The Arizona Fall League came to its conclusion with the play of Jason Donald taking on a new importance in light of the hip injury to Chase Utley. The 24 year old Donald ended the Fall campaign hitting .407, with 5 HR and 17 RBI’s in his 91 at bats. His OBP was .476 and his SLG .747, both outstanding. Additionally, he won the Stenson Award for his hard work, unselfishness and leadership, traits that sound awfully similar to Utley (no I am not comparing them). He played primarily at SS and 3B, but is capable of playing second as well. His fielding, although not spectacular, was steady during the Fall. Jeremy Slayden, 26, did not play well enough in the Fall (in the Phillies minds at least) to earn a spot on the 40 man roster, now subjecting him to the Rule 5 draft. Slayden, as usual, hit .286, with 3 HR and 27 RBI in his 105 at bats. His OBP was low at .322 (he only walked 5 times), however his SLG was .476. His fielding was adequate, however, his projections as a #5 outfielder at best did not change. The soon to be 24 year old Quintin Berry had a good Fall hitting .311 in his 90 at bats, with 1 HR and 9 RBI, hitting high up in the Mesa order. His 6 walks continue to be problematic, along with his baserunning, which took a step backwards this Fall, having been thrown out as much as he stole. Tuffy Goosewich, 25, saw limited action this Fall in place of Lou Marson, while Marson was up with the Phillies. Goosewich hit .280 in his 25 at bats and generally called a good game behind the plate. He projects to open the season in Reading. Marson scalded the ball in his limited time in Mesa, hitting .324 in his .324 in his 34 at bats, collecting 10 RBI’s. Six of his 11 hits were for extra bases. Continue reading Fall League Review →

Mesa won 2 of their 3 games played since the last update with the relief pitchers, starting to take things up a notch, and Andrew Carpenter continuing to struggle. Sergio Escalona, Tyson Brummett and Pat Overholt all pitched a scoreless inning apiece in relief over the last several days. Carpenter started Mondays’ game and took the loss, going 4 innings and giving up 6 runs on 7 hits. He walked 2 and struck out 3. His ERA stands at 6.86 and his WHIP, almost as bad at 1.67.

Jason Donald played third again on Monday and went 2-4 with 2 runs and a double, keeping his average above .400. Quintin Berry played Tuesday in Center and Wednesday in Leftfield, going 2-10 with a run scored. A concerning statistic is that he was caught stealing again (5th time in the Fall), and picked off in Tuesdays’ game. His average is at .325. Jeremy SLayden played in all three games, starting in RF. 5-12, with 2 runs, a double and 3 RBI’s, continuing his very productive Fall. Lou Marson caught his first game of the Fall on Tuesday, was the designated hitter Monday and pich hit Wednesday, going a combined 3-6, with a run, double and 3 RBI’s. He is hitting .313 since joing Mesa.

Mesa split their 4 games since Wednesday, with Lou Marson making his Fall League debut fresh off celebrating the Phils championship . Marson saw action in 3 games, as designated hitter in each. He was 2-10, with a run scored, 3 RBI’s, a double and a triple. He should see some action behind the plate this week. Tuffy Goosewich was behind the plate on Wednesday and went 1-5 with an RBI, and it hitting .263 in the Fall League thus far. Quintin Berry was in RF on Wednesday and Thursday and Center on Saturday, going 3-8, with 3 runs scored, 4 walks and 2 caught stealing. Berry is hitting .342 with a .392 OBP in his 67 at bats. He has been caught stealing in 3 of his 8 attempts, a percentage that must improve. Jeremy Slayden played Friday and Saturday, both in RF, and went 2-6, with a run and an RBI. He continues to be consistent at the plate and is hitting .276 with a HUGE 20 RBI’s in his 76 at bats thus far. He must improve his plate discipline as he has walked a miniscule 2 times in those 76 at bats. FInally, Jason Donald played third on Wednesday and SS on Thursday, with his bat cooling off, going 1-9 with 4 strikeouts over those 2 games. Even so, his average stands at .400, with an OBP of .458 in 75 AB’s. His OPS is an awesome 1.151.

Pitchers seeing action included Pat Overholt, who threw 2 innins on Friday, giving up a run on 3 hits, He also walked 2. In his 9 appearances thus far he is 0-0 with a 6.39 ERA. Perhaps most concerning is his 8 walsk surrendered. If he is going to have any modicum of success, his control is key. Sergio Escalona also saw action on Friday, going 1.2 innings, giving up a run on a hit. he struck out 2. The 24 year old is 0-0 with a 5.25 ERA in the Fall, with a 1.25 WHIP, a good number. Tyson Brummett, who has struggled out of the bullpen all Fall, got the start on Saturday and went 2 scoreless innings, allowing only one baserunner on a hit in the 2nd inning. He struck out 3. Brummett is 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA in his 9 appearances (8 in relief).

Mesa lost two of their last three, with the Phillies prospects following the pattern of their hitters having some success and their pitchers continuing to struggle. Quintin Berry started 2 of the last 3 games in CF and was 2-10 with a double, RBI and was caught stealing. He is currently hitting .339. Tuffy Goosewich saw action behind the plate on Saturday and Monday, going 2-9 with 2 runs scored. He did have a passed ball in Mondays’ contest, and is hitting .286. Jeremy Slayden was in RF on Monday and Tuesday, going 2-9 with 2 runs, a double, and an RBI. His average in the Fall stands at .271. Finally, Jason Donald continued swinging a hot bat, playing in all three games and going 7-14, with 2 runs, a double, 2 homers, and 5 RBI’s. He was caught stealing on Saturday, a game in which he also committed an error playing second base. He played SS on Monday and 2B again on Tuesday.

The pitchers struggles continued. First, Tyson Brummett pitched both Saturday and Tuesday, going an inning in each, yielding a run on 2 hits, in his 2 innings of work. His ERA stands at 7.88. Andrew Carpenter started on Tuesday and went 3 innings, giving up 3 runs, on five hits. He walked 3 and struck out five. The runs came on 2 homers, and his Fall ERA stands at 5.29. Pat Overholt was rocked in relief on Tuesday giving up 5 runs on 4 hits, in his inning, skyrocketing his ERA to 6.75. Sergio Escalona did not fare much better going 2 innings and giving up 3 runs on 3 hits.

The Mesa Solar Sox continued very hot, winning all 4 games since the last update, with their bats continuing very hot. Phillies prospects continue making large contributions to the teams success. Jeremy Slayden played in 3 of the 4 games starting twice in RF and once in LF. He went a combined 5-13, with 3 runs, 4 doubles, and 4 RBI’s. He is hitting .279 in the Fall League with a .752 OPS. An area that Slayden can improve his his batting eye, as he has only one walk in 61 at bats. Quintin Berry continued very hot starting 3 of the 4 games in CF. He went 6-13, with a run, and his 5th stolen base. He is hitting a lofty .367. Tuffy Goosewich caught last Wednesdays game (starter was Andrew Carpenter) and went 1-3 with an RBI, is his 2nd game of the fall. Jason Donald saw action as the DH in Thursdays win, and played short in the game Friday. Donald was 2-6 with 2 runs, and a double in the 2 games. Donald is hitting .423 with a .492 on base percentage and has committed only two errors, going from position to postion in the field.

Andrew Carpenter started to turn himself around on Wednesday, going 5 scoreless innings. He gave up 3 hits, didnt walk a batter and struck out two in his five every effective innings. He ERA now stands at 4.50 in the Fall, and his WHIP is 1.29. Pat Overholt, Sergio Escalona, and Tyson Brummett each added a scoreless inning over the last several days.

A brief update on the Mesa Solar Sox as I recover from last nights debacle at the Bank. Mesa had a win and a loss since the last update, with Quintin Berry leading the offense in the win. Berry was 3-10 in the last 2 games with 3 runs, a double, a homer, 4 RBI’s and his 4th stolen base. He is now hitting at .333. Tuffy Goosewich replaced Lou Marson on the Fall League roster as Marson has been working in the bullpen with the Phillies. Goosewich saw his first action Saturday and went 1-2, with a strikeout. A difficult couple of games for Jeremy Slayden who was 0-9 with 5 strikeouts and an error, as he played left field on Saturday and was the designated hitter on Monday. Jason Donald saw action at second base on Monday, going 1-4 with a run scored.

Pat Overholt had a very rough outing on Monday, struggling with his control going 1.2 innings, giving up 4 runs(2 earned) on 2 hits. He also walked two and threw only 18 of his 39 pitches for strikes. Sergio Escalona had a bit more success, going 2 innings, yielding one run on 2 hits. He walked 1 and struck out 2.

Mesa continued its winning streak with three more wins Tuesday thru Thursday and now have a 10-5 record in the Fall League.  Tuesdays game was uneventful for Phils prospects as only Jason DOnald made a late inning appearance at thrid base and went without an at bat.  On Wednesday, Mesa won 11-3, behind a strong performance by Quintin Berry who was 3-5, with 2 runs, an RBI and a stolen base (3). Berry started in CF.  Jason Donald was the designated hitter and had a huge game, going 4-6 with a run and a double, lifting his batting average to .452.  Pat Overholt pitched two scoreless innings in relief, walking one and striking out two without yielding a hit.  His ERA now stands at an excellent 1.29, after a difficult second half of the season with Reading.  Sergio Escalona followed Overholt on Wednesday but yielded 2 runs, one earned in his inning of work.

In the 8-6 on THursday, Andrew Carpenter, got the start going 4 innings, giving up only a run on 3 hits.  He walked 2 and struck out 2, lowering his ERA to 7.00.  The difficulties of Tyson Brummett continued as he gave up a run in his lone inning.  Offensively, Jeremy Slayden went 1-4 with an RBI, leaving his average at .308, but a baserunning blunder was costly as he was picked off. Quintin Berry had a another big game, starting in CF, going 3-4 with 3 runs and 2 doubles, leaving his average at .346.

Mesa, the Phillies AFL affilliate won their last three games and now stand at 7-5 on the season thus far.  The offense exploded with an 18 run effort Friday and a remarkable 28 run effort on Monday in a 28-1 Mesa victory.  Phillies prospects played a prominent role at the plate.  Jason Donald continued scorching hot at the plate going 5-14 with 6 runs scored, 2 doubles, a homer (1), and 6 RBI’s, 3 walks, and a strikeout in those three games.  He played third base in all three games, committing his second error on Saturday,  and is now hitting .417 for the Fall season.  Jeremy Slayden played left field on Friday and was the designated hitter Monday and went 4-12, with 4 runs scored, 4 RBI’s and 3 strikeouts over his two games played.  He is now hitting .314. Quintin Berry pinch ran and stayed in the game to play CF on Friday and then started in CF on Saturday, going 1-4 with a run, stolen base (2), and strikeout.  He is hitting .167.

Phils pitchers were fairly quiet with Tyson Brummett started to get himself back on track on Saturday with a scoreless inning, without yielding a baserunner.  Sergio Escalona followed Brummett on Saturday with a scoreless inning as well, giving up 2 hits.  Escalona lowed his fall ERA to 2.08.  Andrew Carpenter, however, was rocked on Friday, giving up 5 runs on 7 hits, in his 3 innings of work.  He struck out 4 and didnt walk a batter.  36 of his 55 pitches were thrown for strikes, and his Fall ERA now stands at 10.80.