74 thoughts on “Box Score Recap – 7/22/2017”

1. Jim – I live for these daily updates. This is the first and last stop I make everyday. I don’t know how you do it but you need to know how much I appreciate your efforts. Thank you!

2. I posted this in the last box score recap late so wanted to move it here.

   Why hasn’t anyone brought up the fact that several scouts have said that something has happened to Crawford’s D . . . It’s been labeled average at best but closer to below average (recently). If that is the case then what is he? In my honest opinion his hit tool wasn’t really expected to be elite (and at the AAA level it’s been exposed as average to below average), his carrying tool was more so his approach and D. If his D has regressed to average/below average, what is he? Not an all star or even close, certainly not your future SS either) And wouldn’t Galvis be the better option? I dunno, I’ve never been a believer in Crawford so maybe my opinion is skewed.

   Don’t get me wrong, I really hope I am wrong. I never want to see any of our guys fail but i’m also not going to hide my opinion.

   1. Well he can and has played Elite defense . Yes some scouts were down on his overall play . His hit tool was question this yr. When he had a minor injury he made an adjustment on his swing . His slash last line since June 20 is .300/.389/.582 does he keep it up ? I don’t think many young SS lose there Elite Defensive ability at a young age for no reason.

      1. I Never heard of a Defense going down as you move up. If you can field you can field. hitting is a different story. Better pitching can expose your weakness. but fielding, I sorry that is a joke to say he was elite now he isn’t, unless he torn up a knee and lost some speed .or movement. Elite defense doesn’t go away as you move up. just like you don’t lose speed as you move up. some where there is a problem with the scouting report from when he signed or now.

         1. Hey man i’m not a scout, just repeating what other scouts have said, they know more than I do. Also i’m not sure why you can’t lose a certain skill set. As you move up everything speeds up and gets tougher. I realize that this is usually relegated to the offensive side but see no reason why it can’t happen on the defensive side as well.

            Tim – I’ve heard scouts say this specifically about his defense, that it just isn’t what they saw prior to him moving to AAA.

            Galvis has a leg up in in D, Arm and power (and he’s doing it at the highest level). Leadership as well however I guess you can’t say Crawford ISN’T a leader but at the same time can’t say he is one yet either. Crawford has a better approach. Speed is prob close to the same. Let’s assume for the sake of my question that If what scouts are saying is correct about his D, what is he?

            1. Galvis is gold glove good on defense, Crawford has excellent range, glove, and arm but right now not as good as Galvis. However that said there is not a big step down on defense from Galvis to Crawford with Crawford’s upside on defense as a gold glover. Galvis has more power with Crawford showing at least decent pop. The areas where the big differences are right now is Crawford gets more hits (I know his BA is low but it is climbing), walks more with great eye, and great OBP. Anyone notice how he has improved with Kingery now up?

               1. You say that but scouts are saying a lot different, they say that he is closer to a BELOW AVERAGE defensive SS than even an average one . . . We listen to scouts when they say positive things about our guys, we shouldn’t brush off what they say just Bc it’s not what we want to hear.

               2. The most recent reports from 2 scouts (I believe it was) were the first ones to say any negatives on his defense. Up until that point they were all saying soft hands good range and strong arm equaling above average. I’ve read those recent reports and I have no idea why the negativity on that all of a sudden, I can understand the negative offense comments. The good scout reports on defense very likely outweigh the bad.

            2. He is a grade 65 field prior to 2017.

            3. Eric,

               Can it be the groin injury earlier this season cost him some range and now he’s okay?

               1. His Range/Factor per Game is at its lowest this season, then in his career…that could have been the issue.
                  But then again…Andrellton Simmons had a .958 Fldg% when he was 21 years old in AA ball with almost 30 errors committed….. and he was also out of college as a shortstop….and within three years he was considered one of the best defensive shortstops in the game.
                  IMO…..all the JPC negative hype about his defense…..as they say in the vernacular, just ‘fake news’
                  How can a guy from plus defense ratings for three years then in the tank in 80 games……the injury perhaps , and a little of lack of focus and perhaps disgust with his early offensive struggles.

            4. I happen to like Galvis. What’s wrong with gold glove SS with some pop? I also like to read the discussions about traditional stats vs sabre metrics, grades, what the scouts say, what the front office says, etc. BUT this is a 22 yr old kid playing against mostly older talent. Did he lose focus? Is he taking his poor offense out to the field? did his grandmother just pass away? did he just break up with a long time girlfriend? is he dealing with a nagging injury? Just to be clear, I’m not saying any of these things have happened, but baseball doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Any comment made by a “Scout” taken out of context or if the “Scout” only saw J P once or twice in the last week, can also be taken with a grain of salt. I believe a lot of people felt Freddie would never be a major league SS. Freddie has been a pleasant surprise! Should we keep in mine that these kids are dealing with life & it’s disappointments along with playing baseball? I’m not a J P apologist, just a grandfather who has a different perspective on life. For all intents & purposes J P seems like a good kid that is struggling to battle out of a funk. I haven’t heard him give excuses. I think overall, he’s trying to keep positive. I’m sure Rhys Hoskins has questioned some of his hard line drives right @ fielders, or just foul balls, deep flies caught against the wall, etc. during the month of July. Maybe the day Rhys let those atem balls get to him & struck out 3 times, a “Scout” saw him & made the comment that Rhys doesn’t command the strike zone like he used to… I actually just like to see how these kids deal with adversity. So many “Scouts” deal with these kids like their a commodity, it’s easy to treat them the same way. Sorry for the length of this, but “Scouts” are not all knowing or infallible.

               1. Phan,

                  Great post!

         2. rocco……breaking down the numbers:
            JPC’s 15 errors to date in 84 games in 322 chances:
            Fld%-.953 (2017)…..career-.956
            RF/G-3.85 (2017-lowest in career) ….career-4.46
            Errors:
            Fielding-9
            Throwing- 4
            Missed/Dropped Catches-2
            ……..love Hosks, but sometimes great defensive first basemen save infielders, especially shortstops on low in the dirt throws. Hosk may have that one flaw in his defensive aspect of his game.
            ……dropped catches…..JPC just needs to focus.
            ……fielding, it is what it is, they do it.

            1. Lack of range could easily be the groin injury which is now getting better. Plus, the team has had very little left-handed pitching. Notice the high range factors for 2B. Could easily be that to some degree with fewer balls hit to SS this season. Would only know for sure statistically if there were some kind of UZR available that was any good.

   2. 👎🏻 your opinion is skewed.

      IMO, I think he’s just trying different plays, etc, to see what he can and can’t do.

      Scouts are down on him because of their egos. They wrote highly about him and then he had a year of being pretty bad. Now that he has turned it around, especially at the plate, you won’t hear many scouts praise him.

      That’s my odd opinion 🙂

      1. guy84….you have a good point. Scouts could have that tendency since they are only human.
         For example Fangraphs had him at Fielding-50 / FV60…Throwing-60 / FV60 before the season….MLB at 65 grade field….all based on the prior three years of scouting and observation.
         I would like to see what they have him post-2017

         1. Post 2017 but not fully weighted on his first half struggles that was a comprised of a horrid April. He may not be elite but I still believe he will be an impact player.
            Too add, I’d rather him than Galvis. Yes, Galvis hits for power and has a great glove but his OBP barely hovers around .300

            Phillies need guys who can get on base at .350 clip and above. JPC can provide that.

            1. To add* not too lol

            2. If the Phillies want Crawford to play ahead of Galvis, they are either going to have to trade Galvis or fire Mackanin since Mackanin has all but said that Galvis is his best player (he’s wrong about that) and is essential. And he hasn’t said a nice word about Crawford all year – even now – and it’s my view he wouldn’t play him ahead of Galvis under any circumstance short of an injury. Yet another reason that, sooner or later, Pete is going to have to go.

               1. Pete is probably gone after this year anyway…I think he knows that with just the one year left on the contract.
                  Then his remarks yesterday about the prospects and the July 31st deadline deals, kind of indicates he has done an acquiescence to the rebuild.
                  I mean saying Tommy J has doen well…okay for a last place team and hitting 240 with some pop….but low across the board in the other slash/metric categories….well Hoskins is who he thinks should be up real soon.

      2. Trying different plays? What does that mean exactly? This isn’t football?

         1. I’m sorry to have confused you – he may try to make a throw that normally shouldn’t be made. Or may go for a ball off to the side instead of in front. But thanks for clarifying this isn’t football. Thought I may have been on the eagles site!

            1. Thanks for clearing that up. Appreciate it.

               1. Welcome, fifth.
                  I can’t take credit for the trying different plays, etc comment. I’ve seen it on here or another site at one point. Makes sense. Players will test their range in the minors so they know what plays they can or can’t make in the majors.

      3. Or you know, he wasn’t playing well on either side of the ball when they scouted him over the last year at AAA? He’s had two good months with the bat. He could easily regress again. He’ll be in AAA next year too, more than likely, as Galvis is still under contract and there’s not a huge need for SS’s out there right now.

         I don’t want this kid to fail, I want him to succeed and be our shortstop for 10+ years but he needs to earn that. He needs to do that by hitting and playing good defense because really the only thing he does better than Galvis is walk.

         Why can’t anyone here acknowledge his flaws instead of writing off bad scouting reports as “fake news” or saying it’s because of egos? The reason he’s in AAA is because he has things to work on still.

         Keith Law insinuated he may be sulking that he hasn’t been called up yet. If that’s (potentially) the reason his defense slid then its easily correctable. If his abilities have diminished it’s a major problem.

         1. that’s the question to me, how the phillies should handle galvis/crawford at this point. Phils could certainly do what you suggest above, but there won’t necessarily be better options for trading Galvis during next season.
            Crawford will have had around 200 games at AAA by the end of the season, so keeping him in AAA to start next year only makes sense to me if trying to delay his clock starting.
            if you want to make Crawford earn the job in spring training fine, but moving Galvis to a super utility guy in the last year of his contract after starting for 3 years doesnt seem reasonable. Galvis has had great durability these last 3 years; Crawford seems to miss games here and there somewhat frequently, so you’d need a real backup shortstop on the roster for that reason, plus in case JP does struggle so much you need to send him down.
            Klentak has a number of tough calls to make- will be interesting to see what he does.

            1. I don’t see any downside in sending Crawford back to AAA again for another (potentially) full season. He has a cumulative ops at the AAA level of .677, I’d love to see his agent or himself make a case that he should be on the MLB roster with that kind of performance.

               Ideally, they’d move Galvis but I don’t see any team that would need/want him out there. The best bet may be to hold onto him and use him as a chip next year if a contender loses their starting SS for a prolonged period. They could non-tender him but that’s a huge risk. I think the situation will work itself out as the same discussion we’re having now is one we’ll have about Kingery, the only difference being Kingery’s performed better consistently.

               1. Heres one fact:
                  Freddy turns 28 before next season.
                  The Phillies probably will not contend for a division or playoff spot for another 2, maybe 3 years.
                  I prefer to have JPC manning shortstop by that time.
                  If that means waiting for mid-2018 to bring JPC up, then so be it.
                  By then he should be well on his way from ‘graduating’ from AAA.
                  Everyone knows the plan….JPC has to be the starting ss within those two/three years. I would think that has been their objective and the goal
                  Not that much different then in 2001 when JRoll stepped in.

               2. “Figures don’t lie but liars figure.” Not saying you are lying, but that adage reflects how selection of numbers can lead to distortion. Looking only at his AAA numbers, which are dominated by his part season last year and his slump at the beginning of the year, is not a reasonable representation. JP’s hitting has improved substantially of late. If he had had merely a bad slump, his OPS will be significantly higher by the end of the season. Prior to his move to AAA it was always above .750 (full season). If his OPS remains at its current level, it will be a warning sign that he may have hit his level. Most expect that that the slump is over and that BA and OPS will trend upward, making your hypothetical challenge to his agent meaningless. (Obviously I am using your challenge as a metaphor) But what he does in the remaining 6 weeks or so of the season should clarify the picture.

               3. you might be right. a possible couple options:
                  JJ hardy has been really bad at the plate for Baltimore, and they can buy him out for 2 mil or pay him 14 mil for another year.
                  KC has Escobar as a FA at seasons end.

   3. Sorry but I have mentioned it several times here (usually on a Sunday) that scouts have been more concerned about his fielding in the face of a .200 BA.

   4. Most likely explanation: Crawford was hurt or still feeling some effects from his groin injury and/or let his struggles at the plate affect him in the field. Now that he’s hitting well, I’d like to hear if scouts are still seeing a regression on defense or if he looks like his old self.

3. Crawford may have been hurt http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/jp-crawford-phillies-prospect-triple-a-lehigh-valley-ironpigs-shortstop-20170720.html?mobi=true

4. There is just one word for Ramon Rosso in the DSL and that word is WOW! I know. He’s a 21 yo in a league that has more 17 year olds than anything else. But a .74 ERA and .95 WHIP while holding opponents to a .190 BA. He has 69 Ks in 49 IP. Yesterday he had 13 Ks and 1 BB in 7 IP and only allowed 2 hits. He doesn’t seem to have pitched in the DSL before so this is a very good find by Sal. He’s 6’4″ 215 lbs, not a small righty who will blow his arm out next week. The numbers are exciting but the age is worrisome. We’ll see if he comes state-side for EST. If the Phils like him, they should promote him to see what they have in this guy.

   1. Yes. Age is a concern, but the nunbers are impressive

   2. I can’t put too much stock in a 21 yo from the DSL

   3. I considered including Rosso’s performance in today’s recap…until I saw he is 21 years old in the DSL. No big deal. Nothing to see here.

5. Brandon Leibrandt (4-0, 1.61) is climbing up into the Eshelman area of should be called up next if needed. He has been under the radar prospect that may never wow, but could be a nice surprise. Eshelman should get first call especially with that control of his.

   I would like to hear more on Denny Martinez and Jhordany Mezquita pitchers in GCL. Interesting arms

   1. The hope is that Brandon Leibrandt becomes Charlie Leibrandt, another late bloomer. I think you cannot underestimate the importance of having a father who played in the majors in the very same role and with similar talents. Charlie Leibrandt was one heck of a pitcher and he did it with intelligence and precision. Sounds a lot like the son.

      1. Mark Leiter, another father – son duo

         1. True and a reason, I think, that Leiter, who went to little known NJIT, has dramatically over-achieved.

      2. There is something to be said about mound presence. He walked lead off batters twice last night & I believe gave up a lead off single & double (?) in two other innings, but didn’t give up any earned runs (until J P booted a ground ball). That ballpark has a Fenway like (blue monster) and a few balls were hit off that wall last night. Even after J P’s error put runners on 1st & 3rd he pitched out of the jam! He seems to have a knack of leaving what’s past in the past & moves on to the next batter. That’s a skill you don’t see graded…

6. Harold Arauz continues raising his stock. I watch the archive game last night online. He entered with a big smile on his face an stranded the inherited bases loaded left by Kilome.

   1. He’s a righty that I understand sits in the high 80s – so unless he has some tricky out pitch or a funky delivery that makes him especially hard to hit, I’m hedging my bets on him until I see him in AA – the place where guys with mediocre stuff are outed.

      1. Catch what is his .whip? rlsp? Angle of velocity on balls hit off him? GDP? his os percentage? Factor in all that. then divide by 4 to see if he can pitch.

         1. Roccm – not sure what I said about Arauz to deserve that comment. I think it’s pretty clear that, until you get to AA, it’s hard to project soft tossers. A lot of guys get through A ball just because they can throw a breaking pitch for strikes. But pure junk doesn’t work in AA.

            1. Catch I hate soft thrower. it really wasn’t directed at you. I saw a post yesterday by my8 romus. which mention nothing but numbers. Not one word on the physical tools scouts saw on the player. I cant believe this site has become saber and not real scouting of a player by looking at him and using some numbers. but to stand there and never see a guy and listed nothing but sabers is crazy. imo

               1. rocco…….by the numbers , who has better metrics….C Kershaw or K Kendrick?
                  Who had better numbers in the minors….C Kershaw or K Kendrick?
                  …..across the board no less.
                  This is a numbers world and pysical tools will normally dictate the measure and value of excellent ‘numbers’.
                  Even velo…is measured in numbers…..90/91 average…..95/96-plus…for RHPs

         2. That is funny and some serious snark.

7. Medina is improving a lot as the season goes on but Kilome not so much. He’s still very raw but I don’t think he’s as dominant as everyone had hoped. It’s always nice to see the Bash Brothers bash, especially combined with JP and Pullin also having big games. Some nights you have to question the opposing pitching quality though. Hall just continues to knock in runs, while our two first runs picks continue to tumble. Therrien to the majors as soon as Neshak goes.

8. Whoo! I was really down on JPC earlier but he’s a man on a mission

9. BA Article on Adonis Medina:
   http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/adonis-medina-survives-scare-builds-on-strong-season/#8FEdkTq5GYa0Yrm5.97

   “On Saturday, Medina’s fastball featured excellent sink, sat in the mid 90s and routinely found 96-97 mph as well. He threw in a heavy dose of mid-80s changeups, low-80s sliders and big-breaking curveballs in the high-70s……to tweak his delivery to incorporate his legs more instead of rearing back and throwing with his upper body…..“We’ve been working on the lower half and also they want to connect my back foot to the dirt longer,” Medina said, with the help of hitting coach Nelson Prada translating. “I used to lift it up too fast, and if I’m releasing too fast and get on my front foot, I lose my release point. Now, when I’m keeping the back foot more on the ground I can have a better base and throw better.”
   ——————————————————————————————————–
   ….pitching to contact and also increasing the velo……it is the same participle they did with Nola to increase his velo.

   1. This group of LA pitching prospects in A ball, together with a few American kids like Fanti, is, I think, by far and away the best assemblage of young pitching talent I’ve ever seen for the Phillies and the LA kids really stand out. Just one after the other with sizzling stuff and an idea how to pitch. They are our future.

      1. And for the LA kids…not large $$$ expenditures…….Sánchez ($35K)….. Franklyn Kilome ($40K) …..Adonis Medina ($70K) ….. Seranthony Dominguez ($30K) …….Jose Taveras ($5K) …Miguel Nunez….$225K

         1. Arauz ($300k) with the Astros

      2. The eminent Keith Law wrote an article several days ago posted on ESPN – subscription needed – where he states that, “the Phillies Lakewood pitching is sick.” He rated Sixto as arguably the best minor league pitcher with an 80 fb, and some scouts think Medina is better than Sanchez he goes on to remark. Then he brings up Fanti, too. Make no mistake about it – the other teams are aware of Sal Ag’s work with the LA pitchers – in particular. I have now seen it sited 3-4 times since March.

10. JPC may be having issues…but seems to be bouncing back.

    My issue is that when it’s going bad people bashed him, now that he’s turned his season around, there are some still bashing him for issues that weren’t discussed when his BA was below .200
    So do people dislike him that much? Do people have to nitpick? Or were his defensive issues masked by bad BA and such?

    Pullin – slowly “Pullin” out of his funk

    Kilome – his season has been too exciting but he’s been consistent. That ERA is looking mighty fine.

    Love Medina, Sixto, Taveras.

    Interested to see who gets traded, who truly becomes TOR pitcher, or who may have some luck.

    I see Q in GCl finally coming back to earth. Haseley may have been put in the correct league after all. Love the pick but glad the FO makes the decisions on assignments and not us 🙂

    Fitch is intriguing.
    Random thoughts on this steaming hot Sunday in Oklahoma

    1. For Kilome, it shouldn’t have said hasn’t been too exciting

       1. Should’ve* can’t type today, sorry

11. JPC defense— saw him play in Louisville last month, scouts who down rate his defense have to be bias or need glasses, because what I saw was outstanding defense and elite range.
    . His range and fielding were an 80 easily, he made one playing on first base side of second base, and another on a swinging bunt halfway between pitcher and third base, both runners were safe on bang bang plays.

    1. Agreed, I’ve seen him play 3 times this year and in each game he made some incredible plays. Im dumbfounded

    2. I’m so tired of reading about the scouts. Nice to hear from somebody who has actually watched the kid play in person. I’ve seen him many times, enough to think that those two scouts who said JP’s defense was poor must have him confused with somebody else.

12. MiLB.com…Sam Dykstra rates Phillies Farm:
    Philadelphia Phillies
    Grade: A-
    After a breakout 2016, Rhys Hoskins is looking like a bona-fide Major Leaguer in waiting at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, and bash brother Dylan Cozens has a legitimate shot at a second consecutive 40-homer season. Then there’s Scott Kingery. The 5-foot-10 infielder is enjoying perhaps the breakout season of the Minors, hitting long balls like he’s shooting a TV spot with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine. On the other side of the diamond, top pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez is moving along just fine, and JoJo Romero has been deadly at Class A and Class A Advanced. The bad news is that the club’s top prospect, J.P. Crawford, has struggled through the first three months of the season, though he’s showing signs of power in July, and No. 3 prospect Jorge Alfaro is right there with him at Lehigh Valley. The Phillies’ collective .559 winning percentage (third-best in the Minors) is enough to push the farm into the A range, and a continued bounceback by Crawford, Alfaro and 2016 first overall pick Mickey Moniak after a slow start could take away the minus.
    https://www.milb.com/milb/news/midseason-farm-system-grades-american-league-national-league-east/c-242893458/t-185364810

13. Unfortunately Romero imploded today. 12 hits, 7 runs, 5 earned 1K and 1 BB in 4 IP.

    1. It happens. It will be a good test for JoJo to see how he bounces back in his next start.

    2. It was the first time Grullion caught him for CLW. Maybe they weren’t on the same page.

       1. I thought Grullon caught JoJo in his previous 2 starts in Clearwater

14. 17 k’s for the iron pigs through 8ip today, 11 at the hands of Honeywell. a little discouraging against a major league caliber starter.

    1. Honeywell may be the only pitcher in professional baseball that relies heavily on a screwball. A pretty good weapon against right handed batters and it looks like also against Dylan Cozens with all Ks today..

15. Tough day for the two promising lefties….Fanti and Romero.

16. ’18 lineup: Kingery 2b; JPS SS; Altherr RF; Hoskins 1b; Williams LF; Herrera CF; Franco 3b; Knapp C.

    1. Actually I’d rather have Hernandez play 3rd base and bat #7 instead of Franco who I believe is not worthy of playing. With Hernandez at #7, we’d have a proven hitter with a pretty good oba….plus, Hernandez is a better fielder. I like the change.

       1. I’m not sure if Cesar has the arm to play 3B.

Comments are closed.