 90s.since there was no gun at that stadium.

6. Asher had great start for Balt. yesterday, Cedric Hunter signed minor with Reds.

   1. Wayne he in plain english , stinks. Asher is a hitting machine.

7. How loud are the footsteps behind him getting for Tommy Joseph??? R.H.

8. The following comment is from Catch22hman. For some reason it went to the Spam Folder. My approving it will just post it in the Box Score Report for 4/13. He put too much thought and work into it to just post it there, so I am copying it here too –

   “Okay, lots of interesting posts today, so here is my take.

   1. Let’s not take the first week or so of the minor league season out of context, no less one rough day at the plate. Many guys who are doing poorly now will turn it around and several who are doing great will struggle. Sample size people. Sample Size.

   2. I enjoy watching replays of games on MilbTV when I can because you learn so much more from seeing these guys than you do from reading a box score. Crawford’s struggles are unexpected and they are interesting. His bat control and strike zone judgment are still elite – that’s not going to change – and we hear his fielding is excellent too – that also should not change. His approach as a hitter is a little strange. My guess is that he is trying to do way too much at the plate – trying to change himself into more of a power hitter overnight and it isn’t going so well. Having seen him several times over the last year, I have to say that J.P.’s stance and approach are kind of defensive; designed more for straight contact and fouling off balls, than hitting long drives. When he tries to use the same stance and approach to drive the ball, it seems like he takes too long to get to the ball. Personally, I think he could use time with a guy like Matt Stairs to figure out what he needs to do. Sooner or later, he’s such a great athlete that I think he’ll figure it out, but, for now, while I wouldn’t say that I’m worried, I am definitely concerned because his struggles didn’t start this April.

   3. Regardless of what you think of our hitting, there are many reasons to be happy about some of our pitchers. Sixto is striking out a ton of guys as an 18 year-old at Lakewood, and the Clearwater rotation is very encouraging.

   4. The more I watch baseball, the more convinced I become that the most difficult things for a hitter to improve upon is the “hit” tool and strike zone judgment. If you’re a hitter and you struggle with either of these skills it’s going to be awfully difficult for you to make the majors and have a productive big league career. But if you are decent at both, you have a good shot – which is why I’m pretty bullish on Rhy Hoskins and Kingery and am nowhere near “worried” about Crawford (elite strike zone judgment and, for all his recent struggles, he does have a solid hit tool); and of course, both Moniak and Brito – who, if early signs are correct, appear to do both quite well. And if you’re not good at one, you’d better be damned good at the other, have great power or strong secondary skills, or play a premiere defensive position, which is why I think Alfaro should be fine (has elite raw catching skills, plus raw power and a decent hit tool, although his strike zone judgment is mediocre) and which is why Aaron Altherr could still turn into something . Nick Williams and Dylan Cozens are going to be up against it in AAA and, if they get that far, the major leagues. Cozens has so much power and holds his own well enough as a fielder, that he could profile just fine as a platoon corner outfielder because he could hit 30 homers a year in a part time role – but he’s not there yet. For Nick Williams to be a solid major league player he MUST improve his strike zone judgment by quite a lot. If he hit for a really high average or was a prodigious power hitter, he could make up, at least in part, for the strike zone judgment issues – but he hasn’t shown those skills as AAA, and I’m not sure he has them.

   5. Every day I have differing thoughts on the Cole Hamels trade. It is becoming increasingly clear that how we think about the trade in retrospect will likely turn on how good of a player Jorge Alfaro becomes, although Jarred Eickhoff has certainly done his share in assuring (at least thus far), that the trade will probably not be a full blown disaster.

   My initial fears regarding the trade, however, are closer than ever to coming to fruition. My view of this is that when you trade a star player at the height of his abilities (as Hamels was at the time they traded him), you better get a future star in return for that player, and hopefully, another player who has the possibility of reaching that level or at least being well above average. If you can get two other players who have that upside, that’s great. But don’t forget the cardinal rule – you must get a player you feel is going to be elite or very close to elite.

   The Phillies, however, tried to use that one trade as a panacea – not pushing the Rangers for at least one of their top 3 prospects and, instead, taking volume over quality.

   In these important trades, taking volume over quality is a recipe for disaster. Two of the worst trades I ever saw were where teams traded their star pitcher – Seaver and Schilling – for 5 less than elite, advanced prospects and young major leaguers and tried to fix all of their problems at once. Both trades were utter disasters. Now, I think the players the Phillies received in exchange were better than what was sent in those trades but for Hamels, Diekman (who is valuable in his own right) and swallowing that huge bad Matt Harrison contract, they absolutely, positively should have received an elite, grade A prospect. Give me a break – the Mets received an elite prospect for half of a season of Carlos Beltran and received an elite prospect (now elite player – Syndegaard) and near elite prospect for R.A. Dickey. The Nationals sent better prospects to the White Sox for Adam Eaton.

   The situation, of course, is still in flux. Oberholzer and Asher are gone – they were effectively useless and valueless. Eickhoff is a good pitcher – way better than anyone expected – so that’s good and if he continues to be a solid “3” that will help justify the deal. Williams, I think, will not turn into a productive player – I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think so. Thompson is an unknown (but massively disappointed me when I saw him pitch – how does the lead pitcher in a trade like that not hit 94 MPH on a radar gun?). So, Jorge, it’s up to you – don’t disappoint us!”

   1. Not sure if it was mentioned, but Oberholzer was the Giles trade from Houston, not the Hamels deal Nevertheless, he fell below the bar.

      1. Thanks for the correction and agreed. The fifth guy was Harrison – a salary dump, not a viable player.

   2. Regarding the Hamels trade, Oberholtzer wasn’t part of that; he was in the Velasquez deal. I agree that when we look back on it years from now, our satisfaction will probably hinge on Alfaro’s future.

      Still, it’s important to remember what the information was that we had at the time. Thompson was looking like more of a power pitcher with a plus fastball and, depending who you listened to, a plus-plus slider. Now he looks like a guy with back-end starter stuff. Pitchers are weird. Williams was an arguable top 30 prospect who was showing improvement in his biggest area of weakness.

      To look back at the Mets’ Dickey trade; Syndergaard had just finished his time in the Midwest League. He was no sure thing to become an ace and, iirc at the time, was seen as having more of a #2 starter ceiling. He’s probably beaten his most optimistic realistic projections.

   3. Agree about the quality v. quantity comparison. The Phillies wanted to re-stock the farm system and basically said just that. Similar to the Cliff Lee trade. It is great to have winning teams in the farm system but the ultimate goal is to produce elite major league players who help the team win a World Series.

   4. looks like spam to me :)… Just kidding Catch…

9. Some notes from being at the second Lakewood game.

   1. Nick Fanti has serious swing-and-miss stuff. The run-scoring double was the only well-hit ball off him the whole night (as well as the only hit. His curve is wicked, and he controls it at least half the time.

   2. Mickey Moniak was getting special attention from the trainer during warm-ups, and then was DH. Maybe something happened in the first game? Also, his “steal” was the back end of the double steal where Duran got thrown out , and it wasn’t close. Duran and Brito apparently are graduates of the Cesar Hernandez School of Base-running.

   3. The Grasshoppers catcher, Alex Jones, made a couple of really nice plays. He caught Brito leaning in the first, cut down Duran twice, and made the defensive play of the game diving to catch a foul pop-up. Not bad for a non-drafted free agent!

   4. Alex Wojo is pretty fast for a big guy.

   5. The Oyster Po-boys are pretty good.

   6. The BlueClaws bullpen has something going on with feeding some sort of dinosaur toy.

   1. Thanks erich on that report.
      Good to read some eyewitness accounts on Fanti.
      Once he gets some leeway on a higher pitch count, the third time thru a lineup will be a truer test for him.
      Any readings on his velo from the park gun, if it was working?

      1. I was at 3 of the last 4 Lakewood games. The park gun only works once in a while and I’m not sure about its accuracy. They had Fanti at 92 and 90 the few times it was on. The gun had Sanchez at 92 and 98 (once) which is why I have my doubts about the park gun.

         Lakewood has little hitting without Darrick Hall and Gamboa. Hall was participating in warmups but wasn’t running close to full speed so I don’t know when he will be back.

         Really good pitching depth in the organization. Everything being equal I would like to see a bat drafted again in June. I still question how many of the organization bats will be quality major league hitters.

         BTW, really love Brito. Only 19 and I can see why Joe Jordan thinks he may be the most advanced hitter at least in the Phillies low minor system.

         Mickey Mo is right where he belongs. Let him stay in Lakewood and get at least 400 at bats. Would love to see Cole Stobbe at Lakewood. 400 ab’s there would be a huge career boost for the kid.

10. When is someone going to suggest that Crawford needs to be sent back to Reading for a wakeup call and straighten himself out……I’ll WAIT

    1. #toosoon

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