General Discussion – Week of 8-26-2013 – Rosters Soon To Expand Edition

Weekly Discussion

We should expect to see a handful of AAA guys up with the big club next Tuesday. Lehigh Valley has a Monday game, and barring a big push, they won’t make the playoffs – there are 2 teams ahead of them and one tied with them for one wild card spot. Long odds with just a week left.

With as poorly as he’s played, I could see the team leaving Gillies out of the MLB mix, but if he’s been working hard and acting right, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him rewarded with a taste. Cesar Hernandez and Freddy Galvis seem to be locks, as would MiniMart. I would say also every pitcher on the 40-man will be up, so we’ll get Cloyd, (I hastily typed Horst the first time. He’s not coming back this year), Garcia and Valdes back, and probably a couple looks at Mauricio Robles, plus Joe Savery whenever he’s healthy, if he’s not already back in the bigs this week.

Valle and Collier are the only guys left at AA, and I don’t see either of them making the jump. That leaves no third catcher, and I would guess it’s Cam Rupp’s turn. He’s earned a 40-man spot for the off-season anyway, so you may as well use him now. That could cost someone else their spot, but Lannan might be a 60-day candidate, especially if they intend to non-tender him. That’s another debate altogether – off-season roster management should be pretty interesting this year.

Discuss.

Box Score Recap – 8/25/2013

Box Score Recap

Aaron Altherr 2-5 with his 12th HR of the year – his OPS has crept above .800 again. JP Crawford 2-3 plus a walk. – he’s hit in seven straight since an Oh-fer in his Lakewood debut, but he’s been on base in all eight games. Larry Greene Jr. 3-4 with 2 doubles, and Cesar Hernandez, Zach Collier, Chris Serritella, Carlos Tocci, Gabe Lino and Herlis Rodriguez all with multi-hit games as well. Pretty nice line from Miguel Nunez – 3R on 5H, 1BB and 6K in 5IP – his third good start in a row. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/25/2013 →

Box Score Recap – 8/24/2013

Box Score Recap

Maikel Franco and Kelly Dugan both went deep for Reading. JC Ramirez has been pretty good since going back to AAA. Too many walks for Perci Garner tonight – 6 over 4.1 IP. A nice start from Hoby Milner saved by Dan Child after Ken Giles failed to get it done for the third time in his last five outings. JP Crawford on base twice. He’s had a successful first week at Lakewood. Ditto Mark Leiter – 8H 2BB and 11K in 12 scoreless IP over his first 2 appearances.

In the short-season leagues, Julio Reyes threw six no-hit innings for WIL – Mark Meadors couldn’t keep the no-hitter, or the shutout, alive, and ultimately took the loss. He’d had his fill of shared no-hitters for the week, I guess. And a good line from 2013 pick Tyler Viza – 3H, 1BB, 6K in 5 scoreless IP for the GCL club. He’s had a good time of it thus far, with a (SSS Warning) WHIP at 1.00 and a nice walk rate around 2.8/9IP. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/24/2013 →

Box Score Recap – 8/23/2013

Box Score Recap

Nice line from Jesse Biddle. Home runs from Cozens and Pullin for WIL. And Cameron Rupp stole a base. I imagine there’s a story there.

Not going to get the graphic up today as I have family in from out of town. Enjoy the discussion. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/23/2013 →

Box Score Recap – 8/22/2013

Box Score Recap

David Buchanan pitched well again. Struck out 7 in 6IP, while allowing just 1 R on 4H and 2BB. Maikel Franco and Kelly Dugan both went deep, as did Anthony Hewitt. As he winds down what is easily his best pro season at the plate, I’ll concede that Hewitt is probably a big leaguer somewhere down the line. He’s close to a 20/20 season right now, (16HR, 18SB), so it’s hard to see him not being an option in a injury replacement situation in 2014 and beyond, if he sticks around this organization. And after a very slow start, Jose Pujols suddenly has 6HR in the GCL, and reportedly missed a walk-off for his seventh by about 6 inches, (per @statsking). Should be lots of fun to watch that guy develop. Pujols, that is. Not Chris King.

And for Williamsport, Sam Hiciano hit his 7th HR of the year. That’s a pretty nice number for a guy who struggled with a wrist injury for a couple weeks early on. He’s striking out a little too much, (~24.5%), but it’s not over the top for a guy with power like he’s displaying, plus he’s walked some (~9%). His OPS sits above .800 at the moment, on a low BABIP of .250, so there’s even room to grow on batted balls. He’s 19, but he’s only 2 years into his pro career, after signing later than many DR guys, playing one year there, and skipping the GCL entirely. Very intriguing.  Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/22/2013 →

Hot or Not

Other Stuff

A look back at the time period of August 15-21. Quick thoughts…the lack of production this year by 2012 high draft picks Shane Watson and Mitch Guellar is enough for a raised eyebrow but far too early to give up…Is Harold Martinez coming around, or is his production simply him catching up with High A pitching after 2 full years in CLearwater…Three starts, and all of them very solid for David Buchanan in AAA…Control issues for Kenny Giles this week, hopefully just a mirage.

Note: There will not be a “Hot or Not” published next week. The final edition will cover the last week and a half of the season.

Hot Hitters: Matt Tolbert (.500); Harold Martinez (.476, 7R, 4RBI); Cesar Hernandez (.467, 6R), Tyler Henson (.467); Cameron Rupp (.467); Jiwan James (.421, 5R, 5RBI, 3SB); Brock Stassi (.411, 5R 4RBI); Cameron Perkins (.400); Justin Parr (.375, 5R); Jim Murphy (.370, 2HR 6RBI); Gutavo Martinez (.368);  Honorable mention: Ferdinand, Greene, Moore, Mojica, Altherr, Pierce, Carmona Continue reading Hot or Not →

Box Score Recap – 8/21/2013

Box Score Recap

Maikel Franco with a double and his 27th HR of the year among his three hits, and he added a walk – just his second in his last ten games. Also for Reading, Kelly Dugan went 2-4, and Seth Rosin returned from the DL with a bullpen appearance. ICYMI – Brody Colvin went on the DL with a shoulder issue. Trey Williams had a nice day for GCL – 2-3 with a double and his second professional home run.

Aaron Altherr 2-4 with his 11th HR, but he also struck out twice – His K Rate sits near 28%, though it’s around 25% since the All-Star Break. If 25% is close to his norm, with his decent BB rate, and if he can add a little more pop, he could make it. He’s added 33 ISO points over last year, after adding 50 the prior year – definitely a good trend.

And some thoughts on Williamsport – another clunker on Wednesday for Mitch Gueller – 6R (4 earned) on 10H, 3BB, 0K in 3.1 IP. Four hits for Logan Pierce, and three for Andrew Pullin – you’d have to consider his performance at the plate this year a bit of a disappointment. He obviously gets more time to work it out while he’s working on a new defensive position, but OPSing under .700 is not ideal for someone who’s hit tool is supposed to be his meal ticket. And for as well as he’s pitched in WIL, you’d have to expect Tyler Buckley to be a candidate for a double-jump in the off-season – Ks right around 9/9IP, with walks around 3.5/9, and a WHIP just barely north of 1.00. Pretty good. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/21/2013 →

Lehigh Valley Weekly Report

Other Stuff

Lehigh Valley is down to the last 13 games of the season after a 3-1 loss last night and are currently 67-63 and in 4th place of the Northern DIvision of the International League, 4.5 games behind division leading Rochester and 3.5 games behind Pawtucket in the wild card race.. With their loss last night, Lehigh Valley is 7-4 over their last 11 games. After an off day today, the ‘Pigs play Buffalo seven straight games, the first four in Buffalo, followed by three in Lehigh Valley.

News and Notes:Perci Garner won his AAA debut on Monday evening going 5.2innings and giving up 2 runs on 6 hits. He walked 2 and struck out 7 and looked quite impressive, taking a shutout into the 6th inning. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

Arizona Fall League Roster Discussion 2013

Weekly Discussion

Discussing Ken Giles today got me thinking about my assumptions for the Arizona Fall League roster. In total, the Phils need to send six “domestic” guys, (with an exception I’ll mention below), but they seem to typically send seven. Only one man from below A Ball can go to the AFL from any organization. The rule also states that any man not on a AA or AAA roster by August 1 counts and an A Baller.

Continue reading Arizona Fall League Roster Discussion 2013 →

Box Score Recap – 8/20/2013

Box Score Recap

Mauricio Robles has allowed zero runs, 2 hits and struck out 12 in his last 11 innings. Bad news is he’s allowed 10 walks. So I guess the question has to be: who in their right minds is swinging when he’s on the mound? Just stand there looking like you’re willing to swing and cross your fingers. Speaking of walks, check out Ken Giles’ line – 2 runs on zero hits with 4 walks and 1 K in 2/3 of an inning. He left with the bases loaded after walking them full, allowing a run on a bases-loaded sac fly and then WALKING THE NEXT MAN TO LOAD THE BASES AGAIN. Yikes.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/20/2013 →