If you remember back to this past winter, I have a bit of a soft spot for Brad Harman. He seems like a genuinely good kid, he made a bigtime impression 2 years ago, and he’s dealt with a ton of off the field adversity in his short time in the Phillies organization. His 2006 was marred by the death of his mother back in Australia, and he still played the season, despite clearly being in another place mentally. Because of all of these factors, I was very high on Brad entering this season, thinking this would be his bounceback campaign. Through April and May, it looked like maybe I was off my rocker. But in June, he’s turning things around. Could this be the start of him re-entering the prospect chatter? Let’s have a look.

Continue reading Reason for Hope: Brad Harman →

I wanted to give a proper writeup on our two short season affiliates, but with work and my moving to a new place in the last two weeks, I’ve kind of been spotty in my coverage here. The draft consumed quite a bit of my time, and now it’s time for the season to begin. So, in lieu of me writing up the work of others, check out these two discussions, one for the GCL team and one for Williamsport, which deal with the players assigned there and likely arrivals as well.

Some random thoughts….

* I think Jesus Sanchez should be in Williamsport, and I think he will end up there, hopefully sooner than later. He and d’Arnaud are the two best catching prospects we have at that level, they should get the bulk of the games behind the plate.

* Michael Durant really better destroy the ball in Williamsport, or his time as a prospect might be close to finished.

* Joe Savery’s assignment is probably going to be predicated on how much he pitches in the remainder of the College World Series. My solution? Send him to Lakewood, let him play 1B or DH, and have him throw side sessions with pitching coach Ed Hodge.  Savery’s bat is more advanced than any position player prospect we drafted, and he could provide some quality offense in the infield next to Cardenas. There’s no real need for him to put more innings on his arm in short season games, but it would definitely benefit him to work with professional coaching to get him ready for 2008.

Upon further review, I think I’m actually going to postpone the idea of mid season grades. I like the system I have in place, but I feel like me outputing these cards every day is going to take away time from me covering the current action, especially with the short season leagues starting. I’m going to just wait and do end of the year cards which will cover all of the 2006 and 2007 statistics. Instead of putting out grades, I just want to evaluate the progress of our prospects at a glance, and then do a comprehensive review at the end of the season. So, tomorrow, check back and I’ll begin a mid season review, just without all the bells and whistles. Sorry for the confusion there.

Check out the Crosscutters website, the roster is up. Not many surprises, except for this one. Freddy Galvis, a slick fielding 17 year old shortstop signed last summer, will make his US debut at Williamsport and not in the GCL. He must have had a good run of it in Extended and impressed. We’ll be fielding an impressive outfield of D’Arby Myers, Dominic Brown, Michael Taylor and Jermaine Williams, and some interesting arms in Brummett, Chapman, and Walter Tejeda.

Hats off to Joe Savery and Rice for their advancement in the College World Series. I saw bits and pieces of Savery’s start tonight, and I was pretty impressed. Nice velo on the fastball, decent secondary offerings. When he focuses on pitching full time, he’s going to get even better.

One more note. The categories on the left, I don’t know what happened and why they aren’t outlined in boxes anymore. I think it’s a WordPress issue, nothing I can control. I’m undecided yet whether I will keep this layout or move to something else. If the site looks weird when you check in at some point, don’t panic. I also looked at the Fidel Hernandez prospect card I posted the other day from a smaller screen resolution and part of the card is chopped off….I’ll fix that in the morning and post a few new cards.

In yesterday’s first prospect grade, was everyone able to see the “card” for Fidel Hernandez? If yes, then my method will work going forward. If not, I’ll have to make a change.

Welcome to the first edition of the midseason prospect grades. I outlined a few days ago the system I have developed to try and evaluate our prospects, so we should have a pretty good idea of how to read and interpret the data. I’ll only do 1 grade today and give more detailed explanations of how to read and interpret, and then after today, I’ll try and do 5-6 grades per day. I’m starting at the bottom of the list in terms of where prospects ranked in my end of 2006 list, found here. I’ll also omit guys who have not made their 2007 debut, for obvious reasons. At the end of the grades section, I’ll post their 2006 scores, but since you won’t have anything to compare it to in 2007, it won’t be that much of a help. Ok, enough blathering, on with the grades. Continue reading Mid-season prospect grades, Part 1 →

I haven’t had time to put the finishing touches on the prospect grades system because of my move, and I’m still without internet and tv at home, so the grades will have to wait a few more days, but I hope to be able to get enough done over the weekend so we can start in next week.

So, with my continued lapse of new info here, I thought I’d throw out a topic of discussion and get YOUR opinion. If you had to decide right now, who would your Top 10 prospects for the Phillies be? Use whatever criteria you’d like. Just post them below in the comments and if you’d like, give your reasoning.

As everyone probably know, it is the management of the parent club who decide on which players will make it to the big leagues, which will not, and if their stay will be short termed or long, or indeed if a particular player will go down a level or two, or simply be released. All minor league affiliates are there to feed the big league club and keep the team competitive for the future or to replace injured players until they return. Nothing new there but it might be worth reminding ourselves of that fact when we look at the standings. Naturally all fans want their favourite team to have a successful season and there is value to any player playing in a winning environment. How to win is a necessary skill for any player to be successful and it is a skill that most must learn. Winning is difficult-losing is easy.

Continue reading Triple A-Last Stop Before The Show? (Part One) →

If Kendrick was looking to make a good impression and get himself another start, I think he accomplished that goal today. Here’s the final line

6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

And the rest

11:3 GB:FB, 92 pitches (55 strikes, 37 balls)

Continue reading Kyle Kendrick, a solid first impression →

Showing any doubters why he deserved his selection to the Florida State League All-Star team Carlos Carrasco came out on Wednesday night and threw the first nine inning complete game for the Threshers this year. Carrasco was about as good as a pitcher could be, giving up just three hits in the game, walking none, and striking out seven in the effort.

The Threshers won the game 6-0 and moved back into second place in their division. However the playoff format in the F.S.L. pits the winner of the first half of the season against the winner of the second half, and the first-half race in coming to a close. The team remains three games behind the Sarasota Reds with just seven games left in the first half of the year. The final three games will be against those Reds, so if the team can pick up one game on the Reds in the next three games and go into that final series of the half less than three games out they’ve got a terrific shot at making the playoffs in the first-half of the year.

In other Threshers news Jason Donald has been solid in his seven games since joining the Threshers from Lakewood. He is hitting .269 with a HR, 2 triples, and a double among his hits.