Box Score Recap – 6/27/2014

Box Score Recap

Grady Sizemore and Jason Marquis with their Iron Pigs debuts. Remember where you were, folks. You’ll be telling your grandkids about this moment. Kelly Dugan was back in the lineup for Reading. Perci Garner did not have it going on – eight walks in 3.1 IP.

J.P. Crawford with his first A+ home run – he and Quinn both had two hits and Quinn drew a walk and stole a base. I’m gettin’ the tingly good feelings over that pair. Andy Knapp went deep for Lakewood. Matt Imhof made his first appearance of the year, tossing three scoreless innings in the GCL. Jesus Posso hosed two men stealing. Edwin Rodriguez with two hits in the DSL.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/27/2014 →

Box Score Recap – 6/26/2014

Box Score Recap

Maikel Franco had a hit and two walks, which nearly doubled his total for the month. Let’s hope July is like May. Greg Smith and the bullpen, led by a three K inning from Hector Neris, shutout Rochester’s lineup on five hits. Aaron Altherr and Pete Lavin took Henry Owens deep – not bad, as the often-dominant Owens had allowed just three bombs in his prior 14 starts on the year.

Roman Quinn and J.P. Crawford had two hits a piece. Crawford added a walk and Quinn a steal. Crawford has hit in five of his last six games, so his stats are beginning to perk up after an 0-8 to start his A+ season. Lee Ridenhour’s put together a nice year thus far, with an FIP that’s much lower than his ERA, 3.30 vs. 4.21. He struck out the side in the ninth to finish off Tampa after MAG couldn’t hold Colin Kleven’s the lead in the eighth.

Cord Sandberg couldn’t extend his hitting streak – I wrote about him with some help from Chris King and Mitch Rupert at Crashburn Alley yesterday. I hope you’ll check it out if you haven’t already.

Also in the short season leagues – Deivi Grullon went 4-4 on the night, and David Whitehead pitched pretty well in his third start of the year. He’ not striking many men out, just 10 in 18.2IP thus far on the year. Joel (I wonder if it’s pronounced Joe-ELL?) Fisher with his first pro home run and Luis Morales pitched well for the GCL. Julsan Kamara still doesn’t have a professional hit, but he walked three times on Thursday in the Dom Rep. And Jesus Alastre was on base twice for the VZL squad – his OBP for the year sits at .444. That’s four out of every nine PAs. Seems pretty solid. You’d have to think he’ll be at instructs in the fall and ticketed for GCL next summer if he handles himself well next spring.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/26/2014 →

Thursday Night Notes

Other Stuff

A busy night with the big news being Jesse Biddle being given what Ruben Amaro is calling a “mental break”, with his placement on Reading’s temporary inactive list. Biddle’s recent troubles have been well documented including his 10ER outing just last Tuesday.  This break can only help, as Biddle has been unable to pitch through the recent issues.

In Allentown, Sean O’Sullivan was told that he will be the Phillies starter in Game Two of their doubleheader Saturday.  The speculation had been Brad Lincoln, however it seems Lincoln may be nursing a minor leg injury. While far from overpowering, O’Sullivan has been slightly better than decent for the ‘Pigs this year, going 3-6 with a 4.31ERA in 15 starts this year for the ‘Pigs.  Opponents hit .278 against him and O’Sullivan is carrying a WHIP of 1.36.  O’Sullivan will not overwhelm and has just as good a chance as any in Lehigh Valley to do a competent job.

In Allentown, Jason Marquis will be on the hill tomorrow evening with Grady Sizemore likely to get his first start in the Phils organization tomorrow as well.

 

Jiwan James Released

Other Stuff

The Phillies have announced the release of Jiwan James, as another outfielder in the organization will part ways.

The Phillies have now released James, Anthony Hewitt, and Tyson Gillies, all in a very short amount of time.

A 22nd round pick of the Phillies in 2007, James posted a career .265/.317/.364 line with the organization. He certainly was one of the fastest players the organization has seen over the last 10 years, but he never put things together. Our (slightly outdated) profile of Jiwan can be found here.

He battled injuries throughout his career, finally returning making his 2014 Reading debut a few weeks ago. He had 21 at-bats, and hit .333 with a .364 on-base percentage.

That said, there was too much to overcome. With so many outfielders on the roster, there wasn’t really anywhere for James to play, and he will now be moving on.

James had this to say:

The Fightins still have six outfielders on the roster, though listed outfielder Jake Fox has played plenty of first base.

 

Hot or Not

Other Stuff

Quite a week looking back at Jun 19-25 with interesting names showing up on both sides of the ledger…Starting pitching was brutal this week with Jesse Biddle leading the way and prominent names like Guellar and Nola not far behind…Start paying alot of attention to Andrew Pullin, who as a 2B should be rising up the prospect rankings…Good to see Brian Pointer getting on track…Brad Lincoln really seems to be the only choice for the start the Phils need on Saturday.  He has been throwing very well as a starter….Larry Greene Jr came off the DL on fire…how long will that last?

Hot Hitters: (Min 12 AB’s): Damek Tomscha (.500, 5R, 3RBI); Brian Pointer (.476);  Andrew Pullin (.444, 4RBI); Andreas Blanco (.450); Matt SHortall (.417); Larry Greene (.400, 5R); Emmanuel Marrero (.368);  Grenny Cumana (.364); Cord Sandberg (.346, 5R HR, 4RBI, 2SB); Honorable Mention: Henson, Susdorf, Lino, Alonso, Fox, Knapp, J. Hernanderz

Not Hot Hitters: Chris Serritella (.000, 0-13); Luis Encarnacion (.063); Derek Campbell (.100);  Rhys Hoskins (.118); Carlos Tocci (.125); Dylan Cozens (.130); Willians Astudillo (.154); Leandro Castro (.167); Art Charles (.167); Maikel Franco (.174) Continue reading Hot or Not →

Box Score Recap – 6/25/2014

Box Score Recap

Yankees pre-season #9 (per BA) Luis Severino, totally shut down the Clearwater squad – he allowed just one walk and struck out six in six no-hit innings. Mercy. Andrew Pullin had three hits and a walk, and Zach Green two plus a free pass for Lakewood.

Damek Tomscha remains the dominant force (small sample size) you’d expect to get when you put one of the SEC’s top five on-base guys of 2014 into a league with a bunch of recent high school grads and Dominican teenagers on the hill against him. Ok, to be fair, some of those guys are from Venezuela and probably like Panama or Columbia or other places.

And speaking of Dominican teenagers, 17-year-olds Randy Alcantara and Oscar Marcelino both made their pro debuts. Both allowed a couple of base runners and single unearned runs. Welcome to the pros, fellas.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/25/2014 →

Box Score Recap – 6/24/2014

Box Score Recap

Really nice start from Severino Gonzalez – 2R on 1H 1HR 1BB and 7K – he’s only given up four walks in his last six starts, (since a five walk mess on May 22), and has 33K in that same span (36.2IP). For him to have much success, he’ll need to keep that up going forward, and limit the home runs allowed – he’s given up seven over that same time frame. That won’t fly. Also from Reading – don’t get your hopes up just yet, but Zach Collier’s got eight hits in six games since he came off the DL.

Cam Perkins left the Lehigh Valley game after running into a wall on defense in the first inning. No word yet on the extent of his injuries, as far as I’ve seen.

Two hits a piece for Andrews Knapp and Pullin as Mark Leiter and Co. got shelled by Greensboro. Williamsport was on the other end of the cannon as they put up a ten spot on Auburn. Cord Sandberg extended his hitting streak to 13 games, Jiandido Tromp hit two home runs, (again – guy only hits two at a time, apparently), and was a single short of The Big Wheel, Jan Hernandez hit his second bomb of the season, and Aaron Brown had two hits.

In the GCL, Luis Encarnacion’s first pro hit was also his first pro home run, and Damek Tomscha and Jake Sweaney each had two hits. Seranthony Dominguez pitched well in his stateside debut, striking out five in 3.2 innings of work. He took the loss as he couldn’t hold off the Yankees in the tenth. Bryan Martelo was 3-5 in the DSL, his first multi-hit game as a pro.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/24/2014 →

Lehigh Valley Weekly Report

Other Stuff

Mediocrity continues for the ‘Pigs who went 3-4 this week, including a 4-3 loss tonight, and now sit at 38-41 and in 5th place of the Northern Division of the International League, 10.5 games behind division leading Syracuse.   After completing a short two day (3 game) road trip to Syracuse on Wednesday, Lehigh Valley returns home for 4 games (Rochester, Scranton) over the weekend.

‘Pigs league Leaders, Hitting: Maikel Franco is 3rd in AB’s(288); Tyler Henson is 4th in K’s(78) and 5th in SB’s(16)

Pitching: Barry Enright is 3rd in losses (7);2nd in HR allowed (15);  has the 7th worst ERA (5.20); is tied for 2nd in starts(15)and has the 8th worst WHIP (1.50); Luis Garcia is 4th in saves (12); Sean O’Sullivan is 4th in IP (87.2) Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

Phils Sign Grady Sizemore

Other Stuff

The Phillies, looking for anything to help their OF depth, are taking a shot that 31 year old Grady Sizemore is their man.  Sizemore spent the majority of his career with the Cleveland Indians, having several excellent seasons during which he put up 20-30 Homers with 30+ stolen bases.  That said, Sizemore hasn’t hit above .248 since 2008, and has spent the last two seasons struggling through a myriad of injuries before a fairly miserable 2014 with Boston.  His line with the Red Sox prior to his release was .216/.288/.325 in 185 AB’s with 2HR 15RBI and 5SB.

Sizemore is a three time all star and two time gold glove winner.  He will report to AAA Lehigh Valley on Thursday.  My guess is Tony Gwynn’s time with the Phillies is limited…

J.P. Crawford and Maikel Franco selected for Futures Game

Other Stuff,

A pair of Phillies’ prospects are on their way to the 2014 All-Star Futures Game at Target Field in Minnesota.

J.P. Crawford and Maikel Franco have both been selected to participate in the contest, which will take place on Sunday, July 13th as part of the All Star festivities.

Crawford is a no-brainer, as he has hit .286/.388/.391 so far this season. He has struggled in his first 23 at-bats in Clearwater, hitting just .190. That said, it would have been impossible to keep him off the roster. He will suit up for the U.S. team.

Franco’s selection is a bit more of a surprise, considering he has hit just .207/.265/.323 so far. He began the season slowly, then had that nice hot streak for 20 games, where he hit .304 with three homers and 11 RBIs. He has been very quiet for about a month now, and his struggles have been well-documented. He will play for the World roster.

This is Crawford’s first time at the Futures Game, and Franco’s second trip to the game.