Maikel Franco with a double and his 27th HR of the year among his three hits, and he added a walk – just his second in his last ten games. Also for Reading, Kelly Dugan went 2-4, and Seth Rosin returned from the DL with a bullpen appearance. ICYMI – Brody Colvin went on the DL with a shoulder issue. Trey Williams had a nice day for GCL – 2-3 with a double and his second professional home run.

Aaron Altherr 2-4 with his 11th HR, but he also struck out twice – His K Rate sits near 28%, though it’s around 25% since the All-Star Break. If 25% is close to his norm, with his decent BB rate, and if he can add a little more pop, he could make it. He’s added 33 ISO points over last year, after adding 50 the prior year – definitely a good trend.

And some thoughts on Williamsport – another clunker on Wednesday for Mitch Gueller – 6R (4 earned) on 10H, 3BB, 0K in 3.1 IP. Four hits for Logan Pierce, and three for Andrew Pullin – you’d have to consider his performance at the plate this year a bit of a disappointment. He obviously gets more time to work it out while he’s working on a new defensive position, but OPSing under .700 is not ideal for someone who’s hit tool is supposed to be his meal ticket. And for as well as he’s pitched in WIL, you’d have to expect Tyler Buckley to be a candidate for a double-jump in the off-season – Ks right around 9/9IP, with walks around 3.5/9, and a WHIP just barely north of 1.00. Pretty good. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/21/2013 →

Mauricio Robles has allowed zero runs, 2 hits and struck out 12 in his last 11 innings. Bad news is he’s allowed 10 walks. So I guess the question has to be: who in their right minds is swinging when he’s on the mound? Just stand there looking like you’re willing to swing and cross your fingers. Speaking of walks, check out Ken Giles’ line – 2 runs on zero hits with 4 walks and 1 K in 2/3 of an inning. He left with the bases loaded after walking them full, allowing a run on a bases-loaded sac fly and then WALKING THE NEXT MAN TO LOAD THE BASES AGAIN. Yikes.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/20/2013 →

Great, now we have to find a 2014 40-man spot for Perci Garner? THANKS A TON, PERCI. Ok, probably not yet, though, that was a pretty good start – 64% strikes, 6 hits, 2 BB and 7K in 5.2 IP. Not great, but pretty good. JP Crawford with his first 2 hits at Lakewood, helping a good start from Mark Leiter Jr. You have to wonder what they do with Leiter next year, and if there’s any upside there. He’s got the pedigree, obviously, but that only takes a player so far without results. Also impressive for Lakewood was Miguel Nunez – his K Rate is not great overall, but he’s got 7 Ks in 5IP each of his last two starts, and has walked only 2 over the same span. Maybe there’s something more coming from the 20-year-old righty.

Also of note – here’s a feature from MiLB.com on Williamsport’s Sam Hiciano’s big night on Saturday. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/19/2013 →

Three Williamsport Crosscutters combined to no-hit The Mahoning Valley Scrappers. Yacksel Rios walked three and struck out six in five innings, (not nine like I said earlier), Mark Meadors followed with three clean innings, and Manny Martinez closed out the game with another. The WIL offense put together eight runs on 12 hits, including three from CF Gustavo Martinez. Jesse Biddle with another pretty good performance at AA. Throwing strikes at a 64% clip, he allowed eight hits and struck out seven in six innings. Not as good as his last turn, but two good starts in a row is great to see.

And Tyson Gillies is hitting pretty well in August – OPSing .815 for the month, with a homer, four doubles and four steals in as many attempts. If nothing else, he’s shown his legs are healthy enough to steal some bases this year. He’s not running wild, (as they say), but 16/21 is useful. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/18/2013 →

All kinds of good stuff on Saturday. Cam Rupp with his 14th HR of the year in around 325 PAs, ISO near .200. Very strong. Tyler Henson with the Zach Green Special – 3-5 with 2 XBH, (both doubles), and 2Ks. Kelly Dugan with his 7th AA home run – his 17th overall in 2013. Zach Collier stays hot with three more hits – his post-ASB stats are actually looking pretty good. Hoby Milner and Ryan O’Sullivan allowed 7 hits and struck out 7 Dunedin Blue Jays in a combined shutout. Sam Hiciano went 3-5 with a double and two home runs – a single shy of The Big Wheel. Drove in 8 runs. Kind of a big day. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/17/2013 →

Slow news day for the Phillies, so let’s talk about some minor league news. Hmm…nothing there either. Oh well…just the games then.

Cesar Hernandez with his 30th steal. Not bad for missing about 5 weeks between the bigs and injuries. Three hits a piece for Jiwan James and Harold Martinez, and two each for Altherr and Perkins. Two total hits for The Lakewood Blueclaws spoils at fine performance from Ramon Ovideo – 2R 6H 2BB and 7K in 5IP. A similar looking effort for Feliberto Sanchez in the GCL, 1R 5H 1BB and 7K, also in 5IP – he’s shown some better peripherals in August – 11K and 5BB in 15 IP. We’ll see if he can close out his year on a high note. Not a great night from Mitch Gueller – gave up four runs on 10 hits in four innings. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/16/2013 →