The Phillies released twelve minor leaguers today as Minor League rosters begin to take shape with one week to go before opening day. Those released from the organization include:
Pitcher Joe Bisenius–The Phils 12th round pick in the 2004 draft who went from legitimate prospect status to the list of releases over a period of three years. He suffered from injuries, control issues and inconsistency which led to his ultimate release. Continue reading 12 Released by the Phils
OF John Mayberry, Jr, was optioned to Triple A Lehigh Valley, while Catcher Dane Sardinha and SS Ozzie Chavez were re-assigned to Minor League Camp today by the Phils. Mayberry was a good Spring, hitting .289 with a homer a 6 RBI’s in his 38 AB’s. Sardinha hit .154 this Spring. Chavez hit .200 in his 25 at bats and will fill a middle infield spot in Reading or Lehigh Valley depending upon needs.
Notes: Harold Garcia, who played almost exclusively at 2B last year in Lakewood, played SS in the High A game yesterday.
—Yohan Flande was hit hard in the AA game, giving up 7 runs over 4.2 innings.
—Scott Mathieson threw 2 scoreless innings, without allowing a hit in the AAA game.
Thanks to reader “TJ” for supplying me with the latest update, which came on March 23rd. Click here to see the image. I uploaded it to Google Photos and checked it on another browser, but if you have trouble viewing the image, I’ll also upload it to another external source. Check below the fold for more.
I’m short on time today, but I wanted to post an open discussion thread on the Lakewood/Clearwater rosters, since we did something similar for Reading and Lehigh Valley a little while back. So, what do we think the starting lineup and pitching staffs will look like?
Also, someone started an NCAA-style tournament of Phillies blogs, and phuturephillies has advanced to the Sweet 16, and it looks like my next matchup is today, so go here and vote if you want to.
With the bases loaded and two out, Michael Schwimer was summoned in to try and put out the fire. And sure enough, he did, striking out Gregor Blanco on what looked like a hard slider on the outside corner. The ESPN gun had him at 91-93, and the slide came in at 85 mph. Congrats to Schwim.
David Herndon threw a messy scoreless inning, but in fairness to him, Laz Diaz (and his awful strike zone) was behind the plate and appeared to squeeze him a number of times.
I’m back with the promised pitching numbers spit out by good ole SONAR. Unlike the position players, where it was appropriate to cover each position individually, I’m going to break down all of the pitchers together. But instead of 25, I did a chart of the top 100, with brief thoughts on a few, and more detailed thoughts on some of the interesting rankings. I recommend you checking out my revised SONAR post from a little while back, which talks about the way the system was tweaked. Most of it had to do with the position player aspect of SONAR, but I updated the weightings for the pitching formula, as well as fixing a few bugs with park factors and age factors. I’m going to first present the chart for all Phillies pitchers, then present the Top 100, split into 3 separate charts to make it easier to read. Check below for more..
These come courtesy of Frankie Piliere, the resident scout for AOL Fanhouse, who was at Phillies camp yesterday.
• One thing minor-league spring training gives us is a look at raw, talented young pitchers. Right-handed hurler Juan Sosa stood out among the Phillies’ low-level squads on Monday. The 20-year-old out of the Dominican Republic looked unpolished but showed enough raw stuff to be a commodity worth following closely. Sosa worked at 90-91 mph with his fastball, reaching 92 a handful of times. He also mixed in the makings of a solid-average breaking ball at 75-77 mph, with which he seemed able to throw strikes. His delivery is inconsistent, and he has some problems working from the stretch. This isn’t a guy that will make an immediate impact, but with his live arm and solid breaking ball he is player worth monitoring.
• Yohan Flande, a participant in the 2009 Futures Game, looks like he a way to go in terms of building up his arm strength. Flande sat around 84-87 mph with his fastball on Monday, well below his usual 91-92. The 24-year-old southpaw’s command was also somewhat inconsistent. It’s not much of a concern, but he’s certainly not near full strength yet.
Tuck it away for a later date.
Also, Jim Salisbury has an excellent little article on Jarred Cosart here.
Left Handed Relief Pitcher Mike Zagurski was optioned to Minor League camp today, leaving Antonio Bastardo as the last man standing in the competition for the LOOGY poisition in the Phils bullpen. Zagurski came on strong at the end of last season pitching in Reading after missing a good deal of time recovering from surgery. Bastardo, 24, pitched very well in the Minors last year before coming up and making several spot starts for the Phils before being shut down with shoulder problems. Bastardo seems to have recovered from his shoulder issues and spent the Winter pitching in the DOminican League.
I figured a post like this (and one looking at guys I’m worried about) would be a good topic as the season gets close. I’m not really sure if “breakout” is the word I’m looking for, but basically I’m putting together a list of 6 players (3 position players, 3 pitchers) who I feel will take steps forward in 2010. Either this means they are rebounding from a poor season, or they are going to surpass expectations this season. I won’t include guys on my Top 30 list, since I obviously feel highly about those guys anyway and I’ve discussed many of them at great length. I’m going to use this piece as a way to talk about a few guys that I maybe haven’t given as much time to. So check below and we’ll get started.
I wasn’t happy with the board I created last year, but I found a new free site, the setup is much better (I think) and hopefully it will prove much more useful during the season. This board, unlike the last one, is much more customizable, as it utilizes the phpbb software. I am, however, unskilled when it comes to updating/editing the appearance of the board. So, if you have experience working with phpbb and know how to alter the code to change the colors/board header and you’d like to help, please send an e-mail to phuturephillies at gmail dot com. I’m also looking for someone to offer their services to design a banner/header image for the site, so if you have those graphics related skills, also do send me an email, Id greatly appreciate it.
For now, you can check out the board here and sign up. Its just a skeleton setup with basic rules, but you’re free to join, play around and discuss. As I figure out the ins and outs and hopefully work with someone I can improve the aesthetics and features of the place. My hope is that it provides useful during the season and gives another outlet for the good discussions that generally spill across multiple articles here. I know its common sense (and I noted it in the rules there), but please only sign up with your name from here, it will create far less confusion and its just common sense. Thanks.
