A look at Starting pitching in the upper portion of the organization. A reminder that grades are based on expectations against that particular player pre-season, as opposed to each other.  Next up: Third Baseman

Clearwater

David Whitehead, 23, Phils 34th round pick in 2013; 25 starts, 9-11 with a 4.44ERA; 135.2IP 152H 51BB 94K; 10HR allowed; .291 opp avg; 1.50 WHIP; 1.50 GO/AO; 3.4BB/6.2K per 9; .292 vs LHH, .290 vs RHH, .316 last 30 days; Double bumped after a successful 2014 in Williamsport, Whitehead was simply “ok” this season.  He showed he can pitch a full season which is a plus after injury issues years ago, but he was pretty consistently hit.  Grade: C;  2016: Whitehead may get caught in the numbers game.  I see him being kept in the Extended Spring awaiting roster shake ups in the Spring.

Victor Arano, 20, Acquired from Dodgers in 2014; 24 games 22 starts; 4-12 with a 4.72ERA; 124IP 131H 26BB 69K; 7HR allowed; .276 opp avg; 1.27 WHIP; 0.75 GO/AO; 1.8BB/5.2K per 9; .350 vs LHH, .239 vs RHH, .298 last 30 days; At times excellent and more often brutal, Arano was up and down, getting absolutely crushed by left handed hitters and running out of gas at years end.  Only 20, there is still time.  Grade: C; 2016: Back to Clearwater

Brandon Leibrandt, 22, Phils 6th round pick in 2014; 17 games; 7-3 with a 3.11ERA; 101.1IP 83H 21BB 67K; .227 opp avg; 1.03 WHIP; 0.84 GO/AO; 1.9BB/6.0K per 9; .213 vs LHH, .232 vs RHH, When healthy, Leibrandt was outstanding.  That said, he missed three plus weeks in June and the last month of the season with arm issues.  He generally has excellent command, which is his bread and butter.  When off, even a little he will be hit hard.  Grade: B; 2016: Reading Continue reading Post Season Report Card–Starting Pitching, High A, AA, AAA →

A look at starting pitching in the lower part of the organization.  A note that player grades are based on what was expected of that players performance against himself, not against others.  Up next will be a look at Starting pitching at the higher levels on Wednesday.

GCL

Felix Paulino, 20, Signed as a free agent in 2013; 11 games (10 starts); 5-4 with a 2.34ERA; 50IP 41H 5BB 46K; .223 opp avg; 0.92 WHIP; 1.06 GO/AO; 0.9BB/8.3K per 9; .176 vs LHH; .244 vs RHH; .224 last 30 days.  Paulino had an outstanding season with his walk/strikeout ratio in an area that screams long term success.  Grade: A; 2016: Lakewood with a potential drop back to Williamsport

Adonis Medina, 18, Signed as a free agent in 2013; 10 games (8 starts); 3-2 with a 2.98ERA; 45.1IP 42H 12BB 35K; 1HR allowed; .253 opp avg; 1.19 WHIP; 1.76 GO/AO; 2.4BB/6.9K per 9; .222 vs LHH, .272 vs RHH, .284 last 30 days. A good season for Medina in his first action stateside.  Good command.  Grade: B+; 2016: Williamsport

Sam McWilliams, 19, Phils 8th round pick in 2014; 7 starts, 0-2 with a 3.27ERA; 33IP 29H 5BB 21K; 1.4BB/5.7K per 9; .232 opp avg; 1.03 WHIP; 1.92 GO/AO; .245 vs LHH, .222 vs RHH. McWilliams was pitching well but missed his last 4 or 5 starts at the end of the season, costing him what may have been a trip to Lakewood to start 2016.  With 25IP in 2014 for GCL and 33IP this year, he will need some time in WIlliamsport.  Grade: B- Continue reading Post Season Report Card–Starting Pitching, GCL, WP, and Lakewood →

Over the past weekend, Mike Drago of the Reading Eagle published his yearly prospect survey.  Mike requests input from about two dozen industry people who watch or cover a fair amount of games and players among the Phillies’ affiliates.  He received 16 responses and used a weighted scoring system to determine a player’s perceived value (first-place votes earning 20 points, second place 19 points, etc.).   I was one of the 16 respondents.

J.P Crawford received 15 of 16 first place votes.  Jake Thompson received the other first place vote.  Nick Williams received 11 second place votes.  Thirty-four players received votes.  The results of the poll were as follows.

1. J.P. Crawford                     SS     Reading                    317 points
2. Jake Thompson                 P     Reading                    287
3. Nick Williams                    OF    Reading                    278
4. Cornelius Randolph      OF   Gulf Coast                253
5. Jorge Alfaro                          C     Reading                    236
6. Roman Quinn                    OF     Reading                    225
7. Franklyn Kilome                 P      Williamsport         215
8. Zach Eflin                                P      Reading                   197
9. Ricardo Pinto                       P       Clearwater             154
10. Carlos Tocci                          OF     Clearwater             145
11. Aaron Altherr                       OF    Philadelphia         144
12. Andrew Knapp                     C      Reading                   138
13. Jarad Eickoff                         P      Philadelphia        113
14. Scott Kingery                      2B      Lakewood             104
15. Nick Pivetta                           P      Reading                      93
16. Ben Lively                                P      Reading                      63
17. Darnell Sweeney              OF     Philadelphia            59
18. Rhys Hoskins                      1B     Clearwater                36
19. Alberto Tirado                      P      Clearwater                34
20. Malquin Canelo                 SS    Lakewood                  29

The next ten were – Matt Imhof, Alec Asher, Brandon Leibrandt, Dylan Cozens, Jimmy Cordero, Kelly Dugan, Jose Pujols, Deivi Grullon, Willians Astudillo, Jesse Biddle.

Four others received votes – Felix Paulino, Jonathan Arauz, Aaron Brown, Lucas Williams. (All four were on my ballot.)

I returned my ballot with the following disclaimer.  “Really tough this season. I haven’t seen enough of half of the guys in the MLB top 20. I relied on what I’ve read and even box scores (shudder) to some extent. My bias toward players I have seen probably works for and against them, but my bias against relievers is probably permanent, for now. Anyway, here goes.”

1. J.P. Crawford
2. Cornelius “C” Randolph
3. Jake Thompson
4. Jorge Alfaro
5. Ricardo Pinto
6. Andrew Knapp
7. Franklyn Kilome
8. Roman Quinn
9. Jerad Eickhoff
10. Nick Williams
11. Zach Eflin
12. Scott Kingery
13. Felix Paulino
14. Darnell Sweeney
15. Nick Pivetta
16. Jonathan Arauz
17. Aaron Brown
18. Dylan Cozens
19. Rhys Hoskins
20. Lucas Williams

I ended with the following – “PS – I really, really, really like Randolph.  And Alfaro makes me go, “Wow!”.  I had him lower until I saw him in a sim inning, hitting off Stephen Inch (in his third sim outing).  He’s big and packs a wallop.  And Williams’ approach at the plate is similar to Randolph’s.  If Kingery is as good as they think/hope, this looks to have been a really good draft. Did I mention I like Randolph?”

I approached my poll by listing the top 20 prospects that I have actually seen this season.  Then decided where to slot the players I hadn’t seen, or hadn’t seen enough.  It came down to the pain I would experience if a player left the organization.  The more the pain, the higher the ranking.

I know I have some glaring omissions.  I don’t apologize for those.  For example, Carlos Tocci.  I have watched him for half a season.  I enjoy watching him play center field.  He plays a nice center field.  But, he doesn’t hit well enough.  Opposing outfields are playing him shallower than they did his first time through the league.  If he doesn’t put on some weight and muscle, I don’t see how he’ll ever hit enough to play in the majors. Sorry.

It appears that I penalize pitchers I’ve seen like Imhof and Leibrandt, but reward players like Arauz, Brown, and Lucas Williams.   Maybe I’m “too close to the trees to see the forest”. But the players I’ve seen the most leave an impression one way or the other.

I’ll post the Mike Drago’s Reading Eagle Top 20 Survey on the Rankings Page tonight or tomorrow.

Lehigh Valley split their doubleheader last night in Scranton and have won five of their last seven games.  Sitting at 60-73 and in 4th place of the Northern Division of the International League, the ‘Pigs are 14 games back of divison leading Scranton and have been eliminated from playoff contention.  After a final game in Scranton tonight, the ‘Pigs travel to Syracuse for three games and Pawtucket for three before a final four game home stand over Labor Day weekend to end the season. This will be the last “in season” Lehigh Valley weekly report.  Look for a report reviewing the season between September 8th and 10th.

News and Notes: INF Chase D’Arnaud has hit safely in his last 9 games (.368) and is batting .306 over his last 46 games.  He has been an offensive catalyst for Lehigh Valley in the second half of the season and leads the team with 38 multi hit games.

–Over the last 22 games, OF Brian Bogusevic is hitting .368 with 6HR and 18RBI to go along with 5SB.  Absent one down period, Bogusevic has been consistently outstanding this season.

–1B Tommy Joseph has a modest 4 game hitting streak after early struggles coming off the DL.

–Over his last 3 starts, Severino Gonzalez has a 2.81ERA. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

The ‘Pigs lost last night and are struggling having gone 3-7 over their last 10 games and now sit at 55-70, and in 5th place of the Northern Division of the International League, 15 games behind division leading Scranton.  With two and a half weeks left in their season, Lehigh Valley play in Scranton tonight, visit Pawtucket over the weekend, before returning to Coca Cola Park in Allentown for a three game series against Buffalo early next week.

–Sean O’Sullivan had an excellent outing on Tuesday against Scranton, going 8.1 innings without allowing an earned run, striking out 9.

–INF Taylor Pastornicky has reached base safely in all eight games since joining the IronPigs

–Tyler Henson remains unbelievable with men on base and two out, hitting .423 on the year and knocking in 24.

–Pigs catchers continue to lead the league in caught stealing % at 37%.

–Brian Bogusevic has hit in 14 of his last 15 games, hitting .381 with 5 homers over that span. Bogusevic is the 1st Lehigh Valley player to have four separate 10 game hitting streaks in one season.  His average on the year sits at .297. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

It appears that the Phillies have agreed to a trade that would send Chase Utley to the Dodgers for two minor league players.  The Dodgers would also likely receive $2M dollars as part of the deal.  More on MLB Trade Rumors and Jon Heyman’s tweet.

At 3:50PM eastern time, this deal has been agreed to but not finalized, pending physicals.

Another piece of what may be the Phillies future was added to the roster today with the promotion of 24 year old OF Aaron Altherr from Lehigh Valley. Altherr was a 9th round pick in the 2009 draft.  It is the second trip to Philadelphia for Altherr, who was called up for a weekend last season as a stopgap resulting from injury.  While he is being added because of Maikel Franco being placed on the DL with a broken wrist, this is likely to be a stint that will result in significant playing time through the end of the season for Altherr as the Phils gauge his ability to play consistent major league baseball.

In 111 games between Reading and Lehigh Valley this year, Altherr is hitting .293/.367/.487 spanning 487 plate appearances.  He has an impressive 14HR 67RBI to go with 16SB.  Altherr can play all over the OF and is a plus defender, however played predominately in RF and CF this year in the minors.

Still only 24, with 2500+ minor league AB’s, ALtherr crushed left handed pitching in AAA, hitting at a .353 rate.  On of the primary criticisms of ALtherr in the passed was his free swinging, which is much improved this year with a solid 10%BB/17%K rate.

MLB Trade Rumors reported that Maikel Franco will be placed on the DL with a fractured wrist.  Aaron Altherr has been called up to fill his roster spot.

Lehigh Valley is currently on a three game tailspin, including getting trounced 11-2 last night by Syracuse.  Over their last 10 games, the ‘Pigs are 5-5 and now sit at 53-66 on the year, good for 4th place of the Northern Division of the International League, 11 games behind division leading Scranton. Lehigh Valley returns home for a weekend series against Pawtucket, before hitting the road again next week for three in Scranton and three in Pawtucket.  25 games remain in the season.

–Jesse Biddle got hit around last night, lasting just 3.2 innings and gave up 7 runs on 9 hits.Biddle’s ERA in AAA in now approaching 6.

–Since his promotion to AAA, OF Aaron Altherr leads the IL in RBI and is 2nd in Runs.

–OF Brian Bogusevic has hit in his last 10 games, hitting .405 during that time span.

–Newly acquired P Alec Asher is 2-1 with a 2.90ERA in his last 5 starts,4 of those being “quality” starts.

–Over the last two months, SP Jared Eickhoff is 7-1 with a 2.70ERA in his last 11 starts.  In his first week in the Phils organization, Eickhoff was named IL Pitcher of the Week, after allowing just one earned run in 14 innings, spanning two starts.

–INF Chase D’Arnaud is hitting .371 over his last 15 games.

–Since getting sent down from Philadelphia, Sean O’Sullivan has been consistently poor, with an ERA over 6 in his three outings.

–RP Colton Murray has been outstanding as of late, going 6-1 with a 1.35ERA since June 23rd, walking just 4 and striking out 21 in 26.2 innings of work.

‘Pigs League Leaders, Hitting: Chase D’Arnaud is 2nd in runs(68), 8th in triples (5) and 9th in SB (24); Brian Bogusevic is 7th in hits (116) and 8th in average (.294); Tyler Henson is 6th in doubles(26); Jordan Danks in 9th in doubles(3); Chris McGuinness is 3rd in walks(55)

Pitching:Cesar Jiminez in 6th in games (41); Seth Rosin is 7th in games (40); Adam Loewen is 9th in saves(10)

Transactions: Comings: David Buchanan (Philadelphia); INF Taylor Pastornicky (Texas Rangers); Dalier Hinojosa (Philadelphia); OF Jordan Danks (Philadelphia)

Goings: P Cesar Jiminez (Philadelphia); INF Devin Lohman (Reading); P Adam Loewen (Philadelphia)

Probables: FRI: Asher; SAT(1): Eickhoff; (2): TBD

Need 30IP to qualify; Stats from different organizations not included

Wins: Ricrado Pinto, 11; Aaron Nola 10; Jesse Biddle 9; Ben Lively 8; Colton Murray, 8; Anthony Vasquez 8;Brandon Leibrandt, 7; David Whitehead, 7; Ranfi Casimiro, 7

ERA: Jesen Therrien, 1.03; Joey DeNato, 1.49; Edubray Ramos, 1.51; Ryan O’Sullivan, 1.63; Will Morris, 1.91; Mitch Guellar, 1.93; Reinier Roibal, 1.93; Adam Loewen, 2.01; Yacksel Rios, 2.59; Stephen Schackleford, 2.68

Games: STephen Shackleford, 41; Adam Loewen, 40; Cesar Jiminez, 40; UlisesJoaquin, 39; Seth Rosin, 39; Edubray Ramos, 38;Joey DeNato, 37

Starts: Ben Lively, 21; Jesse Biddle, 21; Ricardo Pinto, 20;;David Whitehead 21;Zach Eflin, 18; Colin Kleven, 18; Brandon Leibrandt 17; Tyler Viza 17

Saves: Stephen SHackleford, 23; Ulises Joaquin, 14; Matt Hockenberry, 13; Adam Loewen, 10; Robert Tasin, 9; Edubray Ramos, 8; Dustin McGowan 8; Alexis Rivero, 8; Joey DeNato, 7

IP: Ben Lively, 123.1; Mark Leiter, 121.2; Ricardo Pinto, 121.2; David Whitehead, 116.2; Jesse Biddle 112; Tyler Viza 109.1; Ranfi Casimiro, 107.1; Anthony Vasquez, 106.2; Eineiry Garcia, 103; Brandon Leibrandt 101.1

K: Mark Leiter, 102; Ricardo Pinto, 91; Ben Lively, 90; Jesse Biddle; 81; David Whitehead, 78; Tyler Viza, 74; Adam Loewen 73; Colin Kleven, 72; Brandon Leibrandt, 67; Anthony Vasquez 66;

WHIP: Edubray Ramos, 0.82; Jesen Therrien, 0.91; Joey DeNato; 0.95; Calvin Rayburn, 0.97; Yackel Rios, 0.98; Brandon Leibrandt 1.02; Alexis Rivero, 1.02; Jason Zgardowski, 1.04; Matt Hockenberry, 1.05; Mitch Guellar; 1.05.