Category Archives: 01. Site Features

Around the System–Middle Infield

Other Stuff

This was one of the more depressing exercises in my recent existance with JP Crawford saving me from a complete malaise.  Next up will be catchers.

Lehigh Valley

Ronny Cedeno, 31, Acquired as a free agent in 2014; .198/.244/.247 in 81 AB’s; 0HR 8RBI; 6%bb/19%K rates; .148 vs. LH; .222 vs. RHP. 20 games at SS with 3 errors (.963);  2 games at 2B without an error; Cedeno has been a small step above awful thus far

Freddy Galvis, 24, Signed as a free agent in 2006; Went 1-7 before going down with a broken collarbone in Saturdays game.  Expected to miss 6-8 weeks.

Matt Tolbert, 32, Signed as a free agent in 2013; .220/.292/.237 in 59 AB’s between Reading and Lehigh Valley; 0HR 1RBI; 1SB; 8%bb/11%k rates.  6 games at 2B with 1 error (.933); 6 games at 3B without an error; 4 games in the OF without an error; Has been adequate in limited playing time.

DL: Andreas Blanco

Reading

Carlos Alonso, 25, Phils 32nd round pick in 2010; .283/.369/.372 in 113 AB’s; 1HR 9RBI; 3SB; 11%bb/17%k rates; .229 vs. LHP; .311 vs. RHP; .275 in May. 17 games at 2B with 2 errors (.977);  12 games at 3B with 3 errors (.857); Alonso has been solid and dependable playing nearly every day for the Fightins. Continue reading Around the System–Middle Infield →

Threshers; May 12, 2014

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The Threshers hosted the Jupiter Hammerheads tonight.  Colin Kleven got the start and pitched well.  Even though he was roughed up for 3 runs in the 1st inning, he was in command of his pitches.  He threw 27 pitches in the first, but 20 were strikes, and 6 of the 7 batters were faced with first pitch strikes.  Kleven settled down and pitched 6 more solid, scoreless innings. Continue reading Threshers; May 12, 2014 →

XST; May 12, 2014

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Mitch Gueller pitched 5 tough innings this afternoon.  He started off with a solid 1st inning, striking out the first batter and throwing 9 consecutive strikes in 12 pitches.  Starting in the 2nd inning, he had difficulty maintaining consistent control of his pitches.  He threw 51 strikes among his 90 pitches.  He allowed 11 base runners over the next four innings.  Some of the pitches that he left up were hit hard by the Yankees.  He gave up 4 doubles among the 6 hits he allowed.  He did have some nice movement on his slider or chang up.  Most of the swing-and-miss he induced seemed to be on that pitch.  His line was 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K. Continue reading XST; May 12, 2014 →

Box Score Recap – 5/11/2014

Box Score Recap

Tyson Gillies has it going on a little bit right now. He’s OPSing .908 in seven games this month, including 2-3 with a BB on Sunday. Maikel Franco also had two knocks in that one, while Sean O’Sullivan, Cesar Jimenez and Justin De Fratus held Gwinnett to two runs on five hits and three walks, all given up by O’Sullivan. De Fratus hasn’t walked a man in his last five outings, and has struck out eight over those six innings.

Cam Perkins is coming back to earth a little. He’s still been on base in all but one of his last ten games, but he’s OPSing just .579 over that span. Severino Gonzalez should have stayed in bed Sunday. He allowed 10 runs and couldn’t escape the fourth inning. Austin Wright didn’t manage to stop the bleeding, as he allowed 5 runs over 3 1/3 IP. Both men threw more than 2/3 of their pitches for strikes, they just weren’t fooling anyone with them. First baseman Brock Stassi pitched a scoreless eighth inning, so there’s that.

Mark Leiter Jr. managed his start well, leaving with two men on base in the sixth. Delvi Francisco couldn’t strand them, but the Blueclaws offense was one better than Delmarva on the day. All but Dylan Cozens had base hits, and Willians Astudillo, Mitch Walding and Jan Hernandez had two hits a piece. J.P. Crawford extended his hit streak to 12 games, walked, stole a base, rescued a cat from a tree, performed the Heimlich Maneuver on a wounded combat veteran, helped an adorable old lady cross the freeway and manned the grill at the post-game tailgate. I heard he let the burgers on the flame too long, though, and they got all dried out. Luckily, he made a really fine Garlic Aioli for the grown-ups and a homemade ketchup for the kids. Hard working young man, there.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/11/2014 →

Box Score Recap – 5/10/2014

Box Score Recap

J.P. Crawford extends his hitting streak to 11 games, as he went 3-3 with a double and drew another walk to match his season K total. He’s OPSing 1.242 this month thus far, no big deal.

Delmarva, Orioles affiliate in the SAL, has a guy with a familiar last name – Mike Yastrzemski. He is, in fact, Yaz’s grandson, and he was a home run shy of the cycle to help The Shorebirds take down The BlueClaws. Not sure how I missed young Yaz last season in the NYPL. I blame Mitch.

Maikel Franco had a double and drew a walk in the Iron Pigs extra inning loss. He’s now drawn five walks in his last seven games, after drawing just six on the year prior to that point. He’s OPSing .959 in May. Clearly he’s turned the corner from his slow start.

Reading’s game was suspended by rain in the 13th inning. Chris Serritella had three hits, including two doubles. Colton Murray gave up an unearned run and walked two in his AA debut. They’ll finish up that game on Sunday, and I suspect Tyler Knigge will come out for the 13th so as not so burn another pitcher. They’re quickly running out.

And finally, don’t forget to read Jim’s game story from CLR tonight. Good notes there on a couple guys.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/10/2014 →

Threshers; May 10, 2014

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Highlights and lowlights from the Threshers’ game Saturday night.

Dunedin’s #6 prospect (per BA), Daniel Norris, took the mound.  The left hander took the mound with a 3-0 record in 6 starts and a 0.63 ERA and 38 Ks in 28.2 innings.  He had only given up 2 earned runs this season, both against the Threshers.  The Threshers loaded the line up with 8 right-handed batters.  The righties went 2 for 16 with a BB.  The lone lefty in the line up, Pete Lavin, collected 2 singles in 3 AB.  Norris left the game after pitching 4.2 innings and runners on first and second.  The reliever allowed an inherited runner to score when Darin Ruf greeted him with an RBI single, his only hit of the night. Continue reading Threshers; May 10, 2014 →

MAG pitches at XST! May 10, 2014

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I arrived at the Carpenter Complex and prepared to watch Cord Sandberg, Trey Williams, Luis Encarnacion on Ashburn Field.  Adam Loewen was warming up for the start, so I walked over to see who would start for the GCL squad on Roberts Field.  Miguel Gonzalez and Cameron Rupp were to be battery mates, and I was going to watch this game instead.

Gonzalez started off with 2 fast balls for balls. They were low and at 92 and 93 mph. Continue reading MAG pitches at XST! May 10, 2014 →

Box Score Recap – 5/9/2014

Box Score Recap

Maikel Franco went 2-5 with his third home run of the year. Justin De Fratus and Cesar Jimenez worked clean innings of relief, before Ken Giles made his AAA debut – he walked one, allowed a hit and a run and struck out one. Some guy named “Derrick Mitchell” hit three home runs off of Lehigh Valley pitching. Never heard of him.

Jesse Biddle with another poor showing – 5R, 4ER, on 8H, 3BB and 6K over 5.1IP. He only threw about 57% of his pitches for strikes. Cesar Hernandez was back in the lineup after a groin tweak made him a late scratch Thursday. Tommy Joseph left the game early. Jay Floyd (@PhoulBallz) reporting it as a left wrist issue, which is better than a head/concussion issue.

And for CLR, Kuis Paulino pitched pretty well – 1R on 2H, 3BB and 5K. Ethan Martin loaded the bases in the sixth before being pulled –  he was bailed out by Jeb Stefan. Our friend @BaseballBetsy said Martin appeared to be laboring through the inning. Darin Ruf had two hits in his second rehab appearance.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/9/2014 →

XST and Threshers May 9, 2014

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Okay, before I start with the notes from the XST game, let me give you the big news.  Ethan Martin pitched in the Threshers’ game tonight.  He gave up a single and walked 2 batters. He lasted only 2/3 of an inning.  He threw 23 pitches, only 8 for strikes.  Now for the bad news.  He hit 92 only once. (Dunedin’s Florida Exchange Stadium posts the pitch speed.)  He was in the 89-91 range for all of his other fastballs.  After ground balls to first on 3-1 counts for each of the first two batters, he surrendered a single on a 1-0 pitch.  Then he walked the next batter on 4 pitches.  After a visit by Milacki to the visibly aggravated Martin, he ran a deep count before walking his last batter to load the bases.  I’m not so much concerned about his command, the umpire was erratic all night, prompting catcalls from the fans all night.  But the lack of velocity was alarming.

So, let’s finish the Threshers’ report. Darin Ruf started in left field. Continue reading XST and Threshers May 9, 2014 →

Around the System–Corner Infield

Other Stuff

A first look at corner infielders throughout the system.  Next up will be middle infield, early next week.

Lehigh Valley

Maikel Franco, 21, Signed as a free agent in 2010; .215/.280/.322 in 121 AB’s; 2HR 10RBI; 1SB; 8%bb/18%k rates; .222 vs. LHP; .212 vs. RHP; .176 with RISP. 24 games at 3B with 2 errors (.970); 7 games at 1B without an error;  A very disappointing first 6 weeks for Franco, but some recent signs of life to hang onto.  He ultimately will come around, question is how long it takes.

Jim Murphy, 28, Phils 17th round pick in 2006; .277/.354/.482 in 112 AB’s; 4HR 18RBI; 9%bb/23%K rates; .200 vs. LHP; .312 vs. RHP; .273 with RISP; .321 in May.  26 games at 1B without an error; Murphy has been one of the most consistent performers for Lehigh Valley this year swinging a good bat and playing well at 1B.

Reading

Cesar Hernandez, Soon to be 24, Signed as a free agent in 2006; .353/.423/.518 in 85 AB’s; 3HR 13RBI; 1/3 SB; 11%bb/11%k rates; .367 vs. LHP; .345 vs. RHP; .368 with RISP. 14 games at 3B with 7 errors (.829); 7 games at SS with 1 error (.962); 2 games at 2B without an error;  Hernandez has simply scalded the ball since being sent to the minors in mid April.  The Phils have tried to get him acclimated at 3B and that has proven to be an uphill battle with some significant troubles at the hot corner.

Chris Serritella, 24, Phils 4th round pick in 2012; .216/.260/370 in 46 AB’s; 2HR 7RBI; 6%bb/32%k rates.  3 games at 1B with 1 error; Has shown very little in his limited playing time this year. Has been used almost exclusively at DH. Continue reading Around the System–Corner Infield →