A look at relief pitching at the upper reaches of the system; Over the weekend we will look at relief pitching through the rest of the syste,

Lehigh Valley

Phillippe Aumont, 25, Acquired from Seattle in 2009; 22 games, 2-1 with a 4.02 ERA; 31.1IP 26H 22BB 34K; 1.25 GO/AO; .236 opp. avg; 1.53WHIP; 6.3BB/9.8K per 9; .170 vs. LHH, .286 vs. RHH, .294 with RISP; Pretty much the same old story for Aumont who still struggles to throw the ball over the plate consistently. His cup of coffee with the Phillies was a disaster and he hasn’t pitched in 10 days due to a sore arm.

Shawn Camp, 38, Signed as a free agent in 2014; 12 games, 0-1 with a 4.50ERA; 14IP 20H 5BB 9K; 2.44 GO/AO; .345 opp. avg; 1.79WHIP; 3.2BB/5.7K per 9; Camp has been ineffective since changing his motion to that of a side armer. At 38, his days may be numbered when everyone gets healthy. Continue reading Around the System–Relievers (AAA, AA) →

A look at starting pitching around the system.  Some good, more bad, a few ugly.  Next up, relievers.

Lehigh Valley
Chris Bootcheck, 35, Signed as a free agent in 2014; 6 starts; 2-3 with a 4.09ERA; 33IP 31H 14BB 19K; 4HR allowed; 0.79 GO/AO; .252 opp. avg; 1.36WHIP; 3.8BB/5.1K per nine; .179 vs. LHH; .313 vs. RHH; .111 with RISP. Bootcheck has been pitched fairly well since coming off the DL in late June.  He is a capable innings eater that knows how to pitch.

Barry Enright, 28, Signed as a free agent in 2014; 14 starts; 3-6 with a 4.77ERA; 77.1IP 88H 22BB 45K; 15HR allowed; 0.80 GO/AO; .283 opp avg; 1.42WHIP; 2.6BB/5.2K per 9; .252 vs. LHH; .318 vs. RHH, .288 with RISP.  Enright throws strikes but they are often hit for homers.  Simply has to allow far fewer gopher balls.

Brad Lincoln, 29, Acquired from Toronto in 2013; 14 games (9 starts); 4-3 with a 4.24 ERA; 51IP 50H 21BB 47K; 4 HR allowed; 0.76 GO/AO; .254 opp. avg; 1.39WHIP; 3.7BB/8.3K per nine; .302 vs. LHH, .208 vs. RHH, .270 with RISP; 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA in 4 June starts.  Lincoln just came off three starts where he did not allow an earned run and has been throwing very well as of late.  WIth the lack of depth the Phils currently have, I would put Lincoln as the first call up if there were an injury to a Phillies starter at this stage. Continue reading Around the System–Starting Pitchers →

Rosters out…first game is today.  Still looking for Aaron Nola(expect him on Clearwater’s roster by July 1).  Quite a few pitchers who should eat up the GCL and expect Jake Sweaney in CF, converted from his catching position.

Catchers: Joel Fisher, Gregori Rivero; Jake Sweaney

Infield: William Cuicas; Grenny CUmana; Luis Encarnacion; Olvy Marte, Jesus Posso; Damek Tomscha, Trey WIlliams, Tim Zier

Outfield: Gustavo Martinez; Carlos Duran, Chase Harris, Jose Pujols

Pitchers: Francibel Alejo; Lewis Alezones; Austin Davis; Jacques Du Gruy; Seranthony Dominguez; Jared Fisher; Scott Harris; Matt Hockenberry; Matt Imhof; Denton Keys; Brandon Leibrandt; Franklyn Kilome; Sam McWilliams; ANgel Mejia; Luis Morales; Chris Oliver; Edubray Ramos; Matt Southard; Gregorio Santos

Even with their 5-4 win last night, Lehigh Valley has been really struggling and now sit at 35-37 in the Northern Division of the International League, 6.5 games behind division leading  Syracuse at the virtual half way point of the season.  The ‘Pigs continue their 8 game homestand with 6 more against Charlotte (2) followed by four against Columbus.

‘Pigs League Leaders, Hitting: Maikel Franco is 4th in AB’s(263); Tyler Henson is 5th in strikeouts (75) and 8th in SB’s(13)

Pitching: Barry Enright has the 8th worst ERA (4.77), is tied for 2nd in starts(14 and leads the league in HR allowed (15)); Luis Garcia is 4th in saves (10); Sean O’Sullivan is 5th in IP (83)

‘Pigs Prospects: Maikel Franco continues to struggle, hitting just .154 over the last 10 games with no homers and just a lone RBI.  His 20% K rate of that time period is not problematic but certainly the lack of production is.  In June, Franco is at .152/.176/.258 in 66 AB’s with 1HR and 6 RBI.  For the year, the line is .213/.274/.335 with 5HR 26RBI and a 16% strikeout rate.  Concerning.

Tyler Knigge has thrown well after two lousy outings to start his time in AAA.  Over his last three games, Knigge has thrown 4 scoreless, hitless innings, struck out 4 and didnt yield a walk. Between Reading and Lehigh Valley this year, Knigge is 3-0 with a 2.43 ERA and 3 saves.  Opponents are hitting .217 against him (.208 in AAA) and his WHIP sits right at 1.00.

Cameron Perkins has gone 0-7 over his last two games after a hot start in AAA, hitting in 8 of his first 9 contests.  Concerning are the two lonely extra base hits in 52 AB’s for Lehigh Valley. In his 14 games for the ‘Pigs Perkins is at .231/.298/.288 with 0HR and 3RBI.  The consummate doubles hitter at AA, it will be interesting to see how Perkins progresses after 150-200 AAA AB’s.

Nest Week: Rupp, Lincoln, Gillies

News and Notes: Lehigh Valley continues to have the second worst home record in the league at 15-22.

–Over their last 16 games, Lehigh Valley is a miserable 5-12 with a .211 batting average.

–RP Luis Garcia still has not allowed an earned run in 2014, a time period now spanning 17 games and 19.2IP.

–The ‘Pigs are just 6-12 when playing against a Left handed starter.

–RP Shawn Camp completed his transition into a side arming reliever on 6/3 and has yet to yield an ER in his 5 appearances since.

–RP Cesar Jiminez has not given up an ER in his last 17 games, spanning 20IP.

–SP Brad Lincoln won his third consecutive start on Sunday and his scoreless streak has reached 18IP.

–SS Freddy Galvis (clavicle) and OF CLete Thomas (ribs) remain out indefinitely, while Darin Ruf (wrist) appears to be on a 2-3 timetable for a return.

Probables: Wed: Lincoln; Thur: Bootcheck; Fri: Smith

Transactions: A rare quiet week.  Tyler Henson was activated from the “paternity list” after returning from the birth of his son.  With Henson’s return, SS Edgar Duran was sent down to AA Reading

You never know when the call will come.  Just ask Aaron Altherr who was told today that we would be joining the Phillies as Tony Gwynn Jr. was placed on the bereavement list after the death of his father.  As the only healthy OF on the 40 man roster, this was the easy way out for the Phils, however no other OF in the upper reaches of the organization stood out enough to warrant serious consideration right now.

Altherr, 23, was the Phils 9th round pick in the 2009 draft.  After the starting the season on the DL (wrist) , and then slowly when he came off the DL, Altherr has been red hot as of late, hitting .392 with 1HR 9RBI and 2SB’s thus far in June for Reading.  Altherr is a plus fielder and will fill in just fine in center field.  At bat, Altherr struggles with a long swing at times, increasing his strikeout rate.  He fits into the “toolsy” OF mold and can legitimately hit for power, show speed and hit for average when his swing is compact. On the year, Altherr is at .246/.302/.377 with 4HR 25RBI and 6SB.  I wouldn’t expect Altherr to hang around with the Phils for long because he needs to continue playing every day, but I dont think he will embarrass himself any more than the next guy over the next few days.

Exiting the excitement that surrounded draft week, now is as good as time as any to look at how the Phils Top 5 prospects have changed since the beginning of the season.  This is how it goes now from my perspective.

1.  JP Crawford–I had Crawford ranked second pre-season and his continued excellence has only increased enthusiasm.  He should shortly be moving to Clearwater and remains on target to hit Philadelphia late in 2016.

2.  Aaron Nola–With his college pedigree, Nola is as “cant miss” as you can get in the draft.  He isn’t a can’t miss superstar, but as close to a can’t miss #2 or #3 starter as possible. Those kind of players are clearly at a premium in any organization, let alone the Phillies.

3.  Maikel Franco–I am still very high on Franco, but this years early season struggles make it clear that he has a few glaring weaknesses that need continued work at the minor league level.  I expect Franco to have a long and successful career in Philadelphia, just not as soon as originally expected.  Franco drops from #1 to #3.

4.  Jesse Biddle–I am ready to buy in to the question marks.  I have seen Biddle live look simply awesome in his 15+K performance against Harrisburg last year and also seen him struggle mightily with his command, while becoming clearly flustered by the occasional lack of defense behind him.  He has the talent of a #2 starter.  It is up to Biddle and the Phils to continue to develop it.  He has dropped from #3 to #4 in my book.

5.  Kenny Giles–Just to the majors last week, Giles still qualifies as a prospect with just a third of an inning of major league experience. As I am not about to put the label of #5 prospect on Carlos Tocci, who, albeit at 18, still struggles to hit the ball out of the infield or Kelly Dugan, who has had a half season filled with injuries.  So, it becomes Giles who after a difficult year last year became the talk of the town for the first two and a half months of the season.  He was lights out in Reading and did a decent job in Lehigh Valley with some notable command issues.  His upside is very high as back-end of the bullpen guy who will strike out a ton of hitters.  From from a finished product, best case scenario would have had him in Lehigh Valley until September.

Looking forward to the discussion….