I was fortunate to be able to ask personal favorite Justin De Fratus a bunch of questions, and he provided some great answers. I’m going to put this up now and leave it at the top for a few days, so enjoy. I’ll start my 2008 draft recap on Monday or Tuesday, so check back for that.
Q/A below…
Hello everybody. This is Zac, the typical Reading Phillies Weekly Report guy. Just wanted to chime in with a new post so that we can all direct our focus solely where it belongs, on the Pharm. Also, I just wanted to note, that I think it would be prudent if everyone stopped bickering about the subject of bickering. This is PP’s site, so lets try and keep the subject of conversation focused on what he believes to be appropriate. I think if we accomplish this goal, we will all be pleasantly surprised by the amount of knowledge we will all again about the Phillies minor league teams and players.
On to the topic of conversation, irrational loves. We all have them, I know I do, and so I was just wondering which players some of you guys see turning into a star, or even turning into a much better player than currently projected as (whether that be a star, regular, or bench guy). I will start off with my number one irrational love in the system, Drabek. I do not know what it is about him, but I have these starry eyed dreams of Drabek and Hamels leading us to five straight world series championships. So, who do ya got?
I’m actually paying for my internet right now in Boston. I signed online to check email that needed to be checked. And I decided to stop in here just to make sure everything was ok. And I come back to people still making condescending remarks in the “Off the grid” post. Seriously, you couldn’t pick up the joke in “e-beatdowns”….? I attempted to change the format here, to require people to register at wordpress, thinking that if people really wanted to be a thorn in the side, they wouldn’t take the time to actually sign up and continue to be that way. But that isn’t going to stop people. So I’ve opened up the flood gates again. You know longer have to log in. I’m done trying to “stifle discussion”, but I’m also done posting in the comments section here. I’m going to get back to doing what I intened for this site. I’m simply going to write and share my opinion in the main piece. If I have anything else to add, I’ll update the main post. But I’m not posting in the comments anymore, I’m not going to allow myself to be drawn in to any more of the ridiculous back and forth banter. So, those of you who were so put off that I decided to add a registration process (that would take all of 60 seconds), you win, the site is yours again, feel free to make the snide remarks, the mindless banter, and whatever else you want. I’m going to enjoy the rest of my vacation. The flood gates are back open. Enjoy.
Carlos Carrasco, still only 21, was quite impressive in his 6 starts with Lehigh Valley, going 2-2 with a 1.72 ERA in 36.2 IP. He walked 13 and struck out 46, for a WHIP of 1.36. Opponents hit .250 against him. On the year between Reading and Lehigh Valley, he threw 151 innings and struck out 155 with a combined ERA of 3.69. Projection: I believe he will start the year in Lehigh Valley and depending upon his performance, could be looking at the #3 starter job in Philly by mid year, depending upon trades, injuries, and the always apparant “Eaton factor”. (That being those pitchers who are horrendous who the Phillies have paid millions of dollars, thus creating a rotation obligation) Continue reading Lehigh Valley Pitcher Review
I’ll be out of town until this weekend, so nothing new from me in the coming days. I’m deputising all of the contributors here to issue e-beatdowns if anyone gets out of line. Next week I’m going to focus on the 2008 Draft, give some detailed thoughts on each pick. After that, I’ll do my affiliate by affiliate breakdowns and then work on the Top 30, as well as some other good stuff. Until then…
The 2008 Threshers had a hard act to follow from the fans perspective after the 2007 team took the season to it’s limit by going to the post season and winning the whole thing by bringing home a F.S.L. Championship. I know the 2008 record was not what the team or fans had hoped for, but hopefully it was a learning experience for everyone. That is what the minors are about.
The team did play some fundametally sound baseball, and we did get to see some terrific efforts from some wonderful players over the course of the season. The 2008 statistical leaders for the team are recognized below.
Continue reading Threshers 2008 Recap
Hey, what timing!
Link.
The Crosscutters were the final affiliate to end their season and they did so by going 3-4 this past week. After winning the first three games, they dropped their final four to end the season at 38-37, tied for third place in the NYP Pinckney division, 8.5 GB of Batavia and Jamestown.
Just like the Phillies with the Paul Owens Award, I’m going to give a PPPoY to my most outstanding pitching and positional prospect. This year, the inaugural year for the award, the winners are JA Happ and Michael Taylor. Neither choice was particularly easy, and I moved around a bit on both selections, but in the end, I was fairly confident in the Happ selection, and marginally happy with the Taylor selection. I’ll go through my reasoning on each guy, as well as the runners’ up and some more details below…
No big writeup, just his stat lines, but Taylor was on BA’s Second Team in the OF along with Dexter Fowler (COL) and Travis Snider (TOR), both of whom are now in the majors. This caps a huge season for Taylor, one that will see him shoot way up BA’s rankings this winter. Congrats to Michael, he finds himself in elite company on this all star list.
