Category Archives: 5. Clearwater

Clearwater Threshers News

5. Clearwater, Bastardo, Antonio, Game Recaps

The Clearwater Threshers continue to struggle with a record of 4-8 on the season.  The pitching has by far been the team’s strength as they have the 4th best ERA in the league at 3.32 and the 3rd most strikeouts with 94.  Unfortunately their hitting has kept them from winning very many as they are dead last in the league in hits, and slugging percentage with only 20 extra base hits on the year.

Antonio Bastardo and Joe Savery have lead the way for the starting pitchers each posting impressive 0.90 ERAs on the year while Adrian Cardenas (.347), Matt Spencer (.302) and John Urick (.300) are the only Threshers hitters batting .300 or better with five players languishing at .200 or below.

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Threshers’ Pitching Grounds Flying Tigers

5. Clearwater, Bastardo, Antonio

Matt Spencer celebrates after what would prove to be the game winning home run.

It’s not the normal night for Threshers news, but the pitching staff threw such a gem tonight, I thought the news was worth sharing.

The Clearwater Threshers came out on Friday night after being shut out for the first time this season on Thursday looking for some retribution. Antonio Bastardo took the hill for the team, and for five innings he held the Lakeland Flying Tigers on the runway never able to take off. He picked up ten Ks and allowed just three hits and three walks over that period.

Continue reading Threshers’ Pitching Grounds Flying Tigers →

Clearwater Threshers Weekly Roundup

5. Clearwater, Bastardo, Antonio, Savery, Joe

We’re now six games into this young season with the Threshers off to a slow start at 2-4 on the year. Five players: Adrian Cardenas, Quintin Berry, Gus Milner, Matt Spencer, and John Urick have played in every game, while six different pitchers: Joe Savery, Carlos Monasterio, Antonio Bastardo, Darren Byrd, Edgar Garcia and Dan Brauer have been handed the ball to start a game.

So far Adrian Cardenas has stolen the show for the team as he has hit safely in all but one of the games including a 3-4 and a 4-5 effort. He is currently hitting .417 with 3 doubles, a stolen base and a team best 4 runs scored. Continue reading Clearwater Threshers Weekly Roundup →

Updated Minor League Rosters ST Week 4

2. GCL, 3. Williamsport, 4. Lakewood, 5. Clearwater, 6. Reading, 7. Lehigh Valley, Depth Charts, Spring Training 2008, Transactions

Alright gang, here are this week’s updated minor league rosters. You can compare this to the week 3 roster and week 2 rosterand week 1 roster that I had posted earlier if you would like.

Quite a few cuts all in around in the minors this week, with one more round left to go this week before minor league rosters are finalized next Monday.

I’ll keep on the lookout for each new officially posted roster and keep them updated here as needed.

I don’t know how much of a limb I am going out on to project this, but I have updated my Clearwater Threshers website with this (click here) as my projected 2008 line up. The projection is based on the latest 2008 ST roster mixed in with a little intuition. I’m guessing I’ll have about 20 of the 25 players correct, with a few free agent signings thrown in at the last minute just to mess things up and maybe a few other moves in the mix.

Updated 2008 Minor League Rosters (Workout Groups)

3. Williamsport, 4. Lakewood, 5. Clearwater, 6. Reading, 7. Lehigh Valley, Spring Training 2008, Transactions

I hit the Carpenter Complex to check out the first day of minor league games.  It was the Clearwater (Group 3) team and the Lakewood (Group 4) teams against the Orioles.  Nothing of terrific interest to report except that I did pick up the newly updated minor league rosters.  This version has the guys broken out into five groups not four like the previous version that I had posted a while back. Continue reading Updated 2008 Minor League Rosters (Workout Groups) →

The Andrew Carpenter Interview

* Interviews, 5. Clearwater, 6. Reading, 7. Lehigh Valley, Spring Training 2008

andrewcarpenter.jpg

First and foremost… I’ve always called you Andrew, but I keep seeing you referred to as “Drew” Carpenter around the net.  Which is it…Drew or Andrew?

Andrew

I know from talking with you earlier that you said you’ve been in Clearwater working out since January to try to be in better shape this year than you were last year. What sort of goals have you set for yourself in 2008?  

I think everyone’s goal each year is to get to Philly because I know mine is. Other than that they are to win another championship, to keep my team in every ball game to give them a chance to win, to keep progressing on my changeup and making that better, and now in AA maybe get a couple of hits this year.
 Continue reading The Andrew Carpenter Interview →

An Interview with Jason Donald

* Interviews, 5. Clearwater, 6. Reading, 7. Lehigh Valley, Spring Training 2008

jasondonald.jpg

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Jason Donald during Spring Training and ask him a few baseball questions.

Jason, you started 2007 in Lakewood before finishing in Clearwater. What were the biggest differences between low-A and high-A baseball?

I think the biggest difference between high A and Low A was as with any level you move up, the game is a little bit sharper and quicker. Plus, there are some older pitchers with more experience that know how to pitch a little bit more. Better off speed and they can use that effectively when they were behind in the count.
Continue reading An Interview with Jason Donald →

2008 Minor League Workout Groups Announced

3. Williamsport, 4. Lakewood, 5. Clearwater, 6. Reading, 7. Lehigh Valley, Other Stuff, Spring Training 2008

Several people have emailed me or messaged me asking about the 2008 workout group assignments. 

I was finally able to get my hands on them today. 

Most of you are aware that these groups by no means indicate what the actual AAA, AA, and other rosters will actually look like in the end.  This is just where the guys are working out now.  There are still going to be many guys sent down from the big league ST roster to take spots away, a lot of players will be cut, and many free agents will be signed to minor league spots after other teams cut players.

That being said … here is a link to the Current Workout Groups in PDF version (sorry, but I didn’t feel like re-typing them from scratch) and for those who also wanted this the 2008 Minor League Spring Training Games Schedule. Continue reading 2008 Minor League Workout Groups Announced →

Clearwater Threshers Post Season Begins Tuesday

5. Clearwater, Bastardo, Antonio

The Clearwater Threshers clinched their first playoff berth since 1999 on Saturday night by sweeping a double header against the Lakeland Flying Tigers.  Andrew Carpenter threw six innings of one-hit baseball in the first game with his only hit allowed being a home run as the Threshers won the first game 11-1.  In the second game of the night Anthony Bastardo got his first start for the Threshers after being promoted from Lakewood.  Bastardo gave up four runs on five hits with 12 ks and three walks in the game.

Word came down in the top of the fifth inning of the second game that both Dunedin and Tampa had lost their games, so a Threshers win would clinch their playoff berth.  At that point the score was tied 4-4 so the game became crucial for the Threshers.  The team went on to score two runs in the bottom of the sixth to go up 6-4, but Lakeland made it interesting in the final frame picking up a run and getting two base runners before the Threshers could seal a victory with the 6-5 margin. Continue reading Clearwater Threshers Post Season Begins Tuesday →

Clearwater Threshers Update

5. Clearwater

The Clearwater Threshers have continued to experience success this season, and we’ve gotten to see some solid talent in the Clearwater lineup for the first time in what seems like forever. The team is currently in third place in their division 3.5 games behind the Tampa Yankees with 28 games remaining on the team’s schedule for 2007.

Since my last Clearwater update center fielder Greg Golson has been promoted to Reading along with left handed pitcher Josh Outman. Meanwhile Alex Concepcion, Andrew Cruse and Ben Pfinsgraff have been added to the Threshers rotation from Lakewood.

Continue reading Clearwater Threshers Update →