The 2007 DSL Phillies had an amazing season, winning its division on the strength of an unprecedented 22-game winning streak before losing their final game.  In one 35-game stretch the DSL Phillies went 32-3.  For the season the Phillies went 45-18 and won their division by 4 games over the Athletics 1 squad.  Their .714 winning percentage was the 3rd best in the entire DSL, though the team lost their playoff series against the Angels 2 games to 1.

Continue reading DSL Postseason Report →

The DSL Phillies have won 19 straight games….that’s pretty impressive. Baseball America gave the team a little press here, and also included notes that Freddy Galvis is done for the season after dislocating his shoulder. The article also mentions RHP Freddy Ballestas, who appears to be the best Phillies pitching prospect in the VSL, saying his fastball is up in the 91-94 range and he’s featuring a solid breaking ball as well. I will let andyb talk more about our prospects in the VSL/DSL, but I’m going to assume that Ballestas will be brought stateside next year.

The VSL Phillies finished their 2007 a little while ago.  The team was a little younger than in past years and consequently struggled a little early in the season after last year’s championships.  This year the team finished a respectable 36-31, finishing in 4th place 11.5 games behind the Pirates (who fielded a very old squad).  The Phillies were about average for the league in age, though they had several younger prospects with notable performances. Continue reading VSL Phillies Season Wrapup – Top Prospects →

We are now more than halfway through the Dominican Summer League season and the Phillies entry has been improving as the season progressed.  They are now 26-17 after going 13-3 in their past 16 games.  The exciting part of this turnaround is that much of it has been based upon the play of younger prospects aged 18 or under.  The DSL team in 2007 seems to be superior to the VSL at the prospect level with the results showing up in recent performances.  This update will focus more on individual player performance with the top performers and likely prospects.

Continue reading DSL July Update →

The VSL Phillies are currently 26-23 and in 4th place in the league, 9 games behind the Astro’s team.  This has been somewhat of a transitional year for the Phillies after last year’s championships.  With a much younger roster the Phillies are still playing .500, if not a bit better.  It still is a little early to tell who are the best prospects.  Here is a quick update on the better performers and the younger guys who may be the better prospects.

Offense

Yonderman Rodriguez (age 20) – IF who plays 2B, SS, and 3B is hitting .370 with a .886 OPS.  He is clearly a polished player with more BB than SO.  Unfortunately his age is a red flag on his prospect status.  He does not have enough power or speed to be special in those areas, so his ability to hit for a high average is much of his value. Continue reading VSL Update – July →

The DSL season is now a few weeks old and we are starting to get a picture of who are the top performers on the team if not the top prospects.  First of all, here are links to the team roster and statistics.  Box scores can also be retrieved most of the time from the daily calendar under the Phillies division link (Santo Domingo North).

Continue reading DSL Early Season Update →

Quick update this morning from the VSL.  The Phillies threw a combined no-hitter, mainly behind Juan Colmanarez.  They defeated a good team in second place Seattle, winning 2-1

Box

Colmenarez threw 8 perfect innings, striking out 12.  In the 9th, Victor Diaz came on and loaded the bases with 2 BB and an error.  Howard Cedeno then relieved to retire the side and get the save.  Colmenarez is a 20-year-old LHP.  Along with Freddy Ballesta he is anchoring the staff (45 IP, 34 H, 3 BB, 49 K).  At age 20 one could argue that he should be in GCL now, especially given the K/BB ratio which suggests a very polished pitcher.

Later this week we will be back with an initial DSL update.  The team is 4-6 in the early going.  Catcher Sebastien Valle looks like a potential star, going 11-23 with 6 BB, 4 2B, and 1 HR in the first few weeks.  He is only 16 years old.

After a fast start, the Phillies VSL squad has fallen back to a 6-7 record.  With a younger roster the Phillies will probably have less success than last year championships squad, but may still have some prospects.  Several 16 and 17 year olds are getting lots of playing time.  A 16-year-old hitting .230 in this league may end up being a better prospect than a 20-year-old hitting .330.  Unlike last year the Phillies also do not appear to have a dominant starter like Moises Melendez last year.  The two best starters are 20-year-olds Juan Colmenarez and Freddy Ballesta.  Both are having good years, though not as effective as Melendez or Mauricio Romero from last year’s team.  As usual, the team is offensively challenged, though a couple of new signees (Winder Torres and Luis Martinez) are potential solid prospects.

Brief notes on the better prospects and performers are as follows:

Continue reading VSL Update – First Two Weeks →

May 14th is day one for the Venezuelan Summer League where the Phillies are defending champs.  The initial roster for the season has been posted at the minor league baseball web site:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_ros&cid=661

Continue reading VSL Opening Day →

Here are the players from the DSL and VSL who were on the minor league workgroup lists. Note that Moises Melendez was the only one who was on workgroup 4, so he may have a shot at something higher than GCL. He impressed in the senior Venezuelan winter league this fall.

Francisco Murillo – 1B/C – age 20 – VSL
Freddy Galvis – SS – age 17 – new signing
Jamie Morales – SS/2B – age 23 – VSL
Ambiorex Rincon – 2B – age 20 – DSL
Arlon Quiroz – OF – age 20 – VSL
Sergio Escalona – LHP – age 22 – VSL
Antonio Florentino – RHP – age 19 – DSL
Miguel Matos – RHP – age 19 – DSL
Mauricio Romero – RHP – age 20 – VSL
Moises Melendez – LHP – age 20 – VSL

6 total from the VSL (which was the league champ) and 3 from DSL. Melendez is the most polished and probably will merit at least a starting role at GCL. Matos and Florentino are intriguing projectible arms with good seasons in 2006. Murillo is the player most likely to make an offensive impact. Quiroz, a speedy OF, has been mentioned in several of the early spring training game reports.