All posts by Matt Winkelman

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About Matt Winkelman

Matt is originally from Mt. Holly, NJ, but after a 4 year side track to Cleveland for college he now resides in Madison, WI. His work has previously appeared on Phuture Phillies and The Good Phight. You can read his work at Phillies Minor Thoughts

Phillies call up Ethan Martin

Martin, Ethan

The Phillies are calling up Ethan Martin to make his major league debut on Friday.  The reports are Cliff Lee will not be ready to go and Martin represents the best option in the minors.

Martin was acquired for Shane Victorino at the 2012 trade deadline and was the 15th pick in the 2008 draft.  So far this year in AAA he is 11-5 with a 4.12 ERA with 67 BBs and 107 Ks over 115.2 IP.  He has pitched much better of late but walks are still an issue.

Martin will bring a fastball that sits plus velocity (93-95) but he can show plus plus when needed.  The curveball has been a plus pitch in the past and can flash plus plus.  The slider is an average pitch with potential.  At this point the changeup is a dream and not a usable pitch.  Martin has the stuff to dominate if he can keep the ball in the zone.  If he loses feel for his secondary offerings he has the tendency to overthrow the fastball and lose his delivery.

Cody to the Showdy (Cody Asche Called Up To Majors)

Asche, Cody

Reports are that the Phillies have called up AAA 3B Cody Asche.  A Michael Young trade seems imminent and would give Asche 2 months of playing time to finish out the season.

Asche is nothing special at the plate or in the field.  What he is a very solid player with very few weaknesses who should be able to man 3B until a better player arrives.  Asche may struggle against LHP and the defense is average (which is like 3 grades above Young).

Asche has come a long way since a disastrous start in Williamsport in 2011.  He was hitting .295/.352/.485 in Lehigh Valley with 15HRs and 11 SB.  He is first 2011 draftee to reach the majors for the Phillies.

Minor League Thoughts and Notes

Other Stuff

Given the struggles of the big league club I have worked to make this as positive and uncontroversial as possible to give everyone as good a start to their week as possible.

At some point I am going to compile a full list of Twitter people to follow, but for now enjoy a quick one per level to to check out their work and thoughts (not all names associated with the Phillies exclusively)

Phillies Sign Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez

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Cuban pitcher with plus fastball and at least 3 other pitches.  He has a #2/#3 upside but will need a little bit of seasoning in the minors before getting to the majors.  Deal is supposedly for more than $50 million with escalators that could make it worth other $60 million.

Regardless of buying or selling this is a great allocation of financial resources, and even if he is more of a #4 he should be worth to close to the value of the contract.  This deal makes one of Kendrick, Lannan, Pettibone,Martin,  Morgan, and Biddle expendable either at the deadline or in the off-season.

Details to come later.

Steve Susdorf to the Majors

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The Phillies place Domonic Brown on the 7 day DL for a concussion.  They have called up Steve Susdorf to take his place.  Susdorf is a great story, he is average to below in all tools except a plus hit tool.  He will make solid contact in almost every at bat.  His major league stay might be brief and his impact little, but he certainly deserves his moment.  He is likely a better option than most of the OFs on the roster waiting for him.

Prospect Spotlight: Maikel Franco

Franco, Maikel

I am not a scout nor do I pretend to be.  I have not seen Franco in person this year because I live in Wisconsin which is a long distance from Clearwater and Reading.  These opinions are formed on video (game feeds and scouting video), reports, and people I have talked.

Since his breakout I have been wanting to discuss Franco, but I wanted to have fully formed opinions before I threw water on some people’s fires.  I don’t think I disagree with Franco’s ceiling so much as I think the polish is not where you want it yet.  Additionally I think we often ignore faults in players in an effort to recognize their gifts, it is a defense mechanism to avoid thinking about the amount of failure along the journey to the majors.  All that being said Maikel Franco is my #2 prospect in the Phillies system and a great prospect and scouting story. Continue reading Prospect Spotlight: Maikel Franco →

Industry Mid-Season Top 50 Prospect Lists

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Most major publications have released their Midseason Rankings.  The only two players to make any list where AA LHP Jesse Biddle and AA 3B Maikel Franco.  Both did not appear on all lists and there was no a consensus on the order in which they appeared or the opinions about them.

Baseball America: http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/midseason-prospect-update-top-50-prospects/

Jesse Biddle – #43

Maikel Franco – Breakout Prospect (surefire Top 100) Continue reading Industry Mid-Season Top 50 Prospect Lists →

Midseason Look at 40-Man Considerations

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One of the biggest moments in a prospect’s development is making the 40-man roster because it puts them in the position to be called up to the majors at any time.  Additionally, it comes with an invite to major league training camp.  Not making the 40-man is not the end for a prospect, but it can indicate a lot about their position in the organization.

That being said, for those prospects on the bubble of consideration their inclusion can depend on whether their profile is attractive to another team looking to make a pick in the Rule V draft.  In addition to Rule V picks the Phillies have a trio of interesting OFs that will be eligible for minor league free agency.

Locks:

Cameron Rupp: Rupp’s lack of overall upside has been stated many times on this site, but there is no doubt that he could be a solid major league back up to open 2014.  Almost any team would love to pick up that type of player for $50,000 in the Rule V making him a must protect. Continue reading Midseason Look at 40-Man Considerations →

Mid-Season Mailbag

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Here are the answers to your questions.  I really enjoyed answering and researching them. Feel free to ask any more questions or ask for clarification and I will try my best to answer them in the comments.

Ajay says:

Question: If you’re the Phillies GM (position should be opening soon), whom do you trade off the major league roster at the deadline, and which prospect replaces them? Is that prospect the long-term answer at the position?

I would trade Michael Young and Papelbone without question.  I think Asche could step in right now and with his defense at least equal Young’s production, I don’t think he is the long term answer but certainly a competent major leaguer.  As for Papelbon I would have traded him the moment the contract was signed because I don’t think a closer should get paid that much.  I personally would ride the hot hand of all the hard throwing guys until someone broke away from the pack. Continue reading Mid-Season Mailbag →

Mid-season Mailbag – Question Request

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Around the quarter point mark of the season I did a mailbag soliciting questions from here, email, and Twitter.  I thought it brought out some interesting question and discussions, so I am going to repeat it here.  Feel free to leave questions here or on Twitter (my email is in the writer’s tab at top) for me or any of the writers here.

We will run your questions and our answers later in the week.