Midseason Top 20

Other Stuff

I was planning on releasing this list closer to the end of June but Brad mentioned it might be beneficial to do one ranking now and one in early August after the deadline when we have seen how the guys in Williamsport and the GCL fair.  I have not included any player with major league service time in 2013 or any 2013 draftees (I will address them after this list).  I have tried to avoid making any rash changes in rankings based purely on stats and have tried to let the tools and profile do the talking.

1. Jesse Biddle (Pre-season #1) – Biddle’s profile hasn’t changed a ton.  The curveball and fastball have been better than the past, but the changeup and command still have a ways to go.  It is encouraging that he has really missed bats at a level where they can punish a hanging breaking ball.

2. Maikel Franco (Pre-season #6) – I really liked Franco pre-season and somehow I kept putting guys over him.  He is a monster at the plate with plenty of glove for third.  It is true impact potential and he was way too low on the first list. Continue reading Midseason Top 20 →

Box Score Recap – 6/17/2013

Box Score Recap

Kelly Dugan with his eighth homerun. More like Kelly DuGone, amirite?!?!?!?!? Severino Gonzalez with 3 Ks in 2 Innings. More like Severi”K”now, know what I mean??!?!? Dylan Cozens with 2 steals in his first game of the year. More like Dylan CozenSB, ok that one’s a reach. Just that one, though.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/17/2013 →

Around the System–Starting Pitching

Other Stuff

A look at starting pitching around the system. Next trip around will include Williamsport and GCL.

Lehigh Valley

Tyler Cloyd, 26, Phils 18th round pick in 2008; 7 starts; 1-4 with a 6.57 ERA; 38.1IP 51H 12BB 35K; 9 HR allowed; 0.83 GO/AO; .315 opp. avg., 1.64 WHIP; 2.8BB/8.2K per nine.  Cloyd returned just yesterday to Lehigh Valley after spending several weeks in the Phils rotation and doing a good job for the Phils. Ironically, he was doing a less than good job for the ‘Pigs when he was called up, but kudos for good work for the big club.

Carlso Zambrano, 32, SIgned as a free agent in 2013; 4 starts; 2-0 with a 1.27 ERA between Clearwater, Reading and Lehigh Valley; 21.1IP 14H 11BB 17K. Zambrano was less than impressive in his last start for Lehigh Valley (5IP 4H 2ER 4BB 5K) and will have to take it up a notch to displace Pettibone from the Phils rotation. Continue reading Around the System–Starting Pitching →

General Discussion – Week of 6-17-2013

Weekly Discussion

Let’s bring the discussion of the state of the club over to this thread from the Draft Tracker. It’s hard to keep track of the bits and pieces on signings and the discussion of draft pool etc. with the rest of the discussion going on there. I’m as guilty as anyone else, but I’m going to try to keep that thread clean for the next couple weeks so I don’t miss any news. If you see one of your thoughts from over there get deleted, this is why.

Allow me also to break some news: The Phillies are pretty bad right now.

Box Score Recap – 6/16/2013

Box Score Recap

Cody Asche hits his 8th HR of the year. Projecting him to the mid-upper teens for a full year is about what the concensus was when we discussed him in the Top 30 voting, so even if he’s heating up a little, he’s about where we’d expect. Austin Wright with good results, though he didn’t throw a good rate of strikes. We’ll see how his second half goes after injuries derailed him for much of the first half. And Roman Quinn hed three throwing errors. Gets him to 30 on the year, matching his SB total. If he finishes the year with around 45 errors, I’d say that’s a victory for his second half.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/16/2013 →

Box Score Recap – 6/15/2013

Box Score Recap

Larry Greene goes deep. First of the year. Over/under on how many he has to hit to silence the skeptics by the end of the year? I say 12. Nice line from David Buchanan. Two of his last three starts have been really solid.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/15/2013 →

Williamsport Roster

Other Stuff

Here it goes…

Pitchers

Drew Anderson, Tyler Buckley, Chris Burgess, Mitch Guellar, Robert Marcello, Shane Martin, Lino Martinez, Manny Martinez, Roman Oviedo, Jon Prosinski, Julio Reyes, Lee Ridenhour, Yacksel Rios, Keivi Rojas, Felix Santos, Josh Warner

Catchers–Corey Bass, Andrew Knapp, Gabriel Lino

Infield–Jairo Cardozo, Zach Green, Angelo Mora, Logan Pierce, Andrew Pullin

OF–Dylan Cozens, Sam Hiciano, Gustavo Martinez, Justin Parr, Jia Tromp

DL–Ervis Manzanillo, Ulysses Joaquin, James Birmingham

Box Score Recap – 6/14/2013

Box Score Recap

Mitch Walding went 3-5 with a homerun last night. He’s walking plenty, but striking out too much. He’s having a better June than he had May, hopefully he’s settling into the league after a pretty bad slump. Speaking of walking plenty, Delvi Franciso has 20 in 30 IP. For not having been on the mound as a professional until last year, and having jumped a level, I guess he gets a pass for now, especially since he also has 33K.

Just ICYMI – a couple days ago, the club released recognizable names Miguel Alvarez, Jan Olmo, and most notably, Tyler Greene. I was going to go on a long diatribe about K Rates and small samples and BABIP, but I think if you, like me, liked Tyler Greene in the winter of 2011-2012, and you heard and ignored the arguments people made about the flaws behind his 2011 GCL stats, then you, like me, have already heard the sermon I would be trying to preach. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/14/2013 →

What is a Prospect?

Other Stuff

As everyone is aware the major league draft occurred occurred a week ago.  The first big wave of signings have come in and the big question is what type of player are these no additions to the minor league system.  Rather than go through them and try to make a snap decision based on limited knowledge and reports as to what type of players they are this is going to explore more the type of players that comprise a minor league system.

Prospects:

A prospect is a player that has the raw ability to have reasonable projection to be a contributor on the major league level.  This does not by definition  mean that prospect equals major league regular and it also does not include player who project only to get a quick cup of coffee in the majors. Continue reading What is a Prospect? →

Box Score Recap – 6/13/2013

Box Score Recap

Maikel Franco strikes again. Homer #15. Brody Colvin with a respectable start for Reading after a stint in the bullpen post-injury. Severino Gonzalez, back in a bullpen role, struck out 5 of the 11 men he faced in three scoreless innings in relief of Ethan Stewart, who has walked 42 batters in his 38.1 IP this year. That’s…that’s not so good.

Florida State League All-Star Break is this weekend – there are a handful of Clearwater guys participating. I don’t see that MiLB.TV has the game. I guess it’s possible they add it between now and Saturday evening. Williamsport starts Monday. GCL, (Gulf Coast League, in case you’re new here), starts Friday.

Continue reading Box Score Recap – 6/13/2013 →