Here is your outpost for this week’s random spring training happenings. Get after it.
Category Archives: 01. Site Features
JC Ramirez to the bullpen
This was a fairly predictable move, as Ramirez never developed a reliable third pitch, and his second pitch is inconsistent as well. The hope is that he can add a bit to his fastball now that he doesn’t have to pace himself, and sit in the 93-95 range. He’ll need to improve his slider to have any kind of high leverage reliever upside. I’d guess he will go back to Reading to start 2012.
Freddy Galvis to Start at Second Base Today
Matt Gelb is reporting that Freddy Galvis will make his first start at 2B today. With the concern about Chase Utley’s health growing, while the Phillies may suggest this to be coincidence, I am not a big believer in coincidence. Galvis, 22, has played parts of 5 seasons in the minor leagues, spanning 526 games during that time period. Known for his outstanding glove at SS, Galvis has not played an inning at 2B during a regular season minor league game.
While the Phils interest certainly may be to gain the ability to use Galvis at multiple positions with Jimmy Rollins returning for the next several seasons, this will raise an eyebrow or two. Galvis is off to a good start this Spring, hitting .357 in his 14 AB’s. Stay tuned.
Kevin Goldstein releases his Phillies Top 20 Prospects List
You can check it out here. The scouting reports for 1-11 are behind the BP pay wall, so please don’t copy/paste that stuff here. His one line blurbs for 12-20 are free to read. I’ll add in a one line summary of his thoughts for 1-11, but check BP for the full content.
Four-Star Prospects
1. Trevor May, RHP – 3 good pitches, has improved command, still tends to lose his release point and works high in the zone which is dangerous.
2. Jesse Biddle, LHP – 3 good pitches, inconsistent fastball velocity, needs to focus on repeating his delivery.
Three-Star Prospects
3. Phillippe Aumont, RHP – Huge fastball, still struggles with his mechanics.
4. Freddy Galvis, SS – Defensive wizard, might hit enough to be a regular.
5. Sebastian Valle, C – Good power potential, improving defense, zero approach at the plate.
6. Jonathan Pettibone, RHP – 3 good pitches but no real out pitch right now, looks like a durable #4 SP.
7. Larry Greene, OF – Huge power, huge question marks about the rest of his tools.
8. Roman Quinn, SS – Great speed, good pop for his size, defensive home is yet to be determined.
9. Julio Rodriguez, RHP – He’s a magician.
Two-Star Prospects
10. Maikel Franco, 3B – Good upside as a hitter, good defender but not a great athlete.
11. Brody Colvin, RHP – Bad year, stuff was down, delivery was a mess.
Nine More:
12. Justin De Fratus, RHP: Could pitch in the Philly bullpen this year; ceiling is set-up man.
13. Carlos Tocci, OF: High-profile international sign has plus-plus speed and line-drive swing.
14. Lisalberto Bonilla, RHP: Smallish Dominican throws strikes with three average pitches.
15. Jiwan James, OF: Still as toolsy as they come, but has made little progress.
16. Cesar Hernandez, 2B: Impressive pure hitter, but pressure is on bat due to defensive limitations.
17. Aaron Altherr, OF: Anticipated breakout player collapsed at Low-A, but ceiling is still high.
18. Mitchell Walding, SS: Fifth-round pick is big athlete with plenty of upside.
19. Jake Diekman, LHP: Lefty side-armer with more velocity than most of his type.
20. Perci Garner, RHP: Power reliever who could move quickly with health.
Sleeper is Kenny Giles.
Harold Garcia to miss 4-6 months after microfracture surgery
This is close to the death blow for his prospect status. He lost nearly an entire year last year to an ACL injury, and microfracture surgery will likely wipe out his entire 2012. I left Garcia out of my top 30 prospects list, largely because I needed to see a healthy, productive year from him before I was convinced that he was more than a cup of coffee guy. This obviously sets him back even more. Microfracture surgery is tough to come back from (especially since it is the same knee as the blown ACL) though he is only 25 and its not impossible. That said, he turns 26 in October and will have likely logged a total of about 300 AB at the AA level in the past 2+ years. A tough break, and I hope for the best for him, but you can probably remove him from your lists at this point.
Spring Training Discussion, Week of March 5th
Here is your weekly discussion outpost. Thoughts so far? I’ve only watched bits and pieces of the first 2 games, but here are a few of my quick observations:
* Its great to see Tyson Gillies healthy. The speed is obvious, it’s going to take time for him to shake the rust off since he hasn’t played much in the last 2 years, but I think its promising that he made it through the entire winter and hasn’t had any setbacks.
* Aumont’s control and command looked spotty yesterday, but he was consistently in the 94-96 range and even popped a 99 on the tv gun. With him, it’s always going to be about command and control.
* Galvis has looked good, except for that one wind blown pop-up he couldn’t pull in.
Who else is catching your eye early, from a prospect perspective?
Baseball is back, Austin Hyatt is a boss
Sure, it was a college team, but baseball is back. The Phillies beat Florida State 6-1 today, kicking off the exhibitions before the exhibitions. Some notes from the game:
* Austin Hyatt was given the start, and he responded with 2 clean innings, striking out 3 and walking none. I wrote rather glowingly about Hyatt in my Top 30 writeup, where I ranked him 12th.
* Michael Schwimer and Jeremy Horst both pitched clean innings
* Jake Diekman, Joe Savery, Phillippe Aumont, and BJ Rosenberg pitched scoreless innings
* JC Ramirez gave up the lone FSU run, getting a blown save and a win in the process, or what I like to call “The Tyler Clippard”
* Freddy Galvis was 0/2 with a run
* Tyson Gillies went 1/2 with 2 runs, an RBI, and a SB
* Cesar Hernandez was used as a pinch runner
David Hale interview with Austin Hyatt
BASEBALL!
Back At It
After a very long Winter that included a labor intensive job change, perhaps my favorite day of the year comes tomorrow with the first pitch of Sprong Training, this year being thrown by Austin Hyatt. I expect to be back reporting regularly on the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and was hoping for some constructive commentary of what you, the reader, would like to see more of. While I have certainly become a fan of team over the last several years (much easier with Ryne Sandberg leading the way), they key for this site continues to be the analysis of the production and growth of the minor league prospects and that is how most reports will be written, with general team overviews, and then specifics about the perspective Phuture Phillies. Any thoughts and comments are appreciated as we attempt to give you the thorough coverage you expect.
Open Discussion, week of 27 February 2012
The Phillies have tabbed Austin Hyatt to start the first exhibition game of the spring. As you know from my Top 30 write-up, I’m very optimistic about Hyatt’s 2012 and I think it’s a great sign that the Phillies have rewarded him with the first start of the spring. Joel Pineiro is probably ahead of him on the depth chart as the next starter in line should an injury pop up, but Pineiro can opt out of his deal if he’s not on the 25 man roster at the end of spring training. Because Hyatt doesn’t have big time velocity and is older for a prospect (because he was older when drafted) he’s going to have to really put up numbers at AAA to stay on track, but I think he’s capable.
Also scheduled to pitch:
Jake Diekman
Jeremy Horst
Michael Schwimer
Joe Savery
J.C. Ramirez
B.J. Rosenberg
Phillippe Aumont
So, discuss this and anything else you’d like. I’m glad baseball is back.
Elbow soreness for De Fratus, the bullpen picture in ST
Per Todd Zolecki, Justin De Fratus will be shut down for a week with elbow soreness. Given that he will now be behind all the other pitchers, and there weren’t many openings available anyway, he’s probably a lock to start the season in AAA. This is the first time he’s had any health issues, and its all just guesswork as to how serious this is. He may have just overworked himself this winter, or it may be a sign of something else. No use speculating right now.
The Phillies have brought in the usual mix of veterans this winter, meaning there aren’t many clear cut openings in the big league bullpen. Assuming the Phillies go with 12 pitchers (which they almost assuredly will), the current crop looks like this
SP (5): Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Worley, Blanton
RP (7): Papelbon, Bastardo, Willis, Contreras, Kendrick, Stutes, Qualls
This would leave zero openings for the likes of Phillippe Aumont, David Herndon, Michael Schwimer and De Fratus. However, this supposes that Contreras is healthy and ready for opening day. If he isn’t, there will be one spot open. Herndon has the most experience and would probably be #1 on the depth chart, but if Aumont has a lights out spring, I think they’d give him a look, since he is on the 40 man roster.
Discuss.
Phuture Phillies 