Even with their 5-4 win last night, Lehigh Valley has been really struggling and now sit at 35-37 in the Northern Division of the International League, 6.5 games behind division leading  Syracuse at the virtual half way point of the season.  The ‘Pigs continue their 8 game homestand with 6 more against Charlotte (2) followed by four against Columbus.

‘Pigs League Leaders, Hitting: Maikel Franco is 4th in AB’s(263); Tyler Henson is 5th in strikeouts (75) and 8th in SB’s(13)

Pitching: Barry Enright has the 8th worst ERA (4.77), is tied for 2nd in starts(14 and leads the league in HR allowed (15)); Luis Garcia is 4th in saves (10); Sean O’Sullivan is 5th in IP (83)

‘Pigs Prospects: Maikel Franco continues to struggle, hitting just .154 over the last 10 games with no homers and just a lone RBI.  His 20% K rate of that time period is not problematic but certainly the lack of production is.  In June, Franco is at .152/.176/.258 in 66 AB’s with 1HR and 6 RBI.  For the year, the line is .213/.274/.335 with 5HR 26RBI and a 16% strikeout rate.  Concerning.

Tyler Knigge has thrown well after two lousy outings to start his time in AAA.  Over his last three games, Knigge has thrown 4 scoreless, hitless innings, struck out 4 and didnt yield a walk. Between Reading and Lehigh Valley this year, Knigge is 3-0 with a 2.43 ERA and 3 saves.  Opponents are hitting .217 against him (.208 in AAA) and his WHIP sits right at 1.00.

Cameron Perkins has gone 0-7 over his last two games after a hot start in AAA, hitting in 8 of his first 9 contests.  Concerning are the two lonely extra base hits in 52 AB’s for Lehigh Valley. In his 14 games for the ‘Pigs Perkins is at .231/.298/.288 with 0HR and 3RBI.  The consummate doubles hitter at AA, it will be interesting to see how Perkins progresses after 150-200 AAA AB’s.

Nest Week: Rupp, Lincoln, Gillies

News and Notes: Lehigh Valley continues to have the second worst home record in the league at 15-22.

–Over their last 16 games, Lehigh Valley is a miserable 5-12 with a .211 batting average.

–RP Luis Garcia still has not allowed an earned run in 2014, a time period now spanning 17 games and 19.2IP.

–The ‘Pigs are just 6-12 when playing against a Left handed starter.

–RP Shawn Camp completed his transition into a side arming reliever on 6/3 and has yet to yield an ER in his 5 appearances since.

–RP Cesar Jiminez has not given up an ER in his last 17 games, spanning 20IP.

–SP Brad Lincoln won his third consecutive start on Sunday and his scoreless streak has reached 18IP.

–SS Freddy Galvis (clavicle) and OF CLete Thomas (ribs) remain out indefinitely, while Darin Ruf (wrist) appears to be on a 2-3 timetable for a return.

Probables: Wed: Lincoln; Thur: Bootcheck; Fri: Smith

Transactions: A rare quiet week.  Tyler Henson was activated from the “paternity list” after returning from the birth of his son.  With Henson’s return, SS Edgar Duran was sent down to AA Reading

You never know when the call will come.  Just ask Aaron Altherr who was told today that we would be joining the Phillies as Tony Gwynn Jr. was placed on the bereavement list after the death of his father.  As the only healthy OF on the 40 man roster, this was the easy way out for the Phils, however no other OF in the upper reaches of the organization stood out enough to warrant serious consideration right now.

Altherr, 23, was the Phils 9th round pick in the 2009 draft.  After the starting the season on the DL (wrist) , and then slowly when he came off the DL, Altherr has been red hot as of late, hitting .392 with 1HR 9RBI and 2SB’s thus far in June for Reading.  Altherr is a plus fielder and will fill in just fine in center field.  At bat, Altherr struggles with a long swing at times, increasing his strikeout rate.  He fits into the “toolsy” OF mold and can legitimately hit for power, show speed and hit for average when his swing is compact. On the year, Altherr is at .246/.302/.377 with 4HR 25RBI and 6SB.  I wouldn’t expect Altherr to hang around with the Phils for long because he needs to continue playing every day, but I dont think he will embarrass himself any more than the next guy over the next few days.

Exiting the excitement that surrounded draft week, now is as good as time as any to look at how the Phils Top 5 prospects have changed since the beginning of the season.  This is how it goes now from my perspective.

1.  JP Crawford–I had Crawford ranked second pre-season and his continued excellence has only increased enthusiasm.  He should shortly be moving to Clearwater and remains on target to hit Philadelphia late in 2016.

2.  Aaron Nola–With his college pedigree, Nola is as “cant miss” as you can get in the draft.  He isn’t a can’t miss superstar, but as close to a can’t miss #2 or #3 starter as possible. Those kind of players are clearly at a premium in any organization, let alone the Phillies.

3.  Maikel Franco–I am still very high on Franco, but this years early season struggles make it clear that he has a few glaring weaknesses that need continued work at the minor league level.  I expect Franco to have a long and successful career in Philadelphia, just not as soon as originally expected.  Franco drops from #1 to #3.

4.  Jesse Biddle–I am ready to buy in to the question marks.  I have seen Biddle live look simply awesome in his 15+K performance against Harrisburg last year and also seen him struggle mightily with his command, while becoming clearly flustered by the occasional lack of defense behind him.  He has the talent of a #2 starter.  It is up to Biddle and the Phils to continue to develop it.  He has dropped from #3 to #4 in my book.

5.  Kenny Giles–Just to the majors last week, Giles still qualifies as a prospect with just a third of an inning of major league experience. As I am not about to put the label of #5 prospect on Carlos Tocci, who, albeit at 18, still struggles to hit the ball out of the infield or Kelly Dugan, who has had a half season filled with injuries.  So, it becomes Giles who after a difficult year last year became the talk of the town for the first two and a half months of the season.  He was lights out in Reading and did a decent job in Lehigh Valley with some notable command issues.  His upside is very high as back-end of the bullpen guy who will strike out a ton of hitters.  From from a finished product, best case scenario would have had him in Lehigh Valley until September.

Looking forward to the discussion….

The minor league depth that the Phillies have currently sits on the major league bench (Hernandez, Brignac, Cedeno) leaving very little at the upper reaches of the organization.  At the lower half, good progression and progress by Pullin and Crawford and to an extent Pullin.

Lehigh Valley

Andres Blanco, 30, Re-signed as free agent in 2014; .244/.327/.302 in 86 AB’s; 0HR 9RBI; 1SB; 9%bb/18% k rates; 24 games at SS without an error; 5 games at 2B without an error; Blanco spent a considerable amount of time on the DL with an oblique injury.  He is outstanding with the glove, and mediocre with the bat.

Nate Spears, 29, SIgned as a free agent in 2014; Hitting .167 in 6 AB’s for Lehigh Valley.

Matt Tolbert, 32, Re-signed as free agent in 2014; .210/.290/226 62 AB’s between Reading and Lehigh Valley; 0HR 1RBI; 1SB. 7 games at 2B with 3 errors (.857); 6 games at 3B without an error; 4 games in the OF without an error; Tolbert has spent the last month on the DL with a broken finger.  When healthy, he is an extra middle infielder for the ‘Pigs.

Freddy Galvis, 24, Signed as a free agent in 2006; Hitting .143 in 7AB’s for Lehigh Valley before going down with a broken collarbone on May 11th.  Expected to be out another month. Continue reading Around the System–Middle Infield →

The concern for both Maikel Franco and Jesse Biddle is rising with “funks”, now turning into pattern.  Approaching half way through the season, the body of work is far below expectations for both…Outstading week for Aaron Altherr, who is really starting to put it together…Roman Quinn is moving back to CF and celebrates with a .400 week…Very productive week for Brian Pointer in a season with very little production…Mark Leiter’s struggles seem to have been turned around with 2 solid starts…Keep an eye on Ryan O’Sullivan, In his last 10 outings dating back to May 13th, O’Sullivan is 1-0 with an 0.75ERA, 0.71WHIP, and .169 opponents batting average.

Hot Hitters: Aaron Altherr (.464, 4R, HR, 6RBI, SB); Brian Pointer (.438, 6R); Roman Quinn (.400); KC Serna (.400, 4RBI); Carlos Alonso (.393, 9R); Edgar Duran (.364); Albert Cartwright (.355, 3SB); Logan Moore (.350); Andrew Pullin (.321, 4R); Cameron Perkins (.304)

Not Hot Hitters: Tyler Henson (.000, 0-12); Peter Lavin (.050); Andreas Blanco (.071); Wilmer Oberto (.076); Mitch Walding (.091); ANdrew Knapp (.100);  Maikel Franco (.120); Anthony Hewitt (.130); Art Charles (.136); Brandon Short (.143) Continue reading Hot or Not →

Here we go…

Catcher: Deivi Gruillon, Wilson Garcia

Infield: Malquin Canelo, Rhys Hoskins, Jan Hernandez, Wilmer Oberto, Robinson Torres

Outfield: Herlis Rodriguez, Jiandido Tromp; Cord Sandberg

Pitchers: Alejandro Arteaga, Rich Bielski, Delvi Franciso, Manny Martinez, Mitch Guellar; Ricardo Pinto, Frank Rivas, Keivi Rojas, Feliberto Sanchez, David Whitehead

DL: Josh Warner

I would expect both Chris Oliver and Brandon Leibrandt added to the Williamsport pitching staff shortly.

Lehigh Valley has lost three straight games and 9 of their last 12, and now sit at 32-34 in the Northern Division of the International League, in 5th place and 5.5 games behind division leading Syracuse.  After a much needed off day Wednesday, Lehigh Valley hits the road for four games against Rochester before returning home for an eight game home stand.

‘Pigs League Leaders, Hitting: Maikel Franco is 6th in AB’s(236); Tyler Henson is 5th in strikeouts(67) and 6th in SB(13)

Pitching: Luis Garcia is 6th in saves(7); Greg SMith in 10th in IP (72.1); Barry Enright is 2nd in HR allowed(12)

‘Pigs Prospects: The original plan was to talk about Tyson Gillies, Darin Ruf and Seth Rosin this week, but Gillies has become a non-prospect; Ruf is on the DL and Rosin was sent down to Reading.  So a few under the radar guys:

Hector Neris has been unscored upon in his last 4 games (5IP 1H 1BB 4K), and overall sits at 1-0 with a 2.95 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 12 AAA games.  Neris has the ability to throw multiple innings and has very good command, and attribute rarely seen in the Phils minor league system. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

This is really frighening.  Next up, Middle Infield.

Lehigh Valley

Maikel Franco, 21, Signed as a free agent in 2009; .223/.290/.357 in 224 AB’s; 5HR 25RBI; 8%bb/16%k rates; .276 vs. LHP; .205 vs. RHP; .243 with RISP; 46 games at 3B with 2 errors (.984); 11 games at 1B without an error;  Hitting .255 since May 1.  Improved since we last spoke but nowhere near where most of us thought he would be offensively.  Playing well with the glove.

Jim Murphy, 28, Phils 18th round pick in 2006; .240/.321/.423 in 208 AB’s; 8HR 31RBI; 9%bb/24%k rates; .211 vs. LHP; .252 vs. RHP; .236 with RISP; .226 since May 1.  49 games at 1B with 3 errors (.993); Murphy is providing some pop but he is hitting about 30 points below where most expected this year. Continue reading Around the System–Corner Infield →