Interview with Cord Sandberg: 2017

* Interviews

I’m going to publish a series of interviews with various players in the Phillies organization.  The interviews were conducted by Steve Potter, an author whose book I plugged last season.

Steve and I were going to enter into a joint venture for a book this season.  The premise was to expand on his previous compilation of the 2016 season, and attempt to provide similar coverage of the 2017 season, interspersed with the personal experiences of a dozen or more players in the organization.

Steve had conducted introductory interviews with most of the players, but some concerns arose and we decided to shelve the project.  But, we still have the interviews.  They provide a different look at the players.  Steve has already posted them on his blog, http://www.facebook.com/Clearwatersprngbaseball/ , so I asked if I could publish them here to share with you. Continue reading Interview with Cord Sandberg: 2017 →

Box Score Recap – 5/13/2017

Box Score Recap

Not much action as three of our four affiliates had their games rained out.  A rain out was a possibility in Clearwater, but rain entered and left the area in time for a delayed start.  A postponement might have been better since starter Seranthony Dominguez left in the fifth inning with a reported arm injury.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/13/2017 →

Box Score Recap – 5/12/2017

Box Score Recap

Lehigh Valley won in 12 innings on Dylan Cozens’ walk off home run.

Reading beat Portland, Carlos Tocci had 4 RBI.

Clearwater lost to Tampa, their 9th loss in 14 games after a 16-6 start.

Lakewood beat Greenville behind Adonis Medina’s 10 strike out performance..

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/12/2017 →

Box Score Recap – 5/11/2017

Box Score Recap

Lehigh Valley’s bats came alive in a 15-hit, 10-run attack against Buffalo.

Reading was shut out by Portland.

Clearwater shut out Tampa, their fourth shutout of the season..

Lakewood blew a couple leads before bowing to Greenville.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/11/2017 →

Box Score Recap – 5/10/2017

Box Score Recap

Lehigh Valley won and is in a virtual tie at the top of the International League North Division.

Reading won is a game back in the Eastern League Eastern Division.

Clearwater lost but remained a game ahead in first place in the Florida State League North Division.

Lakewood won and has a half game lead in the South Atlantic League Northern Division.

Aaron Nola threw a decent rehab for Lehigh, John Richy made his first start in 2017, Cole Irvin struggled a little in Florida, and JoJo Romero tossed a gem for Lakewood.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/10/2017 →

Box Score Recap – 5/9/2017

Box Score Recap

Lehigh Valley got a quality start from Ben Lively and won.

Reading came back from an early deficit only to lose late.

Clearwater couldn’t come back from an early deficit.

Lakewood had the night off.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/9/2017 →

Lehigh Valley Report

Other Stuff

The ‘Pigs have been playing well as of late coming into tonight’s game working on a three game winning streak and are 17-13 on the season, the first time this season they are four games above .500.  Currently in second place in the Northern Division of the International League, Lehigh Valley continues at home all week with two more against Rochester before a four game series against Buffalo.    Aaron Nola will be rehabbing tomorrow night at Coca Cola Park in his first rehab start in hopes of shortly returning to the Phillies rotation.

Notes: Tom Eshelman was called up from AA on Monday and made his first AAA start and dominated Rochester.  He went 8IP allowing just four hits and a walk and did not yield an ER while striking out six.  He was throwing strikes consistently all evening, keeping hitters off balance.

–In his whirlwind trip from the Toronto organization, to Philly, to Lehigh Valley and now back to Philly, Ty Kelly took the time to HR in his only game as an IronPig.

–Interestingly, JP Crawford has reached base in each of his last 15 games, however is hitting only .208 during that time period. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Report →

Box Score Recap – 5/8/2017

Box Score Recap

Lehigh Valley shut out Rochester behind Tom Eshelman’s debut.

Reading won behind Drew Anderson’s 5-inning perfect game bid.

Clearwater won behind Jose Taveras’ quality performance.

Lakewood lost despite some fine pitching after the first inning.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 5/8/2017 →

2017 Draft Discussion: Week of May 9th

2017 Draft

The Rule 4 Amateur Draft is approaching.  The first round begins on June 12th.  That leaves 5 weeks for discussion.  For some time now, I have been considering running a weekly draft discussion along the line of last year’s weekly discussion for the 1:1 pick.  I followed the half dozen or so prospects who were likely to be selected with the first overall pick, and missed on the eventual selection, Mickey Moniak.  I’ve been putting off beginning that kind of coverage.  I think the amount of work could have doubled, maybe even trebled for the 1:8 pick.  I wasn’t looking forward to tracking 15-18 possible 1:8 selections.  Continue reading 2017 Draft Discussion: Week of May 9th →

Around the System–Middle Infield

Other Stuff

A first look at the middle infield.  Next up: Corners Infielders, over the weekend.

Lehigh Valley

JP Crawford, 22, Phils 1st round pick in 2013; .155/.279/.182 in 110AB; 0HR 7RBI; 2SB; .170 vs LHP; .143 vs RHP; 15%BB/19%K; .176 over last 10 games; 30 games at SS with 4 errors (.966); 3.77 R/F.  Crawford continues to have one of the best batting “eyes” in all of baseball.  That said, his year has been abysmal.  He has struggled all season at the plate, never approaching the Mendoza line and rarely hitting the ball out of the infield.  His fielding has been at times spectacular, however he is covering significantly less ground than in years passed (Range Factor down 25%).

Pedro Florimon, 30, SIgned as a free agent in 2017; .160/.300/.200 in 25AB; 0HR 1RBI; 8 games at 2B with 1 error; 1 game at SS without an error.  Very limited playing time

Jesmuel Valentin, 23, Acquired from Dodgers in 2013; .228/.283/.293 in 92AB; 1HR 6RBI; 0SB; 6%BB/14%K; .308 vs LHP; .170 vs RHP; .152 last 10 games; 25 games at 2B with 3 errors (.967); 2 games at SS without an error.  After a great SPring Training during which he almost made the big club, production has been limited to Valentin.  Solid in the field.

Reading

Malquin Canelo, 22, Signed as a free agent in 2011; .294/.402/.397 in 68AB; 0HR 8RBI; 4SB; 16%BB/23%K; .273 vs LHP; .304 vs RHP; 21 games at SS with 3 errors (.967). A solid start to the season for Canelo whose OBP is eye opening.

Scott Kingery, 23, Phils 2nd round pick in 2015; .292/.382/.593 in 113AB; 7HR 19RBI; 8SB: 12%BB/22%K; .244 vs LHP; .319 vs RHP; .317 last 10 games; 26 games at 2B without an error;  Put simply, Kingery is doing everything very well. Continue reading Around the System–Middle Infield →