Collier, as you know, has been dealing with a hand/wrist injury for the last few months, and according to this article, he is now being ruled out for the season. Collier came out strong after being selected in the compensation round in 2008, but he struggled last season, and 2010 now goes down as a lost season. Collier doesn’t turn 20 until September, so time is still on his side, but he needs at bats, and losing an entire season is a big blow. Provided he comes back fully healthy in 2011, he’ll be back at Lakewood at age 20, which is just fine, but he desperately needs to log 500+ PA in 2011 to get back on the developmental track.
Category Archives: 04. Prospect Features
The emergence of Brody Colvin
My time is short during the week, but I really had to point out Brody Colvin’s breakout. Back in April I said not to really worry about early struggles. The jump to full season ball for high school pitchers can be tough. Learning to throw every 5 days, dealing with the common arm soreness from a pro routine, bigger crowds and ball parks, tough lineups, its a learning process. Colvin’s splits, by month
April: 15.1 IP – 11.15 ERA – 23 H – 9 BB – 9 K – 0.85 GO/AO
May: 33.2 IP – 3.21 ERA – 28 H – 10 BB – 31 K – 0.94 GO/AO
June: 20.1 IP – 1.77 ERA – 16 H – 5 BB – 21 K – 2.08 GO/AO
Last 10 appearances: 59 IP – 3.05 ERA – 49 H – 19 BB – 55 K – 1.35 GO/AO
And that includes a horrendous 1.2 IP – 5 ER game on May 12th. Since that appearance he has 6 starts
39.1 IP – 1.61 ERA – 28 H – 9 BB – 39 K – 0 HR
And the scouting report matches. His fastball has been 93-94 and he’s hit 96 on occasion with improving command. I think if Jarred Cosart is 1-A in terms of pitching prospects, Colvin is 1-B. It will be interesting to see if Cosart is promoted in the next few weeks. I’d personally like to see both guys stay at Lakewood all season, and then move up the ladder at the same time. I think you’ll see a friendly rivalry develop there, and that could be beneficial for both of them.
Phillies send Aumont to Clearwater
So you don’t have to post it in every post on the first page, here is the news. Aumont has been demoted. He’s gotten off to a rough start, it will be interesting to see if a change of scenery, and perhaps a different pitching coach, will do anything to help him get on track.
Video of Aumont from yesterday
You can check it out here. The angle isn’t really the best, and its only a few pitches interspersed with the interview (and for English being his second language, he’s picked it up well), but he appears to have removed most of the “hitch” in his delivery. Obviously the results speak for themselves, but I gotta say, I’m extremely encouraged by the early returns. At the time I wrote my Top 30, I was under the impression that Aumont would be used in relief, just as he was with Seattle, and only after my list went to publication was it announced that he was being moved back to the rotation and his mechanics would be cleaned up. Knowing that, I’d have ranked him probably 5th in the system behind Brown, Gillies, May, and Santana, and right ahead of Gose.
Implications of Rollins possibly hitting the DL
I received a number of e-mails today asking me if I thought the Phillies would entertain the idea of Freddy Galvis coming up from AA to play SS should Rollins go on the DL. My immediate reaction was “no chance”, and even after I started to actually think about it more, and wonder if it was plausible, my response is still the same; no chance. Galvis turned 20 in November, and though he reached AA last year, his career batting line in the minors is .235/.284/.288. Yes, his glove is big league ready. Yes, he wouldn’t be expected to carry the slack for Rollins offensively. But he’s not ready to hit major league pitching, and despite his solid start at Reading, I don’t know many people who thought he was even ready to hit AA pitching, let alone MLB pitching. While its likely that he’d be very good defensively, the Phillies signed Juan Castro because they believed he could legitimately hold down SS if something happened to Rollins. Galvis doesn’t have to be placed on the 40 man roster till after the 2010 season. Calling him up now adds him to the 40 man, and it would burn up his first option year. It just doesn’t make sense.
Bocock would seem like the most logical choice to fill the bench MI spot. Galvis is where he belongs right now, getting regular AB’s and trying to adjust to AA pitching.
Phillippe Aumont article
Check it out here in the Toronto Sun. Basically, its been a best case scenario since Aumont got to spring training. In my Top 30 writeup and everything I wrote after the Halladay/Lee deals, I indicated that I’d love to see Aumont moved back to the rotation, and that his mechanics/arm action be cleaned up. So far, the changes appear to be taking, and Aumont seems to have a great attitude toward everything. This is obviously extremely promising, and had I known the Phillies were going to follow this plan, I’d have probably ranked Aumont a few spots higher in my Top 30. Good stuff.
Also, keep an eye on the Reading Phillies website. They’ve been posting recaps of the minor league games being played between the Phillies and other AA affiliates. In the 8-1 win yesterday there were solid performances from Tyson Gillies and Michael Schwimer, among others.
Update –> Thanks for the mention in comments, the Blue Claws Blog has updates from all the games. Check it out here.
Brody Colvin arrested
Check it here. Sounds like he got into a bar fight. Hopefully the people within the organization get him some help in terms of anger management. They could also give him Cole Hamels’ phone number, he might be able to lend some insight. This is probably nothing to get too concerned about, hes a kid, and kids make mistakes. But its worth mentioning nonetheless.
Aumont moving back to the starting rotation
Jim Salisbury has the latest. To me, this is a no-brainer. Aumont might not have the stuff/control to remain a starter long term, but he’s still developing, is still very young, and there’s no reason to rush him to the majors in the bullpen. The rumors about his degenerative hip, plus his mechanics made it seem like the bullpen was the only option, but I think giving him a season to start and see what they have makes a lot of sense. If his fastball can sit 93-94 with heavy sink and he can refine his curve and changeup enough to be average pitches, he can certainly be a middle of the rotation starter. And that has more value than a 7th/8th inning reliever. Aumont turned 21 a few days ago, he’ll likely spend 2010 at AA, where he will be young for the league. I have him ranked 8th in my top 30 based on the notion that he’d be a reliever. With them moving him back to the rotation, I’d bump him up to 6th, behind Brown, Gillies, May, Santana, and Gose.
Three Phillies in the FSL Top 20
Yesterday BA put their Top 20 in the Florida State League up, and the Phillies are again well represented. Domonic Brown (3rd), Kyle Drabek (5th) and Freddy Galvis (19th) all made the top 20. In a 12 team league, having 3 guys is pretty solid. Brown was the 2nd outfielder behind Mike Stanton (Marlins), Drabek was the top pitching prospect, and Galvis was one of only 2 shortstops on the list of 20. As I said before, please do not post the full scouting reports.
Anthony Hewitt to centerfield?
From a source who got in touch with me, Anthony Hewitt was in CF during a recent instructs game and hasn’t played 3B, possibly at all during the Instructional League. This makes sense, its something we’ve discussed here before. Hopefully it allows him to focus more on the offensive side of his game, which obviously needs a lot of work.
Phuture Phillies 