The Philadelphia Inquirer reported today that 2010 Reading Manager Steve Roadcap has been told that he will not return to the RPhils in 2011, but will remain in the organization with a job at the Single A level.  With Lehigh Valley Manager Dave Huppert having been fired at the end of the 2010 season, both of the top two levels of the organization will have new managers at the helm at the start of the 2011 season.

Although not a note relating to a Phillies prospect, I would be remiss not congratulating Lehigh Valley IronPigs General Manager Kurt Landes on being named the International League Executive of the Year. Lehigh Valley led all 160 minor league teams in attendance last year, a truly amazing feat considering the fact that Lehigh Valley is 27th out of 30 teams in AAA baseball as far as market size. Even with an abysmal team on the field, the Lehigh Valley staff led by Landes continued providing an entertaining night out for familes in the Lehigh Valley. Congrats on a job very well done.

Two games in two days–made it to Reading today (with family, so I missed the start and end of the game).  I was interested in watching Harold Garcia and Cody Overbeck as position players (Galvis got the night off) and seeing Drew Naylor throw.

Continue reading Reading game 8/8 — live report →

Hey everyone, I had the opportunity to see Reading last night. I am not a pro scout by any means. I actually just graduated high school and I am going to college this fall. I hope to do this one day professionally and I have been following baseball for a long time.

All of the velocities come from Readings radar gun which is typically 3 MPH slow.

These of course are just my opinion.

Drew Naylor- 84-86 FB, touched 88, 68-70 CB, 79-81 CU. Also showed a cutter/slider in the 83 range. Fastball was straight. Had decent command. Curveball looked very good. Multiple times he was tipping the pitch however. It still induced weak contact and swing and misses. Tired in the 4th, leaving many pitches up and losing sharpness. As of now he has a 45 fastball, 60 curveball, fringe 40 change, and a 35 slider. I can see him being effective out of the bullpen. If he can bump his fastball up, he can be effective. There were a few scouts there, none were watching Naylor for what it’s worth.

Continue reading Scouting the Reading Phillies →

Reading went 6-5 over the last 11 days, including the completion of a suspended game, and another game that was suspended until mid-August.  Harold Garcia was the hitting star of the period (along with the usual suspect, Matt Rizzotti), batting .356 and throwing in an unexpected .600 SLG.  He hit in 10 of the 11 games, with a double, two triples, and 2 home runs.  Garcia has been killing lefties in AA, posting almost a 1.200 OPS, albeit over only 30 plate appearances.

Of course, calling Garcia the ‘star’ shortchanges the monster of the Eastern League, Matt Rizzotti, who posted close to his usual stats, .414/.614/.655 for a 1.269 OPS.  His most unusual stat was drawing 15 walks in the 10 games, with Akron simply refusing to pitch to him in the last two games of their series.  Rizzotti now leads the EL in batting by 53 points, in SLG by 103 points, and in OBP by 20 points, currently holding the sabermetric triple crown. Continue reading Reading Report July 21st-31st →

Reading got off to a horrible re-start immediately after the EL all-star game losing their first three games to Trenton (2 by one run) but rebounded to take three in a row after shutting out Trenton on Sunday.

Matt Rizzotti went 7/20, hitting in all six games, blasting 3 HR and drawing 3 walks.  He’s slugged .900 since the break and has a .370 OBP giving him a 1.270 OPS over the last week.  Honestly, people need to start looking past his age, since as soon as he qualifies by reaching 2.7 PA per Reading game (which should happen next week), he’ll be leading the EL in BA, OBP, and SLG (currently at .355/.425/.645/OPS 1.071, better than Domonic Brown’s stats in Baseballtown).

Continue reading Reading Report July 15-20th →

Back after two weeks, the first complete period without Domonic Brown, who was the main reason for watching this team.

Without its star, Reading split the last two games in June, lost the first two in July, then went on a 7-game winning streak.  Arch nemesis Harrisburg terminated the streak, taking the last three games before the all-star break.

Continue reading Reading Report 6/29-7/14 →

Reading had a 3-4 week, unfortunately featuring yet another bullpen meltdown costing the RPhils another multi-run lead late in the game.  The RPhils lost a blowout to New Hampshire, took 2 out of 3 from Portland (and would have swept without the meltdown), and lost 2 of 3 to Akron.  They play New Hampshire again early this week in a series that features a third chance to face former RPhil Kyle Drabek and two morning games.

Continue reading Reading Weekly Report 5/2-5/9 →