Category Archives: 04. Prospect Features

A Closer Look: Freddy Galvis

A Closer Look, Galvis, Freddy

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We break from your regularly scheduled programming to introduce a new feature that will run from time to time on Phuture Phillies: “A Closer Look,” wherein we’ll break down some numbers, hopefully drum up a little discussion, and possibly even jump to a few conclusions on some players who may normally fall through the cracks of regular discussion.

I thought Freddy Galvis might be an interesting name to kick off this series with — especially given his Opening Night home run on Thursday.  Granted, he’s not your classic “under-the-radar” player, but he’s well outside the organizational Top 10, so let’s dive in and see what we can come up with.

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Charting the defensive spectrum, and other notes

Hewitt, Anthony

Add this to the list of “I think I’ve talked about this before, but don’t remember”, but it seems defense has become a much more talked about topic in the last few seasons. You know I’m not one for pumping other people’s products and telling you to buy stuff, but I am going to tell you to buy something here. John Dewan’s “Fielding Bible“, which I own, and the Fielding Bible 2, which I will buy, are essential if you care about understanding the game of baseball. Dewan’s method involves using video, and the core of his work is the +/- system, which attempts to determine who is average, above average and below average defensively. Dewan’s work is groundbreaking, in that its the first real system that uses video instead of just putouts/assists/errors/doubleplays and so forth. If you are a subscriber at BillJamesOnline you have access to the +/- scores for every major leaguer, and the Fielding Bibles also give you a bunch more in depth analysis on the various facets of the game. Check below the fold for more…

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Nice article on Drabek and Savery

Savery, Joe

Read it here. Talks about the Phillies changing Drabek’s mechanics, among other things. Next week we’ll start tackling who will be assigned where.

4 Phillies make the GCL Top 20

Collier, Zach, Hewitt, Anthony, Top Prospect Lists, Valle, Sebastian

I’ll be doing something similar to what BA does, highlighting the 20 best prospects in each league, but they beat me to the punch on the GCL list. Which is ok, because mine is likely to look much different. Anyway, today is the GCL, and the Phillies are well represented.

4. Jason Knapp
7. Sebastian Valle
8. Zach Collier
13. Anthony Hewitt

Justin De Fratus Q/A

* Interviews, De Fratus, Justin

I was fortunate to be able to ask personal favorite Justin De Fratus a bunch of questions, and he provided some great answers. I’m going to put this up now and leave it at the top for a few days, so enjoy. I’ll start my 2008 draft recap on Monday or Tuesday, so check back for that.

Q/A below…

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Threshers 2008 Recap

02. Org Reports, 04. Prospect Features, 5. Clearwater, Savery, Joe

The 2008 Threshers had a hard act to follow from the fans perspective after the 2007 team took the season to it’s limit by going to the post season and winning the whole thing by bringing home a F.S.L. Championship. I know the 2008 record was not what the team or fans had hoped for, but hopefully it was a learning experience for everyone. That is what the minors are about.

The team did play some fundametally sound baseball, and we did get to see some terrific efforts from some wonderful players over the course of the season. The 2008 statistical leaders for the team are recognized below.
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Monday musings

2008 Draft, Savery, Joe

I have a few random (and a few not so random) thoughts today, and then I’ll open the floor for discussion. So lets just get right to it.

* I wanted to make a remark about the recent direction the site has been heading. This is NOT a website for discussing the major league team. If you want to discuss the Phillies, the major league team, there are TONS of websites out there, including a really well written blog here. If you just have to talk about the latest Carlos Ruiz AB, you can find tons of message boards and blogs where that would be appropriate. My sole intention for starting this site was to discuss the minor leagues and the amateur side relating to the Phillies, because I felt that was an area that was lacking. Its my intention to keep it that way. I’ve generally been lenient with regard to moderating these types of discussions, and I’ve allowed lots of non-related talk. Well, from this point on, I’m just going to remove comments that are off topic. Its that simple. If your post disappears, its either because you posted tons of links in one reply (those get caught in moderation momentarily, they’ll show up once approved) or because you posted something that has nothing to do with the minor leagues. Its really disrespectful to my volunteers here who put in a lot of time writing a weekly report to have people discussing Jimmy Rollins or Carlos Ruiz in their weekly post. Its not going to happen anymore.

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Clearwater Threshers Report

02. Org Reports, 5. Clearwater, Savery, Joe

The Clearwater Threshers have continued to struggle over the last couple of weeks since my last Clearwater report. They have a second half record of 10-18 and are currently 11.5 games out of first. Obviously the biggest news in Clearwater lately was the Phillies trade that sent both Adrian Cardenas and Matt Spencer from the Threshers along with Josh Outman to the A’s for pitcher Joe Blanton.

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Goldstein on Galvis and Sampson

Galvis, Freddy

In his latest NL East Notebook, he hits on two of our better prospects at Lakewood;

Two players currently at the Phillies’ Low-A affiliate at Lakewood don’t have very good numbers, but that doesn’t mean the scouts aren’t impressed with them nevertheless. Freddy Galvis, an 18-year-old Venezuelan shortstop, is batting just .225/.289/.257, but one scout who recent saw him couldn’t help but be impressed. “Defensively, he’s what I call an extreme defender—he’s just a magician out there,” said the scout. “Every day you see him, he’ll make at least one play that a lot of big-league shortstops wouldn’t have a chance at. And he’s not just flash, all the routine plays are made as well.” As for his non-existent offense, the scout did see enough room for improvement to tag him as an everyday player. “Look, he’s definitely a bottom of the lineup guy, but he slaps the ball around and keeps his hands inside well. I think that small-ball situational hitting will be there for him in the end, as there are some offensive instincts there.”

Another player not exactly lighting up the stat sheet for the Blue Claws is 19-year-old right-hander Julian Sampson. A 12th-round pick last year who got third-round money, Sampson has a 4.98 ERA in 16 starts with just 41 strikeouts in 81 1/3 innings, but a scout who saw him found him the most memorable arm on the staff. “There’s just a lot to like there—he’s athletic, powerful, and has really nice arm action,” recalled the scout. “I saw effortless 91-93 mph velocity that touched 95, an above-average breaking ball, and an interesting kind of palmball as a change.” So why the poor numbers with that kind of stuff? The scout offered a couple of theories. “His command is below average, so he’s currently centering the ball, and there’s no deception in his delivery, so batters get a good long look at it.

Joe Savery Designated Hitter?

02. Org Reports, 5. Clearwater, Daily Discussion, Savery, Joe, Top Prospect Lists

Yes people it is true! Joe Savery was used as the team’s DH in the Clearwater Threshers game vs the Daytona Cubs. Savery was 1-3 at the plate with a sac bunt, two ground outs and a double in the game.

After not swinging a bat in a game for more than a year he was called on to do just that for the Threshers in the game on Friday night. NEVER in my 10+ years of going to minor league games in Clearwater has a pitcher been put into a game as the DH. Never even to hit for one single at bat.
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