Jesse Biddle really has not had it the last couple times out. After not making out of the first last start, he lasted just 1.1 on Sunday, retiring just 4 of the 13 men he faced. He walked 6 and allowed 3 hits, striking out 2, before being relieved after throwing just 20 of his 50 pitches for strikes.

Ethan Martin living outside the zone again, throwing just 57/104 pitches for strikes. 5H, 3BB, 8K in 6 scoreless innings. Hard to complain about it if you’re rooting for the Pigs to win a ballgame. Hard to not remain concerned if you’re pulling for him to be a big league starter for the Phils. Does this count as harping yet? I feel like I’m “harping” on the subject.

Cody Asche with a double – he’s OPSing over .900 since June 1. Maikel Franco with 2 hits – he’s OPSing 1.015 since his call up to Reading. And Kelly Dugan continues to hit – he’s got 12 hits, including 6 for extra bases, in his last 10 games, as his AA OPS moves towards .800. That’s a pretty nice crop of position players standing on the stoop, if not already knocking on the door.

And one more note – Harold Martinez OPSing .965 over his last 10 games, and .803 in still limited action in July, even after Franco was promoted to make some room in the field. He’s 23 years old in his second stint in A+, so there’s that. He’s playing pretty much every day right now, so I will guess he’s hot and will cool off and continue to be essentially a non-prospect, but I guess I’ll keep an eye on him for the next couple weeks. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/28/2013 →

Maikel Franco went 3-4 with a double, Cody Asche hit his 13th HR, and Cam Perkins with 2 doubles, to bring his shortened season total to 25. In under 300 PAs. Impressive. Adam Morgan with another pitch-counted start at AAA – he gave up 1 hit, walked 3 and struck out 2 in 3 scoreless IP. Nic Hanson and Seth Rosin did some nice work from the bump as well. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/27/2013 →

With all the MAG excitement, let’s not forget that there was a full slate of oh who am I kidding. Big splash for RAJ in the Int’l market. Huge. Paired with what looks like a likely $1m amateur FA in a couple weeks, and the handful of $500k plus signings in the last couple years, and perhaps the team has finally turned the corner on big International spending.

Ok, some results, in verse, because it’s a lovely Saturday out there or whatever –

Kelly Dugan with a bomb, Aaron Altherr, too;

Andrew Knapp’s first in the pros and Mikey F. hit two.

Mario looked pretty good, Nick Hernandez, not;

Herlis, Wilmer, Nitty Ferd, and J.P.C. stay hot.

Yacksel Rios got a start, Braden Shull done broke my heart;

Denton Keys and Tyler V., and two, times, two, for, Big, Sir, Art.

– Yes, I rhymed “too” with “two”. Deal with it. Also , yes: “Mikey”. And I hope you catch the drift of my pacing at the end. It slows down, like a breath between every word. Calming, I hope. Have a nice weekend. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/26/2013 →

In February, had I asked you to fill in the blanks on the following sentence: “By July 25, Larry Greene will have twice as many ____ as ____.”, how many of you would have said stolen bases and homeruns, respectively? Be honest.

The story of the night, clearly, is Austin Wright. A fine line for him – 1 R on 4H, (1HR), 3BB and 10K. Jason Guarente at The Reading Eagle has some insight as to what helped Wright on Wednesday. If Wright can have success with a three-pitch mix, he’s got a much better chance to stick as a starter. We’ll see how his newest offering holds up.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/25/2013 →

Not a lot of excitement. A fair line from Mitch Gueller in a 6 inning CG, and a nice spot start from Chris Nichols highlight a WIL doubleheader split. Cody Asche 2-4 with a double. Tyler Cloyd pitched a real nice game, spoiled in the 8th by the bullpen and 3 passed balls from Steve Lerud. Jose Pujols went deep, his third of the year. And be sure to cue up the circus music when you read Ethan Stewart’s line. How he managed to get out of that without giving up a half dozen runs defies all logic.

And finally, Kyle Simon allowed all three base runners he inherited to score – that probably ties a record. Unless someone, sometime, was called upon to pitch in the middle of an inning, had to stay in to field a position, and then was called back to pitch again in the middle of another inning. Or the same inning, I suppose. There’s a research project for all of you. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/24/2013 →