Here are some things I’m working on, with a schedule*

Monday: Monday Morning 6 Pack
Tuesday: Thinking about our 2nd round pick in the draft
Wednesday: Arms to Watch Update
Thursday: TBA
Friday: More draft stuff

* tentative, of course.

Some miscellaneous thoughts

– Carl/CJ/WhateverHeWantsToBeCalled Henry is now playing some outfield as well as 3B….hmm. It seems that most really athletic guys who struggle as infielders eventually move to the OF, where they can just let their athleticism take over and not micro-manage their defense. We’ll see if it helps Henry.

– Mike Costanzo can’t play defense….really, he can’t. With his error on Monday, he now has 17 errors on the season. For someone who was praised for his defense, this is disappointing.

– Javon Moran has 16 SB….and he’s been caught 9 times. Not good. Quintin Berry has stolen 21 bases, and been caught 7 times. That’s also not good, but he’s more raw than Moran and the speed is nice, as is his .360 OB% this season.

Press release.

Not really surprising, you can’t run the risk of hurting Myers further by having him out there less than 100%. Good luck to Zagurski, pray he throws strikes, and if he does, he should be up to stay. As for Coste, this isn’t surprising either, as he hasn’t really gotten AB’s since being recalled. The sad thing is, this means Barajas will remain a Phillie for a while longer.

Update: Mike was hitting 92-93 tonight. His velo is definitely up from 2005 and it looks like it’s up even from last year. If he throws like that consistently, he won’t be going back to the minors.

Just had an e-mail hit my inbox stating Zagurski has been called up and will be in the bullpen on Friday. This leads to me to believe, if true, that Myers is headed to the DL. Stay tuned, nothing official yet, and it could just mean one of the guys who never sees the light of day (Hernandez, Yoel) could be waived.

* Kyle Drabek’s full season debut has been a success on a lot of levels. Some of his numbers, particularly his walk rate and home run aren’t where you want to see them, but his strikeout numbers have been fine, and more importantly, he’s getting a lot more groundballs than flyballs, with a 2.1 GB:FB ratio to this point. His control was great in April, not so good in May, but it’s all part of the learning curve. Lefties are hammering him to the tune of a .923 OPS, while righties have only posted a .650 OPS. To me it says that his changeup isn’t where he wants it to be yet, but it will get there.

* Adrian Cardenas has been miserable against LHP. This isn’t uncommon, for a player getting his first taste of full season ball, against good pitching, to struggle against lefties. Cardenas’ batting average has been constant from day 1, around .272, but his OB% has gone from .297 in April to .326 in May, that’s a step in the right direction, but more importantly, his slugging jumped from .388 to .481, a vast improvement. Cardenas is also hitting much better away from pitcher friendly Lakewood, with an away line of .333/.370/.533 compared to his home line of .194/.234/.306. I’ve detailed it before, but Lakewood is basically the toughest hitting park in the SAL.

* Greg Golson has had an interesting season. His splits really indicate he is two different players. Against LHP, his line is .240/.291/.280, and against RHP, his line is .314/.347/.471. This isn’t a one year trend, because while he generally sucked it up all around last year, he was better against righties than lefties. In May, Golson has drawn 7 walks in 95 PA’s, while he drew only 4 walks in 110 PA’s in April, but his slugging % has dipped from .490 in April to .337 in May. Is he becoming too passive? Is he just not making solid contact? Does he just stink? Who knows.

* Josh Outman has been a bit of a disappointment to me. I knew coming into this year that his success hinged directly on his ability to throw strikes, and so far, it’s been a struggle. He’s averaging 5.86 BB/9 to go with only 8.23 K/9, and that just isn’t going to get it done. If he can’t lower his walks into the 3.00/9 range, his future lies in the bullpen, but even that will be a struggle. His home run rate has also climbed a bit this year, as he’s given up 5 in 47 IP (0.96/9) as opposed to the 5 he gave up in 155.2 IP last season. Again, the Lakewood factor can’t be stated enough.

The latest player profile will cover a guy that a lot of people are talking about, outfielder/DH Jeremy Slayden. The Phillies, especially over the last two seasons or so, have seen their system produce very few position prospects even worth talking about, after graduating all star caliber talent like Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. With Slayden, many feel we may actually have a true hitter on our hands, as opposed to the “quality athletes who can’t play” that the system has produced an abundance of in recent years. But as Kevin Goldstein pointed out in his Q/A for us, most great players are quality athletes, the trick is just teaching them how to play the game and how to become baseball guys. With Slayden, it seems he already knows how to play, but the question is, does he have the tools?

Continue reading Player Profile: Jeremy Slayden →

I’ve gotten that question in my inbox from about 10 people in the last 12 hours…..I have no idea. I sent out a few e-mails to try and get some info, nothing as of now. If I do find out why he left last night’s game after 3 batters, I’ll be sure and share it in this space, so keep an eye out. You won’t find hearsay or wild speculation here, if I have anything to pass on, it will be from a reliable source. Let’s just hope it’s nothing major.

UPDATE: Now we know. Sounds like nothing major.

Just some musings to think about…

* Adrian Cardenas has kicked it into high gear. Check out his splits from April and May

April: 85 AB (91 PA), 4.4% BB, 18.7% K, 26.1% XBH
May: 39 AB (45 PA), 8.9% BB, 8.9% K, 36.4% XBH

That’s more like it…

Continue reading Random thoughts…. →

Jeremy Slayden, currently mashing in the Florida State League, has been a popular topic of discussion of late. I plan on writing a profile on Slayden later this week and giving my thoughts, but before I do, I wanted to get YOUR opinion and see what you think. So, here’s how you can do your part…

Continue reading What will become of Jeremy Slayden? →

People have been asking, so I did some searching, and this is what I’ve found on Scott. From Delewareonline.com

Right-hander Scott Mathieson, who underwent elbow ligament transplant surgery Sept. 30, threw 20 four-seam fastballs Saturday in his first bullpen session under pitching coach Rich Dubee’s watch.

“Dubee threatened to pull me off the mound if I threw any two-seamers,” Mathieson said with a smile.

Doesn’t say whether or not he threw off the mound, I’m guessing he did. I’m not an expert on throwing patterns or rehab assignments, so I really can’t be sure when he’ll actually be pitching again, and I won’t post hearsay or make a wild guess. He was instructed to only throw 4 seam fastballs, a pitch that isn’t particularly taxing on his arm. He didn’t report any ill effects from the session, so it’s a positive step forward. He’s probably at least a month away from throwing an extended session with all of his pitches, and then at that point, he will probably need 6 weeks or so of minor league rehab, maybe more. The thing is, control/command is the last aspect of pitching to return after TJ surgery, and his command wasn’t pinpoint before the injury. The best case scenario, I suppose, is him being in a position to help in the bullpen sometime in August or September, but we probably won’t see him at his best until 2008. I’ll try to keep digging a bit on this as we get into the summer and provide more regular updates when I have them.

Some interesting developments this week, including a nice start from Carlos Carrasco, Zagurski’s promotion, Slayden’s dominance of the FSL and more. Also, some disappointments, and as always, a weird batting line…

Stock UP:

Jeremy Slayden: 7/17, .389 (7BB, .560 OB%) — 1 HR — 2 RBI — 3 R
Greg Golson: 7/21, .333 (5BB, .462 OB%) — 6 R — 1 2B — 1 SB
Gus Milner: 10/26, .385 (2BB, .429 OB%) — 5 2B — 1 HR — 4 RBI

Stock DOWN:

Jason Jaramillo: 1/18, .056 (2BB, .150 OB%)
James Happ: 10 IP, 8 ER (7.20 ERA) — 11 H — 10 BB — 11 K
Brad Harman: 2/17, .118 (1BB, .167 OB%)

Honorable Mention:

Javon Moran: 10/24, .417 (4BB, .500 OB%) — 7 R — 3 SB

Dishonorable Mention:

Welinson Baez: 3/20, .150 (2BB, .227 OB%)

Notes:

* Jarrod Freeman is really struggling, giving up 13 H in 4.2 IP in his last start
* Kyle Drabek rebounded with a great start, 7.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
* Ben Pfinsgraff is on the 7 day DL. Anyone know why? He’s been outstanding this season.