Its been a rough two weeks for Lehigh Valley, even with an 8-1 win last night, as they have gone 3-7 since the last report and now sit at 52-52, and in 3rd place of the Northern Division of the International League, 5.5 games behind division leading Pawtucket and 2 games behind Norfolk in the race for the wild card. Lehigh Valley is in the midst of an eight game road trip during which they play two more in Rochester, followed by a four game series in Pawtucket.

‘Pigs Prospects: Cody Asche has hit safely in 20 of his last 27 games and is hitting .359 during that time frame. Taking it back a bit further, Asche has hit in 38 of his last 49 games (.324). After having a fairly miserable time hitting left handed pitching during the first two months of the season, Asche has been a solid .294 since May 26th.  He continues to show the occasional pop, good base running and very good defense. On the year, Asche is at .292/.352/.451 with 12HR and 60RBI, to go along with 11SB. Extremely solid. I really hope to see him in Philly before the end of the year. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

Lakewood

Larry Greene, Jr, 20, Phils 1st round pick in 2011 draft; .234/.329/.317 in 278 AB’s; 2HR 23RBI; 5/9 SB; .131 vs. LH, .278 vs. RH, .229 with RISP; .275 since June 1; 13%bb/34% k rates. 77 games in the OF with 9 errors (.927); 2 OF assists; The good news is Greene has shown great improvement over the last two months, renewing hope that using a #1 pick on him wouldnt rank up there in the realm of Jeff Jacksonesque failures. The bad news: VERY pedestrian power and speed numbers combined with difficulties in the field and .131 against lefties. 

Brian Pointer, 21, Phils 28th round pick in 2010 draft; .228/.346/.357 in 311 AB’s; 5HR 39RBI; 21SB; .177 vs. LH, .241 vs. RH, .276 with RISP; .225 since June 1; 11%bb/26% k rates; 85 games in the OF with 4 errors (.974); 5 OF assists, I have been infatuated with Pointer’s skill set since I saw him in Spring Training in 2011 and am pretty consistently disappointed by his line. The guy has skills. He needs to hit lefties and strike out less and probably has one more year to learn to do those things. Continue reading Around the System, OF, Lower Half →

A look at the OF at the upper reaches of the organization. Stats are thru Saturday. The report on Lakewood, Williamsport and GCL will be out this week.

Lehigh Valley

Leandro Castro, 24, Signed as a free agent in 2007; .267/.297/.397 in 292 AB’s; 7HR 43 RBI; 16/22 SB; .364 vs. LHP, .225 vs. RHP; .338 with RISP; 4%bb/18%K rates; .259 since June 1. 77 games in the OF with 6 errors (.966); 6 OF assists. Castro has had a very good year and in my mind has placed on himself on the radar screen for a 4th or 5th OF candidate in Philadelphia next year. His biggest issue has always been his free swinging. While still a free swinger, he is making a whole heck of alot more contact than in the past.  Work in the OF has been less than stellar.

Steve Susdorf, 27, Phils 19th round pick in 2008 draft;.341/.429/.438 in 185 AB’s; 1HR 24RBI; 8SB; .324 vs. LH, .344 with RH, .327 with RISP; .352 since June 1. 13%bb/14% k rates.  43 games in the OF with 1 error (.983); 2 OF assists; I am not quite sure what Lance Nix gives you that Steve Susdorf can’t. Susdorf has been the picture of consistency, hitting both righties and lefties and giving you a very good AB each and every time. Continue reading Around the System–OF, Top Half →

A look at the week of July 11-17. Quick thoughts…Sebastian Valle’s offensive struggles have reached epic proportions with his average now hovering around .200 for the year…Is Jim Murphy the next Darin Ruf?  I think more likely Matt Rizzotti, but the numbers are impressive nonetheless…Time to pay attention to Wilmer Oberto. He has more than twice as many RBI’s as any other member of the GCL club…Very good to see Kenny Giles back on the hot reliever list after a frustrating injury filled year.

Continue reading Hot or Not →

A look at the Statistical Leaders throughout the organization: Minimum 30IP and 135 AB’s. Stats are thru last night.

AB’s: Cody Asche (358); Maikel Franco (347); Jim Murphy (332); Chris Serritella (328); Aaron Altherr (318); Cesar Hernandez (314); Darin Ruf (305); Albert Cartwright (301); Carlos Alonso (299); Carlos Tocci (297);  

Hits: Maikel Franco (111); Cody Asche (103); Jim Murphy (96); Cesar Hernandez (96); Willie Carmona (92); Chris Serritella (88); Aaron Altherr (87); Darin Ruf (81); Carlos Alonso (79); Leandro Castro (76) Continue reading Minor League Leaders →

A look at the catchers throughout the organization. Next up: the OF from the high levels of the organization.

Lehigh Valley

Cameron Rupp, 24, Phils 3rd round pick in 2010; .236/.305/.418 in 225 AB’s between Reading and Lehigh Valley; 10HR 33RBI; 8%bb/24%K rates; .220 since June 1. Has caught 55 games with 4 errors (.991); 3 passed balls; Has thrown out 16/52 would be base stealers (31%); Rupp has been asked to really step up this year for a variety of reasons and he has been predominately up to the task. I like Rupp and while he does not project as a major league starter, he could be a very effective back up with another 250-300 minor league AB’s.

Steven Lerud, 28, Re-signed as free agent in 2013; .242/.405/.358 in 120 AB’s; 3HR 17RBI; .214 vs. LH, .250 vs. RH, .243 with RISP; 20%bb/24% k rates; 41 games caught with 6 errors (.981); 1 passed ball; Has thrown out 13/39 would be base stealers (33%); Lerud has played well for Lehigh Valley. Even with a marginal batting average, the huge walk rate has led to an excellent OBP. Above average defensively, pitchers like throwing to him.  Seemed over matched offensively in the majors but a capable short term fix if necessary. Continue reading Around the System–Catchers →

NYPhilsmaniac 19 is at it again, this time at Lakewood. Flat out great job with the report. 

A look at the time period of July 4-10….Plenty of good hitting around the organization this week…I am getting disproportionately excited over JP Crawford considering he has less than 75 professional AB’s…I will “bite”, Steve Susdorf should be given a shot to be a left handed bat off the Phils bench…Maikel Franco just keeps plugging along…Good to  to see Nic Hanson back from his injury and performing well…Brody Colvin is pretty much an unmitigated disaster at this stage… Mario Hollands needs to be promoted to Reading.

Hot Hitters: Steve Susdorf (.500); JP Crawford (.500, 4rs, 2SB); Michael Martinez (.455, 6R); Jon Roof (.450, 8R 2HR 11RBI); Andrew Pullin (.440, 7RBI); Maikel Franco (.438); Derrick Mitchell (.429); Jia Tromp (.429); Willie Carmona (.424, 4RBI); Brock Stassi (.350); Cody Asche (.343, 6R 5RBI 3SB); Honorable Mention: Murphy, Gillies, Lerud, Overbeck, Sandberg, Greene, Galvis, Mora, Hernandez Continue reading Hot or Not →

A look at where we are at up the middle throughout the organization.  Plenty to talk about at the top level…

Lehigh Valley

Freddy Galvis, 23, Signed as a free agent in 2006; Hitting .265 in 49 AB’s since being sent down to AAA; 1HR 6RBI; 10 games at SS with 1 error (.979); 2 games at 2B without an error; 1 game at 3B without an error.

Cesar Hernandez, 23, SIgned as a free agent in 2006; .313/.379/.418 in 297 AB’s; 2HR 27RBI; 27/33 SB; .315 vs. LH, .312 vs. RH, .274 with RISP; .327 since June 1; 10%bb/18% k rates; 74 games at 2B with 9 errors (.974); 4.50 R/F; 2 games in the OF without an error; Hernandez has been outstanding this year and extremely consistent as well. He is among the league leaders in several offensive categories and his defense has been well above average as well. Continue reading Around the System–Middle Infield →

Lehigh Valley went 4-5 this week, which ended with a  6-1 victory on Tuesday evening and now stand at 49-45, 4 games behind division leading Pawtucket in the Northern Division of the International League and one game behind Norfolk in the wildcard race.  The ‘Pigs play three more at home this week, before traveling to Syracuse for a short two game series over the weekend prior to the all star break.

‘Pigs Prospects: Cesar Hernandez has been outstanding as of late, hitting over .400 during the past two weeks and continuing to steal bases with a very high success rate.  Notably, Hernandez played a game in CF and has been regularly taking fly balls in the outfield. On the year, Hernandez is hitting .313/.379/.418 with 2HR 27RBI to go along with 27SB.  Hernandez has been extremely solid in the field as well.

Tyson Gillies has hit in 7 of his 8 games since his promotion (7-28) and 16 of his last 19 games if you combine the success he was having in Reading.  Still too early to tell how well the new swing and new maturity? will translate to Lehigh Valley, but there is a glimmer of hope.  On the year, Gillies is hitting a combined .238/.299/.405 between Reading and Lehigh Valley. He has 9HR 26RBI and is 9/14 stealing bases. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →