ICYMI – Couple media reports I found interesting this week so far:
Mitch Rupert interviews Joe Jordan Williamsport Sun-Gazette (7-23) Notes on Quinn, Asche, many others, etc. Good long interview with the man in charge.
Mike Drago on Tyson Gillies Reading Eagle (7-24)
Drago on Trevor May Reading Eagle (7-24)
Mike Newman on Mitch Walding FanGraphs (with defensive drill and BP video) (7-23)
An open discussion for anyone regarding how the boys have been doing in the big leagues. Is this exactly what you expected? Did you think Joe would be better? Did you think Schwim would be better?
Is it hard to judge these guys based off of a few months of work, or is this their future?
Just to pull this out of the longer posts so everyone knows.
Biddle was removed last night for precautionary reasons after taking a line drive off the hand. He will not miss a start.
Domonic Brown left today’s game with a hamstring injury, it does not appear to be major, but its impossible to know with hamstring injuries.
That is all.
This is obviously a bad sign, and your mind starts to wander toward the possibility that he is going to need surgery. Get well soon Justin.
That’s the word on the street, at least.
This site has been around for a little more than 5 years, and Savery’s story is probably the coolest thing I’ve seen since I started closely following the minor leagues like 10 years ago. He was close to calling it a career and retiring, he switched from pitcher to hitter, then switched back to pitcher, recovered 3-4 mph on his fastball, and is now on the opening day roster of the big league club.
No matter how good he ends up becoming or what role he carves out at the major league level, his story is a great inspiration for future players, and a good lesson that anything can happen in baseball, and even when you think you have a good idea of what is going to happen, you can still be completely surprised.
Congrats to Joe, and continued success.
As of this writing, the Phillies bullpen is still in flux, and Jake Diekman is still in major league camp. I had a chance to watch him close out yesterday’s game against the Red Sox, and I have to say, he certainly deserves a spot on the 25 man roster. He is currently on the 40 man roster, and thus a move would not have to be made in terms of clearing a spot for his contract to be purchased. I wrote this about him this winter when compiling my Top 30 prospects, where he just missed:
Jake Diekman, LHP – The Phillies protected him on the 40 man roster, and he’s a conversion project of sorts, as he’s begun to throw from a low-almost sidearm angle. You can see his delivery here in action against former Phillies farmhand Anthony Gose. That just looks toxic on lefties. And there is a good chance he carves out a JC Romero-esque career. But I’m not sure that merits a spot in the Top 30. Maybe it does. But maybe not.
He struggled a bit with his control last season at AA, walking 44 in 65 innings. He has swing and miss stuff, evident in the 83 strikeouts in those same 65 innings. And lefties can’t touch him. But I was impressed that he was able to generate some bad swings against the RHB he faced yesterday. The final out of the game did come on a mistake fastball he left up that was hit sharply to centerfield, but after watching him pitch, I think he has what it takes to stick in the big league pen right now. More importantly, Antonio Bastardo is still not 100% healthwise, working through a bit of a dead arm period. The Phillies leaned heavily on Bastardo last season, and he started to wear down a bit in the 2nd half of the season. With the Phillies current rotation being what it is, the bullpen figures to see less work than any other NL team again this year. Looking at the pitching staff, assuming the Phillies carry 12 pitches, these guys are locked in:
SP: Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Worley, Blanton
RP: Papelbon, Bastardo, Contreras, Stutes, Kendrick, Qualls
That is 11. That also assumes that Contreras is ready for Opening Day. If the Phillies do go with 12, they can slot Diekman right in to the final spot. If they go with 11 and Contreras is not ready, Diekman can take his spot. With Kendrick in the bullpen, there is no real urgency to carry another multi-inning reliever in Herndon. The only other competition for the final spot would come from Aumont (who was optioned) and Savery. While Savery has pitched well, Diekman’s ability to destroy LHP should give him an edge. Its a nice problem for the Phillies to have right now, but given what he has shown this spring, especially the fact that he’s issued only 1 walk in 5 innings, I think Diekman deserves the final spot. We should know more in the next week.
Well, this is some way to start your Monday, eh? The news on Chase Utley isn’t good, and it appears the team is ready to turn to Galvis at 2B, a position he hasn’t played much at all outside of a few spring training appearances. So what should we expect from him? It’s hard to say. As I covered in my Top 30 writeup on Galvis, his 2011 offensive performance essentially came out of nowhere, as he made big gains in all areas. Normally when you see steady growth, you expect bumps along the way, but the grow Galvis experienced in 2011 was sudden. Could he continue to grow rapidly, even at the major league level? It’s possible. There will certainly be a learning curve here, and he’ll go through rough stretches as he adjusts. But we know he’s one of the best defenders in the minor leagues, and his reactions, soft hands, and solid arm should play well at 2B. I think it’s likely that he’s nothing more than a .240-.250 hitter early on, but capable of driving the ball in the gaps and as he adjusts, his numbers should tick up. More importantly, for a team that will need to save runs, his glove could be a difference maker.
For those of you new to the site looking for info on Galvis, you can see his profile page here and also my writeup on him in my Top 30 prospects list.
Per Todd Zolecki, Justin De Fratus will be shut down for a week with elbow soreness. Given that he will now be behind all the other pitchers, and there weren’t many openings available anyway, he’s probably a lock to start the season in AAA. This is the first time he’s had any health issues, and its all just guesswork as to how serious this is. He may have just overworked himself this winter, or it may be a sign of something else. No use speculating right now.
The Phillies have brought in the usual mix of veterans this winter, meaning there aren’t many clear cut openings in the big league bullpen. Assuming the Phillies go with 12 pitchers (which they almost assuredly will), the current crop looks like this
SP (5): Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Worley, Blanton
RP (7): Papelbon, Bastardo, Willis, Contreras, Kendrick, Stutes, Qualls
This would leave zero openings for the likes of Phillippe Aumont, David Herndon, Michael Schwimer and De Fratus. However, this supposes that Contreras is healthy and ready for opening day. If he isn’t, there will be one spot open. Herndon has the most experience and would probably be #1 on the depth chart, but if Aumont has a lights out spring, I think they’d give him a look, since he is on the 40 man roster.
Discuss.
You can view the list in its entirety here. May came in at #54, Biddle at #78 and Colvin at #80. I’m not going to go in to specifics about my love/hate for the list. Everyone is entitled to create their lists, and everyone has different opinions of players. I think there are a number of weird placements on this particular list, and I’m not sure Colvin is a Top 100 prospect right now, but I won’t complain about any hype/positive reports he generates. The blurbs are free for all to read, so I’ll post them here. But go check out the full list if you’re curious
Scouting report: May is starting to develop into a more complete pitcher and not just a thrower. The fastball is up to 95 mph and it has plenty of sink. May has no trouble maintaining velocity deep into his starts. He complements his fastball with an above-average curve and a changeup that shows glimpses of being above-average as well. While he still walks a good number of hitters, he lowered his walk rate considerably and showed better overall command.
Upside potential: He’ll keep refining his stuff and command, eventually settling in as a very durable No. 2 or 3 starter.
Scouting report: A strong and durable southpaw, Biddle has the makings of three above-average to plus pitches in his arsenal. He’s shown the ability to run his fastball in the low 90s. He has a changeup that could be plus when all is said and done, and although his curve is inconsistent, it’s tighter and has a harder break than when he was in high school. He needs to improve his command, not rare for such a young arm, but he did lower his walk rate in the second half of 2011.
Upside potential: Even if he moves one station at a time, Biddle profiles as a sturdy, innings-eating lefty who will have a long career in the middle of a big league rotation.
Scouting report: Despite the rough 2011 season, Colvin still has pure stuff, and a projectable pitcher’s body, that would be the envy of many a pitching prospect. His fastball is plus at times, up into the mid-90s with good sink that generates ground balls. Both his curve and his changeup have the chance to be very good secondary pitches, and he’s shown a better feel for the offspeed pitch in the past then many his age. His command suffered in 2011, something that will have to improve for him to move forward.
Upside potential: He has the stuff to pitch near the top of a rotation. If the command doesn’t bounce back, his stuff would play well in the bullpen.
Here are 4 articles you may or may not have read.
First, new farm director Joe Jordan says all the positive things you’d expect a new farm director to say about his new prospects.
Phillippe Aumont seems to be in the right frame of mind heading in to 2012.
Brody Colvin talks about his rough 2011.
Trevor May talks about yoga.
Phuture Phillies 