I haven’t had a chance to really write anything recently (though there is a Zach Green piece in the works), and I likely won’t do another mailbag for a week or so, so I thought it might be nice to have an informal thread to ask specific questions you are looking for answers from me (though anyone with a good response feel free to jump in).  If there is anything that does not fit into a quick response I reserve the right to add it to the next mailbag or write a full response column to it.

My only request is that you start a new post for each new question and make sure that your replies are in reply to the original question so that it keeps this as clean as possible.

A look back at the time period of August 8th thru 14…Random thoughts…Maikel Franco trying to silence the critics suggesting he has slowed down of late…Willie Carmona is perhaps the most “under the radar” player in the Phils system. While he is a bit old for Low A, he has been one of the very few in the organization sitting at .300 most of the year…Tyler Cloyd has shown resiliency through his early season struggles and come on very strong over the last 6 weeks…Mike Nesseth has pitched consistently well for Reading since his call up from Clearwater. Expect him to be a key 7th and 8th inning guy in the Lehigh Valley bullpen next year.

Note: Minimum 12AB’s and Min 5IP to be a “hot pitcher”.

Hot Hitters: Willie Carmona (.438); Tyson Gillies (.438, 6R 2SB); Derrick Mitchell (.429); Deivi Gruillon (.429); Maikel Franco (.417, 7RBI); Herlis Rodriguez(.417); Wilmer Oberto (.417); Jair Morelos (.400); Pete Orr (.385); Venn Biter (.357); Trey Williams (.357). Honorable Mention: Sandberg, Susdorf, Moore, Hanzawa, Collier Continue reading Hot or Not →

Lehigh Valley ended their season long ten game road trip with a 5-4 loss to Gwinnett on Monday, but all in all had a successful trip ending up 6-4.  After an off day on Tuesday, the ‘Pigs open a short three game homestand against Syracuse on Wednesday, before heading up the Northeast Extension for two against Scranton over the weekend.  On the year, Lehigh Valley is 63-61 and in 4th place of the Northern Division of the International League, 4 games behind division leading Rochester, and just 1.5 games behind Buffalo in the wild card race.

‘Pigs Prospects:Adam Morgan is 1-1 with a 1.33 ERA in his 5 starts since coming off the DL which is quite impressive except for considering the fact that he has thrown just 20.1innings in those 5 starts(4IP per start).  Morgan has been on a 75-85 pitch count since his return and while he has shown effectiveness at times, has run his pitch count up pretty quickly in each of his starts. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

A look at the bullpen in the upper reaches of the organization. Stats are through Thursday August 8th and a warning before you read: This is not pretty, especially in Lehigh Valley and Reading.

Lehigh Valley

Phillipe Aumont, 24, Acquired from Seattle in 2009; 24 games; 0-1 with a 5.18ERA; 2 saves; 24.1IP 21H 27BB 31K; 0.86GO/AO; .233 opp. avg; 10.0BB/11.5K per nine; 1.97WHIP; .273 vs. LH, .196 vs. RH, .220 with RISP; 0-1 with a 3.97ERA in his last 10 outings (9BB in 11.1IP). Simply look at the names in the Philadelphia bullpen and you will see how far Aumont’s stock has dropped in the organizations eyes.  He simply can’t throw strikes consistently and some attitude issues have cropped up. Continue reading Around the System–Relievers, Top Half →

Luis Encarnacion turned 16 today and the Philllies immediately signed him to an amateur contract with a $1 million signing bonus.  Rather than have me paraphrase it, here is Baseball America’s report on the signing http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/phillies-sign-no-4-international-prospect-luis-encarnacion/.

Encarnacion will be limited in his defensive profile, but if he develops at least a plus hit tool and plus power, the position will not matter.  BA comps him to Allen Craig and Billy Butler.  It is tough to rank Encarnacion on any Phillies prospect lists until people see him outside of the showcase events.  If the Phillies follow past precedent they will bring him stateside for Florida Instructional League before starting him in the GCL in 2014.

NYPhilsManiac reporting on quite the barn burner here:

Williamsport @ Tri-City 8/7 Game Report

The Phillies have sent Tommy Joseph home due to lingering concussion symptoms.  Joe Jordan has said that they may move him to another position in spring training.  First base seems to be the only option and Joseph’s bat is not special at first and makes him a borderline non-prospect.  There will likely be more coming out on this over the next few days.

The important thing here is Joseph’s health.  Concussions are very serious and it is Joseph’s best long term interest to not be put in a situation that good cause another one, the long term risks are too great.

I had these grand plans of a full re-ranking and write-up to fit on all the new prospects from the deadline, but that didn’t happen.  Instead I am going to highlight some guys I think are trending up and guys I think are trending down.  That will be followed be a list of 30 names and numbers that you are free to pick apart but please realize was rendered obsolete at 4pm central time on August 7 when I stopped tinkering with it.  For reference here is the original mid-season list https://phuturephillies.com/2013/06/18/midseason-top-20/

Trending Down:

Maikel  France/Jesse Biddle: Yes Franco went on a tear in AA, yes they are both still in the exact same spots on the rankings, but I think the gap between them and the rest of the system has closed for a variety of reasons.  For Biddle the command is a real worry because the allure was always the safety in the profile, now there are some doubts in whether he does have the high floor we thought he had.  Franco started off red hot in AA but over the past 25+ games his strikeout rate has trended towards career rates while the walk rate remains low, additionally he is not hitting for a ton of power over that stretch.  I have real worries that the swing/approach will continue to limit the utility of the power until fixed. Continue reading Mid Season Ranking Supplement →

A look at the time period of August 1 thru August 7. Quick thoughts…Its time to move JP Crawford up. There is nothing to suggest he couldnt handle to NYPL and he is likely to be in Lakewood anyway next year, so why not challenge him? Cody Overbeck is putting up a very quiet 2o plus HR season…Mitch Walding has been one of the larger disappointments over the last two years. I havent lost hope, but he just cant put it together for a prolonged period…Cameron Perkins is pretty clearly still bothered by his wrist injury, as he has landed consistently on the Not Hot list since his return from the DL…Adam Morgan has been effective but has thrown alot of pitches in each of his starts, leading to a 5 inning max since his return from the DL.

Hot Hitters: JP Crawford (.524, 4R, 1HR 9RBI, SB); Jair Morelos (.500); Cody Overbeck (.407, 3HR); Pete Orr (.414); Zach Collier (.379); Troy Hanzawa (.357); Delvi Gruillon (.357); Harold Martinez (.353); Herlis Rodriguez (.348); Zach Green (.333, 5R 3HR 6RBI); Honorable Mention: Knapp, Oberto, Susdorf, Rupp, Continue reading Hot or Not →

After a 4-1 victory over Charlotte on Tuesday, Lehigh Valley is 60-58, and tied for 3rd place in the Northern DIvision of the International league, 1.5 games behind division leading Rochester and 2 games behind Pawtucket in the wild card race. The ‘Pigs remain on the road with games against Charlotte and Gwinnett thru next Monday. 

‘Pigs leaders (thru Monday); Hitting: Cody Asche is 7th in AB’s(404); 4th in hits(119), 4th in RBI’s (68); Cody Overbeck is 9th in doubles (26), 7th in HR (18) and 4th in strikeouts(117) Cesar Hernandez leads the league in triples (8),is 5th in avg. (.310),is 8th in OBP(.375) and is 2nd in SB(29). Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →