The Phillies optioned starter Kyle Kendrick to AAA Lehigh Valley after a very rough outing for him against the Cardinals last night that featured multiple mound visits by Rich Dubee.  Called up to fill in Kendrick’s roster spot is right hander Drew Carpenter.  It is unclear righ now if Carpenter will take Kendrick’s turn in the rotation.  Kendrick, who the 3rd best ERA in the Phils starting rotation, joins Lehigh Valley having gone 5-4 with a 4.82 ERA in 18 starts for the Phils.  Carpenter has been consistent for Lehigh Valley, going 7-6 with a 3.41 ERA in his 18 starts.  Certainly an interesting move in light of the fact that JA Happ sits in Lehigh Valley as well.  Happ has not yet put together a solid start for Lehigh Valley struggling at least mildly in each outing.

The most common question I get when people e-mail me is “What do you think of pitcher X” or “what is pitcher X’s upside”. I figured that this would be a good spot for me to talk a bit about how I look at pitchers, what I focus on, and why, and then to also talk a little about my theory on starting pitching designations in the majors. Hopefully this will answer some questions that people have, or just serve as a good discussion on player evaluation. So check below and we’ll get started.

Continue reading On rotation spot designations, upside, and velocity →

Just a brief note that Lakewood closer Jordan Ellis, 24 was promoted to High A Clearwater.  Ellis although old for the league has pitched very well, going 3-3 with a 2.47 ERA in 33 games to go along with 11 saves.  In his 43.2 innings of work, Ellis has allowed 31 hits, walked 17 and struck out 55.  Opponents were hitting just .200 against him, and his WHIP in Lakewood stood at 1.09. Going to Clearwater along with Ellis is Catcher Torre Langley, 22.

New faces on the Lakewood roster are Catcher David Doss along with LHP Kyle Carr who was the Twins 12th Round pick in the ’08 draft.

The ranks of the infirm have finally started to dwindle, with another activation from the disabled list by the Phillies, this time catcher Carlos Ruiz. To make room on the roster, the Phils designated catcher Dane Sardinha for assignment.  Sardinha filled in admirably, even knocking a few homers out of the yard during a time where both Ruiz and Brian Schneider were suffering through injuries.

A look at the current starting rotations for the top half of the minor league organization.  Lakewood, Williamsport and GCL to follow next week sometime.

Lehigh Valley

JA Happ, 27, Makes his first start (other than rehab) for Lehigh Valley Saturday evening.

Andrew Carpenter, 25, 16 starts, 7-6 with a 3.21 ERA; 89.2 IP 85H 30BB 63K; 1.28 WHIP; .252 opp. avg., 1.11 Go/AO; .192 vs. LH, .301 vs. RH, .218 with RISP.  Carpenter has once again been very solid and has been denied any meaningful opportunity at Major League work whether starting or in long relief.  Maybe in time.

Nate Bump, 33, 16 starts, 7-4 with a 2.55 ERA; 95.1 IP 102H 22BB 46K 5HR allowed; 1.30 WHIP; .277 opp. avg., 1.36 GO/AO; .301 vs. LH, .257 vs. RH, .240 with RISP/  Bump is far from overpowering but simply knows how to pitch. He is deep insurance for the Phils. Continue reading Around the System, Starters, Top Half →

Several transactions by Lehigh Valley today.  Brian Bocock was outrighted to Lehigh Valley after being designated for assignment and was placed on the active Lehigh Valley roster.  2B/SS Keoni DeRenne who hit .250 in his 12 AB’s with Lehigh Valley was sent down to Reading, making room for Bocock.

Relief Pitcher Brian Gordon (hip strain) and Starting Pitcher Brian Mazone (turf toe) were placed on the disabled list.  I would expect Mazone’s “turf toe” to clear up, just after the all star break. JA Happ was officially added to the Lehigh Valley roster and will start this evening.

One more transaction of note, Reading OF Quintin Berry was designated for assigment as the Phils needed room on the 40 man roster with the activation of Ryan Madson.

The Phillies today announced that reliever Ryan Madson has been activated after missing much of the seasons first half after kicking a chair and breaking his toe.  LHP Mike Zagurski was optioned back to Lehigh Valley after making 5 appearances for the big club and going 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA in his 5.1 innings of work. Zagurski struck out an impressive 8 hitters in his time with the Phils.  Lehigh Valley will have multiple decisions to make in regards to their pitching staff with JA Happ joining the team to start tomorrow and Zagurski returning most likely by the end of the weekend.

A standard 3-4 week for Lehigh Valley, who now stand at 35-52, in 5th place of the Northern Division of the IL, 16 games behind division leading Scranton.

‘Pigs leaders, hitting: John Mayberry is 7th in runs (46), Andy Tracy is 9th in runs (45), leads the league in walks (50), 7th in slg (.516) and is 3rd in OBP (.406).  Pitching: Nate Bump is tied for 7th in Wins (7), and is 5th in ERA (2.55); Drew Carpenter is tied for 7th in Wins(7), and 10th in ERA (3.21); Brian Mazone is tied for the league lead in starts (18), tied for 4th in HR allowed (13)and 5th in IP (99); Scott Mathieson is 4th in saves (15); Ryan Vogelsong is 5th in walks (40); Joe Savery is 6th in walks (39). Note: Stats are thru 7/6 and include players on the current Lehigh Valley roster. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

Here we go again

GCL Phillies lost 7-6.
Lakewood lost 2-0.
Clearwater lost 4-3.
Reading won 4-2.
Lehigh Valley lost 4-2.

As always, insightful comments found on the BlueClaws Blog (http://blog.blueclaws.com/), this time from Phillies Minor League Pitching Coordinator Gorman Heimueller.

On Trevor May: “Very simply, we would like to see consistency in the strike zone.  His stuff is still really good.  He fights himself on his delivery sometimes and he thinks about walking a guy rather than just throwing it in the zone. We are hoping a fresh start will get him going again. We don’t want him to rely on the hitters chasing, but we recognize that when he is getting strikeouts on balls up in the zone. Ultimately the confidence thing is big.”

Matt Way: “The last month was great.  He knows how to pitch and what I want to see is how he adjusts to the more patient hitters. He gets a lot of guys out on change-ups in the dirt, which I can relate to since I did the same thing, but its time for a new challenge for Matt.”

Brody Colvin:”…Obviously the confidence is growing.  He can throw his change up at any time and he is really understanding more about situations, recognizing tendencies, and he is becoming a pitcher.”

Jonathan Pettibone:”For us, he has started to show that there is more velocity then he has shown in the past.  He uses his lower half more.  Getting stronger overall is one thing, but he uses his legs and when you stride out further, you can get your body to rotate more and your arm follows. A lot of young pitchers tend to overthrow, but we want them to use their legs.”