Category Archives: 04. Prospect Features

Zeid, DeFratus named AFL Rising Stars, AFL update

8. Arizona Fall League, De Fratus, Justin

Matt Rizzotti continues to swing a very hot bat, going a combined 5-10 in games Monday and Tuesday, with 2 doubles and 4 RBI’s.  In 39 Fall League AB’s, Rizzotti is at .410/.531/.462 with 0 HR and 7 RBI. He has walked 10 times and struck out only 4 times.

Tim Kennelly has been opening eyes in his limited action going 2-3 with 2 runs and a double in the 15-1 Mesa win Monday.  Kennelly was behind the plate with 5 hurlers from the Phils organization on the hill. Kennelly is now at .429/.500/.619 in his 21 AB’s, with 0HR and 2 RBI’s. Continue reading Zeid, DeFratus named AFL Rising Stars, AFL update →

Jason Grey at ESPN on De Fratus/Rosenberg

De Fratus, Justin

In yesterday’s column

Justin De Fratus, Philadelphia Phillies: De Fratus absolutely looks like a big league bullpen arm, with a 92-95 mph fastball that touched 96 mph once when I saw him, and good tilt on an 83-85 mph slider that can get strikeouts. A strong pitcher with a good frame who uses his lower half well, De Fratus does a good job finishing his pitches. De Fratus isn’t far from a call-up and looks like he could fill a seventh- or eighth-inning role at the big league level, and from there anything can happen. Then again, he’s also in an organization that left Scott Mathieson behind to dominate Triple-A hitters all year.

B.J. Rosenberg, Phillies: Rosenberg appeared in only 20 games this season due to a lat strain, so we can give him a bit of a pass if he’s still getting up to speed. In one of his outings I saw, he gave up three homers in four batters, all on poorly located fastballs. He has been working in the 91-92 mph range and occasionally touching 93 mph, but with not a lot of movement on it. His low-80s slider projects to “solid average,” and his 80-81 mph changeup has been below average. I’m just not seeing good stuff or command right now.

I love that De Fratus is getting his deserved props now. He’s done what every prospect needs to do, continue to prove himself while he climbs the ladder. 2011 could be a big year for him. Rosenberg, well, not as optimistic.

Cocaine possession charges dropped against Gillies

Gillies, Tyson

According to David Murphy at “High Cheese”, the possession charges have been dropped stemming from an incident where police allegedly found a bag of white powder after Gillies’ exited a police vehicle:

According to a story in his hometown newspaper, authorities in Florida have dropped the cocaine possession charge against Phillies prospect Tyson Gillies.

Continue reading Cocaine possession charges dropped against Gillies →

Singleton, Valle Named to All Star Team

Valle, Sebastian

The awards continue to roll in at the lower levels of the Minors for the Phils with two members of the Lakewood BlueClaws being named to the South Atlantic League All Star Team. First Baseman Jonathan Singleton was named the league’s most outstanding prospect, the first member of Lakewood to ever win that award. The 18 year old from California is hitting .296 with 14 HR and 73 RBI.

Catcher Sebastian Valle, 20, was named the league’s all-star catcher.  He is hitting .256 with 16 HR and 74 RBI’s. Lakewood opens their quest for the South Atlantic League championship next Wednesday, September 8.

Bastardo to Philly, Baez to the DL,

Bastardo, Antonio

The Phillies announced today that Right handed relief pitcher Danys Baez was placed on the DL with back issue and LHP Antonio Bastardo was called up from AAA Lehigh Valley to take his spot on the 25 man roster.  Bastardo, 24,  has allowed runs in just one of his 20 appearances for the ‘Pigs this year.  Opponents are hitting just .190 against him and he is averaging over 1.5 K’s per inning pitched.  Although he has struggled in his limited time in Philly this year, Bastardo certainly can bring more to the table then Baez at this late stage of the season, a season in which Baez has struggled consistently from the beginning of the year.

Also, the effort by Mike Cisco last night starting for Reading must be noted, a game in which he threw a complete game shutout, striking out 10.

Quick Notes

Savery, Joe

After one of his better outings of the season on the mound last night, former 1st round draft choice Joe Savery will make his hitting debut tonight, as designated hitter, batting 7th for Lehigh Valley against Rochester.

Hall of Fame closer Bruce Sutter has been hired by the Phillies as a Minor League Pitching consultant where he will work primarily in Reading and Lehigh Valley.  He will be in Lehigh Valley tomorrow evening.  A good hire considering the potential influx of young talent into the Phils bullpen over the next year or two.

Tyson Gillies Arrested

Gillies, Tyson

UPDATE: The Phillies have released a statement that reads, “The Phillies have confirmed today that Tyson Gillies was arrested on a drug possesion charge arising out of an alleged incident that was alleged to have occurred in June. Because this is an open case, we will not comment further at this time”. 

In what is certainly a new twist to the Tyson Gillies injury saga this year, Gillies was apparantly arrested early this morning by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office on a felony cocaine charge.  According to the St. Petersburg Times, Gillies was released on $2,000 bond at 10:52 this morning, after being arrested at 1:10 a.m.

Gillies was rehabbing his injured hamstring in Clearwater and had appeared in two Rookie League Games last week for the Gulf Coast League Phillies.  Gillies has missed a good portion of the season dealing with the hamstring issues and was recently shut down for the remainder of the season with a trip to Dr. James Andrews expected in order to look at the hamstring.

NOTE: While noting the obvious news worthy nature of this story to Phillies fans, please use respect in commenting.

Update —> James here. Matt Gelb has another article up with more information. So bizarre.

Jiwan James Q and A

James, Jiwan

You asked and Jiwan James answered with the help of Greg Giombarrese at the http://blog.blueclaws.com/.  See below for the deatils.

Have you used insights as a pitcher to help you hit? Not really. It’s just two totally different worlds. As a pitcher you’re trying to keep the hitter off balance. As a hitter, we’re just looking fastball and reacting. It doesn’t really help that much.

You had the long hitting streak but went 0-9 in the 18-inning game at Delmarva. Then you bounced back from that. What’s the key to responding mentally to tough nights over a long season? You just have to do it. You can’t do anything about yesterday. You have to take your confidence back to the plate and look forward to what’s coming ahead. Continue reading Jiwan James Q and A →

Jiwan James Q and A

James, Jiwan

Through the continued help of Greg Giombarrese, the Media Relations Director of the Lakewood BlueClaws, Outfielder Jiwan James has agreed to answer your questions.  James, 21, was the Phils 22nd round pick in the 2007 draft.  Prior to the 2009 season, James converted from pitcher to the outfield and has shown a great deal of promise.  In his 429 AB’s this year, James is hitting .284/.331/.382 with 3 HR and 53 RBI, to go along with 27 stolen bases.  A native of Williston, Florida, he has impressed with his arm, notching 8 assists from his center field position this year.  The signing of James was considered to be a major coup back in 2007 when he was hours away from attending University of FLorida before signing with the Phils.  Prior to this season, James was ranked the 11th best prospect in the Phillies system by Baseball America.  Feel free to leave your questions below for Jiwan James and expect to see a post at the end of next week with your answers.

Savery Moved to the Bullpen

Other Stuff, Savery, Joe

As first reported by Jeff Schuler, the IronPigs beat writer for the Morning Call, former first round draft pick Joe Savery has been relgated to the bullpen by Lehigh Valley, with Brandon Duckworth to take his spot in the rotation.  Savery has made four relief appearances in his professional career and each of the four have come on the heels of early inning rehabs by Phils on the DL. 

Savery has had a major problem in the first inning of almost every appearance this year, with an ERA now topping 9.00 in the opening frame.  In fact, as Schuler notes, Savery has an ERA over 9.00 in the first two innings of his 13 starts, with an atrocious WHIP of 2.16.  The hope is the work in the bullpen will help resolve the issues in the first few innings of games.