Box Score Recap – 8/14/2013

Tyler Cloyd has been a different pitcher in July and August – 39H and 6 BB in 52.1 IP for a WHIP of 0.86, plus a respectable 36K. And how about this – 11 of his hits and one of the walks were in his first start of July. So since that time, he’s gone 47 innings, allowing just 28H and 5BB, for a WHIP of 0.70. He went the distance last night, striking out 7 and allowing just 3 hits. With John Lannan out, and a need for a starter on 8-20, Cloyd could be the man for the job. However, if Pettibone only needs the one rehab start tonight, (possible since they kept him up north rather than sending him to CLR or GCL), his turn would fall on the 20th, and Cloyd may be left out. Not for lack of recent results on his part.

Maikel Franco 2-2 with a walk. Harold Martinez 3-6 with 2 doubles in the CLR doubleheader. Nice job by Luis Paulino and his bullpen mates to shut out Daytona. Watch out for Delvi Francisco’s line for Lakewood – it burns the eyes. And two new names in the GCL bullpen – Jordan Elliott and Chris Motta. I will guess these were UDFA signings – they’re both the right age and have no prior pro experience.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/14/2013 →

Hot or Not

A look back at the time period of August 8th thru 14…Random thoughts…Maikel Franco trying to silence the critics suggesting he has slowed down of late…Willie Carmona is perhaps the most “under the radar” player in the Phils system. While he is a bit old for Low A, he has been one of the very few in the organization sitting at .300 most of the year…Tyler Cloyd has shown resiliency through his early season struggles and come on very strong over the last 6 weeks…Mike Nesseth has pitched consistently well for Reading since his call up from Clearwater. Expect him to be a key 7th and 8th inning guy in the Lehigh Valley bullpen next year.

Note: Minimum 12AB’s and Min 5IP to be a “hot pitcher”.

Hot Hitters: Willie Carmona (.438); Tyson Gillies (.438, 6R 2SB); Derrick Mitchell (.429); Deivi Gruillon (.429); Maikel Franco (.417, 7RBI); Herlis Rodriguez(.417); Wilmer Oberto (.417); Jair Morelos (.400); Pete Orr (.385); Venn Biter (.357); Trey Williams (.357). Honorable Mention: Sandberg, Susdorf, Moore, Hanzawa, Collier Continue reading Hot or Not →

Box Score Recap – 8/13/2013

A good result from Jesse Biddle, after one questionable and three bad results his prior four times out. He struck out nine in six innings, and though he needed 109 pitches to get through six, around 2/3 went for strikes. Hopefully that’s a turning point for him. XBH for Franco and Dugan, two doubles for Valle and two triples for Collier. Cam Perkins went deep for CLR in the nightcap, where Mark Leiter Jr. pitched well in his first pro start. Probably an org arm, there. Wilmer Oberto was 4-4, and Jose Pujols had what’s sure to be his first of, I don’t know, let’s say “several” professional triples. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/13/2013 →

Lehigh Valley Weekly Report

Lehigh Valley ended their season long ten game road trip with a 5-4 loss to Gwinnett on Monday, but all in all had a successful trip ending up 6-4.  After an off day on Tuesday, the ‘Pigs open a short three game homestand against Syracuse on Wednesday, before heading up the Northeast Extension for two against Scranton over the weekend.  On the year, Lehigh Valley is 63-61 and in 4th place of the Northern Division of the International League, 4 games behind division leading Rochester, and just 1.5 games behind Buffalo in the wild card race.

‘Pigs Prospects:Adam Morgan is 1-1 with a 1.33 ERA in his 5 starts since coming off the DL which is quite impressive except for considering the fact that he has thrown just 20.1innings in those 5 starts(4IP per start).  Morgan has been on a 75-85 pitch count since his return and while he has shown effectiveness at times, has run his pitch count up pretty quickly in each of his starts. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

Box Score Recap – 8/12/2013

Light day yesterday, with WIL on their all-star break (the game is tonight), and Reading and Lakewood on scheduled off-days. Gillies, Susdorf and Galvis with two hits a piece. Clearwater hitters managed just four knocks while Hoby Milner had a decent outing – 7IP, 3R, 7H, 2BB, 2K. A good chunk of the GCL lineup continues to hit – spots 1-6 had either XBH or multi-hit games, and Robinson Torres and Herlis Rodriguez had both. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/12/2013 →

General Discussion – Week of 8-12-2013 – Addition by Subtraction Edition

Subtracting Delmon Young and Laynce Nix recently seems wise. Now we get to see what Dom can do in right and Ruf can do in lef-what’s that? No, that can’t be right. Can it?

Well, ast least we got rid of Michael You’re kidding me? Still?

Discuss.

Box Score Recap – 8/11/2013

Maikel Franco 3-5 with a grand slam. Kelly Dugan also went deep for Reading as the Fightin’s pounded out 16 hits. Cesar Hernandez took a pinch hitting opportunity – his first action in what feels like about 2 weeks. Clearwater took the lead in the top of the 11th on a Harold Martinez RBI single, but Ken Giles gave up two runs in the bottom of that inning to let that one slip away. Very strong outing from Miguel Nunez – allowed one hit, struck out seven, walked two in five scoreless innings. Andrew Pullin went 3-5 with his second HR of the year – He’s OPSing .744, which is a bit less than I’d hoped for out of his bat, but passable. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/11/2013 →

Box Score Recap – 8/10/2013

Cam Rupp went deep, his fifth at AAA. Trevor May pitched ok in beating Reading. Severino Gonzalez was very good for CLR, and Kenny Giles blew the save there. Wille Carmona OPSing .824 since the SAL all-star break. As a 22 yr-old, that doesn’t tell me much. Drew Anderson was strong in a loss for WIL. Nick Ferdinand with his second HR in two days, and JP Crawford is OPSing .977 on the year for GCL. He leads the league in AVG, OBP, OPS and is fifth in SLG, tied for fifth in SB and sixth in BB. Stellar.

Here’s a place for your discussion on Saturday’s action. I went out to Nats Park last night at the last minute for the Phils game, and that threw off my whole weekend plan, so I’m going to have to skip the graphic today. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/10/2013 →

Box Score Recap – 8/9/2013

Cam Rupp knocking on the door of a .700 OPS in AAA, after 2 doubles Friday night. He’s hit in 8 of his last 9, with four two-hit games in that span. With Eric Kratz in his way, and the possibility of Carlos Ruiz coming back to the big club, Rupp may not start 2014 with the Phils, but I would say that as of September 1, or maybe the last Lehigh Valley game of the year, he’ll supplant Steve Lerud on the big league depth chart, if he hasn’t already. With serious questions about Tommy Joseph’s future behind the plate, Rupp’s become the org’s best catching prospect outside of the short season leagues, and probably ahead of all but Andrew Knapp.

Around the system – David Buchanan with another good start in his second AAA appearance – throwing strikes and getting outs on balls in play. DMitch 3-5 with his second AAA HR of the year. Zach Green was 2-4 with just 2 singles. I hope he’s alright. Keivi Rojas with a kind of rough outing, giving up 2 runs in 2 innings on 2 hits and 1 walk. He also struck out five of the 10 men he faced. Guy’s been pretty much dominant this year in the NYPL, after being the same last year in the GCL. 27K and just 8 bb in 19 IP. Ricky Bielski is indeed human, Jan Hernandez hit his third homerun, and Nick Ferdinand walked it off in the second game of that double header. JP Crawford continues to rake, OPSing 1.151 over his last ten games.

And a great line from Seranthony Dominguez in the DSL – 2H 2BB and 7K in a rain shortened 5.1 inning shutout. Really, that was just an excuse to use his name, though it was a nice line.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 8/9/2013 →

Around the System–Relievers, Top Half

A look at the bullpen in the upper reaches of the organization. Stats are through Thursday August 8th and a warning before you read: This is not pretty, especially in Lehigh Valley and Reading.

Lehigh Valley

Phillipe Aumont, 24, Acquired from Seattle in 2009; 24 games; 0-1 with a 5.18ERA; 2 saves; 24.1IP 21H 27BB 31K; 0.86GO/AO; .233 opp. avg; 10.0BB/11.5K per nine; 1.97WHIP; .273 vs. LH, .196 vs. RH, .220 with RISP; 0-1 with a 3.97ERA in his last 10 outings (9BB in 11.1IP). Simply look at the names in the Philadelphia bullpen and you will see how far Aumont’s stock has dropped in the organizations eyes.  He simply can’t throw strikes consistently and some attitude issues have cropped up. Continue reading Around the System–Relievers, Top Half →