I’d like to add a few more player profiles this week. I can either start doing them in alphabetical order, or I can take requests. If you have a particular player you want to see done, let me know. You can find completed profiles by looking to the left side of the page under the player tags…guys with a profile have the small link under their name.
All posts by giventofly41
What to expect from Joe Bisenius?
Bisenius is a guy I saw mentioned a bunch in a previous post asking which guys could contribute this year. As we all know, he had a terrible 2007 after a promising 2006. He had a few minor injuries, and his control abandoned him. He still has a hard fastball and slider, and if he can rebound, he could be a nice addition to the Phillies pen, instead of having to resort to re-treads like Antonio Alfonseca and Jose Mesa. Take a look at his key peripherals over the last 4 seasons
2004: 50.1 IP — 2.51 BB/9 — 6.83 K/9 — 0.90 HR/9
2005: 61.0 IP — 5.31 BB/9 — 8.26 K/9 — 0.74 HR/9 — 1.00 GB:FB
2006: 88.2 IP — 3.45 BB/9 — 10.25 K/9 — 0.61 HR/9 — 1.51 GB:FB
2007: 43.0 IP — 6.49 BB/9 — 7.95 K/9 — 1.05 HR/9 — 0.91 GB:FB
Was 2006 a fluke? When I did my Top 30, I looked at these numbers, and because of them I couldn’t justify including him in my list. The fact that he doesn’t get a good amount of ground balls is troubling. His HR rate has never been above average, even in 2006, and his best walk rate was almost 3.5 per 9, not mindblowing stuff from a reliever-exclusive pitching prospect. As I mentioned, he does have good fastball velocity, he does have a good hard slider, but does he have enough to be a valuable reliever? To me, he looks like a 6th inning guy, if he makes it. I’m hoping he does, because as I said, he’s much better than having to dig up old relievers past their sell by date, but I think I’m less optimistic now than I was at this time last year.
What do you think? Will he replicate or better his 2006? Will he struggle again?
The phuturephillies team looks set
Thanks to those who inquired about helping out with the site. I believe our team now includes
andyb; Andy will keep writing on the DSL/VSL prospects
bobev; Bob is our new Lakewood correspondent
clearwaterthreshersnews; Jeff returns as our Clearwater correspondent
bertmurr; Rob comes aboard as our Reading correspondent
gregg; Gregg remains on board and shifts his focus to the Iron Pigs
mikesbphuturephillies; Mike comes on as our dedicated transactions guru
Thanks again, and remember, be kind to our friendly volunteers.
Looking for a “transcation” volunteer
I might still be looking for a Reading correspondant, still waiting to hear back on that one from an interested party, but I am also going to be searching for someone to help with transactions here. Basically, my plan is to create a transactions page at the top of the blog to go with the depth chart and 40 man roster page. Your only task will be to regularly check for transactions, whether it be promotions, releases, new signings, etc etc, and update the transaction log. You’ll be added to the blog as a contributor, but you won’t actually have to write a weekly report. If you would be interested in doing a transaction summary, whether it be once a week, or once a month, you can definitely write something up, but it won’t be required. So if you’re interested, send me an e-mail. Again, I would like this to be something you can keep up with daily, or almost daily, but it shouldn’t be that time consuming.
New feature; 40 man roster
If you look at the top of the blog, I’ve added a new page for the 40 man roster. Basically, the goal is to keep an up to date copy of the 40 man, but more importantly, to keep track of how many option years a player has left, and to monitor when prospects are going to have to be placed on the 40 man roster. I took some liberties with the active 25 man roster, especially the bullpen, but that can be sorted out later. The most important aspect right now is making sure that the number of option years is correct for everyone, and then filling in the blanks for the post 2008, 2009 and 2010 roster additions. That can be a work in progress, and if you have something to add, please add it in the comments on the 40 man roster page.
Depth Chart updated
If you head to the top of the page and click the depth chart link, you’ll see all of the rankings. If you still strongly disagree with the placement on the list, you can leave a comment on the depth chart page and state your case, and maybe others will agree. I’m going to spend some time this week hopefully adding a few more player profiles and working on some other miscellaneous tasks for the site. Today’s question of the day; which Phillies prospect, if any, do you see making the 25 man roster out of spring training?
Depth Charts, Relief Pitchers
Today is the last day for the depth charts. We’ll focus on relievers today. Try to only discuss/nominate guys who are current relievers, not guys who are starting now but in 3 years might be bullpen guys. The one exception could be Pat Overholt, who was a reliever, then switched to starting last year, but is likely to be a reliever again, probably at some point this year. So let’s figure out the relievers, and over the weekend I’ll try and update the main depth chart tag at the top of the page to reflect my opinions as well as the sentiments expressed in all of these discussions over the last few days. I think this has been a worthwhile exercise, as it’s really highlighted exactly where our strengths and weaknesses are as a system. Thanks for the participation.
Freddy Ballestas ranked Phillies #31
Baseball America always gives a scouting report online of a team’s 31st prospect, ie, the guy who just failed to make their annual prospect handbook. Ballestas, a RHP, is the Phillies choice this season
Freddy Ballestas, rhp, Phillies
Born: Oct. 4, 1986. B-T: R-R. Ht: 6-3. Wt: 180. Signed: Venezuela, 2004. Signed by: Sal Agostinelli.
A product of the Phillies’ Venezuelan academy, Ballestas has spent his first three pro seasons in his home country, posting the best numbers of his career in 2007. After working on his mechanics to have better overall balance over the rubber last offseason, he was the top pitcher in the Rookie-level Venezuelan Summer League. He led the VSL in ERA (1.26) and strikeouts (98 in 100 innings) while ranking second in wins (9-3). Ballestas’ top pitch is a 90-93 mph fastball that touches 94 and has plus late life. He improved the command of his heater last year, missing more bats as a result. He also has a slurvy breaking ball and good feel for a changeup. Though he wasn’t viewed as much more than a middle reliever when he signed, Ballestas could become more than that if he can hone his secondary pitches. Philadelphia will bring him to the United States in 2008 and he could land an assignment to low Class A if he performs well in spring training.
Sounds promising, especially if he’s bumped to Lakewood to start.
Depth Charts, LHSP
We’re winding down now, working on the lefties today, and then the relievers tomorrow. I’m going to go back through all of the depth chart posts, get a sense of the responses, and then I’ll update the main depth chart at the top of the page in the next few days, so if you want to weigh in on a different position before it’s tallied, make sure to do so soon. While we’re not as strong from the left side, we’ve still got some promising arms.
Depth Charts: RHSP
We’ll do right handed starting pitchers, then lefthanded starting pitchers, and then relief pitchers all together. Because the list of candidates is so long, I won’t list them, but it’s pretty easy to find. Let’s try and list a Top 8 or so for righties. Also don’t forget a guy like Julian Sampson who signed, but hasn’t made his debut yet.
Phuture Phillies 