All posts by giventofly41

Daily Discussion; 6/20

Daily Discussion

I’ll touch on some of the interesting points in last night’s action, then we’ll get to today’s games.

GCL Phillies won 5-2.

* Sebastian Valle, likely to be the best prospect on the team, hit his first home run in pro ball.

Williamsport won 8-0.

* Rob Roth, who has scuffled a bit the last two seasons, pitched 6 shutout innings. Brandon Haislet went 1/1 with 3 BB from the leadoff spot.

Lakewood won 5-0.

* Julian Sampson, after reading my words of encouragement, tossed 6 shutout innings.

Clearwater lost 12-6.

* Benson and newly promoted Ben Pfinsgraff got shellacked. Cardenas was 2/5, Taylor was 1/5 in his FSL debut.

Reading won 4-3.

* Newly promoted Tyson Brummett goes 8.2 innings, leaving with the bases loaded only to see Sam Walls allow all 3 runs to score. King Lou goes 0/3 with a BB.

Lehigh Valley won 8-2.

* Chris Snelling got hurt, Swindle struck out the side and Jaramillo took an 0/4. Thats really all there is to see here.

Now, onto today’s action…

Continue reading Daily Discussion; 6/20 →

Phillies in for Adis Portillo?

Other Stuff

Hot off the presses at BA, the Phillies appear to be one of the front runners for Adis Portillo, a Venezuelan ranked right behind highly touted Michel Inoa. BA says this

As the international signing period approaches on July 2, the biggest name among pitchers in Latin America after Michel Inoa is Adis Portillo.

Portillo, a 16-year-old righthander from Maricaibo, Venezuela, is a hard-thrower with a fastball that has ranged from 88-92 mph, touching 93. International scouts love Portillo’s size—a wiry 6-foot-3 frame—and arm strength, though his present control leaves something to be desired.

“I saw him and we liked him,” said one international scouting director. “He’s got a good arm and he’s a big kid with a great body and a good feel for a breaking ball.”

The Royals apparently have strong interest, but the Padres and Phillies appear to be the top contenders for Portillo, who has been linked to both teams in potential deals of at least $1.5 million. One international scout said Portillo has been asking for $2 million, although it’s questionable whether any team will meet that price.

Continue reading Phillies in for Adis Portillo? →

Quick update on my Top 30

** My Top 30 Prospects

I figured now might be a good time to take a quick look at my Top 30 and see how poorly my rankings look. No indepth analysis here, just brief snapshots

30. Freddy Galvis, SS (A-; .233/.290/.267)

Actually hitting better than I expected, I ranked him here based on his defensive reputation and athletic ability. Everyone knew the bat was going to take a while. He’s only 18 in a league where the average prospect is 20. Hit .320 in May after an awful .143 in April. Stock up at this point.

29. Alex Concepcion, RHP (A+; .1 IP,)

Ouch. He’s made only one appearance and has battled injuries all season. Not much else to say here, I don’t know the exact nature of his injuries or what the prognosis is. At 23 now, this could derail his development to a degree if he needs major surgery. Stock down.

Continue reading Quick update on my Top 30 →

Kevin Goldstein’s Top 100 Update

Savery, Joe, Top Prospect Lists

Over the next few days Kevin Goldstein is going to do brief blurbs on his Top 100 guys. Here are the udpates on Carrasco and Savery

68. Carlos Carrasco, RHP, Phillies
Eligible Next Year? Yes
Production: 3.78 ERA at Double-A (88-85-32-85)
Stock Report: He’s missed more bats at Double-A this time around, but remains a bit more hittable than one would like. Still, it’s a slight step forward.

96. Joe Savery, LHP, Phillies
Eligible Next Year? Yes
Production: 4.69 ERA at High-A (78.2-99-33-64)
Stock Report: Down. After a good start to the season, Savery has been getting hammered of late, giving up 57 hits in his last 35 2/3 innings. Some scouts are worried that something else is wrong, as his stuff has been way off as well.

An injury might explain Savery’s very mixed results. Hmm.

EDIT –> This is an update of his 2008 preseason Top 100, not a current Top 100 or a projected Top 100 next year. “Eligible Next Year” has to do with projected prospect eligibility for next season.

Thursday quick hits

Other Stuff

Just a few random musings today

* I’ve added a few more player profiles in Carlos Monasterios and Jeremy Slayden. If you look on the left side and see a player’s name, but no profile link, it means I’ve got him on the list of players to do. But as you can tell, I have a lot more guys to add. If you see someone who isn’t listed that you think needs a profile, please list it here. I can figure it out too, but it will help when I’m creating them if I can just look somewhere and see a list of guys I need to add.

* The Lou Marson watch has been added!

* As you may have read, Michael Taylor and Drew Naylor have been promoted to Clearwater along with personal favorite Ben Pfinsgraff. Probably overdue. As I’ve mentioned on Taylor, I’m still going to wait until the end of the year to judge, but at this point he’s looking like a solid prospect and this is more than a fluky 2 months. We’ll wait and see.

* Had Taylor not been promoted, the Phillies may have had a realistic chance of winning 3 batting titles in one season. Taylor was comfortably leading the SAL with a .361 average, 17 points better than his closest competitor. Adrian Cardenas is hitting .316 and is 20 points behind the league leader in the FSL, and Lou Marson is 3rd in the EL at .348. Its sure nice to see non-mercenary Phillies at the top of these leaderboards, isn’t it?

Williamsport opens the season with a loss

3. Williamsport

The short season leagues are getting under way, which means one more scoreboard to watch every night, and a slew of prospects both new and old to add to the radar screen. Williamsport kicked off their season with a 4-3 loss to Mahoning Valley, the Indians short season affiliate. Freddy Ballestas started, going 5 innings and allowing 3 runs, 2 earned on 7 hits with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts, while getting 8 groundballs and 4 fly balls. Travis d’Arnaud opened up 3/4, and newly drafted Brandon Haislet went 2/5 out of the leadoff spot. It will be interesting to see how the lineup is rotated to get everyone reps, but tonight’s configuration is likely to be the “normal” lineup.

Encouraging signs from Julian Sampson

Other Stuff

I was very high on Julian Sampson coming into this season, ranking him #18 on my top 30 prospects list entering the season despite him only making one pro appearance prior to 2008. The Phillies got aggressive with Sampson, assigning him to Lakewood. I suspected he might struggle early on, as he was still a raw product out of the Pacific Northwest, but I figured he’d slowly turn the corner and adjust well once he got going. It looks like my suspicions may have been correct. Lets take a look at some splits

Continue reading Encouraging signs from Julian Sampson →

Kevin Goldstein’s draft review

2008 Draft

KG is reviewing each division’s 2008 draft over at BP, and he did the NL East on Saturday. Here’s what he had to say

Draft Philosophy: Tools, tools, and more tools! Must have more tools! Enough to fill the shed!

First Pick: Anthony Hewitt, SS, Salisbury School (CT) (24th overall>
How High He Could Have Gone: There were some teams considering him towards the middle of the first round, but he was a very polarizing player. Some think he slotted well as a mid-first-round talent, others wouldn’t have touched him until the first 100 picks were already off the board.
Path To The Big Leagues: It won’t be quick. The best athlete in the draft is also one of the furthest away from the majors. He might not even be in Double-A by 2011, so be patient, Phils fans.

Rest of the First Day:
1. Zach Collier, OF, Chino Hills (CA): Expected to go about ten picks earlier; a touch less athletic than Hewitt, but a touch more polished.
2. Anthony Gose, OF, Bellflower HS (CA): A better pitching prospect, but he doesn’t want to pitch. As an outfielder, he’s loaded with tools, especially speed.
2. Jason Knapp, RHP, North Hunterdon HS (NJ): The pitching version of Hewitt. He’s huge and he throws very hard, but that’s about it.
3. Vance Worley, RHP, Long Beach State: A big-bodied pitcher with good velocity, but he has problems with his secondary stuff and control.
4. Trevor May, RHP, Kelso HS (WA): A projectable arm who needs refinement, but the ceiling is there.
5. Jeremy Hamilton, 1B, Wright State: The rare non-toolsy pick for the Phils–-he put up big numbers in college but doesn’t thrill scouts.
6. Colby Shreve, RHP, Southern Nevada CC (NV): Gifted with a plus sinker/slider combination, but he just had a Tommy John surgery.

Best Second-Day Selections:
7. Johnny Coy, 3B, Benton HS (MO): He May be more raw than Hewitt, but he’s 6’7″ and athletic, so there’s plenty to dream on.
8. Julio Rodriguez, RHP, Puerto Rico Baseball Academy (PR): Tall, projectable arm fits in well with team’s philosophy.
10. Jean Carlos Rodriguez, C, Washington HS (NY): Like most Philly picks, he’s raw, but he’s got a good arm and a ton of strength.

Monday’s random musings

Other Stuff

Just some random Monday notes…

* According to the Reading Eagle, Greg Golson has a wrist problem, and Antonio Bastardo has some shoulder inflammation. I wonder if the wrist injury might explain Golson’s recent run of bad form.

* Lou Marson’s stat line, as of right now; .356/.459/.454 How about the best stat lines for some of today’s elite catchers in their minor league career

Mauer, age 20 (A+/AA): .338/.396/.434
Martin, age 22 (AA): .311/.430/.423
McCann, age 20 (A+): .278/.332/.494
Martinez, age 23 (AA): .336/.413/.576

Sweet Lou’s OB% obliterates the competition, as does his batting average. Last Friday, during the BA Hotsheet Chat, Ben Badler made this comment about Marson;

Do you think Lou Marson is a true .353 hitter, or do you think there might be a bit of noise and good fortune in those numbers? I like Marson’s line-drive approach and his knowledge of the strike zone. So when Marson is back to hitting .280 (or maybe .260, his career minor league average) and slugging in the high 300s, how valuable is that? I think his power has the potential for some moderate growth, but 220 or so good PAs aren’t going to turn a guy into a star prospect. That’s not to say I don’t think he can be a big league regular… let’s just not get carried away.

While I understand the skepticism, to a degree, I think we’re past the point where you can call this fluky. Sure, Marson isn’t gonna hit .360 for the entire season, and he’s not a .350+ hitter, but the plate discipline is for real, as he’s shown that ability in prior seasons. The only thing left is the power, but power is often late to develop for catchers, and Marson still has some projection left in terms of growth, as he doesn’t turn 22 for another couple weeks.

Continue reading Monday’s random musings →

Do we have any “untouchable” prospects?

Other Stuff

As you may know, I try to keep this site geared towards prospects and resist the temptation to complain about the big league club (or praise them, for that matter), and try to stick to just talking about minor league action/the draft and stuff like that. But this is a very relevant topic, and it broke out in the Clearwater Report, so I figured I’d give it its own service here. Everyone seems to have an opinion on this, so here is your chance to weigh in. Depending on how the Phillies play over the next 6 weeks, they could be looking to make a trade for a starting pitcher, though right now the rotation looks solid. So that begs the question, who would you trade and who would you not trade in our current minor league setup, and for who would you trade them? Let’s take a look at our most tradeable assets.

Continue reading Do we have any “untouchable” prospects? →