Lehigh Valley won on a walkoff wild pitch, Tim Kennelly pitched a scoreless ninth in the Reading loss, and Aaron Altherr drew a walk-off base on balls in the 11th in Lakewood.
In normal, not weird baseball results, a good night from Adam Morgan, (he was due for one). 6 shutout innings, 3 hits, 1 walk, 7 Ks.
With the beginning of July we are now over half of the way through the 2012 VSL season. It has been a strange season for the Phillies entry who have dominated the league going 28-14. The team has a 2.41 ERA overall and a .779 OPS. They are in first place by 1.5 games. With all that, however, it is difficult to determine whether the team has any real prospects. The offense is certainly young, though the best performances have come from older players. The pitching has dominated though also led by strong performances from the older players. In spite of these dominant performances it is very possible that the Phillies have a better group of older players than the other teams in the 4-team league.
First half is over. Second half would have to be as good as the first half was bad to get to .500. And I wasn’t even a math major.
Per Ben Badler at BA, the Phils have signed Jose Pujols, who Badler called #20 in International FA market. “Philadelphia has signed Dominican corner outfielder Jose Pujols for $540,000. Pujols, 16, has tremendous righthanded power and bat speed from his lanky 6-foot-4, 175-pound frame.”
Seeing Badler also reporting Phils signed 16-year old catcher Deivi Grullon. Commenters below have info on him already, but Badler called him the 15th best Intl. prospect last week.
Altherr’s stats are actually looking pretty good this year. Ks remain pretty bad, but walks are near 8.5%, better for him. 20/26 stealing bases. He’s still a nice prospect, IMO.
A look at the starting rotation in the lower half of the organization. Limited stats for WIlliamsport and GCL, so limited analysis as it isnt fair to draw any conclusion based on the small sample size. Next up, the bullpen, sometime next week.
Lakewood
Ethan Stewart, 21, Phils 47th round pick in 2010; 16 games; 4-6 with a 3.21 ERA; 81.1IP 57H 43BB 54K; 0.95 GO/AO; .197 opp. avg., 3 HR allowed; 1.22 WHIP; 4.7BB/5.9K per nine; .220 vs LH, .188 vs. RH, .192 with RISP. 4-0 with a 1.76 ERA in June. Stewart has been excellent as of late, although needs to get done the walk rate for continued success.
Ramon Oviedo, 21, Signed as a free agent in 2010; 1-6 with a 8.72 ERA; 7 starts; 32IP 39H 16BB 25K; 1.00 GO/AO; .312 opp. avg., 1.72 WHIP; 4.5BB/7.0K; .340 vs. LH, .292 vs. RH, .378 with RISP. Ugly thus far. Continue reading Around the System–Starting Pitchers, Bottom Half
Kinda interested in this catcher they got for Jim Thome. Also interested in Kyrell Hudson with 4 hits. If he could do that thrice a week, he’d be all set. Someone let him know I suggested that.
The Phils have traded Jim Thome to the Baltimore Orioles for two prospects, RHP Kyle Simon and Catcher Gabrial Lino. Simon, 21, was the Orioles 4th round draft pick last year out of the University of Arizona. A 6’5 RHP, Simon was 2-8 with a 3.96 ERA in 14 starts with CLass A Frederick. In 72.2 innings of work, Simon’s WHIP is an unimpressive 1.47, to go along with an opponents batting average of .293. Simon will likely join Clearwater. Continue reading Phils get prospects from Orioles for Jim Thome
Posting this for you all while I sit in a hotel staying cool, instead of sitting at my house burning up. Much like I would be if I were standing next to Cameron Rupp. For he is, literally, (am I using that term correctly?), ON FIRE.
Some quick hits to get things going this weekend:
–Our old friend Matt Rizzotti was released yesterday by the Twins organization. Things change quickly in the world of minor league baseball.
—Darin Ruf hit his 13th HR last night, leading the Phils Minor League System.
–Reading OF Leandro Castro has been hot for 6 weeks now and is making a push for a callup to Lehigh Valley before years end. While a free swinger, teams will make room for a free swinger with the tools that he has.
—Austin Hyatt finally had a decent start last night after about a dozen lackluster efforts.
—Anthony Hewitt made his 14th error of the season in the OF last night, a near unbelievable amount heading in July. He is on pace for 25 OF errors.
–CHris Duffy has reached base by either hit or walk in all 31 games he has played for Lakewood and currently has a 14 game hitting streak.
—Ervis Manzanillo has landed on the DL again for Lakewood with an elbow strain.
