Before I get into the weekend wrapup, just a brief note on what things will look like going forward. Basically from here on out, Tuesday through Friday we will have a report on each affiliate, starting with Lakewood and ending with Lehigh Valley. There might be a few exceptions if we have to shuffle things around time wise, but this will be the general plan. The reports will give you a good idea what is going on with each affiliate and keep everyone in the loop, and hopefully we’ll come up with some other cool stuff to do. Because of the help of the generous folks who have volunteered, it will give me more time to add more features to the site, something I’ve been slacking on. I’m going to do a weekend wrap up every Monday, and I’ll also write new things periodically, and also post news items as they happen. But as I mentioned over the winter, this site is turning into more and more of a group effort, and I couldn’t be happier about that. So, all of that said, lets wrap up the first weekend in the minors…
Friday recap
Just a quick recap of last night’s action.
Lakewood drops their opener 4-0. Bob covered this one, so I’ll just say it was nice to see Dominic Brown off to a good start. We won’t know lineup positioning for a while, as I’m sure some guys will drift around, but its interesting that Dominic Brown would be leading off, as he has some power potential. Then again, getting your best prospects the most AB’s is the goal, and batting leadoff is the best way to do that.
Clearwater dropped a squeaker 2-1. Adrian Cardenas stole the show with 2 doubles in his debut. Joe Savery came on after Brad Lidge’s rehab assignment and had mixed results. He allowed only 3 hits in 5 innings while striking out 7, but he walked 5 guys. Matt Spencer, who I assumed the Phillies would conservatively start in Lakewood, went 1/4 with a run.
Reading thumped Altoona 8-3, the lone Phillies affiliate win on Thursday. Jason Donald was 2/5 with a double and 2 RBI. Jeremy Slayden 1 upped him going 3/5 with a triple. Andrew Carpenter didn’t have his best stuff but pitched well enough to win, going 5 innings, allowing 8 hits and 2 earned runs, with 2 strikeouts and no walks.
Lehigh Valley went down without a fight 4-0. Yankees expensive mistake Kei Igawa was perfect through 6 innings, with the Iron Pigs lone hit coming from 4A OF Brandon Watson. JA Happ lasted only 4 innings, allowing 3 ER on 5 hits with 1 BB and 4 K.
Also, for those of you who like quick access to the box scores, here’s what I do. In Firefox, I have a folder on my bookmarks toolbar that has links to the scoreboards for the 4 main leagues. Those links are
Low A
High A
Double A
Triple A
Just bookmark those links and you’ll have easy access.
Blue Claws Drop Opener
Lake County 4, Lakewood 0
I had long basbeball day yesterday. Went to see the Phills look real ugly in first few inning before storming back. Left it the 8th in time to get to Lakewood for the opener.
Some quick notes and the game recap.
Drew Naylor took the loss but deserved a better line. 
Continue reading Blue Claws Drop Opener
Pigs Preview
The Inaugural Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs season kicked off Thursday evening in Scranton with the Pigs getting blanked 4-0 by the Scranton Wilkes Barre Yankees. The lone Pigs hit came on a single in the 7th inning by CF Brandon Watson. Kei Igawa started for the Yankees and was literally unhittable, leaving in the 7th inning with a no-hitter. Lefthander J.A. Happ started for the Iron Pigs and was average at best lasting only four innings, and giving up three runs on five hits. Happ walked one and struck out four. While all Pigs hitters struggled, TJ Bohn had the most difficulty, striking out in each of his three at bats.
[ed. note, I added the “read more” part]
Rumored starters for opening night
Hat tip to Squire for this in yesterday’s post.
Lehigh Valley – LHP James Happ
Reading – RHP Andrew Carpenter
Clearwater – LHP Joe Savery
Lakewood – RHP Drew Naylor
If that proves to be true, you have 4 prospects starting 4 games. That won’t happen every night, but its certainly a welcomed sight. I’ll do full recaps of the games tomorrow, and we’ll be under way.
Opening day is tomorrow
Just a heads up, for those of you who are ready to start following box scores. Opening day is tomorrow for Lakewood, Clearwater, Reading, and Lehigh Valley. We’ll get an idea what the lineups and rotations are going to look like after the first few games. This season, unlike last, there should be plenty of guys worth following at AA and AAA, and plenty of new faces in the lower levels as well. Next week we’ll start with our affiliate reports, with Lakewood on Tuesday, Clearwater on Wednesday, Reading on Thursday and Lehigh Valley on Friday. Here’s to a great minor league season.
Minor League rosters
If you look at the top of the site, you’ll now see a link called “ML Rosters”, which will basically be a simple place to keep track of who is playing at what level. I’ll work on filling them in, but any of our contributors can also edit their respective team’s roster once the season starts. Eventually, I’ll try and spruce it up a bit, but for now, it should get the job done.
Blue Claws Announce 2008 Roster
BlueClaws announce Opening Day roster
Phillies send 25 players to Lakewood
LAKEWOOD, N.J. – The Philadelphia Phillies have announced the Opening Day roster for their Class A affiliate, the Lakewood BlueClaws.
Of the 25 players that will be on the Opening Day roster, 18 played in Williamsport in 2007 under current BlueClaws hitting coach Greg Legg.
The roster also features seven players named in the top 30 Phillies prospects by Baseball America: outfielder Dominic Brown (No. 6), shortstop Freddy Galvis (No. 13), infielder Travis Mattair (No. 18), pitcher Julian Sampson (No. 19), outfielder D’Arby Myers (No. 21), and pitcher Drew Naylor (No. 29). Infielder Tyler Mach (No. 25) is also on the roster, but will open the season on the disabled list. Continue reading Blue Claws Announce 2008 Roster
Phillies claim Lahey off waivers
The Phillies claimed Rule 5 draftee Tim Lahey off waivers. Lahey had been waived by the Cubs after being taken first in the Rule 5 draft. This was BA’s assessment of Lahey back in December
Lahey was a catcher at Princeton, then converted to the mound when the Twins drafted him. He has a short, catcher-like arm action, but he throws strikes with his 90-92 mph fastball, one that has touched 95 according to Cubs officials, and the delivery adds some deception. A 20th-round pick in 2004 by the Twins, Lahey also throws a solid-average slider and a changeup. The Cubs see room for improvement, since Lahey is still relatively new to pitching.
“He’s got real good sink with a ground ball ratio of almost 3-to-1 and the makings of a pretty good slider,” Cubs farm director Oneri Fleita said. “It’s amazing—I think he has 178, 179 innings and has less than a hit per inning pitched. That’s pretty good for a guy who just got converted. We’re excited to see him.
So, here’s how this works, to my knowledge. The Rule 5 process still applies. Lahey must go straight onto the 25 man roster and must remain there all season. The Phillies were able to get JD Durbin through waivers and to AAA, so thats one less obstacle. If Lahey can’t stick, he will be placed on waivers. If no one claims him, he has to be offered back to Minnesota. If Minnesota refuses to take him back for $25K, we can outright him to AAA. I don’t really see how he will fit into the team, but then again, any new warm body is probably better than a bunch of the old warm bodies, so stay tuned.
Friday thoughts
No real news to report today, things are shaping up, and the only real developments I can forsee between now and Monday would be a trade of Wes Helms, but it looks like there is zero interest around baseball. Maybe the Phillies can move him for a reliever out of options and take a flier on a guy, who knows. But, this weekend I plan to put in a bunch of work on the site to get things ready. I won’t be around Monday, so we’ll resume normal service on Tuesday and start getting prepared for the minor league season.
Today’s open ended question; which Phillies prospect will get the most AB’s for the big league club this season? Your choices are limited, but we did one for pitchers, so we’ll do one for hitters as well.
