Lehigh Valley Weekly Report

A crazy post all star break week, with players coming and going up and down the organization.  Lehigh Valley has gone 4-3  since the all star break, and now stand at 41-57, in 5th place of the Northern Division of the International League, 16.5 games behind division leading Scranton.

Leaders: Note: Stats are thru Tuesday and include only those on the current Lehigh Valley roster. Hitters: John Mayberry is 5th in runs (52); Chris Duffy is tied for 4th in triples (4) and is 8th in strikeouts (83); Andy Tracy is 3rd in walks (52), 4th in OBP (.400) and 5th in SLG (.515); Pitchers: Nate Bump is 7th in ERA (3.15); Brian Mazone is tied for 3rd in starts (19) and 7th in HR allowed (14); Scott Mathieson is 3rd in saves (18); Joe Savery is 6th in walks (40). Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report →

July 22 Discussion

The box scores are back. No trade talk in this posting. Thanks.

GCL Phillies won 7-2.

* Altherr with 2 hits, now at .304, and stole his 10th base.

Williamsport lost 4-3.

Check below for the rest

Continue reading July 22 Discussion →

Reading Report July 15-20th

Reading got off to a horrible re-start immediately after the EL all-star game losing their first three games to Trenton (2 by one run) but rebounded to take three in a row after shutting out Trenton on Sunday.

Matt Rizzotti went 7/20, hitting in all six games, blasting 3 HR and drawing 3 walks.  He’s slugged .900 since the break and has a .370 OBP giving him a 1.270 OPS over the last week.  Honestly, people need to start looking past his age, since as soon as he qualifies by reaching 2.7 PA per Reading game (which should happen next week), he’ll be leading the EL in BA, OBP, and SLG (currently at .355/.425/.645/OPS 1.071, better than Domonic Brown’s stats in Baseballtown).

Continue reading Reading Report July 15-20th →

Selling the Drama

It continues in Philly, with Vance Worley, 22, getting called up to the big club one day after Jamie Moyer went down with an elbow strain and Andrew Carpenter lasted one outing (3IP, 3ER) in his latest attempt with the Phils.  Carpenter was optioned back to AAA Lehigh Valley.  One other notable transaction today, from a Phillies perspective had Nelson Figueroa getting picked up on waivers by the Houston Astros.  Worley the Phils 3rd round pick in the ’08 draft has been very strong as of late going 3-0 with a 1.17 ERA in his 3 July starts for AA Reading.  On the year he is 9-4 with a 3.20 ERA.  He has thrown 112.2 IP, allowed 114 hits, walked 36 and struck out 83.  Opponents are hitting .264 on him for the year with a WHIP of 1.33.

An interesting move to say the least when the presumption was that JA Happ was pulled from yesterdays start for Lehigh Valley after 3 innings in preparation for a possible weekend start for the big club.  That could still happen, but this is interesting nonetheless.  And let the talk continue….

Around the System–Relievers, Top Half

Another look at how relievers are performing at the top half of the Phils minor league system as the trade deadline approaches.  Look for reliever updates for Lakewood, Williamsport and GCL this weekend or next week.

Lehigh Valley

Antonio Bastardo, 24, 7 games with Lehigh Valley and has not allowed an earned run while striking out 10 in 5.2 innings.  Bastardo has bounced around so much the last two years, that the fact that he is still just 24 is easily forgotten.  He continues to have good stuff.  Staying off the DL and command issues are the key.

Alex Concepcion, 25, 22 games, 2-2 with a 5.10 ERA; 30 IP 23H  16BB 18K, 5 hr allowed, 1.30 WHIP; 0.92 GO/AO; .205 opp. avg., .280 with RISP; .260 vs. LH, .161 vs. RH. Concepcion has been hurt badly by the home run ball.  He throws strikes and has a very good change up but needs more consistency. Continue reading Around the System–Relievers, Top Half →

July 21 Discussion

I won’t even bother with the box scores. All anyone is going to discuss are the trade rumors surrounding Jayson Werth and Roy Oswalt and whoever else. So just have a go, no using fighting it.

Carpenter Called Up, Kendrick Optioned

The Phillies optioned starter Kyle Kendrick to AAA Lehigh Valley after a very rough outing for him against the Cardinals last night that featured multiple mound visits by Rich Dubee.  Called up to fill in Kendrick’s roster spot is right hander Drew Carpenter.  It is unclear righ now if Carpenter will take Kendrick’s turn in the rotation.  Kendrick, who the 3rd best ERA in the Phils starting rotation, joins Lehigh Valley having gone 5-4 with a 4.82 ERA in 18 starts for the Phils.  Carpenter has been consistent for Lehigh Valley, going 7-6 with a 3.41 ERA in his 18 starts.  Certainly an interesting move in light of the fact that JA Happ sits in Lehigh Valley as well.  Happ has not yet put together a solid start for Lehigh Valley struggling at least mildly in each outing.

July 20 Discussion

Another day, another roundup

GCL Phillies won 5-4.
Williamsport won 3-0.
Clearwater lost 4-3.
Reading won 6-1.
Lehigh Valley won 10-8.

Lakewood Weekly Report (7/12-7/18)

Recap: Lakewood went 3-3 on the week and still sit atop the SAL North with a 15-8 record, two games ahead of Delmarva.  Overall, they are 57-36.  Notable performances this week were Jiwan James‘ eclipsing the franchise record hit streak by hitting in his 24th straight game and a 9 strikeout performance by Trevor May.

Continue reading Lakewood Weekly Report (7/12-7/18) →

July 19th Discussion

A new week is upon us. First, Sunday’s scores

Williamsport won 4-3.
Lakewood lost 4-1 and lost 4-0.
Reading won 4-0.
Lehigh Valley lost 5-4.

* Jiwan James sees his hitting streak snapped at 24 games
* I don’t know what got into Vance Worley of late, but its a good thing
* Singleton has 39 BB and 40 K through 60 games. Highly impressive on both counts
* Rizzotti is still hitting .357 after 213 AB.

And…..go!