Aaron Altherr 2-5 with his 12th HR of the year – his OPS has crept above .800 again. JP Crawford 2-3 plus a walk. – he’s hit in seven straight since an Oh-fer in his Lakewood debut, but he’s been on base in all eight games. Larry Greene Jr. 3-4 with 2 doubles, and Cesar Hernandez, Zach Collier, Chris Serritella, Carlos Tocci, Gabe Lino and Herlis Rodriguez all with multi-hit games as well. Pretty nice line from Miguel Nunez – 3R on 5H, 1BB and 6K in 5IP – his third good start in a row. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/25/2013 →

Maikel Franco and Kelly Dugan both went deep for Reading. JC Ramirez has been pretty good since going back to AAA. Too many walks for Perci Garner tonight – 6 over 4.1 IP. A nice start from Hoby Milner saved by Dan Child after Ken Giles failed to get it done for the third time in his last five outings. JP Crawford on base twice. He’s had a successful first week at Lakewood. Ditto Mark Leiter – 8H 2BB and 11K in 12 scoreless IP over his first 2 appearances.

In the short-season leagues, Julio Reyes threw six no-hit innings for WIL – Mark Meadors couldn’t keep the no-hitter, or the shutout, alive, and ultimately took the loss. He’d had his fill of shared no-hitters for the week, I guess. And a good line from 2013 pick Tyler Viza – 3H, 1BB, 6K in 5 scoreless IP for the GCL club. He’s had a good time of it thus far, with a (SSS Warning) WHIP at 1.00 and a nice walk rate around 2.8/9IP. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/24/2013 →

Nice line from Jesse Biddle. Home runs from Cozens and Pullin for WIL. And Cameron Rupp stole a base. I imagine there’s a story there.

Not going to get the graphic up today as I have family in from out of town. Enjoy the discussion. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/23/2013 →

David Buchanan pitched well again. Struck out 7 in 6IP, while allowing just 1 R on 4H and 2BB. Maikel Franco and Kelly Dugan both went deep, as did Anthony Hewitt. As he winds down what is easily his best pro season at the plate, I’ll concede that Hewitt is probably a big leaguer somewhere down the line. He’s close to a 20/20 season right now, (16HR, 18SB), so it’s hard to see him not being an option in a injury replacement situation in 2014 and beyond, if he sticks around this organization. And after a very slow start, Jose Pujols suddenly has 6HR in the GCL, and reportedly missed a walk-off for his seventh by about 6 inches, (per @statsking). Should be lots of fun to watch that guy develop. Pujols, that is. Not Chris King.

And for Williamsport, Sam Hiciano hit his 7th HR of the year. That’s a pretty nice number for a guy who struggled with a wrist injury for a couple weeks early on. He’s striking out a little too much, (~24.5%), but it’s not over the top for a guy with power like he’s displaying, plus he’s walked some (~9%). His OPS sits above .800 at the moment, on a low BABIP of .250, so there’s even room to grow on batted balls. He’s 19, but he’s only 2 years into his pro career, after signing later than many DR guys, playing one year there, and skipping the GCL entirely. Very intriguing.  Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/22/2013 →

Maikel Franco with a double and his 27th HR of the year among his three hits, and he added a walk – just his second in his last ten games. Also for Reading, Kelly Dugan went 2-4, and Seth Rosin returned from the DL with a bullpen appearance. ICYMI – Brody Colvin went on the DL with a shoulder issue. Trey Williams had a nice day for GCL – 2-3 with a double and his second professional home run.

Aaron Altherr 2-4 with his 11th HR, but he also struck out twice – His K Rate sits near 28%, though it’s around 25% since the All-Star Break. If 25% is close to his norm, with his decent BB rate, and if he can add a little more pop, he could make it. He’s added 33 ISO points over last year, after adding 50 the prior year – definitely a good trend.

And some thoughts on Williamsport – another clunker on Wednesday for Mitch Gueller – 6R (4 earned) on 10H, 3BB, 0K in 3.1 IP. Four hits for Logan Pierce, and three for Andrew Pullin – you’d have to consider his performance at the plate this year a bit of a disappointment. He obviously gets more time to work it out while he’s working on a new defensive position, but OPSing under .700 is not ideal for someone who’s hit tool is supposed to be his meal ticket. And for as well as he’s pitched in WIL, you’d have to expect Tyler Buckley to be a candidate for a double-jump in the off-season – Ks right around 9/9IP, with walks around 3.5/9, and a WHIP just barely north of 1.00. Pretty good. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/21/2013 →

Mauricio Robles has allowed zero runs, 2 hits and struck out 12 in his last 11 innings. Bad news is he’s allowed 10 walks. So I guess the question has to be: who in their right minds is swinging when he’s on the mound? Just stand there looking like you’re willing to swing and cross your fingers. Speaking of walks, check out Ken Giles’ line – 2 runs on zero hits with 4 walks and 1 K in 2/3 of an inning. He left with the bases loaded after walking them full, allowing a run on a bases-loaded sac fly and then WALKING THE NEXT MAN TO LOAD THE BASES AGAIN. Yikes.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/20/2013 →

Great, now we have to find a 2014 40-man spot for Perci Garner? THANKS A TON, PERCI. Ok, probably not yet, though, that was a pretty good start – 64% strikes, 6 hits, 2 BB and 7K in 5.2 IP. Not great, but pretty good. JP Crawford with his first 2 hits at Lakewood, helping a good start from Mark Leiter Jr. You have to wonder what they do with Leiter next year, and if there’s any upside there. He’s got the pedigree, obviously, but that only takes a player so far without results. Also impressive for Lakewood was Miguel Nunez – his K Rate is not great overall, but he’s got 7 Ks in 5IP each of his last two starts, and has walked only 2 over the same span. Maybe there’s something more coming from the 20-year-old righty.

Also of note – here’s a feature from MiLB.com on Williamsport’s Sam Hiciano’s big night on Saturday. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/19/2013 →

Three Williamsport Crosscutters combined to no-hit The Mahoning Valley Scrappers. Yacksel Rios walked three and struck out six in five innings, (not nine like I said earlier), Mark Meadors followed with three clean innings, and Manny Martinez closed out the game with another. The WIL offense put together eight runs on 12 hits, including three from CF Gustavo Martinez. Jesse Biddle with another pretty good performance at AA. Throwing strikes at a 64% clip, he allowed eight hits and struck out seven in six innings. Not as good as his last turn, but two good starts in a row is great to see.

And Tyson Gillies is hitting pretty well in August – OPSing .815 for the month, with a homer, four doubles and four steals in as many attempts. If nothing else, he’s shown his legs are healthy enough to steal some bases this year. He’s not running wild, (as they say), but 16/21 is useful. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/18/2013 →