I was very high on Singleton this winter, so him being sent to Lakewood now makes me happy. It makes me even happier that he’s homered in his first game. Talk about it here, because I know that a few people here will make mention of it in 3 other unrelated previous postings.
Category Archives: 01. Site Features
Around the System–Relief Pitching
A first look at the success or lack of success seen in the systems relief pitching with some comments added. As always, take these comments as what they are. Observations based on the first 5 weeks of the minor league season. Feel free to discuss.
Lehigh Valley
Scott Mathieson, 26–13 games; 2-0 with an 0.54 ERA; 5 saves; 16.2 IP 9H 1 ER 4BB 18K; 0.84 WHIP; .185 vs. LH, .179 vs. RH; .182 with RISP. Mathieson has been simply dominant coming off two Tommy John surgeries. WHile Ruben Amaro was recently quoted as saying Mathieson was not major league ready and needed to work on his command, I simply couldn’t disagree more. He has been consistently in the mid 90’s and is the power pitcher the Phils need in the back of the bullpen right now.
Antonio Bastardo, 24–Has made 5 appearances since being sent down from Philadelphia. 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA. 3.2 IP, 1H 3BB 6K. Has struck out 4 of the six batters he has faced with RISP. Bastardo who was sent down to make room for JC Romero, is simply the more consistent of the two right now. The Phils need to find a way to make room for Bastardo, who, while having some control issues, gets outs when needed. Continue reading Around the System–Relief Pitching
May 12th Box Score Roundup
Gillies Placed on DL, Aumont Update
Some breaking news out of Reading this morning, OF Tyson Gillies, acquired in the CLiff Lee deal was placed on the DL with a left hamstring strain. Gillies had been playing better lately after really struggling initially this year. He had a 7 game hitting streak snapped on Monday, With speed being Gillies game, the Phils are sure to be conservative with this injury. Gillies was hitting .247 with 2 HR and 6 RBI, to go along with 1 stolen base in his 97 AB’s this season. See below for Aumont commenatry from todays game. Continue reading Gillies Placed on DL, Aumont Update
May 11th Box Score Roundup
Your nightly/daily links. Discuss the games here.
Lehigh Valley loses 2-1.
Reading loses 3-2.
Clearwater wins 4-0.
battling line of the day is easy; Domonic Brown: 1/3, HR (6), SB (4)
pitching line of the day is easy; Austin Hyatt: 8 IP – 0 ER – 1 H – 2 BB – 14 K (6 GB, 2 FB)
Hyatt, for those of you who were asking, is a fastball/slider guy. He’s old for A+ ball, but is doing what he’s supposed to, and that’s dominate. I asked Kevin Goldstein via Twitter where his fastball is sitting, and he replied “88-91”, which is on the lower end of what I had read before, which was 90-93, though I suppose he can hit those ranges in short stints. Hyatt has great command, and with great command, he can carve up A ball hitters with relative ease. The big test comes at AA.
Q and A with Josh Zeid
The Lakewood BlueClaws have been kind enough to arrange for a Question and Answer with reliever Josh Zeid. Zeid, a 6’4, 210 reliever was named the Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Month for the Month of April. Zeid, 23, was chosen in the 10th Round of the 2009 draft out of Tulane University. Zeid spent the first two seasons of his collegiate career at Vanderbilt, and then transferred to Tulane. He was the Gatorade Connecticut High School Player of the Year his senior year in high school.
May 10th, Box Score Roundup
Around the System–Starting Pitching
A first look at starting pitching through the system. Take this for what it is, statistics for the first 5-6 weeks of the season with brief comments attached. Note: Stats are thru 5/9/10.
Lehigh Valley
Andrew Carpenter, 24, 5 starts; 3-2 with a 4.03 ERA. 22.1IP 24H 11BB 11K; 1.56 WHIP; .186 vs. LH; .385 vs. RH; .192 with RISP. Carpenter started very slow but has picked it up over his last several starts.
Nate Bump, 33, 6 starts, 4-1 with a 2.75 ERA. 36IP 39 H 9BB 14K; 1.33 WHIP; .274 vs. LH; .288 vs. RH; .262 with RISP. Has looked good and knows how to pitch. Far from overpowering however.
Brian Mazone, 33, 6 starts; 2-3 with a 5.63 ERA. 32IP 37H 5BB 22K; 1.31 WHIP; .300 vs. LH; .284 vs. RH; .261 with RIS; 5 HR allowed. Has either looked very good, or very bad and the last two starts have been very bad. Good control but very hittable, and when he gets hit, the hits come in buckets.
Ryan Vogelsong, 32, 6 starts, 1-1 with a 3.77 ERA. 31IP 28H 22BB 33K; 1.61 WHIP; .224 vs. LH, .259 vs. RH; .273 with RISP. Has probably the best “stuff” on the Lehigh Valley staff, but there are times he doesnt know where it is going. Significant command issues have hampered him, drawing many deep counts and walks.
Joe Savery, 24, 5 starts, 0-2 with a 5.00 ERA. 27IP 34H 12BB 16 K; 1.70 WHIP; .383 vs. LH, .282 vs. RH; .370 with bases empty, .211 with RISP. 4 homers allowed. Savery is an enigma. See specifically the splits with bases empty and RISP. He simply runs into too much trouble to be effective in the long term. Continue reading Around the System–Starting Pitching
‘Pigs Weekend Update
A look at the Lehigh Valley weekend. See below for summaries and notes.
Friday–AFter a strong start in which Lehigh Valley took the early lead on a Melvin Dorta RBI single and Ryan Vogelsong struck out 5 of the first 6 hitters he faced, things went downhill quickly in the 6-3 Lehigh Valley loss to Columbus. Columbus took the lead with a two run third, however Lehigh Valley quickly answered with two of their own on a Neil Sellers two run double. Columbus tied the game in the 4th, off of starter Ryan Vogelsong who went 5 inningd, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits. He walked 2 and struck out 9. The wheels fell off in the 8th when a crucial error by Luis Maza led to three unearned runs, sealing the game for the Clippers. Mike Zagurski (0-1) took the loss. Neil Sellers was 2-3 at the plate with 2 RBI’s, while Cody Ransom was 1-3 with 2 runs scored and 2 stolen bases. Continue reading ‘Pigs Weekend Update
New video of Jarred Cosart
Thanks to the amazing resource that is Prospectube.com, I found five new videos of Jarred Cosart. They were uploaded just a few days ago, and come from his April 14th appearance.
Part 1, 4/14/2010
Part 2, 4/14/2010
Part 3, 4/14/2010
Part 4, 4/14/2010
Part 5, 4/14/2010
Old scouting bureau video pre-2008 draft.
Just a few thoughts. His tempo is still very slow, and that hitch from his pre-draft delivery is still there. But it appears the Phillies have smoothed out his motion a bit, and he seems a bit more under control. The arm speed is still blazing fast, and you can see the fastball explode out of his hand. The big difference I see is that he comes from a lower arm slot, so I don’t think he’ll be able to throw a traditional curveball, and I wonder how well he’ll be able to command a changeup from that slot. He throws a few hard sliders in the video, which will probably be the preferred secondary pitch he sticks with. I wonder if maybe he’ll be able to pick up a split finger grip on a changeup, similar to the pitch Roy Halladay uses. Halladay’s “changeup” sits in the 83-85 range, from what I’ve seen, and with Cosart’s 93-96 mph fastball, that would be an ideal range for his changeup as well. Still, impressive stuff here. Massive arm strength.
You can also check out other good videos of Lakewood guys by looking at the channel for this user, PhillesProspects, here.
Phuture Phillies 