End of the season report card on all 2B and SS. Remember, grades are based upon what pre-season expectations were for each player, measured against actual performance NOT against each other. Next up will be catchers on Tuesday.

Lehigh Valley

Cesar Hernandez, 23, Signed as a free agent in 2008; .314/.378/.406 in 401 AB’s; 2HR 37RBI; 33SB; .321 vs. LHP, .305 vs. RHP; .264 with RISP; .325 post all star break; 9%BB/19% k rates; 79 games at 2B with 9 errors (.976); 4.56 R/F; 24 games in the OF with 4 errors (.948); 2.54 R/F. Hernandez far exceeded all expectations in 2013 and solidified himself as a top 10 prospect entering 2014.  Even while being flip flopped from 2B into CF, Hernandez continued to perform at a very high level offensively, hitting well above .300 all year and was among the league leaders in SB’s.  The question at the major league level: where does he fit.  Grade: A; 2014: Philadelphia; Prospect Ranking: 4

Michael Martinez, 31, Acquired in the 2011 Rule 5 draft; .300/.352/.407 in 243 AB’s; 3HR 28RBI; 6SB; .343 vs. LHP; .283 vs. RHP; .311 with RISP; .275 Post All Star Break; 7%BB/14% k rates; 46 games at SS with 9 errors (.954); 12 games at 2B with 2 errors (.968); 10 games in the OF without an error; 2 games at 3B with 1 error. I desperately try to separate my feelings for MiniMart as a major leaguer as opposed to the season that Martinez had as a minor leaguer.  Put simply, Lehigh Valley could not have asked for anything more out of him.  He hit for average and was a offensive catalyst for Lehigh Valley (words I thought would never be associated with Martinez). His versatility was an additional plus as well. Now that said, I hope and pray never to see him in a Phillies uniform again (all due respect)Grade: A-; 2014:  He could be back in Lehigh Valley and just as easily could be with another organization. Continue reading Report Card–Middle Infield →

Before we get started, a couple of notes to try to keep the discussion on track. Each player that is on a final minor league roster or has less than 130 major league at bats, 50 innings pitched or 45 days on a major league roster will be graded.  As far as grading goes, players will be graded against their own pre-season expectations as opposed to grading them against others in the organization.  While I will be positing Top 40 rankings attached to the appropriate players, a final Top 40 list will be published for discussion when the report cards are done.  To be considered for the Top 40, the same rules apply as above (less than 130 major league AB’s; 50IP and 45 days or less on ML roster). My hope is to get a new article out every three days or so, finishing up the entire system by mid October.

Lehigh Valley

Josh Fields, 30, SIgned as a free agent in 2013; .289/.337/.406 in 377 AB’s; 4HR 45RBI; 10SB; .348 vs. LHP, .264 vs. RHP; .330 with RISP; .258 Post All STar Break; 7%bb/27% k rates; 31 games at 1B with 3 errors (.987); 7.29 R/F; 12 games at 3B with 1 error (.964); 10 games in the OF without an error. Fields had a very good year with the bat, showed his versatility, and was a good guy to have in the clubhouse.  Grade: B+. 2014 projection: Another organization.  I am sure that from Fields perspective having been left out of the callups, he needs to focus his career on a situation where he may be able to get some roster time at the major league level. Continue reading Report Card–Corner Infielders →

A big part of the development cycle is winter and fall ball.  This post will track all players (who project to have prospect eligibility) participating in various offseason leagues as the information becomes available.

Major Leagues:

Mauricio Robles, Cameron Rupp, JC Ramirez, Cesar Hernandez

Florida Instructional League:

JP Crawford, Shane Watson, Larry Green Jr, Delvi Fransisco, Carlos Tocci, Kevin Walter, Zach Cooper, Mitch Walding (rehab) Continue reading Fall/Winter Assignments →

The final edition of “hot or not”, spanning from August 22–September 1.  Zach Collier has made the decision as to whether to keep him on the 40 increasingly difficult with his strong finish…Quietly, Dylan Cozens had a very solid season in Williamport…Larry Greene ends the season where it began, on the not hot list…Drew Anderson’s numbers this season for WIlliamsport were as good as anyone in the organization…I am nervous about Adam Morgan and not convinced he is healthy after watching several of his post injury starts…After a fairly miserable season, Kyle Simon finished stronged…I have always liked Mike Nesseth. He knows how to pitch, and will be a major leaguer…The 2013 season of Kenny Giles has to go down as one of this season’s true disappointments.

Hot Hitters: Deivi Gruillon (.400); Zach Collier (.354); Willie Carmona (.333, 8R 6RBI); Aaron Altherr (.333); Andrew Knapp (.333); Dylan Cozens (.325, 9R 2HR 8RBI); Art Charles (.324); Michael Martinez (.322); Robinson Torres(.320, 5RBI, 2SB); Maikel Franco (.318, 9R 4HR 8RBI); Honorable Mention: Perkins, Lino

Not Hot Hitters: Jon Roof (.040); Nick Ferdinand(.105); Logan Moore (.111); Justin Parr (.115); Trey WIlliams(.133); Carlos ALonso (.139); Larry Greene (.143); Wilmer Oberto(.160); Albert Cartwright (.172); Sebastian Valle (.172) Continue reading Hot or Not →

The final number is 3 years 12 million with a 4th year vesting/team option.  Negotiations hit a snag with regards to injury concerns.  Gonzalez has been placed on the 40 man roster and John Lannan has been moved to the 60 day DL to make room.

A ton of great questions coming in this week so without anything further here are the answers to your questions

Mitch_Rupert says: If you were forced to pick one team throughout minor league baseball to watch every game they played this year, which team would you have picked at the beginning of the season?

I love this question.  The first thing I did was look up where top talent was playing to start the year and the teams that jumped out were Hickory Crawdads (TEX, SAL), Quad City Bandits (HOU, MWL), Ceder Rapids Kernals (MIN, MWL), Memphis Redbirds (STL, PCL), and Portland Seadogs (BOS, EAS).  In the end I love low minors talent and I would take the Quad city Bandits because going into the year you knew you were going to get Carlos Correa, Lance McCullers, Rio Ruiz, and eventually the #1 pick in the draft (which ended up being Mark Appel).  Additionally coming into the year the Midwest League was really strong on talent and it would be good to have caught Buxton, Seager, Urias, Ynoa, Fried, and Almora.  I live in the middle of the MWL right now (Madison, WI) and my job has brought me to Cedar Rapids multiple times, but I never did get to a game while Buxton was there, but nonetheless there is a ton of talent and a great baseball atmosphere.

If I were to pick a Phillies affiliate it would have been the GCL Phillies. Continue reading End of the Minor League Season Mailbag →

Courtesy of NYPHILSMANIAC19

Just a quick note to let you know what to expect with the Minor League season ending next week.  As in previous years, I will be going through each player in the organization and reviewing their 2013 season with stats, a grade, comments and a 2014 projection. Also included will be a post season Top 40 ranking where applicable for those within that top 40 group.  We will fully cover the Arizona Fall League and Florida Instructional League as we can gain tidbits of information during the Fall months.

God willing, Matt and Brad will continue with their contributions, as put simply, the site would not function on anywhere close to the level it does day in and day out without their hard work and expertise. I am deeply grateful and appreciative of their efforts.

I am hoping my schedule allows additional time for analysis of prospects and that is something that I havent been able to dedicate myself to as much as I would like, but Matt and Brad have picked up my slack and then some. 

Phuture Phillies continues to be extremely successful thanks to all of you, the loyal readers.  During this baseball season, we have received in excess of 1.6 million page views and hope to continue to grow in the future.