Word came after last night’s game that Jeremy Horst had been placed on the Paternity List and replaced on the active roster by Phillippe Aumont. Paternity time allows for no more than 3 days on the list, so Aumont might have only the rest of the Reds series to make his mark before going back down to Lehigh Valley. 

For the season in AAA, Aumont’s sits just shy of 12 k/9, and a fair 0.61 HR/9, with a quite bad 6.9 bb/9 and 1.53 WHIP.  He has given up exactly 34 walks and 34 hits.  Cleary he misses a lot of bats…just so happens batters don’t swing as much as he’d like at balls outside the strike zone.

The ‘Pigs are hanging on but bare;y, with a 3-3 week that leaves them 69-61, 5.5 games behind division leading Scranton and a half game behind Pawtucket for the wild card position.  After a rainout last night, the ‘Pigs play a doubleheader tonight at home against Toledo, followed by three on the road against Rochester. Lehigh Valley is home for 11 of their last 14 games, where they are 42-21.

Probables: Tuesday (1)Cochran; (2) Pettibone; Wednesday: Elarton; Thursday: Cloyd; Friday: Brummett. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

Hitting the hot topic of the week, the Phillies have to be considering who to reward for their 2012 performance and who they want to get an early look at for the 2013 season.

The first variable of course is the 40 man roster.  The following minor leaguers are on the 40: Phillipe Aumont, Jake Diekman, Justin DeFratus, Joe Savery, JC Ramirez, Sebastian Valle, Cesar Hernandez, Hector Luna and Tyson Gillies.

Both Lehigh Valley and Reading are in playoff races, and as the Phillies playoff hopes died several weeks ago, there is no urgency to bring in reinforcements.  So, the call ups wont begin in force until the RPhils and/or ‘Pigs are eliminated from contention.

Going through the possibilities one by one:  Aumont–I think will get a shot unless he collpases during the final two weeks of the season. Diekman–Probably goes as the Phils will want him to continue to get work through the end of September and will want to see if he can help in 2013; Savery–I would be very surprised to see Savery back up.  He was awful in Philly and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him with another organization come 2013. DeFratus– I would like to see DeFratus up and he has been pitching well but has thrown limited innings since his return from the DL; Ramirez–Is currently on a nice run but I think the Phils may hesitate to reward him after a fairly mediocre season; Valle– I would be shocked to see him in Philly this year. Hernandez–Ditto; Luna–Will be up if there is an injury, gives the Phils another right handed bat off the bench. Gillies–I think the Phillies would really want to call him up as CF remains on the true question marks moving forward but do they reward someone who has been a true problem child?

Outside the 40 candidiates: Tyler Cloyd should have been up a month ago and I hope the Phils do the right thing, which is to give the callup to someone who has worked tremendously hard to improve and put up stats which have been both outstanding and remarkably consistent. Darin Ruf–Certainly the people’s candidate, however I would be surprised to see the Phillies make that move. You could argue for his callup under the “Cloyd argument”.

Good conversation.  Have at it.

NYPhilsManiac19 saw perhaps the best pitching performance of the year in the Phils minor league system.  Here is the report:

A look at rotation in the lower parts of the organization.  Note with Williamsport and GCL, the rotations are often changing these days with innings limitations and the like.  I tried to put out there those who have been consistently starting or those who have just moved into the rotation.

Lakewood

Gabrial Arias, 22, Signed as a free agent in 2007; 34 games (5 starts); 4-7 with a 3.81 ERA; 85IP 93H 23BB 86K; 0.89 GO/AO; .276 opp. avg., 2.4BB/9.0K per nine; .264 vs. LH, .286 vs. RH, .318 with RISP; 2-3 with a 2.29 ERA in 10 games (5 starts) since July 1.  Arias has really come around as of late and should see time in CLearwater next year. Continue reading Around the System, Starting Pitching, Lower Half →

Winding down the season, this looks at the time period from 8/10 thru 8/16.  Minimum of 11 AB’s.

–Why waste more superlatives.  I am going to simply say….Cody Asche and Darin Ruf.

–After a very rough week one in Triple A, Sebastian Valle bounced back with a vengence this week, with two crucial HR’s. and 9 hits.

–Jon Pettibone with two very impressive outings (and wins) for the IronPigs, where he was keeping the opposition extremely off balance which resulted in a boatload of ground ball outs.

–Under the radar screen, Austin Wright now has double digit wins for CLearwater and an ERA sitting right around 3.

–Brody Colvin continues to be an enigma that doesn’t belong in AA.

–D’Arby Myers with 5 hits on Thursday evening is forcing people to notice.

–Michael Nesseth continues to be my “sleeper”. Keep an eye on him.

Hot Hitters: D’Arby Myers (.615, 3SB); Cameron Perkins (.500); Sebastian Valle (.474, 2HR 7RBI); Cody Asche (.448, 6R 10RBI); Gabrial Lino (.438, 2HR 4RBI); Miguel ABreu (.417, 7RBI); Brock Stassi (.375); Alejandro Vilalobos (.368); Harold Martinez (.364); Cameron Rupp (.364); Darin Ruf (.333, 7R 6HR 11 RBI);  Honorable Mention: Franco, Austudillo, Cozens, Green, Duffy, Lavin, Quinn, Cartwright, Dugan Continue reading Hot or Not →

The Phillies have announced that Ryan O’Sullivan is the “player to be named later” in the Joe Blanton deal, and that O’Sullivan will report to Class A Clearwater.  O’Sullivan, 21, is a RHP that was drafted in the 4th round by the Dodgers in the 2011 draft.  O’Sullivan is a combined 8-6 with a 3.05 ERA in 29 games (9 starts), across both A (Great Lakes) and High A (Rancho Cucamonga) in the Dodgers organization. He walked 31 and struck out 55 in 88.2 IP.

Continued mediocrity for Lehigh Valley is taking its toll on the standings as the ‘Pigs have now fallen to  66-58, after a 3-3 week and are in 3rd place of the Northern Division of the International League, 3.5 games behind division leading Scranton and 2 games behind Pawtucket for a wild card berth. Lehigh Valley concluded a home stand last night and now go on the road for four games against Buffalo before returning home for four games against Toledo.

Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

A look at the starting pitching in the top half of the organization with Lakewood, Williamsport and the GCL to come late in the week.

Lehigh Valley

Tyler Cloyd, 25, Phils 18th round pick in 2008; 23 starts; 14-1 with a 2.07 ERA; 148IP 112H 34BB 104K; 1.03 GO/AO; .213 opp. avg., .254 vs. LH, .164 vs. RH, .189 with RISP. 0.99 WHIP; 2.0BB/6.3K per nine; 3-0 with a 2.14 ERA in 7 starts since July 1.  Frankly the pitching line that Cloyd has put up this year could not be better.  The critics say he doesn’t throw hard enough.  If you know how to pitch, that can make up for 5MPH and then some. I bought in last year before the hype and believe now he should have been in Philly at least a month ago.  What is the downside of giving him a shot? Continue reading Around the System, Starting Pitching, Top Half →