A look at the ‘Pigs weekend with a few notes below.

Friday–Another night with little offense as Lehigh Valley opened a series against Gwinnett and were shut out 3-0.  Three early runs by Gwinnett off of starter Joe Savery, and the fact that the ‘Pigs couldnt move a runner past second base all night led to the loss. After giving up 3 runs in the first inning, Savery (0-3) settled down, but his line was a fairly typical line, 6IP 4H 3ER 5BB 3K. John Mayberry was 2-4 for Lehigh Valley who left 13 runners on base and have now fallen to 8 games below .500. Continue reading ‘Pigs Weekend Update →

Brad Lidge was placed on the DL once again with right elbow inflammation, retroactive to May 9, after making just 4 appearances for the Phils.  Called up from Lehigh Valley to take his roster spot is LHP Antonio Bastardo, who has allowed just 1 hit, and no earned runs in his 5 appearances in Lehigh Valley since being sent down a couple of weeks ago.  Bastardo has struck out 8 in 3.2 innings or work for Lehigh Valley.

Update: The corresponding Lehigh Valley roster move has RHP Alex Concepcion been activated from the DL (turf toe).

One more notable transaction today, Reading reliever Chance Chapman was placed on the DL with a Right Oblique Strain.  P Tyson Brummett, who has been exclusively in releif this year, and quite well for CLearwater was called up to Reading.

You asked and Josh Zeid answered. A huge thank you goes out to Lakewood BlueCLaws Media Relations Director Greg Giombarrese for arranging this and asking your questions, and obviously to Josh Zeid who took time away from his day to answer your questions. Check out http://www.blog.blueclaws.com/   for all your Lakewood BlueClaws info including audio of the transcript below.

How has the bullpen been so far, and how do you prepare mentally as compared to your role as a starter? I enjoy it a little bit more because I like to come to the field knowing I’m going to play almost every day.That plays a big part in the happiness of my pro career so far.  To prepare mentally, you have to work hard every day because it might be the day you pitch, or the next day or the next day. You have to stay prepared every day. Continue reading Josh Zeid Q and A →

I was very high on Singleton this winter, so him being sent to Lakewood now makes me happy. It makes me even happier that he’s homered in his first game. Talk about it here, because I know that a few people here will make mention of it in 3 other unrelated previous postings.

Box Score

Some breaking news out of Reading this morning, OF Tyson Gillies, acquired in the CLiff Lee deal was placed on the DL with a left hamstring strain.  Gillies had been playing better lately after really struggling initially this year.  He had a 7 game hitting streak snapped on Monday, With speed being Gillies game, the Phils are sure to be conservative with this injury.  Gillies was hitting .247 with 2 HR and 6 RBI, to go along with 1 stolen base in his 97 AB’s this season. See below for Aumont commenatry from todays game. Continue reading Gillies Placed on DL, Aumont Update →

The Lakewood BlueClaws have been kind enough to arrange for a Question and Answer with reliever Josh Zeid.  Zeid, a 6’4, 210 reliever was named the Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Month for the Month of April.  Zeid, 23,  was chosen in the 10th Round of the 2009 draft out of Tulane University.  Zeid spent the first two seasons of his collegiate career at Vanderbilt, and then transferred to Tulane.  He was the Gatorade Connecticut High School Player of the Year his senior year in high school.

Continue reading Q and A with Josh Zeid →

A look at the Lehigh Valley weekend.  See below for summaries and notes.

Friday–AFter a strong start in which Lehigh Valley took the early lead on a Melvin Dorta RBI single and Ryan Vogelsong struck out 5 of the first 6 hitters he faced, things went downhill quickly in the 6-3 Lehigh Valley loss to Columbus. Columbus took the lead with a two run third, however Lehigh Valley quickly answered with two of their own on a Neil Sellers two run double.  Columbus tied the game in the 4th, off of starter Ryan Vogelsong who went 5 inningd, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits.  He walked 2 and struck out 9.  The wheels fell off in the 8th when a crucial error by Luis Maza led to three unearned runs, sealing the game for the Clippers. Mike Zagurski (0-1) took the loss.  Neil Sellers was 2-3 at the plate with 2 RBI’s, while Cody Ransom was 1-3 with 2 runs scored and 2 stolen bases. Continue reading ‘Pigs Weekend Update →

Thanks to the amazing resource that is Prospectube.com, I found five new videos of Jarred Cosart. They were uploaded just a few days ago, and come from his April 14th appearance.

Part 1, 4/14/2010
Part 2, 4/14/2010
Part 3, 4/14/2010
Part 4, 4/14/2010
Part 5, 4/14/2010

Old scouting bureau video pre-2008 draft.

Just a few thoughts. His tempo is still very slow, and that hitch from his pre-draft delivery is still there. But it appears the Phillies have smoothed out his motion a bit, and he seems a bit more under control. The arm speed is still blazing fast, and you can see the fastball explode out of his hand. The big difference I see is that he comes from a lower arm slot, so I don’t think he’ll be able to throw a traditional curveball, and I wonder how well he’ll be able to command a changeup from that slot. He throws a few hard sliders in the video, which will probably be the preferred secondary pitch he sticks with. I wonder if maybe he’ll be able to pick up a split finger grip on a changeup, similar to the pitch Roy Halladay uses. Halladay’s “changeup” sits in the 83-85 range, from what I’ve seen, and with Cosart’s 93-96 mph fastball, that would be an ideal range for his changeup as well. Still, impressive stuff here. Massive arm strength.

You can also check out other good videos of Lakewood guys by looking at the channel for this user, PhillesProspects, here.

As a regular reader, you know that I generally (almost always) discourage talking about the big league team here. This site was started with a very targeted purpose, to focus solely on the minor leagues. There are some situations where it is important to discuss the big league team, ie, how current prospects fit in to the big league team, or if a player gets injured and the speculation is to who replaces him. But in general, I don’t really care about the latest Phillies game with regard to this site. We’re here to focus on the Phillies minor league system. That said, when I see something consistently get brought up over and over again, and it does tie in somewhat directly with the minor league system, I feel it does warrant attention and discussion. This is the case with the idea of Jayson Werth’s future in the Phillies organization. In my opinion, the “analysis” of Werth’s future beyond 2010 has been somewhat shoddy. So I’m going to do my best to explain why I think its far more likely that Werth re-signs here than goes elsewhere. After that, you can make a judgment, but hopefully when someone brings it up and uses the incorrect assumptions, you correct them and maybe show them this post. I’m going to try and be as detailed as possible. Check below for more

Continue reading The economics of keeping Jayson Werth →

LV loses 6-3: Mayberry 0/3, walk; Zagurski 3-run inning, loss; Mathieson 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, K

Reading loses 12-7: Berry 1/4, 2B; Gillies 1/4; Brown 2/4, HR; Galvis 0/4; Stutes 1 IP, 1 BB, 2 K; Aumont 3.1 IP, 8! BB–I’m pretty sure he’s hurt

CLW wins 8-3: Gose 0/4, BB; Overbeck 2/5, 2 2B, 3 K ;Rizzotti 0/3, 2 BB; Sussdorf 2/3, HR, BB; Kennelly 2/3, 2B, HR, BB; Hanzawa 2/4; Sanchez 7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Lakewood wins 3-1 (on only 3 hits): Hewitt 1/3, HR; Santana 1/2, BB; Villar 1/3, 3B; Way 7.2 IP, 5 H , 1 R, 0 BB, 10 K; Shreve 0.1 IP, 1 K; Zeid 1 IP, 2 K, save