A look at the OF in the top half of the organization.  Look for the report card on the lower half on Monday or Tuesday.

Lehigh Valley

Kyle Hudson, 25, Acquired from Tampa in 2012; .264/.335/.386 in 406AB’s; 0HR 25RBI; 22/33 SB; .175 vs. LH, .275 vs. RH, .286 with RISP; 10%bb/17%K rate; Hit .202 since August 1.  106 games in the OF with 3 errors (.986); 6 OF assists;  With at least 2 OF from Reading likely to join Lehigh Valley and speed being Hudson’s only real tool, I would be surprised to see him back next year.  Grade: C. Continue reading Post Season Report Card–OF, Upper Half →

All of a sudden plenty of depth at catcher and some significant decisions to make as to where players may fit it…

Lehigh Valley

Sebastian Valle, 22, Signed as a free agent in 2006; .253/.271/.428 in 388 AB’s between Reading and Lehigh Valley; 17HR 58RBI; .218/.232/.397 in 78 AB’s for Lehigh Valley; 4HR 19RBI; 3%bb/26%K rate in Reading; 3%bb/39%k rate in Lehigh Valley; Caught 100 games with 3 errors (.996); 11 passed balls; Threw out 28 of 107 baserunners (26%). Valle played well in Reading but I was a little surprised that he landed in Lehigh Valley so quickly.  Having now seen him quite a few times, what the critics say is accurate, he needs alot of work on his plate discipline.  That being said, a year during which Valle has stayed on track to make a major league debut in the 2014 season if not late next year. Grade: B-. 2013: Sharing time with Tommy Joseph in Lehigh Valley.  Notable that the first time Valle was scouted it was as a 3B years ago…. Continue reading Post Season Report Card–Catchers →

Several sources are reporting Sunday evening that Reading 1B/OF Darin Ruf , 26, will be added to the 40 man roster and called up to join the Phillies on Monday.

Ruf, the well publicized Eastern League HR and RBI king will get the well deserved call to see what he can do at the major league level.  I wont say anymore as it has all been said already and I am sure said again in the comment section below.

Lehigh Valley

Andres Blanco, 28, Signed as a free agent in 2012; .235/.301/.346 in 413 AB’s; 10 HR 40 RBI; 6/11 SB; .208 vs. LH, .247 vs. RH, .260 with RISP; 9%bb/17% k rates; .253 with 5 HR and 22 RBI post all star break. 119 games at SS with 18 errors (.964); 4.05 R/F. He did pretty much exactly what was expected…hit around .230, was ok defensively, and not much more.  Grade: C+. 2013: Another organization.

Cesar Hernandez, 22, Signed as a free agent in 2006; .291/.321/.404 in 532 AB’s; 2 HR 57 RBI; 21/36 SB; 6%bb/12% k rates; For Lehigh Valley: .248/.270/.298 in 121 AB’s; 0HR 6RBI; 5/8 SB; 3%bb/9% k rates; .296 vs. LH, .234 vs. RH; .111 with RISP. 132 games at 2B with 20 errors (.967); 4.45 R/F. Hernandez had a very good season in Reading and his adjustment to AAA was moving along as expected.  I am not quite as enthusiastic as some about Hernandez. Grade: B; 2013: Lehigh Valley with the potential of a September Phillies call up. Continue reading Post Season Report Card,— Middle Infield →

This will be a long trek but the intention is to go through each player in the organization and grade his 2012.  The grade will be based on expectations for that player entering the season as opposed to grades against other players. For instance, Trevor May, as the #1 prospect in the organization will be graded on a different playing field then say, Tyson Brummett (no disrespect Tyson).  We will start with corner infielders and work our way through, with a projection on where the player will start 2013.  So, with that said, here come the corner infielders. Continue reading Post Season Report Card–Corner Infield →

Put another year in the books for the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs who finished the year in 3rd place of the Northern Division of the International League at 75-68, 9 games back of division leading Scranton.  The season was a challenging one for Lehigh Valley. From the get go they were faced with a myriad of call ups and injuries that left the team in a state of total flux, literally all year. With the Phillies bullpen decimated by both injury and ineffectiveness, just about every pitcher in the bullpen on the IronPigs opening day  roster received  a shot with the big club. My perspective is that even with a record that stood well below the level of success of the 2011 team, the job done by Manager Ryne Sandberg was far better, getting alot more with less talent.  On paper, this was no more than a .500 team that Sandberg took into the final weekend of the wild card hunt. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Report–End of Season Edition →

Ok, the Mike Piazza line always gets me.  The notion is this – Piazza was passed on by every team 61 times before the Dodgers took him at the end of the 62^nd round.  Scouts failed to get it right on Piazza and only by “friend of his dad Tommy Lasorda” did he even get a chance. And from that, proof that scouts don’t always recognize talent, and that, in this case, Darin Ruf, (or really anyone else), might just be better than scouts think.  Let’s look at the story, from what I know of it.  Continue reading Mike and Tommy and Darin →

I am going to to make things more exciting during this off season, putting up polls fairly often to keep the conversation going…

Feel free to respond in the comment section about ideas for polls you would like to see.

Have fun, and PLEASE be respectful.  First poll is in the post below. Sometime in January, I will put up a post with cumulative poll results.

The last Hot or Not for the 2012 season….lets get at it.

–Is there anymore more to say about Darin Ruf.  Put simply, he could not have had a better year at the plate.  If for no other reason than to prevent a Ryne Sandberg type mistake (and no,I am not comparing Ruf to a Hall of Famer), the Phillies need to see what they have against major league pitching.  There is no downside for the seasons final month. He needs to be in Philly.

–Brian Pointer ranks high on the 2012 disappointment list. Such a pretty swing that just can’t make contact.

–Hoby Milner is opening eyes at Lakewood making it pretty clear he is ready for a jump to High A in 2013.

–Very nice to see Trevor May have an outstanding outing after really struggling for quite awhile.

–Ethan Martin joins the not hot list after some fairly significant control issues, while Brody Colvin remains consistently “not hot”.

–Kyle Simon has opened eyes in the organization since the Thome trade and appears to be a legit prospect who could help the Phillies in 2014 in the middle to late innings.  His work against very good competition in the AFL will be something to watch closely.

Now the stats: Min 11 AB’s; Stat period 8/24–8/30.

Hot Starting Pitchers: Colin Klevan (7.1IP 5H 0ER 2BB 4K); Josh Warner (6IP 2H 0ER 0BB 4K); Hoby Milner (6IP 2H 0ER 2BB 6K); Trevor May (8IP 2H 0ER 1BB 9K); Tyson Brummett (5IP 1H 0ER 1BB 3K); Manny Martinez (9IP 7H 2ER 5BB 9K);Austin Hyatt (11.2IP 10H 3ER 3BB 8K) Continue reading Hot or Not, Final Edition →