Nothing is as good for observations as seeing games in person.  This week we got the next best thing from the Lakewood team, a video broadcast of their series against the Lexington Legends.  It is impossible to glean everything from a single series and a single video feed, but you notice plenty of things that don’t appear in a box score.  I didn’t have time to watch all 7 hours of video, but I did watch all of the offensive trips to the plate and all of Drew Anderson‘s time on the mound.

J.P. Crawford – He is everything he is talked up to be.  The patience is there at the plate.  He and Tocci are attempting a decent amount of bunts in sac bunt situations, however the goal seems to be get hits, not sacrifice, and in game 2 of the series Crawford placed a bunt perfectly between the first and second baseman.  The power is not there yet, I won’t be able to say how much it will be there later, but the contact is there if the strength can get there. Continue reading Lakewood Observations →

Here it goes for the BlueClaws:

Catchers: Gabriel Lino, Jose Mayorga, Willians Astudillo

Infield: Wilmer Oberto, Andrew Pullin, J.P. Crawford, Zach Green, Robinson Torres

Outfield: Dylan Cozens, Samuel Hiciano, Carlos Tocci, Larry Greene Jr,

Pitchers: Alejandro Arteaga, Tyler Buckley, Ranfi Casimeiro, Cody Forsythe, Ulysses Joaquin, Mark Leiter, Jr, Shane Martin, Manny Martinez, Julio Reyes, Yacksel Rios, Keivi Rojas, Jesen Therrien, Tyler Viza.

Lakewood begins their season on Thursday in Savannah.

This was posted in the comments section of yesterday’s box score recap, and I think it definitely merits its own post. Thanks to “nyphilsmaniac” for the first hand account. Check below the fold

Continue reading Game review from Lakewood – 6 July 2011 →

Its been close to two weeks, so lets take a look at Lakewood’s progress since my last write-up. I wanted to write more before the fold, just so there was some text and it didn’t look like just a link. And I was struggling to think of what to write. But then it came to me. When looking at statistics, the common question is “when do we know if this means something” in terms of sample size and relevance. Eric Seidman, who writes at lots of places including Fangraphs and his new Phillies site, Brotherly Glove, had an excellent piece on Frangraphs two years ago which covers this very topic. His piece is actually a simplification (much needed) of a longer, more stats heavy article. Read it here. As you can see from his list, we’re still not in the stabilization range for the statistics that I think are important when looking at prospects. That said, we’re getting close in some cases, and its fun to look at where we stand. So lets get to it.

Continue reading A Look at Lakewood, volume 2.0 →

Hey all. As I mentioned when the season was kicking off, I’m going to come off the bench and write the Lakewood report this year. I’ve been waiting to try and accumulate some data to look at, and going forward I anticipate doing this every week or every other week, not sure what day of the week, but that’s a minor detail. I’m going to give a statistical overview, and then some thoughts on the squad and pass along any tidbits I can find. So far, I haven’t done much digging on our guys there, simply because its only been a few weeks. But I hope to have more on that as the season progresses. So, let’s get after it.

Continue reading A Look at Lakewood, v 1.0 →

Back-to-back, baby!  Lakewood finished off an historic season with a 4-2 win over Greenville to win their second straight SAL title while becoming the first SAL team to win a league title after winning their division in both halves of the season.  Sebastian Valle’s three-run jack in the fifth was the difference.  Jonathan Pettibone got the win and Josh Zeid (11 up, 12 down) picked up the save.  I’ll be back later in the week with a year-end wrap.

Boxscore

MILB.com Game Story

Asbury Park Press Game Story

Lakewood won a thrilling Game 3 on a walk-off single by Jeremy Barnes.  An excellent start by Brody Colvin who held Greenville in check on a run on three hits over five innings.  Kudos to a big-time clutch outing by Kyle Carr who came into a second and third, one-out jam in the seventh and struck out the two batters he faced.  Game 4 this afternoon at 4:05 with Jonathan Pettibone on the hill.  In the event Lakewood loses, another game will follow with Trevor May pitching.

Boxscore

Game Story

Lakewood defeated Greenville last night 6-1 to even the best of 5 SAL Championship series at a game apiece.  Good pitching by Julio Rodriguez and Josh Zeid and a 3-4 night by Jiwan James paced the ‘Claws.  And there was a bench-clearing brawl.  Game 3 Thursday night in Lakewood with Brody Colvin on the hill.  Links to the boxscore and a couple game stories:

Boxscore

milb.com Game Story

Asbury Park Press Game Story

The BlueClaws won the best of three first-round series against Hickory in impressive fashion on Saturday night.  Jonathan Pettibone struck out a career high nine in seven innings, alowing just one hit (with two outs in the sixth).  Sebastian Valle got the ‘Claws on the board in the first with a two-run homer.  Lakewood tacked on an additional run in the first on a Jeremy Barnes RBI single, then added another in the 4th and two more in the 7th.  Luke Wertz pitched the final two innings to complete the 6-0 shutout.

The Championship series gets underway tonight at 7:05 at Greenville (Red Sox).  It’s a rematch of last year’s championship series.  Trevor May and Julio Rodriguez get the call for the first two games on the road.  The series will return to Lakewood on Thursday for Game 3 and, if necessary, Games 4 and 5 on Friday and Saturday.  Lakewood’s roatation through the rest of the series will feature Brody Colvin in Game 3, followed by Pettibone in Game 4, and May coming back for Game 5.