Every year for the past five years I’ve given out fan nominated and voted awards to the most deserving player on the Clearwater Threshers roster for that year through my Clearwater Threshers Blog. I’ve taken nominations for the last two weeks, and now it is time to vote for the winners in each category.

Those of you who are fans of the Phillies and their minor league players have your chance to vote now for the winners.

http://www.jeffcrupper.com/baseball/awardvoting.html

Please visit the link provided and vote for the players you think deserve to win in each category. Also, please feel free to pass the link on to anyone you know who could help determine a deserving winner.

It’s been two  plus weeks since our last Clearwater Threshers Report with the team going 9-9 over that period.   The team is now three games out of first place with thirteen games remaining in the season’s first half.   (For those unfmiliar with the FSL playoff format, the season is split into two halves with the winner of the first half making the playoffs to face the winner of the season’s second half.)  The Sarasota Reds currently lead the Threshers’ division, but they will have a critical three game set versus the Threshers to end the first-half of the year.

Since the last report the FSL has named the All-Star team which will include five Threshers players.  The Threshers on the All-Star team will include:  Pitchers Carlos Carrasco , Andrew Carpenter and Pat Overholt as well as catcher Lou Marson, and OF/DH Jeremy Slayden. Continue reading Clearwater Threshers Report →

This past week was not a good one for the Clearwater Threshers. On May 14th the team was just one game out of first place and the pitching staff owned the lowest overall ERA in the entire Florida State League. After the next seven games where the team lost all but one, including two games where they gave up 13 runs and 16 runs back-to-back to the first-place Sarasota Reds they are now five games behind the Reds, and the team’s ERA has fallen to sixth in the league.

The week began on an ominous note with the Threshers losing in 10 innings to the last place Ft. Myers Miracle (Twins). Going into the tenth inning tied at 1-1 the Threshers picked up two runs to take a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the inning. Brett Harker came in out of the bullpen to close the game since the Threshers ace closer Mike Zagurski had been promoted to Reading two days prior. Though Harker had four saves on the year, the situation seemed alien to him on this night. He walked the first batter, gave up a single, then walked another to load the bases. He then gave up back-to-back singles as the Miracle scored 3 runs to down the Threshers 4-3.

Continue reading Clearwater Report: A Week to Forget →

The Clearwater Threshers have remained solid in the Florida State League battling with a strong Sarasota Reds team to a tie for first place in their division at 21-11 after five weeks of play. Strong pitching continues to be the dominate factor in the Threshers success as they continue to own the league’s best team ERA at 2.92.

This week consisted of three games versus the Sarasota Reds with the Reds getting the series victory two games to one, and then in a four game series versus the Eastern Division’s best team the Brevard County Manatees (Brewers) the Threshers grabbed three of four losing the series finale on Tuesday night in the team’s only double digit loss of the year 14-4. I’ll throw in as bonus an eighth game played on Wednesday afternoon (since it was final at the time of this write-up) where the team downed the FSL’s newest addition, the Vero Beach Devil Rays, 3-1 behind eight strong innings from Carlos Carrasco with closer Mike Zagurski fanning all three batters he faced in the ninth to secure the win.

Continue reading Clearwater Threshers Week 5 Report →

The Clearwater Threshers have gotten off to the team’s best start in their fourth year of existence. The team owns the Florida State League’s best record at 16-8 and they have won 8 of their last 10 games.

It has been a solid team showing lead by a very strong effort from the pitching staff. As a team they own the league’s lowest ERA at 2.39, rank second in Ks with 186 in 211.0 innings pitched. They own a division best 4 shutouts, and WHIP (1.13), but also have a league high hit batters (16) and rank second in walks (93).

Continue reading Clearwater Threshers April Wrap-Up →

I’ve been strapped for time the last few days with a deadline at work, so no Clearwater report today, but if you haven’t already, check out the action from last night, which saw Clearwater win a 20 inning game against the Tampa Yankees. Greg Golson was the hero, going 1-10, but driving in the winning run. Josh Outman had a nice bounce-back performance, giving up only 1 ER in 6 innings, but each team would eventually have to use 7 pitchers in total before the game would end. Today’s game went the standard 9, with Carlos Carrasco rebounding from a tough performance to deliver 7 innings of 1 ER ball.

In the first edition of the Clearwater affiliate report, we’ll look at the composition of the roster, the potential excellence of the pitching staff, and how the team can make a run at the Florida State League title.

Last season, the Threshers posted a 67-72 record, which doesn’t look great until you consider the fact that they were an unbelievably bad 41-95 the year before. Everyone that follows the minor leagues will tell you that the records of the minor league affiliates aren’t important, that it is all about player development, and they are correct. However, everyone likes to win, at whatever level they are at, whether it be little league or the International League, and losing hurts, regardless of the situation. Last year’s team was in a state of flux, as two of their better pitches, James Happ and Zach Segovia, as well as their best reliever Joe Bisenius, were promoted to Reading mid season. This year, the staff is loaded from top to bottom, starting with the Phillies #1 ranked prospect, Carlos Carrasco.  Following Carrasco are 2006 draft picks Andrew Carpenter and Dan Brauer, as well as rising prospect Josh Outman, and the rotation is rounded out by Patrick Overholt, a reliever being converted to a starter this season. In the bullpen, Brett Harker is likely the closer, with lefty Mike Zagurski setting up and Will Savage also getting into some high leverage situations. The offensive core is led by Brad Harman at 2B, looking for a rebound season after a terrible 2006, outfielder Jeremy Slayden, catcher Lou Marson, and CF Greg Golson.

In the early going, the lineup has fluctuated a bit, but Golson, Harman and Slayden have hit 2-3-4 a few times, with Marson hitting 5th or 6th. Chris Coste had been rehabbing in Clearwater, and was batting in the middle of the order, and Freddy Garcia is doing his rehab here as well, plus an appearance from Jon Lieber has meant a changing lineup/rotation. Once the season starts to take off, Golson, Harman, Slayden and Marson should consistently be in the 2-5 spots every night in some order. Welinson Baez has been hitting lower in the lineup, likely to try and put him in low pressure situations as he adjusts to High A after struggling at Lakewood. Slayden is likely the first of this group to be promoted, as he’s still too old for this league. On the pitching side, Outman probably has the ability to move up to Reading first depending on how he pitches.

Clearwater opened the season with 4 games against Dunedin, going 2 and 2. Carrasco produced a nice 5 inning debut, while Brauer and Carpenter combined on a 9 inning, 2 run performance. Josh Outman, pitching in relief in his first appearance due to a Jon Lieber rehab appearance, struggled mightily, allowing 7 ER in 2.1 IP, with 3 BB and 3 K. It may have been nerves, or it may have been because he was pitching in relief, something he isn’t accustomed to doing, but we shouldn’t worry too much about it. Once the rehab assignments are done with, he’ll be back in the starting rotation and should be able to get comfortable. Offensively, Jeremy Slayden is off to a solid start, hitting .533 in 15 AB. Greg Golson also has come out of the gates strong with a .389 BA in 18 AB, with 4 extra base hits and 2 SB. This week, Clearwater will play 4 games against a good Tampa team, and then 3 games against Lakeland, all at home.

Here is the roster/depth chart for the Clearwater Threshers. Updated as of 4/21/07 per the Threshers website.

Starting Lineup

C – Lou Marson
1B – John Urick
2B – Brad Harman
SS – Fidel Hernandez
3B – Welinson Baez
LF – Jeremy Slayden
CF – Victor Hall
RF – Greg Golson
DH –

Bench

C – Orlando Guevara
INF – Clay Harris
INF – Hector Made
OF – Mike Spidale
OF – Matt Thayer

Starting Rotation

SP – Carlos Carrasco (RHP)
SP – Andrew Carpenter (RHP)
SP – Josh Outman (LHP)
SP – Dan Brauer (LHP)
SP – Pat Overholt (RHP)

Bullpen

CL – Brett Harker (RHP)
RP – Mike Zagurski
RP – Derek Griffith (LHP)
RP – Wil Savage (RHP)
RP – Zac Stott (RHP)
RP – Charlie Weatherby (RHP)
RP – Cory Willey (RHP)
RP – Alan Davis (LHP)