Category Archives: Other Stuff

Lehigh Valley Game Report

Other Stuff

NYPhilsManiac again coming up big for us:

Iron Pigs vs Rochester Game Report, July 31

Pitching:
Greg Smith started and was very effective.  He had two bad innings: 1st and 6th.  In the first he pitched out of a bases loaded 1 out jam with no runs.  In the 6th, Rochester got 3 hits and a walk, but Smith limited the damage to 1 run.  I am honestly not sure how he was getting them out.  He topped out at 86 mph and was in the 82-84 range most of the time.  He did throw a 70 mph off-speed pitch (seemed like a curve but might’ve been a changeup).  He throws so slow, it makes Cloyd look like Roger Clemens.

Mike McDougall pitched out of a jam in the 8th to get the last 2 outs when he relieved Smith.

Cesar Jiminez slammed the door with a perfect 9th (2 K’s and a slow groundout to 2B).  Jiminez was consistently reaching 87-88.

Around the System, Starting Pitching, Lower Half

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A look at starting pitching in the lower half of the organization. Next up: Relievers.

Lakewood

Nic Hanson, 21, Phils 16th round pick in 2012 draft; 16 games (10 starts); 2-2 with a 2.49ERA; 1SV; 76IP 77H 12BB 60K; 1HR allowed; 1.26 GO/AO; .260 opp. avg., .261 vs. LH, .259 vs. RH, .277 with RISP; 1.16 WHIP; 1.4BB/7.1K k per 9; 1-1 with a 1.09 ERA in his last 5 starts.  Hanson has pitched very, very well since coming off the DL and is certainly on course for a promotion.

Miguel Nunez, 20, Signed as a free agent in 2010; 21 games (17 starts); 8-7 with a 4.50ERA; 104IP 114H 34BB 56K; 4HR allowed; 0.82GO/AO; .282 opp. avg; .311 vs. LH, .262 vs. RH, .269 with RISP; 1.42WHIP; 2.9BB/4.8K per 9; 6 starts in July; 3-1 with a 3.98ERA. Nunez has done respectable job this year…nothing more, nothing less. Continue reading Around the System, Starting Pitching, Lower Half →

Reading Game Report

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NYPhilsmaniac19 is at it again with his insightful first hand reports:

Reading vs Erie Game Report, July 30

PITCHING:  Not much to report here since no prospects pitched. 

Austin Wright started and got the win despite giving up 10 baserunners and 5 runs (4 earned) in 5 innings.  Few of the hits against him were cheap.  He topped out at 92 on the gun.  I’m not sure if he was hiding his best move, but he barely lobbed the ball to first on pick-off throws.  I figured he was setting them up, but he never showed anything better. 

Hector Neris came on for the next 2 innings and looked excellent.  He only gave up one baserunner on a walk and he K’d 4 (struck out the side in the 6th).  He topped out at 94 which he reached a few times. 

Kyle Simon pitched the 8th allowing 2 runners via a walk and a Murphy error, but he pitched out of it.

Michael Nesseth came on to shut the door and pitched a scoreless inning.  He did allow 2 hits, but one was on a slow roller to 3rd that Franco played non-chalantly and the runner beat the throw.

OFFENSE: Continue reading Reading Game Report →

Austin Wright to the Bullpen and Converting Starters to Relievers

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Today Mike Drago of the Reading Eagle reported that the Phillies will be converting Austin Wright to a full time reliever (Brody Colvin back to the rotation).  The move is one that I thought would come eventually but did not expect right now.  More interesting to the move is what Joe Jordan said which piqued my interest.

Philles are converting Reading’s Austin Wright to the bullpen. He’s 5-5, 6.09 in 16 starts; pitching better lately after DL stint #phillies

Joe Jordan on Austin Wright: “We really feel he’s got a couple pitches that have a chance to play really good out of the bullpen.” #phillies Continue reading Austin Wright to the Bullpen and Converting Starters to Relievers →

Hot or Not

Other Stuff

A look back at the time period of 7/25 thru 7/31. Quick thoughts…What is the level of concern with Jesse Biddle who has led the Not Hot list for two weeks with significant control issues?  I expect Nick Hernandez to land on the DL soon…something is not right again…Maikel Franco now has 24HR’s in just over 100 games….Larry Greene and Zach Collier are back slumping again…At the lower levels, Drew Anderson and Shane Martin have gotten us to notice.

Hot Hitters: Art Charles (.448, 8RBI’s); Tyler Henson (.411, 3HR); Alejandro Vilalobos (.391); Jia Tromp (.389, 3SB); Maikel Franco (.385, 5R 3HR 6RBI); Harold Martinez (.381, 6RBI); Herlis Rodriguez (.370, 6R 7RBI); Dylan Cozens (.368, 6R); Derrick Mitchell (.350);Wilmer Oberto (.350); Nick Ferdinand (.350);  Honorable Mention: Numata, Crawford, J. Hernandez, Parr, Dugan, Perkins, Alonso Continue reading Hot or Not →

Lehigh Valley Weekly Report

Other Stuff

Lehigh Valley returned home last night from an eight game road trip with a 5-4  loss to Rochester and now sit at 55-56 on the year, in 4th place of the Northern Division of the International League, 5.5 games behind division leading Rochester and 4 games behind Pawtucket in the wildcard race.

‘Pigs Prospects: Adam Morgan has made two starts for Lehigh Valley since his return from the disabled list and while he has not given up an earned run, he threw close to 140 pitches in less than seven innings of work in those two starts. Bottom line, he was less than sharp which is to be expected after missing two months injured.  On the year, Morgan is 1-5 with a 4.44 ERA in his 10 starts. He has thrown 48.2 innings, given up 55 hits, walked 17 and struck out 34 while opponents are hitting .269 against him. It will be interesting to check in on Morgan in two weeks with another 2-3 starts under his belt. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

Around the System–Starting Pitching, Top Half

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Lehigh Valley

Tyler Cloyd, 26, Phils 18th round pick in 2008 draft; 14 starts, 2-8 with a 6.19ERA; 75.2IP 95H 19BB 66K; 1.03GO/AO; .303 opp. avg., 2.2BB/7.8K per nine; 16 HR allowed; .267 vs. LH, .333 vs. RH, .400 with RISP; 1-1 with a 2.11 ERA in 4 July starts. Not a pretty body of work for Cloyd who has been very hittable and one of the league leaders in HR allowed.  On the bright side, he has been much better in July.

Ethan Martin, 24, Acquired from Dodgers in 2012; 21 starts; 11-5 with a 4.12 ERA; 115.2IP 94H 67BB 107K; 11HR allowed; 0.86 GO/AO; .229 opp. avg., 5.2BB/8.3K per nine; 1.39WHIP; .249 vs. LH, .211 vs. RH, .215 with RISP; 6-3 with a 3.14 ERA in 11 starts since June 1. Martin’s control was awful at the beginning of the year but has drastically improved and with it, have come very good results.  He has been excellent over the last two months and with a strong August he will likely find himself in Philly come 2014. Continue reading Around the System–Starting Pitching, Top Half →

Minor League Thoughts and Notes

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Given the struggles of the big league club I have worked to make this as positive and uncontroversial as possible to give everyone as good a start to their week as possible.

At some point I am going to compile a full list of Twitter people to follow, but for now enjoy a quick one per level to to check out their work and thoughts (not all names associated with the Phillies exclusively)

Phillies Sign Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez

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Cuban pitcher with plus fastball and at least 3 other pitches.  He has a #2/#3 upside but will need a little bit of seasoning in the minors before getting to the majors.  Deal is supposedly for more than $50 million with escalators that could make it worth other $60 million.

Regardless of buying or selling this is a great allocation of financial resources, and even if he is more of a #4 he should be worth to close to the value of the contract.  This deal makes one of Kendrick, Lannan, Pettibone,Martin,  Morgan, and Biddle expendable either at the deadline or in the off-season.

Details to come later.

Steve Susdorf to the Majors

Other Stuff

The Phillies place Domonic Brown on the 7 day DL for a concussion.  They have called up Steve Susdorf to take his place.  Susdorf is a great story, he is average to below in all tools except a plus hit tool.  He will make solid contact in almost every at bat.  His major league stay might be brief and his impact little, but he certainly deserves his moment.  He is likely a better option than most of the OFs on the roster waiting for him.