Holy Zachamole! Collier hit his fifth home run in four games. That’s pretty remarkable. Kely Dugan drew two walks in that one – he’s got five walks in his last four games. Not quite as impressive, and certainly not worthy of a “Holy Kellymole” or a “Kelly Guacamole”. Freddy Galvis hit his first of the year for LV, as Maikel Franco had two hits, including a double. MAG did not fair well in his third AAA outing. Roman Quinn on base again, as Jim pointed out in his write-up, for the 20th game in a row. Be sure to read Jim’s report for a nice write-up on Miguel Nunez’ start, plus a nugget about Jesse Biddle.

For Lakewood, Willians Astudillo had two hits – his fourth multi-hit game in a row and he’s OPSing .858 over his last ten games, and I can’t believe I missed that he struck out twice in the same game on July 30. That’s craziness. Especially considering that was his entire strikeout total for the month of July. Two. In a month where he took ~85 PAs. Yes, he also only drew two walks, but still. Otherwise, this year’s 8th overall pick, Rockies prospect Kyle Freeland, pretty well shut down the Blueclaws in his SAL debut – he struck out six and allowed two hits and nothing else in five innings. It is nice to see that Dylan Cozens had one of the hits off Freeland – a double. Proves very little in the grand scheme, but nice to see our questionably good guy can sometimes hit their probably good guy.

Hmm…kinda regretting saying “Holy Zachamole” earlier. Oh well, no turning back now.

And finally, Victor Delgado and closer Alejandro Garcia shut out Detroit in Game One of a three-game VSL championship series. I talked about the prospects for the series yesterday. Delgado allowed three hits over eight innings. Luis Mendoza and Jesus Alastre each pushed runs across, and 17 yr-old 2B Daniel Romero had two hits and scored twice. Game two today could be the clincher. Watch out for updates from me early-mid afternoon as the 11:30 EST start time should have me posting a result sometime around 2-3pm, time permitting.

**Update** VSL lost 4-2 today. Jesus Alastre and Joseph Miranda were both 2-4 with a double, and Carlos Indriago had a fair start in the loss. He allowed eight hits and a walk in five + innings and Sergio Velis couldn’t keep those inherited guys from scoring. It all comes down to Thursday’s game three. We’ll see if they throw Ranger Suarez or not.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/5/2014 →

Maikel Franco was 2-4 with a double, and MAG and Luis Garcia worked scoreless innings in relief of a nice start from Greg (not Matt) Smith. Kelly Dugan was 2-3 plus a walk and Zach Collier had two hits, including his sixth home run – that makes four in three days for the Reading centerfielder. It was perfectly reasonable to waive him earlier in the year to make room on the 40-man roster, but I don’t think the club will totally give up on him when he does things like hit four homers in three days. He’s been off the field so much this year, yet he has managed to marginally improve his overall offensive game while repeating AA. Still striking out too much (>25%), and unless he’s really going to hit homers in bunches, that’s not a great profile going forward. Someone close to the club should let him know to keep hitting homers. Thanks.

Nic Hanson was not terribly sharp in his first FSL start of the year, while JP Crawford was 2-3 plus a walk. Roman Quinn was 2-5 with a double and a steal, his 23rd in 30 attempts and has a 19-game on base streak going back to the second game of a double header on July 17. Over that 87 PA span he’s got 8 XBH, 11BB, just 13K and 14 steals in 17 tries. His wRC+ is 152 from July 17 thru Sunday – Fangraphs is a day behind still, and it won’t let me set my arbitrary endpoint between the bad and the good games in the 17th. Bummer.

Andy Knapp, Dylan Cozens, Mitch Walding and Malquin Canelo all with XBH for Lakewood, while Green and Greene both had singles and walked twice. LGj has continued to take his walks, hanging around 10% for the season, and his 28% K Rate is a marked improvement over his 35% last year. He is OPSing 1.271 in August, So that’S Something. Jia Tromp hit his 12th home run, and his third in as many days. One shy of tying the team record of 13, held by Zach Green and Walter Young. Brandon Leibrandt pitched really well over five hitless innings, and then it all went wrong in the sixth – he allowed four doubles and a single in the frame and ended with 4ER, 5H, 10k, 1BB in 6IP.

Look for a brief post from me shortly about the VSL club – they made the playoffs, starting today.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/4/2014 →

Zach Collier hit his third home run in two days. Roman Quinn was 1-3 with a walk and a steal.  His OPS is above .700. Boss. A fine line from Colin Kleven – 4H 3BB and 7K in 6 scoreless IP. Three hits for Zach Green, Dylan Cozens stole his 19th base, and Carlos Tocci hit his second professional home run. Matt Imhof went six, allowing three runs on six hits, no walks, and struck out seven.

Jia Tromp hit his 11th home run of the year, and second in as many days. He’s two shy of the WIL team record, and tied with Hunter Lockwood for second in the league – the leader Rowan Wick (14) was promoted a couple weeks ago. Mitch Gueller threw five scoreless innings for the Cutters, allowing just three hits, no walks, and striking out four. Nice work.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/3/2014 →

Hector Neris was added to the Phillies active roster this morning. As I mentioned yesterday, he’s been on a pretty nice streak since early/mid-July. He would have needed to be added to the 40-man this off-season to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft in December, so this will be a nice tryout. If he succeeds, great, if not, he has options, or he can be waived and every team will have a shot at him that way instead of via Rule 5.

MAG earned his first AAA save in LV’s win. Cam Perkins had two hits there – he’s hit safely in five straight, including two multi-hit games. Maybe he’s turning the corner. Kelly Dugan 1-3 plus two walks and scored three times. Zach Collier was 3-5 with two home runs (4) and Jake Fox was 2-4 with a walk, a double and a homer (15). Roman Quinn 2-4 plus a walk and a steal (21) and JPC was 3-5 with a double and a steal (4). Quinn’s recent base-stealing is super encouraging.

Jia Tromp with his tenth home run of the year, and David Whitehead pitched well for WIL – 1R 0ER 4H 0BB 5K in 6IP. And 21-year-old RHP Edubray Ramos, a Cardinals signee in 2010, who started the year in the VSL after a three year layoff from MLB affiliated pro ball, has worked 7.2 nearly perfect innings for Williamsport thus far – he’s hit one man and struck out seven. That’s it.

Nice game from Julsan Kamara out in the Dom Rep – 2-3 with a double a triple and a walk. And Ranger Suarez put up another gem, going eight scoreless innings and allowing no walks, just three hits and striking out four. 78:1 K:BB on the year now.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/2/2014 →

LV reliever Hector Neris hasn’t allowed a run since July 8. He’s pitched 13 scoreless since then, allowing just six hits, two walks and struck out eight. Impressive run. Kelly Dugan was 2-6 with two doubles in Reading’s double header. Brian Pointer hit his second home run of the week, and his 11th on the year. Roman Quinn’s nine-game hit streak was ended, but he did manage a walk and his 20th steal.

Sam Hiciano (9) and Mitch Walding (4) went deep for Lakewood. Hiciano also had a double and drew a walk in his four trips to the plate. Dylan Cozens has two hits, including a double. He’s had two hits in six of his last ten games. Real nice. WIL managed just three hits.

ICYMI – I wrote up a handful of guys who had good numbers in July over at CrashburnAlley.com. Franco, Nola, Quinn, Tocci, MAG, Mecias, Cozens and Encarnacion. I hope you’ll check it out.

Also, this is not my work, but here’s an article from Philly.com on Matt Imhof.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/1/2014 →

First off, despite what was on MiLB.com for a while last night, Aaron Nola did not pitch. That site had it wrong. It was Miguel Nunez, and he pitched really well, allowing just one hit and three walks with eight strikeouts in six scoreless innings. He had a fine July, with a WHIP under 1.00 and six inning stints each time out. Roman Quinn was 2-5 and Chris Serritella was a triple short of the cycle. Cody Forsythe worked a five out save in that contest.

Maikel Franco hit the game-winning home run (9) for Lehigh Valley. He’s finishing the month strong. Hopefully August is another July, or even another May, and not another April or June. Five Iron Pigs had multi-hit games, led by Cesar Hernandez and Tyler Henson, who were both 204 with a double and a walk. I left the Rochester pitching line in there so you could see Trevor May’s work. Well done for the former Phils #1 prospect. He’s bound to be a September call-up this year after what looks like a really solid year on paper – 4HR, 33BB and 89K in 89.1 IP. All make for fine rates. Reading managed just one hit against Portland pitching, as Adam Loewen pitched fairly well – he did walk five guys in six scoreless innings, which is not ideal, though he also struck out seven. And Colt Murray let down two of his mates when he allowed both Seth Rosin and Austin Wright’s runners to score in the eighth.

Zach Green had two hits and a walk for Lakewood, as they were shut down by former Phils farm hand Luis Gonzalez. Gonzalez spent three years in the Phils system from 2010-2012, and spent last year in the DSL for the Orioles. He’s 22 years old, but he’s been very good for Delmarva – 0HR, 58K, 19BB in 61.1IP. Curious why he was let go, and I wonder if it was personal, as he wound up in the DSL for a year after what was not a bad year in WIL in 2012. Denton Keys went six scoreless, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out five – good start for him. He’s been inconsistent, but no major red flags so far for him. Austin Davis’ first pro start went pretty well, though he’s not stretched out – he may still wind up staying in the pen going forward.

I’m going to open another trade deadline thread today since yesterday’s is near 100 comments already. Try to keep that stuff in the general discussion, if you can.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/30/2014 →

Luis Garcia, back from the DL, and struck out two in a clean inning of work. Kelly Dugan and Aaron Altherr each had singles in both games of Reading’s DH – Edgar Duran had four doubles, all told. And nice work from Ryan O’Sullivan to give his bullpen a break for six innings. He’s been about as effective as a starter as I’d imagined – he seems to be managing his way around the fact that his stuff plays down in longer stints – his strikeout rate has dipped severely from his time in the pen, and his walk rate has gone up.

Roman Quinn was 4-5 with two steals. The Threshers stole six off of Stuart Turner and his battery mates. Not a good day for him. Cody Forsythe stranded two runners, despite allowing a hit, and struck out the side for his second FSL save. He’s been really good this year – 50:8 k:bb in 47.1IP across two levels. Wouldn’t mind seeing him get four weeks in Reading right now. For Lakewood, Tocci, Pullin, Knapp and Cozens put up two hits a piece – one of Tocci’s was a double, one of Cozens’ was a three-run homer (14). Tocci is OPSing .820 for the month, and Cozens .931. Yoel Mecias is limiting runs, but he’s not yet striking out a ton of batters – just 21 over 32 innings this year. He’s got plenty of time to turn that around, however.

Thinking they ought to get Brandon Liebrandt to Lakewood, already. Another gem from him the the NYPL – in six scoreless innings, he allowed one hit, two walks and struck out six. He’s allowed just six hits and struck out 18 in 18 innings at this level. Dominant. GCL pounded out 13 hits against the Pirates squad, while Nic Hanson threw five perfect innings in his rehab appearance.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/29/2014 →

Maikel Franco with his eighth home run and second in three days. He was 4-4 and has been absolutely crushing it in July, with an OPS of .972 for the month, which includes 14 XBH in ~90PAs. Solid. Reading managed just two hits, and Severino Gonzalez lasted just three innings against Portland. Seve only threw 52 pitches, but he did allow two more homers. Not solid. Roman Quinn’s streak of walks and steals comes to an end, but he has hit in six straight. For LKW, Andy Knapp had three hits and Dylan Cozens and Mitch Walding had two a piece – Walding’s OPSing a Maikel Franco-esque .975 in July. His Ks remain a little high, though he’s been better this month at around 23%, but his walks are near double digits for the year. A month in A+ might be a good idea for his progress, as he appears to be over SAL pitching, finally.

And hopefully Tyler Viza’s getting something out of his time in Lakewood, because you know he’s not getting much confidence from his game day results. He’s 3-14, which has to kind of suck. It’s meaningless in judging his performance, and there’s plenty not to like in his stats, but it was a really aggressive placement for a HS draftee who didn’t even see WIL last summer. He’s at least kept his control, as evidenced by a really strong 1.88 BB/9 for a 4.6% BB Rate. Seems he’s been a little bit unlucky as well, as FIP has him at 4.10 for the year, which is not bad at all for one of the ten or so youngest regular starters in the league, and nearly a run better than his ERA. His placement in 2015 will be interesting.

I’ve spent too much time on this already, so I’ll leave the short season leagues to you all to discuss, but I will say this much: ¡Viva Encarnación!

Is it “vivo”, “viva”, “vive”, or one of those with an accent, maybe? Anyone? Viva seems to flow off the tongue, but I don’t think it’s right.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/28/2014 →

Roman Quinn with a single, a walk and his 17th steal. I’m very excited to see his name in the boxes every night right now. He’s hit in five straight, stole a base in six straight, walked in seven straight, and been on base in nine straight. He’s got a home run and a double during his on-base streak, yet somehow, all of that combined, gives him a .639 OPS over his last ten games. JP Crawford had two hits and a steal, and Brian Pointer was 2-4 with a double, a homer and his eighth steal of the year. Pointer, notoriously streaky, had 13ks last week. Hopefully Sunday sets him off on another run of solid results.

Kelly Dugan went deep for Reading (4) while Larry Greene hit his first of the year for Lakewood. Matt Imhof pitched well, there, while Greene and Dylan Cozens both had two hits in the Lakewood nightcap, and Mitch Walding was a triple short of the cycle. Tocci and Zach Green had triples in that one – one of them should have lent Walding one. That would have been super leadershipy of them. FYI – Tocci is fourth in the SAL league in triples with eight.

Finally, for WIL, Rhys Hoskins hit his fifth home run, while Drew Stankiewicz had two hits, and Jan Hernandez had three. Hernandez has five hits in the last two games since they gave him four days off to work on some things in the cage, (per Mitch Rupert’s reporting). He managed to not strike out Sunday, for the first time in a full game since July 4, (he took just 2 PAs  with zero Ks July 13, but that doesn’t count when I’m trying to prove a point).

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/27/2014 →