The Phillies announced who will be participating in the Arizona Fall League and because I am very time constrained…here you have it:
Pitchers: Tyler Knigge, Jay Johnson, Colby Shreve, and Kyle Simon
3B: Cody Asche; C: Tommy Joseph; OF: Zach Collier
Have at it…should provide some interesting conversation come October and November.
Yeah, it’s already 8-29, but here’s the 8-27 weekly discussion. Better than last week by a day, I think.
According to, well, everyone on Twitter, the Phillies have selected the contract of Tyler Cloyd from Lehigh Valley to pitch tonight in place of an ailing Cole Hamels, who is out with a gastrointestinal issue.
Cloyd has had very fine results in AA/AAA this season, posting 15-1 record with a 2.26 ERA, giving up 127 hits and a quite good 41BB (2.21 BB./9), but just 113K (6.09 K/9) in 167IP. He gave up 15HR, at a rate of 0.81/9, which is a bit on the high side. His WHIP for the year sits at 1.01, giving up just one more hit/BB than he’s pitched innings. He was recently name the International League’s Most Valuable Pitcher for 2012.
At AAA he sported a BB% of 6.9%, K% of 16.8 and a .233 BABIPA on 46% GB rate, and an FIP of 4.03, indicating his ERA was getting some help from a little bit of better than average luck. The knock on him is that he does not throw very hard. His advantage is clearly a repertoire of pitches that he commands well, and first hand reports from commenters on this site have said that he seems to keep hitters off balance.
I, for one, can’t wait to see what he can do. He could wind up baffling the Mets for innings on end. We shall see.
Congrats to Darin Ruf on his franchise-tying 37th HR of the year. We can argue about what to make of his future, (we don’t have to, but I’m sure we will…again), he’s been absolutely crushing it the last month+. Asche, Joseph and Gillies all had 3 hits in that game, Gillies and Joseph each with a HR.
Elsewhere, Maikel Franco was 4-4 plus a BB and drove in a run. What a second half that guy’s had. He was OPSing .607 at their all-star break, after – .910. And 6 Ks in 4 IP from Kevin Brady for WIL. 2BB also, bringing his NYPL total to 5. Versus 44K. In 34 innings.
Tyler Cloyd, who has been the model of consistent excellence this year for Lehigh Valley has been named the Most Valuable Pitcher of the International league. Cloyd, 25, is the winningest pitcher in Minor League baseball this year and set a Lehigh Valley club record for wins.
Cloyd leads the league in WHIP(1.01) and ERA(2.35) and is 2nd in both Wins and opponents batting average. Cloyd has gone six or more innings in 21 of his 22 starts and allowed three or fewer runs 20 times.
Cloyd, an 18th round pick in 2008 is a combined 15-1 with a 2.26ERA this year in 26 combined starts between Reading and Lehigh Valley.
Light schedule Monday, with the DSL season ended, a rainout in Daytona and an off-day for Lakewood. FYI – DSL is into the playoffs now, and the Phils did not make it into the tourney. They finished 32-36, well off the pace in the Boca Chica South division.
Worth mentioning 2H and 2R each from Darin Ruf and Cody Asche, (including Ruf’s 36th HR, if that kind of thing interests you), but what a line from Trevor May: 8IP, 2H 1 R, 0BB, 9K. 3 flyball outs, 8 on the ground. That’s top notch.
Elsewhere, every Williamsport Crosscutter had at least 1 hit, as Josh Warner shut down Jamestown on 4 hits over 6 scoreless IP.
Ok, so Cody Asche’s ISO in AA is .225. That’s pretty remarkable. See the list here for the qualified .220 and higher ISO MLB seasons over the last 10 years for third basemen:
http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/ueXSd
I’m not saying Asche will do this in the bigs – quite the opposite. Look at how few 3B really show power of that kind in full seasons in the bigs. Some of us, myself included, might want to temper our expectations a little as he advances.
But man has he been mashing at AA. I mean, good freakin’ gracious.
Hard to complain about this line from Hoby Milner – 6 scoreless IP, 2H, 2BB, 6K. Curious to see what kind of year he puts together in 2013. A transition from the U of Texas bullpen this season to starting in A ball seems to have gone fairly well, with a very strong August.
One more – Franklyn Vargas. 6K, 1H, 1 BB in 3 scoreless IP today. For a 6’4″ 205lb lefty who turned 18 years old 4 days ago, I’ll take more than a K per inning in the GCL, even with a high walk rate. Very intriguing.
I just wanted to give all of you an update on what to expect from the site during the off season. At seasons end, I will be putting out a report card on each player in the organization. It will go position by position and will take us through September into early October and will hopefully kick start some good conversation. October will bring the beginning of Arizona Fall league coverage which will flow into late November and be covered by Brad, who has done a great job with box scores and thoughtful commentary throughout the year. Continue reading Off Season Plan
Sure, Darin Ruf hit his 34th HR, but did you notice the big news? Cameron Rupp hit his 10th! Babe Rupp!!!
And so continues my unhealthy obsession with Cameron Rupp.
