A tough 2-5 week for Lehigh Valley who concluded a long road trip in Durham and came home on Tuesday to begin a 8 game homestand against Louisville and Indianapolis. The ‘Pigs now sit in 4th place of the Northern Division of the International League, 3.5 games behind division leading Syracuse.

‘Pigs Prospects:Kenny Giles has been unscored upon in 8 of his 10 outings for Lehigh Valley, earning 2 wins, 5 saves and a hold over that time period. In his 10 games for the ‘Pigs, Giles is 2-0 with a 2.13ERA; 1.11WHIP and .171 opp average.

Maikel Franco has been very quiet, hitting just .200 over the last 10 games with 0HR and 4RBI and missing some time with an upper respiratory issue. On the year, Franco now sits at .228/.297/.356 with 4HR and 22RBI.  Absent a solid 3-4 weeks, 2014 has been a struggle for Franco.  Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

Lehigh Valley

Leandro Castro, 25, Signed as a free agent in 2007; .249/317/.367 in 169 AB’s; 4/7 SB; 8%bb/17%k rates; .216 vs. RHP; .263 vs. LHP; .277 with RISP; Hit .255 in May; 48 games in the OF with 6 errors (.946); 4 OF assists; Castro has greatly improved his walk and strikeout rate, which were an area of huge concern in years past. That said, he has been mediocre thus far, and his fielding is always an adventure.

Tyson Gillies, 25, Acquired from Seattle in 2009; .224/.280/.315 in 143 AB’s; 2HR 10RBI; 3/5SB; 4%bb/26%k rates; .147 vs. LHP; .248 vs. RHP; .219 with RISP; .242 in May.  36 games in the OF with 1 error (.991); 2 OF assists; Just flat out lousy.  A little less lousy in May.

Steve Susdorf, 28, Phils 19th round pick in 2008 draft; .281/.343/.338 in 160 AB’s; 0HR 14RBI; 3/5SB; 9%bb/17% k rates; .257 vs. LHP; .288 vs. RHP; .286 with RISP; .322/.392/.402 in May.  20 games in the OF without an error; 1 OF assist; After a very slow start, Susdorf is now hitting in the manner he is capable which is high average with little power.  He gives you a professional AB every time. Continue reading Around the System–OF →

This should spur some discussion.  All this is assuming continued production and health.

1.  Jesse Biddle to Lehigh Valley–Its time.  His control has been better and he is pushing 40 starts in AA, with an ERA under 3.20 and the opposition hitting under .230 against him.

2.  Cameron Perkins to Lehigh Valley–The IronPigs OF at this stage has several AAAA players that will never make a contribution in the majors beyond possibly that of a 5th OF. WHile I don’t see Perkins as a Major League regular, I do think he has the potential to be a 4th OF with 300+ AB’s a year for a big league club.  Challenge him.

3.  Peter Lavin to Reading–It is not likely that Peter Lavin will ever make the major leagues but having him play three years at High A makes no sense.  He is producing, so reward him.  He will do a competent job in Reading.

4.  Cody Forsythe to Clearwater– Forsythe is a 23 year old college draftee who is has been pitching very well for Lakewood. 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA and 8 saves; .216 opp avg…Again, challenge him.  A new class of draftees will be here shortly which will replenish the rosters at the lower levels…

Move I wouldnt make yet–JP Crawford.  Crawford has done everything asked and then some.  I am of the opinion that losing is an attitude and I would be a little leery about putting him into the current environment in Clearwater.  If I were king, I would let him play in Lakewood until the beginning of August and then consider giving him a taste of Reading, or in the alternative CLearwater for the final three weeks or so of the season.

I will be spending the day on a plane and in airports, so with the draft 5 days away, what better time then now to chat about the draft, the farm system, the majors, and non-baseball related topics.

I will answer questions here in the comments and put some of the best questions into this post.  I will also take questions on Twitter, and on the facebook page.  I will answer the questions where ever they appear.

Otherwise, the DSL starts today so everyone have a good weekend.

Every year around the start of the draft the articles start coming out about how the Phillies are failing in every part of their draft. This year the rallying cry has been the lack of pitchers developed by the Phillies and why they should take a college pitcher early to help the big league club. In general the fanbases clamor for college players because they have a quicker impact on the major league club.

Today David Murphy wrote an article about the Cardinals and how they have had college heavy drafts, and hinted that maybe the Phillies should follow that model. My first instinct was that this is a flawed argument and that the differences between the Cardinals and Phillies doesn’t have to do with whether it is HS or college players drafted, but more what are all of the factors that go into it. So lets look at some Cardinals and Phillies drafts head to head.

2006:
Top Picks: Adam Ottavino (Cardinals-30), Kyle Drabek (Phillies-18)
Combined WAR: .1 (Phillies) 28.1 (Cardinals)
Notable Phillies Picks: Drew Carpenter, Jason Donald, Quintin Berry, Domonic Brown
Notable Cardinals Picks: Jon Jay, Allen Craig, Luke Gregerson, Chris Perez, David Carpenter Continue reading Phillies and Cardinals Drafting over the Years →

As a baseball purist, I admittedly dont look as deep into the metrics as perhaps I should. I must admit however that the concept of “Game Score” for starting pitchers has struck my fancy in measuring the quality of performance on a particular night for a particular pitcher.  If you look at the average Game Score of a particular starter, you get a very good idea of what their body of work looks like over the course of a season.  In essence, game score combines durability, control and overall effectiveness to come up with a number to put on a particular outing.

Bill James developed Game Score and the math goes like this:  Start with 50.  Add one point for each out recorded (so three points for each IP); add two points for  each full IP after the fourth; add one point for each strikeout; subtract two points for each hit allowed; subtract four points for each ER allowed; subtract two points for each unearned run allowed; subtract one point for each walk. In essence, Game Score takes the concept of a quality start and expands on it, factoring in control and hittability. The highest Game Score in history went to Kerry Wood who achieved a Game Score of 105 on 5/6/98. He struck out 20, allowing just one hit and didn’t walk a batter.

Game Score allows you to assess a degree of quality on a particular start and extrapolate from there.   Now, looking at Phillies minor leaguers….At the AAA level, the highest Game Score achieved this year was Greg Smith, back on April 17th, who achieved a Game Score of 78.  The lowest Game Score was “achieved” by Brad Lincoln who received a 17 for a miserable start just a few days ago on 5/28/14.  In a system which would categorize a “quality start” at a 50, IronPigs average Game Scores are as follows (Min 4 starts): Pettibone 52, Smith 52, Enright 50; Buchanan 49, O’Sullivan 47n and Lincoln 41. Continue reading Game Score →

The attention this week should go to the relief pitchers who put on quite a show during the time period of May 22-28.  Tyler Knigge is making people notice once again, while Kenny Giles simply keeps doing what he does.  Colton Murray, who spent a bit of time at High A before promotion, has had an outstanding start for Reading…Samuel Hiciano is taking the attention away from the other, higher ranked prospects in the Lakewood OF simply by performance…Cameron Rupp has been really struggling since his return from the oblique injury, while Brian Pointer remains consistently on the Not Hot list….I intend not to waste another word discussing Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez.

Hot Hitters: (MIN 13 AB’s): KC Serna (.400, 7R HR 4RBI, AB); Samuel Hiciano (.370, 2HR 4RBI); Deivi Gruillon (.357); Everett Williams (.357, 4RBI); Cameron Perkins (.345, 3R, HR, 6RBI); Ronny Cedeno (.341, 5RBI); JP Crawford (.333, 3R, 3RBI, SB); Tyler Henson (.333)

Not Hot Hitters:Malquin Canelo (.000, 0-13); Brian Pointer (.071); Andrew Knapp (.118); Cameron Rupp (.136); Addison Maruszak (.143); Nick Ferdinand (.143);  Roman Quinn (.150); Carlos Alonson (.154) Chris Serritella (.167); CHris Swauger (.176);Albert Cartwright (.179) Continue reading Hot or Not →

Another week with a winning record for Lehigh Valley who went 4-3 on the week, including a sweep of a doubleheader in Norfolk on Tuesday.  The ‘Pigs are now 28-24 and tied for second place in the Northern Division of the International League, just 0.5 games behind division leading Syracuse.  Lehigh Valley left for a nine game, 8 day road trip after last Sundays game that takes them to Norfolk and Durham. The ‘Pigs, at 17-10, have the second best record in the IL in May.

‘Pigs Prospects:Cameron Rupp has really struggled with the bat since returning from his oblique injury and is hitting just .161 since his return(31 AB’s).  He continues to play quite well defensively with a caught stealing rate at over 30%.

Tyson Gillies after starting very slowly, has improved slightly and now sits at .226/.288/.302 in 124 AB’s with Lehigh Valley this year.  His strikeout rate is still a high 26% and Gillies has stolen just 3/5 bases this year.  He does appear to be playing smarter over the last couple of weeks, trying to use his speed to bunt for a base hit which is occasionally very nice to see.  Over his last 10 games Gillies is right at the Mendoza line, hitting .200.

Phillippe Aumont receives kudos for having a solid week this week after a very poor week last week.  Over his last 3 games, Aumont has thrown 5.1 shutout innings, allowing 3 hits, 2 walks and striking out 5.  On the year, Aumont is now 1-1 with a 4.30ERA and 1.65 WHIP.  Opponents are hitting just .211 against him, but that is counter balanced by the fact that he has walked an average of a hitter an inning.  In 9 May appearances spanning 13.1 innings, Aumont has walked 11. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →