The Lynx opened week eighteen with a four game series against the Syracuse Chiefs at home in Ottawa. Ottawa managed a split in the series and almost came away with victories in three of four, losing the final game in thirteen innings, a game they could have won in nine and a game started by a rehabing A. J. Burnett for Syracuse. The Chiefs came into town 9.5 games in front of Ottawa in fifth place and left town in the same position. All in all, while the hitting continued to be a sore spot, the starting pitching continued to get better and the bullpen were generally effective. Newly acquired infielder Gookie Dawkins, (acquired from the Seattle Mariners), played second, third and short in the series and, although not known for his hitting, even managed to get a couple of those as well as showing off his well known fielding skills.
Category Archives: 02. Org Reports
Clearwater Threshers Update
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.
Reading Report
Heading into the last month of the season, Reading continues fighting mediocrity, amid a slew of lineup changes. They are currently 59-58 and in 5th place in the Southern division, 8.5 games out of first. Jason Hill has been climbing among the league leaders now leading the league in doubles (31) and 4th in batting average (.316). Greg Jacobs is 10th in average (.304), 7th in hits (116), 8th in doubles (29), 6th in homers(18) and 5th in RBI’s (70). Mike Costanzo continues his run production, now 3rd in runs (75), 1st in homers (22), and 8th in RBI’s (66). He is also 2nd in the league having struck out 132 times. After the trade of Matt Maloney, the lone pitcher among the league leaders in Chris Key, who is 6th in the league with 16 saves.
2007 Clearwater Threshers Awards
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.
Ottawa Lynx Week Seventeen
Ottawa began week seventeen exactly as they ended the previous week-losing to Richmond, getting swept by Richmond, and extending their losing streak to seven games. Again, the starting pitching gave up a big inning early, (seven run third), Ottawa lost 9-4 and Matt Childers, (5-2), picked up a loss for only the first time in seven starts. Childers gave up fourteen hits in only four innings and while the bullpen allowed only one Richmond run the rest of the way, the damage was done. Doug Clark hit a three run home run in the third effectively putting the game out of reach as Richmond totalled nine hits in the inning. Although Ottawa scored three times in the next inning, they would manage only one more run. Newcomer Michael Garciapara went 2-3 for the Lynx with a walk and an RBI as Ottawa managed eight hits but seven were singles.
Reading Report
Reading, now 57-54, is in 4th place in the Southern division, 6.5 games out of first. Due to the trades of Matt Maloney and Jesus Merchan, the league leader report is a little lighter. On the pitching end, Chris Key is 5th in the league with 16 saves. On the hitting end, Mike Costanzo is 5th in the league in runs (70), 2nd in homers (19), 9th in RBI’s (62) and 2nd in strikeouts (130). Greg Jacobs is 8th in runs(62), 6th in hits (114), 6th in doubles (28), 3rd in homers (18), 4th in RBI’s (70) and 6th in batting average (.313). Jason Hill is 3rd in the league with 30 doubles. Continue reading Reading Report
DSL July Update
We are now more than halfway through the Dominican Summer League season and the Phillies entry has been improving as the season progressed. They are now 26-17 after going 13-3 in their past 16 games. The exciting part of this turnaround is that much of it has been based upon the play of younger prospects aged 18 or under. The DSL team in 2007 seems to be superior to the VSL at the prospect level with the results showing up in recent performances. This update will focus more on individual player performance with the top performers and likely prospects.
VSL Update – July
The VSL Phillies are currently 26-23 and in 4th place in the league, 9 games behind the Astro’s team. This has been somewhat of a transitional year for the Phillies after last year’s championships. With a much younger roster the Phillies are still playing .500, if not a bit better. It still is a little early to tell who are the best prospects. Here is a quick update on the better performers and the younger guys who may be the better prospects.
Offense
Yonderman Rodriguez (age 20) – IF who plays 2B, SS, and 3B is hitting .370 with a .886 OPS. He is clearly a polished player with more BB than SO. Unfortunately his age is a red flag on his prospect status. He does not have enough power or speed to be special in those areas, so his ability to hit for a high average is much of his value. Continue reading VSL Update – July
Reading Report
Reading ended this week at 38-40, still mired in 5th place and now 8.5 games out of first. Looking at the league leaders in hitting, Jesus Merchan remains the leader in batting average (.342) and is fourth in on base %(.409). Mike Costanzo leads the league in homers(15) and strikeouts(100), and is 8th in runs (44). Greg Jacobs is 5th in homers (12), and 5th in RBI’s(48). Javon Moran is 3rd in Stolen bases (18), and Jason Hill is 8th in the league in doubles(22). Pitching leaders include Matt Maloney, 2nd in innings (93.1), 9th in wins(6), 5th in strikeouts(78), and 3rd in homers allowed (10). Landon Jacobsen is 10th in wins(6), and first in innings pitched (93.2).
DSL Early Season Update
The DSL season is now a few weeks old and we are starting to get a picture of who are the top performers on the team if not the top prospects. First of all, here are links to the team roster and statistics. Box scores can also be retrieved most of the time from the daily calendar under the Phillies division link (Santo Domingo North).
Phuture Phillies 