A look at the catchers throughout the organization. Next up: the OF from the high levels of the organization.

Lehigh Valley

Cameron Rupp, 24, Phils 3rd round pick in 2010; .236/.305/.418 in 225 AB’s between Reading and Lehigh Valley; 10HR 33RBI; 8%bb/24%K rates; .220 since June 1. Has caught 55 games with 4 errors (.991); 3 passed balls; Has thrown out 16/52 would be base stealers (31%); Rupp has been asked to really step up this year for a variety of reasons and he has been predominately up to the task. I like Rupp and while he does not project as a major league starter, he could be a very effective back up with another 250-300 minor league AB’s.

Steven Lerud, 28, Re-signed as free agent in 2013; .242/.405/.358 in 120 AB’s; 3HR 17RBI; .214 vs. LH, .250 vs. RH, .243 with RISP; 20%bb/24% k rates; 41 games caught with 6 errors (.981); 1 passed ball; Has thrown out 13/39 would be base stealers (33%); Lerud has played well for Lehigh Valley. Even with a marginal batting average, the huge walk rate has led to an excellent OBP. Above average defensively, pitchers like throwing to him.  Seemed over matched offensively in the majors but a capable short term fix if necessary. Continue reading Around the System–Catchers →

One of the biggest moments in a prospect’s development is making the 40-man roster because it puts them in the position to be called up to the majors at any time.  Additionally, it comes with an invite to major league training camp.  Not making the 40-man is not the end for a prospect, but it can indicate a lot about their position in the organization.

That being said, for those prospects on the bubble of consideration their inclusion can depend on whether their profile is attractive to another team looking to make a pick in the Rule V draft.  In addition to Rule V picks the Phillies have a trio of interesting OFs that will be eligible for minor league free agency.

Locks:

Cameron Rupp: Rupp’s lack of overall upside has been stated many times on this site, but there is no doubt that he could be a solid major league back up to open 2014.  Almost any team would love to pick up that type of player for $50,000 in the Rule V making him a must protect. Continue reading Midseason Look at 40-Man Considerations →

As many of you are aware, 5PM today is the last time 2013 draft picks can sign. The Phillies are still negotiating with Ben Wetzler, (5th) and they are not expected to sign Jason Monda (6th), but Jim Callis from BA just broke news on Twitter that 11th Rounder Denton Keys has signed, for an amount (not stated) that will put the Phillies into the bonus pool tax. That’s a 50% tax on every dollar spent over the allotted bonus pool, up to 5% over the pool, after which a 1st-round-draft-pick penalty is assessed, (not happening with a guy like Keys). This year’s bonus pool is floating at the moment until we know if Wetzler signs, and 11-40th rounders get the first $100k without changing the pool. So while we don’t know if Wetzler will sign, we can assume Keys’ bonus is somewhere north of $275k and less than $540k.

I’ll update this thread later with any other news, and link you to the final calculations when it’s complete. You can check out the draft tracker by clicking on the draft link at the top and picking 2013.

Just after 5pm, and Callis is reporting Ben Wetzler is going back to school. Rodney Dangerfield would be proud. As a Phillies fan, not so much. Also Callis is reporting Keys’ bonus to be $350k, which puts the Phillies $73,500 over their allotment, costing them $36,750 in tax.

Looks like 30th Rounder Venn Biter has signed as well. He retweeted a photo of him signing and congrats from his people. Thanks to commenter IHeartDomBrown below for posting that photo.

Continue reading Draft Signing Day →

NYPhilsmaniac 19 is at it again, this time at Lakewood. Flat out great job with the report. 

Here are the answers to your questions.  I really enjoyed answering and researching them. Feel free to ask any more questions or ask for clarification and I will try my best to answer them in the comments.

Ajay says:

A look at the time period of July 4-10….Plenty of good hitting around the organization this week…I am getting disproportionately excited over JP Crawford considering he has less than 75 professional AB’s…I will “bite”, Steve Susdorf should be given a shot to be a left handed bat off the Phils bench…Maikel Franco just keeps plugging along…Good to  to see Nic Hanson back from his injury and performing well…Brody Colvin is pretty much an unmitigated disaster at this stage… Mario Hollands needs to be promoted to Reading.

Hot Hitters: Steve Susdorf (.500); JP Crawford (.500, 4rs, 2SB); Michael Martinez (.455, 6R); Jon Roof (.450, 8R 2HR 11RBI); Andrew Pullin (.440, 7RBI); Maikel Franco (.438); Derrick Mitchell (.429); Jia Tromp (.429); Willie Carmona (.424, 4RBI); Brock Stassi (.350); Cody Asche (.343, 6R 5RBI 3SB); Honorable Mention: Murphy, Gillies, Lerud, Overbeck, Sandberg, Greene, Galvis, Mora, Hernandez Continue reading Hot or Not →

A look at where we are at up the middle throughout the organization.  Plenty to talk about at the top level…

Lehigh Valley

Freddy Galvis, 23, Signed as a free agent in 2006; Hitting .265 in 49 AB’s since being sent down to AAA; 1HR 6RBI; 10 games at SS with 1 error (.979); 2 games at 2B without an error; 1 game at 3B without an error.

Cesar Hernandez, 23, SIgned as a free agent in 2006; .313/.379/.418 in 297 AB’s; 2HR 27RBI; 27/33 SB; .315 vs. LH, .312 vs. RH, .274 with RISP; .327 since June 1; 10%bb/18% k rates; 74 games at 2B with 9 errors (.974); 4.50 R/F; 2 games in the OF without an error; Hernandez has been outstanding this year and extremely consistent as well. He is among the league leaders in several offensive categories and his defense has been well above average as well. Continue reading Around the System–Middle Infield →

Lehigh Valley went 4-5 this week, which ended with a  6-1 victory on Tuesday evening and now stand at 49-45, 4 games behind division leading Pawtucket in the Northern Division of the International League and one game behind Norfolk in the wildcard race.  The ‘Pigs play three more at home this week, before traveling to Syracuse for a short two game series over the weekend prior to the all star break.

‘Pigs Prospects: Cesar Hernandez has been outstanding as of late, hitting over .400 during the past two weeks and continuing to steal bases with a very high success rate.  Notably, Hernandez played a game in CF and has been regularly taking fly balls in the outfield. On the year, Hernandez is hitting .313/.379/.418 with 2HR 27RBI to go along with 27SB.  Hernandez has been extremely solid in the field as well.

Tyson Gillies has hit in 7 of his 8 games since his promotion (7-28) and 16 of his last 19 games if you combine the success he was having in Reading.  Still too early to tell how well the new swing and new maturity? will translate to Lehigh Valley, but there is a glimmer of hope.  On the year, Gillies is hitting a combined .238/.299/.405 between Reading and Lehigh Valley. He has 9HR 26RBI and is 9/14 stealing bases. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

The always insightful NYPhilsManiac19 has been kind enough to once again give us a guest post after attending a recent Threshers game. 

Around the quarter point mark of the season I did a mailbag soliciting questions from here, email, and Twitter.  I thought it brought out some interesting question and discussions, so I am going to repeat it here.  Feel free to leave questions here or on Twitter (my email is in the writer’s tab at top) for me or any of the writers here.

We will run your questions and our answers later in the week.