A Nationals Scout has been at Coca Cola Park checking out Lehigh Valley the last three nights and is following the team to Charlotte for their three game series against the Knights.

Joe Savery had a rough night in his first post all star game start, taking the loss (12-2), and giving up six runs on 8 hits in 5 innings of work last night for Reading.

Michael Schwimer pitched two shutout innings for Clearwater last night, striking out 5 of the 6 hitters he faced, while Steve Susdorf added another multihit game to his book, raising his average with CLearwater to .414.

Continue reading Daily Discussion →

OF Dominic Brown, SS Freddy Galvis, and P Scott Mathieson were all activated from the disabled list by Clearwater, giving their roster a much needed jolt.  Onto the disabled list went SS Jesus Villegas Andino, P Julian Sampson  and C Orlando Guevara.

C Tim Kennelly homered in his first game behind the plate for Reading, while Jeremy Slayden continued swinging his hot bat since his demotion back to AA.  Slayden is hitting .375 with 7 homers since being sent down, seeing time mostly at DH. It was a rough outing for Kyle Drabek in the Reading loss, allowing 5 earned runs in 6 innings.

Another “under the radar” name in Lakewood is second baseman Harold Garcia.  Garcia,  22, is hitting .292 with 7 HR and 43 RBI for the BlueClaws, to go along with an impressive 29 SB, and .325 avg. with RISP.

Carlos Carrasco on the mound in Game Two tonight for Lehigh Valley in their doubleheader, looking to get on track after a disappointing first half.

Both Reading starter Yohan Flande and Lakewood starter Justin DeFratus have had trouble adjusting to their new environments, FLande in Reading, and DeFratus starting.  Flande is now 0-4 witha 7.58 ERA in his first 4 starts with Reading, while DeFratus is 0-3 with an 11.15 ERA in his first 4 starts for Lakewood.

Anthony Gose stole his 50th base of the season last night for Lakewood in their 14-11 loss.

A fractured left hand will keep Reading starting catcher Tuffy Gosewich out of the lineup for an extended period of time. Continue reading Daily Discussion →

According to David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News, Jason Knapp has been placed on the disabled list with “shoulder fatigue”.

Both Freddy Galvis (0-5) and Dominic Brown (3-3) played yesteday for the GCL Phils, and both should be expected back in the Clearwater lineup soon.

A guy worth taking some note of is Jesus Sanchez at (A) Lakewood.  Sanchez, who was a catcher up until last year has gotten progressively better during his first year on the mound this year and is starting to put up numbers worth watching.  Sanchez has allowed seven earned runs in his last six starts.  He is 4-1 with a 1.91 ERA in those outings, with good control (6BB/23K).

Toronto Assistant General Manager Anthony LaCava was in Lakewood on Monday sitting behind home plate.

 Jason Knapp had an uncharacteritic awful outing on Saturday, lasting just 0.2 of an inning.

Lakewood closer Brian Rosenberg has not allowed an earned run since May 31.

Five Reading Phillies will be taking part in the Eastern League All Star Game tonight.  The players include: P Vance Worley, P Joe Savery, OF Michael Taylor, 3B Neil Sellers, and OF Quintin Berry.

We have gotten quite a few excellent questions for Travis Mattair.  He will be interviewed either tomorrow or Wednesday.  Look for his answers before the end of the week.  As we have quite a few questions, please hold up on any more. We can’t saturate him too much…We will be looking to do more interviews similar to this over the next several weeks.

Jason Donald began his climb back into the Lehigh Valley lineup by playing today for the GCL Phils.  He went 1-3 with a run scored. 

After being unable to complete a deal, the Phils optioned Jack Taschner down to AAA Lehigh Valley.

Kyle Drabek’s line today: 7IP, 6H, 2R, 1BB, 5K. CF Quintin Berry stole his 29th base of the year for Reading.

Jason Knapp on the hill for Lakewood tonight. Check in for game updates at http://blog.blueclaws.com/

Rodrigo Lopez, a 33 year old righty who has spent this year in lehigh Valley was called up by the Phils today and named the starter for Friday nights game againt the Mets.  The trade yesterday for Brian Mazone by Lehigh Valley was the prologue to this deal, as the Phils needed to protect themselves with another veteran AAA starter if they lose Lopez when/if he is sent back down.  Lopez is out of options.  Lopez was 5-4 with a 3.91 ERA in Allentown and has pitched very well recently. Lopez, who is recently recovered from Tommy John surgery has over five years of major league experience, most recently with Colorado. He is a two time major league 15 game winner.

Kyle Kendrick took the complete game loss last night for Lehigh Valley, on a night where he induced 21 outs that came from ground balls, giving up just 2 earned runs.  He did commit two throwing errors, one of which was very costly that led to a Norfolk run.  Both Phillies President Dave Montgomery and Assistant GM Benny Looper were in the house to watch. 

Scott Eyre is getting the start for Reading today, and will be followed by Kyle Drabek.  Eyre will pitch the first inning in his first rehab appearance.  After the difficult debut by Yohan FLande last night (6IP, 5ER), the Reading bullpen shut down Altoona (Zagurski struck out the side in his inning) and Kevin Mahar hit a game winning, walk off homer in the 12th inning.  Mahar ended the month of June hitting .378 for the month. Ruben Amaro took in the Reading contest.  Reliever Sam Walls was released to make roster space for Flande.

In Lakewood, Jason Knapp had a 12 strikeout performance in just 5 shutout innings of work last night.  He left after having thrown over 100 pitches in those 5 innings.  According to the Blueclaws media relations staff, Knapp was clocked at 98 mph on the LAST pitch he threw.

A rough outing last night in CLearwater for the recently promoted Tyler Cloyd who gave up 6 runs (4 earned), on 9 hits, in 5.2 innings in his Clearwater debut.  Justin DeFratus had similar troubles in his first start in Lakewood giving up three runs in three innings.  He was pulled after three as he is on a pitch count, as his arm needs to be stretched out.

In Reading, 4 more hits for Michael Taylor combined with Joe Savery’s 10th win of the year as he threw six more shutout innings, in the 12-2 Rwading drubbing of Trenton.

The decision on who will be called up from Lehigh Valley to take Antonio Bastardo’s rotation spot will be made today.  The Lehigh Valley rotation lines up with Kendrick throwing tonight, followed by Carrasco scheduled for tomorrow and Carpenter in Game One of a doubleheader on Friday.  I will be at Coca Cola Park tonight and will do my best to get some info posted before game time at 7:00 should I learn anything.

A big step yesterday for Scott Mathieson, the 25 year old big right handed pitcher recovering from multiple Tommy John surgeries.  Mathieson threw 2 shutout innings for the GCL Phils, picking up the win without yielding a hit.  He didnt walk a batter and struck out three. 

Six shutout innings for Jon Pettibone in his second start for Williamsport yesterday.  He allowed 4 hits, walked 2 and struck out 6.  The early problems of Anthony Hewitt continue with an 0-3 (2 k’s) to go along with his 3rd error of the young season. Continue reading Daily Discussion →

As reported yesterday on Scott Lauber’s blog, Philled In, Jason Donald has been in Clearwater for about a week rehabbing from knee surgery.  Donald should be back in the Lehigh Valley lineup right around the International League all star break.

Andy Martino, the beat writer from the Inquirer mentioned yesterday that he believed the best candidate for the Phillies bullpen may come from within.  He specifically mentioned the possibility of  Kyle Drabek in a bullpen role in Philly this year.  Thoughts?

Several additions to the Lakewood roster today: Of Vladimir DeLos Santos, C Ryan Gugel, RHP Jordan Ellis and RHP Freddie Ballestas.

In Williamsport, 7 shutout innings  from 22 year old Siulman Lebron, in the 1-0 Crosscutter victory last night. Lebron (2-0) gave up just two hits over his 7 innings, while walking one and striking out 10.

A transaction of note has catcher Sebastian Valle  being sent from Lakewood to Williamsport.  In Williamsport he will presumably play every day, rather than sit behind Travis D’Arnaud in Lakewood.

A rough first couple of games for top Phils pick Kelly Dugan.  0-8 with 3 strikeouts in the GCL.  On the bright side, 18 year old pitcher Julio Rodriguez threw five shutout innings in the GCL Phils 2-1 win last night. He gave up just 3 hits and struck out 7.

Oh, and Michael Taylor had another three hit game for Reading raising his average to .340.  He is making it extremely tough to keep him at AA, and dare I say “untouchable”?

In Reading, Michael Taylor hit his 13th homer of the year, and his third homer in as many nights in the RPHILS loss last night. Taylor was 3-5 on the night, raising his average to .336.

Down in Clearwater, recently promoted Steve Susdorf got off to a good start for the Threshers with a three hit game.

The early struggles of Anthony Hewitt continue in Williamsport.  Through five games, Hewitt is hitting .105 with 6 strikeouts in his first 21 plate appearances for the Crosscutters.

Look for Kyle Kendrick to get the start for Lehigh Valley on Thursday, after his rain shortened, o.1 of an inning outing on Monday night.