The “Around the System” series is back as we continuously rotate through the System taking a look at the production of each and every player.  We start with Corner Infielders, and will continue through the middle infield, outfield, catcher, starting pitchers and relief pitchers, all in time to get back to where we started (corner infield) usually about 75 AB’s later. Stats are thru Friday May 3rd. Look for a report on the Middle Infield over the next several days…

Lehigh Valley

Cody Overbeck, 26, Phils 9th round pick in 2009; .250/.297/.515 in 68 AB’s; 5HR 12 RBI; 1SB; 6%bb/29%k rate; .417 vs. LH, .214 vs. RH, .214 with RISP. 14 games at 1B with 1 error (.992); 8.57 R/F. Overbeck has been simply OK in the years first month. He continues to show power but is far from consistent and has been striking out a ton.

Cody Asche, 22, Phils 4th round pick in 2011; .267/.330/.367 in 90 AB’s; 1HR 13RBI; 9%bb/25%k rates; .071 vs. LH; .303 vs. RH, .143 with RISP. 24 games at 3B with 3 errors (.952); 2.50 R/F. Asche had an awful start but adjusted and has been coming on strong in his transition to AAA as of late.  His progress has been similar to what I expected prior to the year, but some troubling splits. Continue reading Around the System–Corner Infield →

It is hard to not get excited about hot starts for prospects because they bring so much promise and optimism.  The key as always, is to know why they are starting out how they are.  Sometimes regression is right around the corner and other times there is something there that has changed our view on them.

This isn’t a Hot Start This Is Who He Is:

Maikel Franco – Franco is by no means a finished product or a perfect prospect.  He has some limitations that will likely keep him from being a superstar.  At the plate he is a free swinger (not a hacker) and is going to have reasonable strikeout rates and walk rates but he is not going to be a high OBP guy.  His swing can get long and he can sell out for power exposing him to premium stuff, especially when pitchers can get inside on him.  But what he has, is special, Franco has a very quick bat that makes solid contact and projects to have a plus hit and plus power tool.  He should be able to be average to above defensively at third, and all round you have an occasional All-Star and well above average third baseman. Continue reading Taking Stock a Month In – Making Sense of Hot Starts →

A look back at the April 24-30 time period.  Quick thoughts/questions…What should Biddle’s timeline for promotion be?….Very rough week for the Lakewood rotation….Cesar Hernandez remains on fire. As solely a 2B, what should the Phils do next year if he keeps it up?10 RBI week for Maikel Franco whose stock is clearly rising into the very top echelon of Phils prospects…Zach Collier is overmatched at AA(0-8, 7K’s the last two days)…Start paying attention to Mauricio Robles. He is on the 40 man roster and has been dominant this year, striking out 22 in 15.1IP, with a WHIP well below 1.

Hot Hitters:(12AB MIN) William Carmona (.500, 5R, 4RBI); Cesar Hernandez, (.458, 6R HR 3RBI, 3SB); Cameron Perkins (.412, 5R); Darin Ruf (.400, 3HR 9RBI); Kelly Dugan(.375, HR 3RBI); Tyler Henson (.368); Maikel Franco (.333, 5R 3HR 10RBI);   Honorable Mention: Castro, Rupp, Pointer

Not Hot Hitters: Edgar Duran (.059); Roman Quinn (.077); Zach Collier (.100); Logan Moore (.125); Larry Greene (.125); Albert Cartwright (.125); Dis (Honorable) Mention:  Orr, Overbeck, Martinez, Hudson Continue reading Hot or Not →

We often think of minor league players as needing to continuing to improve.  Sometimes it is almost as good to sustain success on a higher level.  the second part of this series taking stock in the system looks at  the guys where nothing has really changed this year.  Some of the stats may be slightly above or below but the profile has not changed.

Adam Morgan – Morgan has been dominant at times and has struggled during other times.  He is more the guy he was in Reading then Clearwater, which is a very solid #3 starter with some upside.  Despite clamoring for him to be called up, Morgan still has a lot to do on the AAA level.  He now has only about 66 innings (11 starts) above A ball, and could easily take the whole year to refine his secondary pitches without it affecting his value. Continue reading Taking Stock a Month In – They Are Who We Thought They Were →

Lehigh Valley completed their 8 game road trip with a 9-5 loss against Louisville yesterday, and after a long bus ride back to Allentown, have an off day today followed by an 8 game home stand that begins Thursday against Indianapolis.  Since the last report, Lehigh Valley went 3-5 and now stand at 10-15 on the year, 7 games behind division leading Buffalo.

‘Pigs League Leaders: Cesar Hernandez is 5th in AB’s (95), 8th in SB’s (7), 9th in OBP (.417); 3rd in avg. (.375), leads the league in triples (3), and leads the league in hits (36); Darin Ruf is 3rd in doubles (9); Cody Overbeck is 6th in HR(5).

Pitching: Justin DeFratus is 5th in wins(3), Tyler Cloyd is 5th in losses (5), 8th in HR allowed (4), has the 8th worst ERA (6.67), and 3rd worst WHIP (1.78); Ethan Martin has the 3rd worst ERA(7.66), 2nd worst WHIP (1.79) and leads the league in walks allowed (20); Adam Morgan is 7th in IP (30.2); Jake Diekman is 9th in walks allowed (14)

‘Pigs Prospects–Darin Ruf is now officially on fire, after slumping last week. In the series against Louisville, Ruf smacked 3 doubles and 3 HR’s while going 8-16 in the series.  After dropping to just over .200, Ruf is at .267/.319/.512 on the year with 4HR and 15RBI. Ruf is striking out in around 26% of his AB’s, but is showing a good deal of recent improvement. Some strange splits, as Ruf is at .091 vs. LH and .154 with RISP. His defense in LF has been surprisingly adequate. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

 Hey, it’s Joe again. Sorry for the hiatus between articles, as I’ve been pretty busy.

             By now, I’m assuming all followers of the Phillies’ farm system have noticed Jim Murphy’s exceptional start: 75 AB .360 AVG .400 OBP .587 SLUG 3 HR and 1 SB for good measure. Obviously, his good start could be a fluke, but what if there’s a chance of him having a Darin Ruf-type season?

             If you look at it, the similarities are eerie. Both had raked in Clearwater before they came to Reading, even having the same number of homers for Clearwater (17). Their batting averages and on-base percentages were somewhat similar too, with Ruf (.308/.388) and Murphy (.274/.355) getting on base at a good rate. Continue reading Jim Murphy: The Next Darin Ruf? →

We have about a month of games on the system plus spring training so it is time to take a quick look at the system and some starts to the season.  I am going to start with the cold starters and on Wednesday look at some guys doing what we thought they should do and on Friday look at the guys getting off to great starts.

Slow starts don’t necessarily derail a year or even mean much.  However, there is information to be had especially when looking at what has changed or not changed about a prospect coming into the year.

Don’t Panic:

Tommy Joseph – It hasn’t look great for Joseph to this point, at the plate he is batting .204/.259/.389.  In a small sample size the strikeout rate is a little up and the walk rate is down, the BABIP is also only .211 but he is hitting for power closer to his year in the Cal League.  The receiving is a problem and always will be, but it should improve over time and the passed balls have dropped considerably since the first week.  He may not be ready as quickly as some people may like but it is just a slow start for the 21 year old in AAA. Continue reading Taking Stock A Month In – Slow Starts →

Most of the Phillies’ April was a Waste Land, don’t you agree? Hopefully summer will surprise us. With wins.

Before really ramping into 2013 draft coverage I am going to look back on some prototypical Phillies draft types.  The goal is to find a pattern of success or failure and see if there is a trend in the developmental process.  I am going to look at the tools that caused them to be drafted and how amateur scouts saw them, how they looked a year later when professional scouts had a chance to look them over, and then how it all ended up.

One of the most common complaints of Phillies drafts have been their drafting of “toolsy” outfielders, that just don’t know how to play baseball.  There have been some disastrous picks such as Greg Golson, which is where this series will begin, with the 2004 draft.  Not all of these players were “toolsy” but it should get a larger picture of the type of players drafted and how it turned out.

Greg Golson  – 1st round 2004

What Got him Drafted: 70+ speed, 60 hit / 60 power projection, 60 arm, 60 defense

A Year Later: While the other tools remained the hit tool projection took a big step back when his pitch recognition was not where scouts thought it was.  He struck out 106 times in 401 PAs.

How’d it end up: The Phillies traded him in 2008 for John Mayberry Jr.  He has bounced around organizations since as a AAAA player who can play CF and steal bases.  The hit tool never materialized. Continue reading Draft Retrospective: “Toolsy” Outfielders →