Obviously, Reading isn’t much of a team to watch right now with the obvious exception of number one prospect Jesse Biddle. On the other hand, Clearwater is a very exciting team to watch right now, with a bunch of talented youngsters. While it’s only May, you have to that somebody will get a call-up to Reading from Clearwater sooner or later. I’m not sure who, but I have a few possibilities in mind.

Pitching

Perci Garner- Garner has had an unexpectedly great season so far. As of now, he’s 3-0 with a 2.27 ERA. Not bad. But there has been one big problem- his control. So far through 47.2 innings pitched, he’s given away 20 free passes. Thankfully, he’s been able to limit the damage by keeping the ball in the park, only giving up 2 homers.

While Garner has pitched well, the Phillies should wait a bit to see if they can sort his control problems out.

Gabriel Arias- another pitcher who has been pretty dominant so far. 5-1 with a sparkling 1.69 ERA, Arias started off the season as a reliever, but he’s recently started starting for Clearwater. All of his numbers look good right now- WHIP (1.125) HR/9 (.4) BB/9 (2.5) K/9 (7.0). Case in point- if Arias keeps pitching like he has been, a June/July call-up would definitely seem likely.

Hitters

Maikel Franco- it’s hard not to be impressed with Franco. This year, he’s overcome his usual early-season slump, notching 8 homers (25 XBH) and 32 RBI. Furthermore, Franco is hitting .291/.341/.557.

All the numbers are impressive, but the Phillies should take their time with Franco- let me remind you that he’s still only 20.

Kelly Dugan- Dugan was injured to start the season, but now that he’s playing again, he’s tearing the cover off of the baseball. In 79 PA, he’s hitting .307/.359/.500 with 3 homers and 12 RBI. However, if you look at his stats more closely, you’ll find some uglier ones. As of now, he has 3 walks compared to 20 strikeouts. To say the least, that’s not too good of a ratio. 

Dugan has missed a lot of time with injuries, so he’ll need to accelerate his way through the system faster than Franco will have to. But I’d keep Dugan in Clearwater only if tomake sure this isn’t a hot streak, as this is his first year in A+ ball.

Cameron Perkins- In a team full of hot hitters, Perkins may be the hottest of them all. The 6’5″ 195 pound outfielder has been on fire, hitting .361/.383/.561. While his lack of walks (5) has been discouraging, he’s partially made up for it with his lack of strikeouts (19). For safe measure, he’s added on 3 HR and 3 SB. 

Like many others on this team, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a mid-summer call-up.

Aaron Altherr- another 6’5″ outfielder, Altherr has been ripping as of late. Altherr is hitting .333/.393/.566 with 4 homers, 8 stolen bases, and 25 RBI. A toolsy outfielder, this seems to be the year that Altherr is pulling everything together. 

It’s unlikely that Altherr is called up this summer as the Phillies organization will want to make sure this isn’t a case of somebody catching lightning in a bottle.

For the most part, it seems as if the prevalent theme with these guys is that a mid-summer call-up is most likely, unless injuries force the organization’s hand.

We complete the first trip around the system with a look at the Relievers. Likely promotion material over the next month to six weeks: Stutes, Robles, Murray, O’Sullivan, Inch/Broussard. We will take our next trip around the system in June.

Lehigh Valley

Mike Stutes, 26, Phils 11th round pick in 2008; 17 games; 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA; 1 save; 23.1IP 20H 10BB 22K; 1.27 GO/AO; .225 opp. avg., 1.28 WHIP; 3.9BB/8.5K per nine; .214 vs. LH, .230 vs. RH, .226 with RISP. In his last 10 outings, Stutes has a 1.93 ERA and the opposition is hitting .196 against him.  He clearly is the next call up for the Phils when they decide to release someone (Durbin) or an injury to a RHP. Continue reading Around the System–Relief Pitchers →

A look at the catchers around the organization with plenty of disappointing numbers during the early going.

Lehigh Valley

Tommy Joseph, 21, Acquired in 2012 from San Francisco; .209/.264/.358 in 67 AB’s; 3HR 14RBI; .167 vs. LH, .218 vs. RH, .438 with RISP; 6%bb/21% k rates. 21 games with 1 error (.993); 9 passed balls; 5 of 23 baserunners CS (22%);  After a very rough start to the season, Joseph was beginning to come around before going down with a concussion last week.  He is currently on the DL. Notable production with RISP.

Steven Lerud, 28, Signed as a free agent in 2012; .260/.362/.420 in 50 AB’s; 2HR 7RBI; 12%bb/26% k rates. 15 games caught with 3 errors (.971); 2 passed balls; 4 of 17 baserunners CS (24%); Lerud has done a good job in his role, adding a bit of offense to very good receiving skills. Continue reading Around the System–Catchers →

A look back at the week of May 9-15…Observations: You cant stop Cameron Perkins, you can only hope to contain him….Chace Numata is making people notice offensively and defensively in Lakewood…Each of Nick Hanson’s three starts have been very good for Lakewood…Adam Morgan has not had a good start since the second week of April….Mike Stutes needs to be in Philly….Kyle Simon’s struggles may have cost him the closers job in Reading.

Hot Hitters: James Murphy (.478, 5R 2HR 7RBI); Cameron Perkins (.455, 4RBI); Zach Taylor (.455, 7R 2HR 6RBI); Roman Quinn (.435, 6R 1HR 4RBI 4SB); Steve Susdorf (.429);  Miguel ABreu (.417); Larry Greene (.400); Sebastian Valle (.385); Darin Ruf (.360, HR 4RBI); Chace Numata (.355, 5R 1HR 5RBI, SB); Brian Pointer (.333, 5R 12RBI) Honorable Mention: Gillies, Alonso Continue reading Hot or Not →

The ‘Pigs have gone 2-5 since we last spoke and are now 16-22 on the year, 7.5 games behind division leading Buffalo in the Northern Division of the International League. Lehigh Valley finishes up their road trip with three more games against Norfolk, before returning home on Saturday for a four game series against Rochester.

‘Pigs Leaders: Cesar Hernandez is 7th in AB’s (148), 8th in runs (23), 5th in SB (10), 5th in hits(48),leads the league in triples (4) Darin Ruf is 6th in doubles (12); and 7th in strikeouts (38) Jermaine Mitchell is 2nd in triples (3); Cody Asche is 8th in strikeouts (37).

Pitchers: Ethan Martin has the 6th worst ERA (5.77), 8th worst WHIP (1.51) and is 5th in walks (23); Tyler Cloyd has the 8th worst ERA (5.40), is 8th in HR allowed (5); Jake Diekman is 4th in walks (23); BJ Rosenberg has the 9th worst WHIP (1.51).

‘Pigs Prospects: Darin Ruf has been very hot, hitting .417 with 1HR and 7RBI over his last 10 games and is now approaching .300 on the year with a line of .296/.370/.496 with 5HR and 22RBI in 136 AB’s.  Ruf has been solid in LF and played 1B once or twice a week. Ruf has consistent splits at .292 vs. LH and .297 vs. RH.  With another 50-75 solid AB’s through May, I think the Phils really need to consider adding him to the mix in the OF. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

A first look at how starters are performing around the organization.  Next report will be the catchers, late this week.

Lehigh Valley

Adam Morgan, 23, Phils 3rd round pick in 2011; 7 starts; 1-3 with a 4.70 ERA; 38.1IP 37H 12BB 28K; 5HR allowed; 0.75 GO/AO; .253 opp avg.; 2.8BB/6.6K per 9; .212 vs. LH, .265 vs. RH, .243 with RISP; 7.91 ERA in last 4 starts. Morgan started well but has been simply bad in his last four outings.  The home run ball has really hurt him.

Ethan Martin, 23, Acquired from Dodgers in 2012; 7 starts; 3-2 with a 5.77 ERA; 34.1IP 29H 23BB 34K; 1.10 GO/AO; .228 opp. avg., 6.0BB/9.0K per nine; 1.66 WHIP; 3 HR allowed; .310 vs. LH; .159 vs. RH, .281 with RISP.  Martin has looked very good in his last two starts, but he still struggles to throw strikes consistently. My prediction: by this time next year, he will have been moved to the back end of the bullpen. Continue reading Around the System–Starting Pitching →

A look at the outfield around the system.  Next up…starting pitching.

Lehigh Valley
Leandro Castro, 23, Signed as a free agent in 2006; .267/.300/419 in 105 AB’s; 3HR 12RBI; 8SB; 5%bb/15% k rates; .381 vs. LHP, .238 vs. RHP, .292 with RISP. 27 games in the OF without an error; 2 OF assists; Castro is the player I have been most impressed with this year with Lehigh Valley. He has gotten his K rate under control which was his biggest issue.  He is simply a clutch player both at bat and in the field.  Needs to work on his consistency.

Darin Ruf, 26, Phils 20th round pick in 2009; .270/.341/.487; 5HR 18 RBI; 10%bb/25% k rates; .188 vs. LHP, .287 vs. RHP, .182 with RISP. 21 games in the OF with 1 error (.976); 1 OF assist; 8 games at 1B without an error;  Ruf’s fielding has been much better than anticipated. With the bat, he has been wildly inconsistent, but his bottom line isnt bad. He does need to step it up to get back to the show Continue reading Around the System–Outfield →

A look back at the time period of May 2-8.  A few talking points…We really need to start talking about Cameron Perkins. He has been consistently wrecking the ball since Day One of the season…Tyson Gillies has continued his Not Hot status right into AA…after a rough start, Hoby Milner has been outstanding as of late…AFter a good start or two, SHane Watson has been really struggling…great to see Mike Sutues back at the top of the Hot Reliever list. If he keeps it up another couple of weeks, the Phils must find a spot for him.

Continue reading Hot or Not →

The topic of much of the season to this point is where does this team go from here.  Most of it centers around the lack of stars in the minor league system.  Not all players can be stars because it takes a level of natural ability already present to be able to reach such lofty status.  Rather than just list off guys I thought I would do this in the style of creating a team of the player with the most star potential at each position on the field.  This is a team to dream on, not a team to count on, but it is an intriguing exercise nonetheless.

Catcher – Gabriel Lino

Big raw power and big arm, but the hit tool and defensive fundamentals are flawed.  Additionally there are makeup questions with Lino and he is very far away from his ceiling with plenty to go wrong.

First Base – Dylan Cozens

A bit of a cheat here as he is still in RF, but I think his long term home is first base (he could still make it to the majors in the OF).  Cozens is a gigantic human being with power to match, he has some clue of what he is doing at the plate and plenty of athleticism right now.  He is only 18 years old and a bit stiff so there are question about how he will hold up long term.  His position won’t matter if he hits though. Continue reading Who actually has Star Potential? Or the All-Projection Team →