If anyone is still in Clearwater, I’d much appreciate you going and picking up the minor league work groups sheet and scanning/emailing it to me. Thanks!
Minor League Releases
The minor league numbers game has resulted in several early releases from Minor League camp. Included among those released this weekend were OF Brian Gump, SS Alan Schoenberger, P Ryan Feireabend and P Jesus Pirela. More news as it rolls in….
First Hand Report, 18 March 2012
Thanks to Murray for this quick first hand summary. Enjoy.
Good time at the minor league complex today. In the CWater game, Colvin pitched very well, allowing one run but threw a good fastball and a very good curve. He is definitely in much better shape than last year, having dropped some weight. Their lineup was Myers 8, Eldemire 9, Thome 3, Franco 5, Altherr 7, Rupp 2, Pointer dh (he was originally batting 3rd before Thome came), T Greene 6, Ford 4. Noteworthy: Eldemire said he feels great, swung the bat well, and is much faster than I thought. T Greene looked good but is young and very thin. Franco had two hits (batting 4th!) and looked very good at 3rd. Malcolm played 2nd for half the game and looked good to me. Morgado did fine. Pettis closed and looked very good. In the LWood game, Lino started and looked just ok with some control issues. Lineup was Quinn 6 (looks 16! he’s very fast but didn’t do much), Hudson 8 (looked ok), Walding 5 (batted 3rd and looked very good with a couple hits), L Greene dh (he’s huge – hit some balls hard and ran ok), Duffy 3 (in MUCH better shape than last year and hit the ball very well), Logan Moore 2, Numata dh (looked over matched), Amaro 7, Cardozzo 4. Musser pitched 2 good innings but gave up a long homer. Best was ok. Nick Hernandez told me he’s hoping to pitch in CWater by the all star break. As in previous years, the size of the pitchers is amazing.
Dontrelle Willis Released
The Phillies released LHP Dontrelle Willis this morning after three extrmemly unimpressive Spring outings. Willis, 31, was projected to be the seocnd lefty out of the bullpen for the Phils. This opens the door wide open for Rich Dubee favorite Jacob Diekman, who has had an impressive Spring thus far. Diekman, struggled initially at Reading during this first part of 2011, but came on very strong towards the end of last season.
I need your help, 2012 edition
I wanted to write up a quick post here as the minor league season approaches. I hope each and every one of you here will read this and take it to heart.
When I started this site, I had no idea what it would turn in to. In the 5+ years this site has been around, its grown exponentially. Along with this growth, there have been challenged. I’ve changed jobs and have less time to write. I’ve brought in a bunch of really great resources who have helped me provide great content year round. We’ve gone from a handful of comments a day to…well, a lot more. People have contributed lots of great stuff here, both in the comments, via email, and in the way of guest posts. As I mentioned, I’m a very busy person, and I’m only one person. I do not have hours a day to police the comments section of posts. I don’t have time to yell at every person being offensive and disruptive. For the most part, and considering the internet message board medium as a whole, we have far fewer problems here than elsewhere. For those of you who have been here for a while, you know that my request of you is to simply ignore the people trying to inflame the discussions and get a rise out of you. The post tacked to the top of the site features a link to the FAQ and rules. You can find it by clicking here. I welcome any and all opinions, but I require civility at all times. At all times. If you continually buck the rules and insult others, you won’t be long for this place.
Now that I got that out of the way, here are the ways you can help this site improve in 2012:
* Go to games, make notes on our prospects, and send these reports to my via email. I will post them as “First Hand Scouting Reports” and everyone will be very grateful for what you give us.
* Take video.
9 players optioned/re-assigned to minor league camp
Per this quick post, the following players have been re-assigned:
Dave Bush
Austin Hyatt
Pat Misch
JC Ramirez
BJ Rosenberg
Sebastian Valle
Cesar Hernandez
Harold Garcia
Tyson Gillies
No real surprises here. A lot of these guys will benefit from regular ABs/innings in minor league ST games instead of sitting on the bench for the MLB spring games.
Spring Training Chatter, Week of 12 March
Here is your outpost for this week’s random spring training happenings. Get after it.
JC Ramirez to the bullpen
This was a fairly predictable move, as Ramirez never developed a reliable third pitch, and his second pitch is inconsistent as well. The hope is that he can add a bit to his fastball now that he doesn’t have to pace himself, and sit in the 93-95 range. He’ll need to improve his slider to have any kind of high leverage reliever upside. I’d guess he will go back to Reading to start 2012.
Freddy Galvis to Start at Second Base Today
Matt Gelb is reporting that Freddy Galvis will make his first start at 2B today. With the concern about Chase Utley’s health growing, while the Phillies may suggest this to be coincidence, I am not a big believer in coincidence. Galvis, 22, has played parts of 5 seasons in the minor leagues, spanning 526 games during that time period. Known for his outstanding glove at SS, Galvis has not played an inning at 2B during a regular season minor league game.
While the Phils interest certainly may be to gain the ability to use Galvis at multiple positions with Jimmy Rollins returning for the next several seasons, this will raise an eyebrow or two. Galvis is off to a good start this Spring, hitting .357 in his 14 AB’s. Stay tuned.
Kevin Goldstein releases his Phillies Top 20 Prospects List
You can check it out here. The scouting reports for 1-11 are behind the BP pay wall, so please don’t copy/paste that stuff here. His one line blurbs for 12-20 are free to read. I’ll add in a one line summary of his thoughts for 1-11, but check BP for the full content.
Four-Star Prospects
1. Trevor May, RHP – 3 good pitches, has improved command, still tends to lose his release point and works high in the zone which is dangerous.
2. Jesse Biddle, LHP – 3 good pitches, inconsistent fastball velocity, needs to focus on repeating his delivery.
Three-Star Prospects
3. Phillippe Aumont, RHP – Huge fastball, still struggles with his mechanics.
4. Freddy Galvis, SS – Defensive wizard, might hit enough to be a regular.
5. Sebastian Valle, C – Good power potential, improving defense, zero approach at the plate.
6. Jonathan Pettibone, RHP – 3 good pitches but no real out pitch right now, looks like a durable #4 SP.
7. Larry Greene, OF – Huge power, huge question marks about the rest of his tools.
8. Roman Quinn, SS – Great speed, good pop for his size, defensive home is yet to be determined.
9. Julio Rodriguez, RHP – He’s a magician.
Two-Star Prospects
10. Maikel Franco, 3B – Good upside as a hitter, good defender but not a great athlete.
11. Brody Colvin, RHP – Bad year, stuff was down, delivery was a mess.
Nine More:
12. Justin De Fratus, RHP: Could pitch in the Philly bullpen this year; ceiling is set-up man.
13. Carlos Tocci, OF: High-profile international sign has plus-plus speed and line-drive swing.
14. Lisalberto Bonilla, RHP: Smallish Dominican throws strikes with three average pitches.
15. Jiwan James, OF: Still as toolsy as they come, but has made little progress.
16. Cesar Hernandez, 2B: Impressive pure hitter, but pressure is on bat due to defensive limitations.
17. Aaron Altherr, OF: Anticipated breakout player collapsed at Low-A, but ceiling is still high.
18. Mitchell Walding, SS: Fifth-round pick is big athlete with plenty of upside.
19. Jake Diekman, LHP: Lefty side-armer with more velocity than most of his type.
20. Perci Garner, RHP: Power reliever who could move quickly with health.
Sleeper is Kenny Giles.
