Trade deadline is tomorrow. I won’t even bother trying to steer the discussion in any direction for the next 2 days. You guys will talk trades anyway, so do it. I’ll just post the schedule for today. Ill do the same tomorrow. If trades are made and our system gets emptied out, I’ll talk about it. Otherwise, just discuss whatever it is you’d like to discuss. Heres the schedule…
Category Archives: Daily Discussion
Daily Discussion, 7/25
Happy Friday. Just a few quick notes from me today. First, I wanted to again thank those of you who have been here from the beginning, and those of you who might have just found the site last week during Blanton-Fest. Traffic has really surged over the last 2 months, starting a few weeks before the draft, and the momentum has continued. Seeing new opinions is always something I enjoy, and even with the huge influx of new visitors, everyone has behaved reasonably well. I did want to make a quick point though. The people who volunteer there time here writing reports (we now have a correspondent for every affiliate, which is awesome to me), are just that, volunteers, and I think its disrespectful to these people to get off topic in the comments section of their respective weekly reports. I purged a bunch of comments from the Reading post yesterday for that reason. I’m going to be more attentive in creating a daily discussion thread like this one every day for people to discuss there general thoughts. Around trade deadline time, I don’t mind discussions delving into the big league team, we’re all Phillies fans, but I’m trying to keep this site focused on the minors, since there are tons of sites and blogs devoted to discussing the major league team. We’ve kind of cornered the market here on intelligent (I think) minor league discussion, and I kind of want to keep it that way.
Also a quick update on the Wiki Project. A few of us have been working on adding info to the site, but I’m always looking for more people to help out. I haven’t posted much about the specifics of the Wiki site yet, but my goal is to have all of the information, or at least a good chunk of it, added to the site by October, and then spending the rest of the winter touching it up and making it look nice. When the Wiki site is “ready”, I’m going to be making some changes here, nothing radical, but just touching things up, moving a few things, and generally making it more visually appealing. There will be more on that in the coming days/weeks/months, and again, if you’d like to help out, send an email and I’ll give you the details. And now onto today’s games…
Joe Savery Designated Hitter?
Yes people it is true! Joe Savery was used as the team’s DH in the Clearwater Threshers game vs the Daytona Cubs. Savery was 1-3 at the plate with a sac bunt, two ground outs and a double in the game.
After not swinging a bat in a game for more than a year he was called on to do just that for the Threshers in the game on Friday night. NEVER in my 10+ years of going to minor league games in Clearwater has a pitcher been put into a game as the DH. Never even to hit for one single at bat.
Continue reading Joe Savery Designated Hitter?
Friday discussion
I’m feeling a bit under the weather this morning, so I’ll keep this short.
* Travis d’Arnaud’s hot start continues, and with this, I was again thinking about our depth at catcher. Here are the stats
Jaramillo, AAA (age 25): .255/.316/.367
Marson, AA (age 22): .322/.444/.425
Kennelly, A- (age 21): .333/.409/.472
Naughton, A- (age 21): .268/.335/.368
d’Arnaud, SS (age 19): .342/.391/.474
Valle, RK (age 17): .293/.328/.517
Kennelly should probably be playing every day in Clearwater at this point, just so we can see what we have in him. Both he and Naughton are a touch too old for Lakewood. d’Arnaud is off to a great start at Williamsport, and Valle has adjusted well above expectations in his US debut. Jaramillo even looks like a big league backup because of his defense, and he hit the ball better in June. The Phillies catching depth is better now than I can ever remember it in the past.
Clearwater Threshers News
Okay kids…I appologize, but I spent the last week dreaming up new ways to make the news fun. The Threshers are awful. They finished the first half in last place, and then immediately jumped in to last place to start the second half of the season.
This may not exactly be informative, but it is fun, right?
Instead of a weekly write up I will start a weekly video newscast for the Clearwater Threshers. This is the first single game recap. Let me know if it is totally lame or what. (That is sort of the point.)
I’m just trying to find some way…ANY WAY…to keep myself interested in the rest of this Threshers season.
Wednesday nuggets
A few quick notes on this Wednesday morning.
* First, I’d like to welcome our newest contributor, neduolcaz (Zac), who will be taking over the Reading report, giving you some weekly insight into our AA affiliate. As always, I greatly appreciate the help of my contributors here, who help make this site what it is. Be polite and welcome Zac aboard.
* I checked the Lakewood boxscore last night before heading to the gym, to see Julian Sampson had pitched 3 innings, allowing 0 ER and just 3 hits. I came back 2 hours later to find out he got shelled for 7 ER on 10 H and 2 BB in his final 2 innings. Such is the life of a young pitcher in his first full season. In many cases, guys are left in games like this to just experience that aspect of the game, to try and work out of it, and to take something from it. Sampson, as was expected, has been inconsistent, but there have been plenty of promising signs.
* Michael Taylor has struggled in his first 5 games at Clearwater, going 3/19 with 1 2B and 7 K, and has yet to draw a walk. There’s certainly no reason to panic just yet. Some players take longer to adjust, not just to the different quality of players, but to completely new surroundings. I can imagine the Jersey shore is a bit different than Clearwater Florida in the middle of the summer. I fully expect Taylor to turn things on in the next month or so.
* We talk a lot about Adrian Cardenas, and what position he should play, and how good he is defensively, but the thing about him that impresses me the most is this
v LHP: 47 AB — .319/.385/.468 — 5 BB — 9 K
v RHP: 151 AB — .312/.382/.470 — 18 BB — 23 K
Cardenas is actually hitting better against lefties than he is righties. Its very common for lefthanded hitters to struggle against lefties in the minors, and learn to hit them better as they see more of them. Chase Utley is a recent example of this, struggling against lefties for his first 2 seasons in the majors. Cardenas, while not facing tons of ML quality lefties, is more than holding his own against southpaws, something which can only be seen as a positive at this point in his development.
Daily Discussion; 6/20
I’ll touch on some of the interesting points in last night’s action, then we’ll get to today’s games.
GCL Phillies won 5-2.
* Sebastian Valle, likely to be the best prospect on the team, hit his first home run in pro ball.
Williamsport won 8-0.
* Rob Roth, who has scuffled a bit the last two seasons, pitched 6 shutout innings. Brandon Haislet went 1/1 with 3 BB from the leadoff spot.
Lakewood won 5-0.
* Julian Sampson, after reading my words of encouragement, tossed 6 shutout innings.
Clearwater lost 12-6.
* Benson and newly promoted Ben Pfinsgraff got shellacked. Cardenas was 2/5, Taylor was 1/5 in his FSL debut.
Reading won 4-3.
* Newly promoted Tyson Brummett goes 8.2 innings, leaving with the bases loaded only to see Sam Walls allow all 3 runs to score. King Lou goes 0/3 with a BB.
Lehigh Valley won 8-2.
* Chris Snelling got hurt, Swindle struck out the side and Jaramillo took an 0/4. Thats really all there is to see here.
Now, onto today’s action…
Daily Discussion; 6/3
I’ll throw the daily discussion thread up here, and then I’m also going to work on something for the draft, as thats the mode I’m in right now. First a recap of yesterday’s action
Lakewood wins 8-7.
Clearwater wins 8-7.
Lehigh Valley loses 5-1.
And now for today’s games…
Daily Discussion; 5/28
First a recap of yesterday’s action
Lakewood wins 6-5.
Clearwater loses 10-5.
Reading loses 3-1.
Lehigh Valley wins 7-3.
Quick note. SQUIRE, if you read this, can you please drop me an e-mail? I have a question/inquiry for you.
Today’s action….
Daily Discussion; 5/27
I don’t have time today to post all of the recaps from the weekend games, but feel free to discuss any of those results should the urge hit you. Here are a few talking points before we get to today’s games;
* Andrew Carpenter now has a 6.18 ERA in 55.1 IP. Is this just a case of him having a poor two months adjusting to AA? Is he carrying an injury? I raised the notion about 6 weeks ago that he could have trouble this year, as he violated the “Rule of 30” last season.
* Lou Marson has a 1.150 OPS in 36 AB v LHP. His .843 OPS against RHP is still impressive, but man is he destroying lefties. Overall, he’s hitting .424 in his last 10 games with 2 2B, 2 HR, 2 SB, and 8 BB to go with 8 K. Young Lou is on fire.
* While I’m normally the guy that stresses patience when everyone wants a guy promoted after 6 weeks, can someone explain to me why 24 year old Chance Chapman is still at Lakewood? Has he already ascended into “organizational filler” less than a year after being drafted? His peripherals are decent, but he’s pitching against guys 4-5 years younger than him. If anyone should be converted to a reliever and fast-tracked, its Chapman.
Now, onto today’s games
Phuture Phillies 