All posts by giventofly41

New profiles added

Other Stuff

I’ve been trying to crank out these profiles, but always seem to get distracted. I did a few recently where I didn’t have as much info as I’d like, but I still want every legit prospect to have a profile page. Here are the newest entries

Antonio Bastardo, Darren Byrd, Alex Concepcion, Heitor Correa, Andrew Cruse (with video)

As always, if you have any articles, pictures or info on these or any other prospects, please share it so I can add it to their respective pages. You can find the profiles on the left side of the site under the “Players” heading, and each player has or will have his own profile. If you look to the left and see a legit prospect who doesn’t have his own player heading yet, please let me know, as I don’t want to overlook anyone. Thanks.

Sorting out the pitching mess

Spring Training 2008

Happy Friday. I thought today we could again take a look at the impending pitching crisis facing the Phillies, and who is possibly going to step into the open spots.

Myers
Hamels
Moyer
Kendrick
( )

Lidge
Gordon
Romero
Madson
(________)
(________)
(________)

Continue reading Sorting out the pitching mess →

Comment policy

Other Stuff

This site has been functional since the end of December, 2006. I really assumed I’d have to make this post a lot sooner, but everyone has behaved far better than I could have imagined. So, this is a friendly reminder. I can see your IP address. Using different logins from the same IP address to post ridiculous/childish comments isn’t going to work. If you do it, I’ll just mark your comment as spam and delete it. It’s as simple as that. My goal here is to make this site as informative and readable as possible. That’s why I don’t make even a penny off of the site by littering it with ads and links, and thats why I’ve turned down offers to sell the domain and its contents to another site. I enjoy writing here, I enjoy the discussions, and I think this site has come a long way in 16 months. But I’m still protective of the content and standards, and that applies to the comments as well. So, for 99.9% of you, thanks for being civil. The .1% will be weeded out.

A quick note

Transactions

In case you didn’t see it in the comments section of a previous post, Tyler Mach and Jarrod Freeman have both retired, based on the info thats been uncovered. I guess maybe it somewhat justifies my harsh criticism of the Mach pick at the time. Most college seniors aren’t elite prospects, but most stick around for at least a full season. Its really a shame to waste a 4th round pick on a guy who is only going to play 2 months of pro ball. Freeman is more surprising, as he did seem to have a few legit tools, though he was probably going to take time to develop. But, its just a reminder that pro ball, especially for guys who are facing a major uphill climb, isn’t for everyone. Which makes a guy like Chris Coste all that more amazing.

Lincoln Holdzkom gone already?

Spring Training 2008

The Phillies 40 man roster no longer contains Lincoln Holdzkom. Either this is a typo/web error on the Phillies end, or they’ve already seen enough to know that he’s not going to stick. Which do we think it is?

Interesting (I guess) tidbits

Spring Training 2008

With many of the prospects re-assigned to minor league camps, there won’t be as much action to report on from big league games. Ken Mandel, the guy responsible for writing most of the pieces for Phillies.com, keeps a “mailbag” where he answers reader questions, though I have a hard time believing people ask some of the questions that get posted. Anyway, he touched on a few Phillies prospects in yesterday’s version

Continue reading Interesting (I guess) tidbits →

Roster cleanup

Spring Training 2008

The Phillies have done some spring cleaning, optioning Joe Bisenius, Scott Mathieson, JA Happ, and Brad Harman to minor league camp, while re-assigning Joe Savery, Lou Marson, and Jason Donald, among others, to minor league camps as well. Players on the 40 man are “optioned”, while non-40 man guys are re-assigned, that’s just the way its designated. To me, this is kind of surprising. I didn’t really think Happ was a choice for the #5 spot in the rotation right out of spring training, but you’d have thought they’d have kept him around a bit longer to face quality big leaguers. Bisenius similarly was a longshot for a bullpen spot out of the gate, but again, he’ll probably be up to the bigs again this year at some point, so it seems odd to option him with 3 weeks left in spring training.

Here’s the question of the day. The Phillies top 3 is Hamels, Myers and Moyer. Kendrick is the #4 for now, though he’s gotten his brains beat in this spring. Assuming he is the #4, and assuming Adam Eaton wisely opens the season on the DL, who starts as the #5? Travis Blackley has had mixed results this spring, Kris Benson is still recovering, and now Happ has been optioned out. Is it Blackley’s job?

Friday loose ends

Spring Training 2008

Yesterday’s game was shortened to 6 innings, much to the delight of Adam Eaton and Chad Durbin who both got smacked around. No real prospect action to report. This article, albeit from Phillies.com, talks about JA Happ, his rough 2007, and his desire to bounce back this year. I’m still kind of worried about him healthwise, as nothing concrete ever came about with his elbow, but I’m hoping he can put it together this year, as we’ll likely need him at some point. Scott Lauber also has a feature on Drew Carpenter, and how he could possibly be this year’s Kyle Kendrick. I disagree with that notion, only because Carpenter is much more on the radar (at least to people who follow the minors) than Kendrick was at this time last season.

On Greg Golson

Other Stuff

I’ve gotten a handful of e-mails in the last few days, plus comments in various posts, about Greg Golson, and asking how I felt now that he’s played well, and how I’m probably bummed because I’m “anti-Greg Golson”. I’m not anti any of our prospects. In fact, I probably support all of our prospects more than anyone outside of their respective families and friends, and Golson is no different. When you follow the minor leagues closely and you invest time in learning this stuff, you grow attached to these guys. And much like the girl/guy you chase in high school and can’t ever seem to get, you start protecting yourself from getting hurt. Golson has not lived up to expectations yet, and he has a few very clear flaws in his game. Even so, I never stop hoping he’s going to flip the switch and suddenly put it together. He’s Phillies property, and I’ve spent 4+ years hoping he’d make passing on Phil Hughes look smart. I hope he does. But I’ve tempered my expectations, and I still have my doubts that he can recognize/hit a curveball. Do I want him to? Of course. Will I be extremely excited if he turns into the next Eric Davis? Absolutely. I’m far from anti-Greg Golson. I’ve just toned down my expectations to about as low as they can go. Whatever he becomes, as long as it happens in the major leagues at some point, will be a bonus. He’s had a bright spring, lets hope it carries over.

Wednesday roundup

Spring Training 2008

Yesterday the Tigers beat the Phillies 6-2, as JD Durbin did what JD Durbin does. Greg Golson picked up another hit in his only AB, and Brad Harman went 1/3 with an RBI. Jason Jaramillo’s struggles at the plate continued. You have to wonder if he’s pressing a bit, and if he knew he had a shot to make the club as the backup in ST over Coste, whom we know the org doesn’t trust. Jason Donald went 0/1 and committed his 2nd error of the spring. JA Happ pitched 2 innings, allowing 1 run on 3 hits, and Lincoln Holdzkom went an inning, allowing 1 run on 1 hit while striking out 1 and walking 1.

I missed this article from a few days ago talking about Greg Golson. He says something of interest, when asked about trying to help the Phillies this season at some point;

Golson would love to help the Phillies at some point, but he is focused on the present.

“I got in trouble a couple years ago trying to get somewhere else when I was in Lakewood,” he said. “For two months, I thought I was in Clearwater, and I was in Lakewood.”

Either he’s bad with geography, or he realizes its important to remain focused at the level you’re at and let promotions and demotions sort themselves out.