Reading goes into the All Star break at .500 (45-45), 8 games back and in 4th place in the Southern division, although beginning to show some life.  My quest for MVP consideration for Greg Jacobs is as simple as looking at his stats.  He is currently 10th in the league in runs (49), 4th in hits (97), 5th in doubles (24), 4th in homers (14), 2nd in RBI’s (59), 2nd in slugging %(.566), 4th in average (.329) and second in OPS (.953).  Mike Costanzo is 4th in runs (58), leads the league in homers (17) and is 2nd in strikeouts (112). Jason Hill is leading the league with 27 doubles and Javon Moran is 4th is stolen bases (21). Matt Maloney  continues to get noticed in the pitching categories as he is 8th in wins (7), 2nd in innings pitched (104.1) and 4th in strikeouts(93).  Chris Key has been coming on strong and now is 8th in the league with 9 saves. Continue reading Reading Report →

It’s been a few weeks since my last Threshers update, so I figured I’d better get on the ball.  The Threshers finished the first half of the year in third place behind first-half champs the Sarasota Reds and the Tampa Yankees.  In the second half of the season the boys have been cruising along right where thay left off.  They currently sit in third one game behind Tampa in first and 1/2 game behind Dunedin in second.

There have been a lot of roster moves since the first half so it is almost like a new team in the secnd part of the year.    Just before the all-star break Pat Overholt was promoted to Reading, and since the all-star break Carlos Carrasco was promoted to Reading as well.  This has left a power vaccuum for starting pitchers in Clearwater that has yet to be filled. 

Ben Pfinsgraff and Alex Concepcion have been promoted from Lakewood to fill the empty spots, and Luis Villerreal has been added as a free agent to fill the spot of Dan Brauer who is on the DL.  So far these additions have seen mixed results.  Concepcion had a tough first outting, but was solid in his next two starts, and very good in his most recent trip to the hill giving up just four hits in seven innings of work.  Unfortunately those hits included two solo home runs and a triple for three runs, but the offense helped him out with an 8-4 win.

Pfinsgraff has a 6.75 ERA at Clearwater in an up and down start in his three games.  He went 5.0 innings in his first start giving up three runs but earning a loss with no run support.  In his second start he was excellent going 7.0 innings with no runs on four hits and four Ks but got a no decision again thanks to no offensive support.  IN his most recent outing he was pummeled for eight runs on nine hits in just 2.2 innings of work.

Brad Harman (a Phuturephillies favorite) has turned things up since the break hitting .400 in July while starting at just .237 before the all-star break.   Clay Harris who lead the SAL last year in HR got off to a rough start in Clearwater hitting just .196 before the break, but has improved to .314 since then.    Catching prospect Lou Marson who earned an all-star game bid has done even better since the break as well hitting .321 since then.

Starting pitcher Josh Outman has continued to put up impressive numbers with a 9-2 record and a 2.08 ERA as a starter with 96Ks in 97.2 innings of work.  (Josh’s overall ERA stand at 2.58 skewed by one relief appearance where he gave up 7 runs in 2.2 innings of work).

 Starting pitcher Andrew Carpenter has been a pleasant suprise for the team with a 9-5 record and a 3.80 ERA.  He had a recent 25.0 scoreless innings streak snapped in his last game when he gave up three runs in his most recent outting.

Catcher: Jason Jaramillo was selected to play for the IL All-Star team and most deservedly so. He was hot in April, ice cold in May and hot again in June and to this point in July. This has all added up to an average of .275, (eleventh on the Lynx), 34 runs scored, (tied for third), 74 hits, (fourth), four doubles and a surprising three triples. Jaramillo was tied for second with five home runs and finished third on the Lynx with 37 RBI. He had 99 total bases, (fifth), walked 29 times, (third), and slugged .368 good for only eighth among the regulars. He was fifth in OBP, (.353), and seventh in OPS, (.721).

Continue reading Lynx Batting First Half 2007 →

A few notes for today.

* I’ve updated the prospect tracker to include all the links for guys in the GCL. Just a note, the links are to minorleaguesplits.com, which gives more info than you can find via minorleaguebaseball.com, but the numbers are not as up to date. If you want up to the minute stats, go to minorleaguebaseball.com, but if you want more in depth split info, use the latter. I’ll update the Williamsport guys either today or tomorrow.

Continue reading Odds and Ends →

Ottawa Lynx 2007-The First Half-Overview

Last place, 14.0 games back, 35-52, (19-22 at home, 16-30 on the road). 11.5 back in the wildcard with 57 games to play. Ottawa have been in last place since June 11^th and are four games back of fifth place Pawtucket. Even if division leading Buffalo win only half of their remaining 57 games, (78 wins total for the season), the Lynx would have to go 43-14 in the second half simply to tie for first, .750 baseball! A wild card berth looks equally daunting. Scranton, Rochester, Indianapolis, Durham and Louisville winning only half of their games still means the Lynx would need to win 39 games, a .684 percentage. Realistically nearly an impossible task. This team, which won the division playing in Scranton in 2006, appear done for the season. Explaining the performance of the team this year and why their statistics rank so low in the league would make me the one person who has all the answers and could turn this team around. But I’m not a baseball manager or coach, (ie not an expert), and I’m not out there on the field everyday. Is it just one of those seasons or was last year done with mirrors? Here is what has happened to date and the stats and the team rankings in several key categories.

Continue reading Ottawa Lynx 2007-The First Half-Overview →

Some things that I find interesting, but maybe you won’t.

* Adrian Cardenas has quietly put together a very big June and July to bring his season totals up to a solid .307/.366/.449. His month to month splits indicate he’s taken some time to adjust, but he’s getting into the swing of things now

April: 91 PA — .271/.297/.388 — 4.4% BB — 18.7% K — 26% XBH
May: 112 PA — .273/.339/.485 — 8.0% BB — 11.6% K — 37% XBH
June: 99 PA — .360/.434/.465 — 10.1% BB — 11.1% K — 29% XBH
The more telling number, however, is his home/road split. As I’ve talked about in the past, Lakewood is a pitcher’s park, and greatly reduces home runs hit. Cardenas’ split looks like this

Home: .264/.321/.382
Away: .333/.395/.512

That indicates, to me, that he should see his numbers improve when he moves to Clearwater next year, especially in the power department.

* Why are the Phillies still haggling with Joe Savery? The kid has huge ambitions, which may or may not need to be tempered, but get him signed and into the system, and then worry about how quickly he’ll move up the ladder. It’s logical to assume the Savery negotiations are affecting the Workman/Sampson negotiations, so just get the freakin’ deal done and move on.

I actually am going to cut today short, but if you check back later, and again tomorrow, I’m going to update the prospect tracker (found at the top of the page) with all of the guys in short season ball.

I’m sad to say, I missed most of the game yesterday, but I did happen to catch Carrasco’s inning. His fastball looked good, he was adding and subtracting from it, throwing it anywhere from 89-95, and it had good movement on it. The one mistake he made was to Jay Bruce, but he just challenged him with a high fastball and Bruce turned it around….that happens from time to time. His changeup looked good, as did his curve, though it appeared a bit loopy at times. He could probably get by in the majors for a little while with just his fastball and changeup, but in the long run, he’ll need for his curveball to become at least a major league average pitch. It’s going to be really interesting to see how the Phillies handle him going forward. His last appearance in Reading was solid, going 4 innings and allowing only 1 hit and no runs. With all of the injuries right now, I wouldn’t be shocked if they brought him up. I think if they do bring him up, they need to stick with him for the rest of the season. Carrasco had confidence issues two years ago, and I’d hate to see him get brought up for a start or two, then get sent down and it set him back. He has a phenomenal arm, and I think the coaching at the top level could help him, but it’s a tough situation and certainly a difficult decision for Gillick.

So, what did you think of his performance? What do you think the Phillies should do with him for the rest of this season?

The starting pitching continued to be mostly brutal for the first part of week thirteen but three solid efforts from the starters might be a ray of hope. This despite Ottawa’s discouraging play that continued to sink them deeper and deeper into last place in the Northern Division with the possibility of a playoff appearance in 2007 more and more unlikely,. With Philadelphia looking more and more towards Reading for pitching help, the likelihood of the discovery of any pitching saviour for the starting rotation was becoming more desperate with each game. It seems that all manager John Russell can do is hope that somehow this team remembers it’s successes of last season and starts to consistently put things together. A couple of the players have intimated that the team needs to get to the All-Star break, sit back, take a deep breath, look in the mirror and begin to get things done. Week thirteen saw two well played games, (one win-one loss), two games almost too embarrassing to watch, and a Lynx win in series finale and two losses in Rochester.

Continue reading Ottawa Lynx Week Thirteen →

You’ve weighed in and given your reasons, now I’ll give it a shot.

Pitchers, excluding Carrasco

01. Josh Outman, LHP – There are a number of reasons why I think Outman is our best pitching prospect outside of Carrasco. #1, he’s lefthanded and has a low 90’s fastball. It’s rare to see LHP consistently pitch in the 91-94 range. He has 1 real good secondary pitch, his slider, and it’s a pure swing and miss pitch. He lacks a plus changeup at this point, but he’s putting up solid numbers at A+, and the only thing lacking is his overall control, but his BB/9 numbers have dropped every month since April, a positive sign. We also have to remember that he drastically changed his pitching motion before being drafted, and 2007 is only his 3rd pro season. I think he still has potential to be a #2 starter if he can hone his command and control and develop at least a major league average changeup.

02. Kyle Drabek, RHP – I think despite his arm soreness now, Drabek is #2 on the list. His April was excellent, with 9.23 K/9 against only 2.88 BB/9 and solid groundball tendencies. He struggled a bit in May, then came down with the injury, so it’s tough to really put a gauge on him right now. I think he’ll be back in August, and it should be a good indicator of where he stands. 3 months in Lakewood in age 19 isn’t a lost season by any means. He showed the good fastball curveball combination, and from everything I’ve read, the mental aspect of his game took a big leap forward this year. A healthy Drabek pushes Outman for the top spot.

03. James Happ, LHP – His debut didn’t go as planned, and he’s walked way too many guys this year, but he has shown that the strikeouts from last season across multiple levels weren’t a fluke. He needs to throw better quality strikes and not fall behind, but he has an average fastball with late life and two above average secondary pitches. You really can never judge a guy on 1 start, good or bad, but I think he’ll be back later this year, and I think he still has the potential to be a #4 starter in the majors.

And now, the hitters, sans Cardenas

Continue reading My top 3 hitters and pitchers →

This will be a more brief than usual monthly review as we are almost at the all-star break. I will do a lengthy half way through the season or at least to the all-star break, two or three part review late next week. I’m also going to have a few more interviews and maybe a couple of features. We’ll see how it goes. Anyway, on with June-a month which was most unkind to the Lynx and their fans.

In a month which had to be considered critical for the team by any standard, (well at least by my standards), the Ottawa Lynx fell flat on their collective faces. The Lynx went 9-19 in the month of June, falling into last place on June 11^th, 5.5 games behind Buffalo, and remaining in last place the rest of the month. At the start of July, Ottawa were 9.5 games behind the Bisons and continued to fall further and further behind. The continued lack of decent starting pitching was the main reason for the continuing slide and even the defence, which had been solid all season, was beginning to show some cracks. Everyone concerned was beginning to feel a sense of futility and urgency about the 2007 season. The Lynx were 5-11 at home for June, 4-8 on the road and finished the month with an overall record of 17-14 in one run games, 5-3 in extra innings and 1-8 in shutouts. Ottawa as a team in the month of June, (28 games), collected 258 hits. Among this total were 44 doubles, five triples, 18 home runs, 93 RBI , 96 runs scored and 77 walks. Team speed again this month was weak with only eleven stolen bases in twenty attempts. They had an OBP of .332, SLG .383 and a somewhat decent OPS of .715. The Lynx hit .270 in June.

Continue reading The Ottawa Lynx in the Month of June. →