Not much to report from XST as camp winds down. Only a few games left. Camp breaks after next Wednesday’s last game, the day before the First Year Player Draft. When these XST squads run into good pitching, the kids might only get 2 at bats., especially when they utilize 2 DH, which the Phillies do everyday. Today was such a day.
So, Cord Sandberg was with the GCL squad again today. Continue reading XST; May 30, 2014
Hi folks, you know we’re working on a mock draft. Yeah, I hit post by mistake a minute ago. We’ll post when Matt and I get to a good stopping point, (Top 20, end of round 1, when we get tired of waiting, whatever).
Until then, let’s make this a good excuse to discuss the draft, if you like. Post your own mock lists. Make your Phillies picks. Call me dumb, etc. etc. etc.
Every year around the start of the draft the articles start coming out about how the Phillies are failing in every part of their draft. This year the rallying cry has been the lack of pitchers developed by the Phillies and why they should take a college pitcher early to help the big league club. In general the fanbases clamor for college players because they have a quicker impact on the major league club.
Today David Murphy wrote an article about the Cardinals and how they have had college heavy drafts, and hinted that maybe the Phillies should follow that model. My first instinct was that this is a flawed argument and that the differences between the Cardinals and Phillies doesn’t have to do with whether it is HS or college players drafted, but more what are all of the factors that go into it. So lets look at some Cardinals and Phillies drafts head to head.
2006:
Top Picks: Adam Ottavino (Cardinals-30), Kyle Drabek (Phillies-18)
Combined WAR: .1 (Phillies) 28.1 (Cardinals)
Notable Phillies Picks: Drew Carpenter, Jason Donald, Quintin Berry, Domonic Brown
Notable Cardinals Picks: Jon Jay, Allen Craig, Luke Gregerson, Chris Perez, David Carpenter Continue reading Phillies and Cardinals Drafting over the Years
As a baseball purist, I admittedly dont look as deep into the metrics as perhaps I should. I must admit however that the concept of “Game Score” for starting pitchers has struck my fancy in measuring the quality of performance on a particular night for a particular pitcher. If you look at the average Game Score of a particular starter, you get a very good idea of what their body of work looks like over the course of a season. In essence, game score combines durability, control and overall effectiveness to come up with a number to put on a particular outing.
Bill James developed Game Score and the math goes like this: Start with 50. Add one point for each out recorded (so three points for each IP); add two points for each full IP after the fourth; add one point for each strikeout; subtract two points for each hit allowed; subtract four points for each ER allowed; subtract two points for each unearned run allowed; subtract one point for each walk. In essence, Game Score takes the concept of a quality start and expands on it, factoring in control and hittability. The highest Game Score in history went to Kerry Wood who achieved a Game Score of 105 on 5/6/98. He struck out 20, allowing just one hit and didn’t walk a batter.
Game Score allows you to assess a degree of quality on a particular start and extrapolate from there. Now, looking at Phillies minor leaguers….At the AAA level, the highest Game Score achieved this year was Greg Smith, back on April 17th, who achieved a Game Score of 78. The lowest Game Score was “achieved” by Brad Lincoln who received a 17 for a miserable start just a few days ago on 5/28/14. In a system which would categorize a “quality start” at a 50, IronPigs average Game Scores are as follows (Min 4 starts): Pettibone 52, Smith 52, Enright 50; Buchanan 49, O’Sullivan 47n and Lincoln 41. Continue reading Game Score
This game followed what is becoming a familiar theme as some of the starting pitchers improve. Starter pitches well. Offense struggles. Defense plays unevenly. Threshers lose. Tonight, the victim was Jeb Stefan. He pitched a season high 6 innings, allowed 2 hits, 1 unearned run, 2 walks, 2 strike outs, and 1 wild pitch. He left trailing 1-0. One other bright spot was Lino Martinez. He enetered the 8th inning with one out and the bases loaded. He retired 4 in a row before allowing two base runners in the 9th inning and then closing out the opposition. Continue reading Threshers; May 29, 2014
Brandon Short was in the line up today for the Williamsport squad . He has begun a rehab assignment that will hopefully end in his being activated on the Threshers’ roster. He led off and started in centerfield. Unfortunately, this pushed Cord Sandberg to the GCL squad and the DH position. Still, Trey Williams, Jan Hernandez, Jake Sweaney, Jose Pujols, and Herlis Rodriguez would be in the Williamsport line up and Ricardo Pinto would get the start. Continue reading XST; May 29, 2014
Maikel Franco was 2-4 with a 2B and a 3B, his first XBHs since May 19 (8 games). Tyson Gillies threw out Brett Wallace at the plate to end the game, saving the save for Ken Giles, who gave up 2R on 2H, 2BB, 1WP and 0K in his most tumultuous inning of his short stint in AAA. Cesar Jimenez hasn’t allowed a run all month for the Pigs. He’d seem to be the next lefty up to the bigs.
Cameron Perkins left the Reading game after being hit in the arm with a batted ball while leading off third. He tried to tough it out, apparently, but was removed an inning later. Jeb Stefan pitched well allowing one run on just two hits and two walks in six innings , but his offense couldn’t score, managing just two hits and one walk in support. Ramon Oviedo entered the game with one out in the seventh and two men on base, recorded three total outs and walked five men, and did not allow a run, thanks to a DP in the seventh and a caught stealing in the eighth. Amazing.
Willians Astudillo has himself a 12 game hitting streak. Also worth noting – he’s been behind the plate nine times in the last 18 days. And Jesus Alastre kept his on-base streak alive by virtue of getting plunked in the eighth inning. Well done.
After exploring the back of the Top 30, it is time to look at how the stock is trending for the Top 20 prospects in the system. This is not a reranking, and it does take into account any injuries that we present at the time of the original ranking. The Top 30 list can be found here.
20. Adam Morgan (LHP) – Morgan has not yet started his rehab, and shouldn’t be throwing for a bit longer. Stock: Static
19. Severino Gonzalez (RHP) – Severino has not been good this year, but he has not been as bad as his ERA looks. Overall, Severino is not missing bats this year and the fastball is about where it was last year. Overall Severino is still on pace to be a back of the rotation starter or middle reliever. Stock: Slightly down Continue reading Top 30 Stock Watch (1-20)
The attention this week should go to the relief pitchers who put on quite a show during the time period of May 22-28. Tyler Knigge is making people notice once again, while Kenny Giles simply keeps doing what he does. Colton Murray, who spent a bit of time at High A before promotion, has had an outstanding start for Reading…Samuel Hiciano is taking the attention away from the other, higher ranked prospects in the Lakewood OF simply by performance…Cameron Rupp has been really struggling since his return from the oblique injury, while Brian Pointer remains consistently on the Not Hot list….I intend not to waste another word discussing Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez.
Hot Hitters: (MIN 13 AB’s): KC Serna (.400, 7R HR 4RBI, AB); Samuel Hiciano (.370, 2HR 4RBI); Deivi Gruillon (.357); Everett Williams (.357, 4RBI); Cameron Perkins (.345, 3R, HR, 6RBI); Ronny Cedeno (.341, 5RBI); JP Crawford (.333, 3R, 3RBI, SB); Tyler Henson (.333)
Not Hot Hitters:Malquin Canelo (.000, 0-13); Brian Pointer (.071); Andrew Knapp (.118); Cameron Rupp (.136); Addison Maruszak (.143); Nick Ferdinand (.143); Roman Quinn (.150); Carlos Alonson (.154) Chris Serritella (.167); CHris Swauger (.176);Albert Cartwright (.179) Continue reading Hot or Not
Tyson Gillies (2) and Cameron Rupp (6) went deep for Lehigh Valley. The pitching there was not so good. Brad Lincoln got good and messed up. Meanwhile, Rob Rasmussen is in the Toronto bullpen. Just sayin’.
Cameron Perkins hit a walk-off 3-run home run, his third, to win it in the 12th for Reading. Good performance from Tyler Knigge there. Art Charles‘ 3-run shot tied it for CLR in the ninth and Logan Moore walked it off with a single in the 11th. Good line from Colin Kleven there. Roman Quinn‘s some kind of scuffling in his small sample of a season – 10Ks and no BBs thus far, and he’s OPSing .465 through 7 games.
And finally, Dylan Cozens was 2-4 with two doubles for Lakewood. His last multi-hit game was five days ago when he hit two home runs at West Virginia. Robinson Torres was 1-3, but that hit pushed across Cozens and Willians Astudillo to make a winner out of recently demoted Jon Prosinski.
VSL was off, but a friendly reminder that the DSL starts on Saturday. Among those inpresently rostered there are Luis Encarnacion and “that German guy” Julsan Kamara.
Phuture Phillies 