Just a quick note – Aaron Altherr will make the start in left field tonight for the Phillies. Altherr was called up in June while Tony Gwynn was on bereavement and took one PA, and he was recalled yesterday when Dom Brown went on the paternity list. The German-bron Altherr, nicknamed “The Rhineland Rocket” (by me – I am beating it into the ground, folks), OPSed .930 in June at AA Reading, but is OPSing .688 on the season between two MiLB levels.
Category Archives: 01. Site Features
Box Score Recap – 7/2/2014
Jason Marquis pitched well again, and could be a trade chip if they bring him up and get him a couple starts in the bigs pretty soon, IMO. Might not net you much, but maybe a low-level flier type guy from a position of depth in someone’s org. If you were contending and needed a fourth/fifth starter on the cheap, would you give up someone like Malquin Canelo or maybe Jia Tromp for someone like Marquis? Probably.
MAG debuted in Reading with a scoreless inning and 2K. Roman Quinn hit his second HR of the year, and Brian Pointer his sixth. Ethan Stewart worked out of the bullpen for CLR for just the second time in his four-year pro career. We’ll see if that’s permanent, and if it helps his stuff play up to more Ks, helping to nullify his soul-crushing walk rate. Dylan Cozens went deep for the third time in five games. He struggled in June, but he’s OPSing .927 over his last ten games.
In the short-season leagues, second rounder Matt Imhof got the starts for WIL, pitching to a line of 1R 1H 2BB 3K in 3IP. Luis Encarnacion was 2-4 with a double for the GCL, while Darin Ruf and Wil Nieves rehabbed. 20-year-old Jose Taveras pitched a complete game shutout for DSL. Julsan Kamara logged his first pro hit in that contest and Bryan Martelo had two in that one.
Look for my July 2 recap at CrashburnAlley.com later this morning.
Threshers; July 2, 2014
The Threshers’ offense exploded Wednesday night. They collected 15 hits, of which 6 were XBH including a triple and 3 home runs. They scored in each of the first 4 innings as the ran out to a 10-1 lead. They maintained their advantage to win 11-5 against the Dunedin Blue Jays. Continue reading Threshers; July 2, 2014
Staying optimistic about the future in center field
In what has been a disappointing 2014 season for the Phillies, one thing has become abundantly clear: the team’s future in the outfield is muddled. Ben Revere, Domonic Brown, and Marlon Byrd have struggled as a unit, and out of those three guys, the only one who has provided much of anything may not be here past July 31.
Brown’s problems are another story for another day, and Byrd’s story may be written over the next few weeks if Ruben Amaro, Jr. finds a taker for the right fielder.
There is one big question here: What is the team’s future in center field? Set aside Brown for a second. Forget about Byrd. Just block the corner outfield out of your mind. Where does this team plan to go in center field?
Continue reading Staying optimistic about the future in center field
Box Score Recap – 7/1/2014
His name is Rios, and he set down lots of Suns //
They tried to hit off him, but he allowed just one.
Lehigh Valley Weekly Report
AFter wins the last two evenings, Lehigh Valley has lost 7 of their last 10 games, and have gone 12-19 since May 30th. The ‘Pigs are 41-44 and in 5th place of the Northern Division of the International League; 10 games behind division leading Syracuse. They are 6 games behind Rochester for a wildcard spot. Lehigh Valley returns home for a quick two game series against Syracuse before leaving on a long 10 game road trip that will take them into the all star break in mid July.
‘Pigs League Leaders, Hitting:Maikel Franco is 7th in AB’s (302); Tyler Henson is 5th in strikeouts (84) and 5th in SB’s (16).
Leaders, Pitching: Barry Enright is 4th in losses (8); leads the league in HR allowed (16); has the 6th worst WHIP (1.54) has the 7th worst ERA (5.20); is tied for 4th in starts (16); Luis Garcia is 3rd in saves (15); Greg SMith is 9th in IP (94.2)
‘Pigs Prospects: Maikel Franco’s struggles continue and he has been out of the lineup over the last two days. Franco had 105 June AB’s and hit .162/.196/.238 with 1HR and 11RBI. Franco’s year has been a roller coaster with April and June being very poor, with a good May sandwiched in the middle. On the year, .209/.267/.318 with 5HR 31RBI. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report
Threshers; July 1, 2014
The Phillies first round pick and number 7 overall, Aaron Nola, made his home debut against the Dunedin Blue Jays Tuesday night. The crowd of 3,394 was treated to a pitchers’ duel in a game the Threshers’ lost 1-0.
Nola made his FSL debut last Monday in Lakeland. He was on a 50 pitch limit that night. He started Tuesday on an unknown pitch limit, but a 5-inning limit. Continue reading Threshers; July 1, 2014
Minor League Organizational Leaders
It aint real pretty…
AB’s: Maikel Franco, 302; Dylan Cozens 301; KC Serna 300; Peter Lavin 294; Carlos Tocci 286; Andrew Pullin 284; Carlos Alonso 276; Cameron Perkins 274; JP Crawford 272; Aaron Altherr 269
Hits: Cameron Perkins 85; Peter Lavin 85; Willians Astudillo 84; KC Serna 83; JP Crawford 78; Andrew Pullin 78; Carlos Alonso 77; Steve Susdorf 72; Leandro Castro 69; Tyler Henson 69
2B; Cameron Perkins 21; Willians Astudillo 19; Peter Lavin 18; KC Serna 18; Art Charles 18; Steve Susdorf 17; JP Crawford 17; Leandro castro 16; Tyler Henson 16; Maikel Franco 16; Aaron Altherr 16
3B: Peter Lavin 5; Carlos Tocci 4; Leandro Castro 3; Cameron Perkins 3; Aaron Altherr 3; KC Serna 3; Art Charles 3; Brian Pointer 3; Dylan Cozens 3
HR: Jim Murphy 10; Peter Lavin 10; Dylan Cozens 9; Samuel Hiciano 7; Art Charles 7; Carlos Alonso 7; Jake Fox 6; Aaron Altherr 6; Brock Stassi Continue reading Minor League Organizational Leaders
General Discussion – Week of 6-30-2014 – Nautical Edition
On the road with the Marlins and Pirates this week.
Here’s a question: Do Pirates fish? I mean, they probably do, right? Plunder is one thing, but fishing means never having to steal food from someone, and instead focusing on all the treasure. Imagine being the pirate left behind when the gang leaves because you were in the kitchen looking for a snack. That’d be super embarrassing.
Also, I wonder if Barkhad Abdi likes baseball. Strikes me as a soccer fan, but maybe that’s just me stereotyping.
Discuss.
Box Score Recap – 6/30/2014
Three Iron Pigs hit home runs and five had multi-hit games. Brad Lincoln pitched fairly well there. Kelly Dugan went 2-4 with a double, and Severino Gonzalez plodded through five uninspiring innings as Reading overcame a six run deficit to defeat New Hampshire.
Zach Green hit his third home run in two days among his 4-8 performance, and Andy Knapp hit one out in the top of the 15th as Lakewood overcame a seven run deficit to beat West Virginia. Jon Prosknski got walloped for a bit out of the gate, but the bullpen held the Power scoreless for 12.1 innings to snag the W.
Undrafted Free Agent Aaron Baker picked up the win after allowing five hits and three runs in 1.1 IP for the GCL. Jesus Alastre went 3-4 with two steals in the VZL. He’s at 7-16 on the year on the base paths. Not as bad as he was earlier. Looking forward to maybe getting a scouting opinion on him from Instructs this fall.
