Pat Overholt with another solid outing

Other Stuff

While I’ve previously expressed a differing opinion than the Phillies on Pat Overholt’s role, he continues to impress, with an 8 inning gem tonight. He allowed 6 hits and 1 walk to go with his 3 strikeouts. More impressively, he logged 14 ground ball outs against only 6 fly outs. Here are his game logs this season

4/5: 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K
4/11: 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 3 K
4/16: 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 7 K
4/21: 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 K

Here are his GB: FB numbers in those starts

4/5: 4 GB, 6 FB
4/11:  11 GB,  1 FB
4/16: 8 GB, 0 FB
4/21: 14 GB, 6 FB

Add that up, he’s registered 37 GB outs to only 13 FB outs, good for almost a 3 to 1 ratio. If he continues to pitch along those lines, and can keep his walks down, he’ll likely experience success as a starter. While I do tend to worry about starting pitchers who don’t miss bats, if he’s getting weak contact, it’s not quite as big an issue.

Ottawa Lynx Week Two

7. Lehigh Valley

“Pitching and defense are the keys to winning ball games.” An old and hallowed baseball cliche to be sure but Ottawa manager John Russell’s comment after the third Lynx win in a row on their current home stand has been an absolute. Ottawa came off a miserable road trip which took them through Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse and began their 2007 home schedule with a 2-5 record and sitting in last place in the Northern division of the International League.

Continue reading Ottawa Lynx Week Two →

Arms to Watch, Update #1

Other Stuff

Before I get to the update, I’m still looking for correspondants to write a once a week report for Lakewood and Reading. If you’re interested, send an e-mail to phuturephillies @ hotmail dot com

Way back in January, I wrote a little piece on 5 pitchers in the Phillies system that I thought would merit special attention and following in 2007, as I felt they were candidates to have very solid seasons and elevate their prospect status. So, let’s see how my guys are doing thus far.

Continue reading Arms to Watch, Update #1 →

The Reading Report, Week 2

6. Reading

Unlike Lakewood, and Clearwater to a degree, the Reading roster is not filled with legit prospects, but one guy is attempting to make his way back into the discussion, one Javon Moran. Moran was originally drafted by the Phillies in 2003, but traded to the Reds in 2004 in the Cory Lidle deal (thanks for the reminder), and spent 2 and a half seasons in the Cincinnati organization. Moran found his way back to Philadelphia as part of the Jeff Conine deal, and though he is 24 and playing in AA, he’s making his claim for legit prospect status. For the season, he’s compiled a .413/.451/.630 batting line in 46 AB, with 7 extra base hits, 7 RBI, 13 runs scored, and 7/8 in SB just for good measure. It’s premature to jump to too many conclusions, but if he finishes with a solid .330/.390/.500 line this season, he’ll gain quite a bit of his stock back heading into next year, and could offer a much better outfield alternative to Chris Roberson.

Continue reading The Reading Report, Week 2 →

Threshers win 20 inning marathon

5. Clearwater

I’ve been strapped for time the last few days with a deadline at work, so no Clearwater report today, but if you haven’t already, check out the action from last night, which saw Clearwater win a 20 inning game against the Tampa Yankees. Greg Golson was the hero, going 1-10, but driving in the winning run. Josh Outman had a nice bounce-back performance, giving up only 1 ER in 6 innings, but each team would eventually have to use 7 pitchers in total before the game would end. Today’s game went the standard 9, with Carlos Carrasco rebounding from a tough performance to deliver 7 innings of 1 ER ball.

In search of D’Arby Myers

Other Stuff

I’ve gotten a few questions on the whereabouts of D’Arby Myers, both here on the blog and via e-mail, so here’s what I know. Myers is in extended spring training right now. Extended spring training is basically the equivalent of sandlot baseball. It’s more about instruction and repetition, with very loosely played games, sometimes of the intra-squad variety and sometimes against the complex teams of nearby organizations. It serves as a place for injured players to rehab, toss batting practice, etc etc, instead of doing it in pressure game situations when you aren’t 100% ready for the season. Myers, despite his success in the GCL in his debut is still very raw, and the Phillies probably wanted to ease him into action this season. My guess, and this is purely a guess, is that he will make an appearance at Lakewood sometime in May. I get the feeling the Phillies will give him a one month trial or so at Lakewood, see how he handles Low A pitching, and go from there. If he holds his own and looks good in the box, they’ll probably keep him at Lakewood for the duration of the season. If he struggles, they can re-assign him to Williamsport once the short season league opens.

I’m working on getting a Q/A with D’Arby sometime in the near future, but I can’t make any promises.

The Lakewood Report, Week 2

4. Lakewood

lakewood2.jpg
(courtesy of Blueclaws.com)

Lakewood started off week 2 of the season on the right foot, beating West Virginia on April 9th and 10th behind strong pitching performances. After 4 shaky innings from Jarrod Freeman, the bullpen, led by Ben Pfinsgraff, clamped down on West Virigina and held on for the win. In game 2, Kyle Drabek tossed his first gem of the season, going 6 innings, allowing only 1 earned run on five hits, two walks, while striking out 4. Alex Concepcion and Justin Blaine combined for 3 scoreless innings to take Lakewood to a 3-2 record. The third game of the series was rained on Wednesday, and when play resumed Thursday, things didn’t go quite as well, with Lakewood losing both ends of the double header, largely due to shaky bullpen work from the Hill’s, Garet and Ronald. Lakewood traveled to Hickory for what was to be a 4 game series, winning the opener 9-5, with Ben Pfinsgraff notching his second win of the week in relief of Darren Byrd. The next three games, however, were canceled due to wind and rain.

So, Lakewood’s defense of their Sally League crown has begun with a 4-4 record, and they sit in 5th place, 2.5 games behind first place Greensboro in the Northern Division. There have been plenty of positives as well as a few questions left to be answered. Kyle Drabek, who’s first appearance came in relief, was excellent in his first start, and has 7 strikeouts in 7 innings against only 2 walks. Edgar Garcia has two good starts under his belt, having allowed only 3 ER in 12 innings with an 8:1 strikeout to walk ratio. Adrian Cardenas, thrust into full season ball, is hitting .333 in 27 AB, and in Week 2 alone, he hit .467. Maybe the most pleasant surprise has been Gus Milner, an outfield prospect that really wasn’t on anyone’s radar after a disappointing debut last year. Milner’s overall line .387/.424/.548 in 31 AB is an impressive start, and in Week 2, he 2 doubles and 2 stolen bases as well. Even CJ Henry, who struggled mightily last season, has shown some promise, with 5 extra base hits and 3 stolen bases so far.

Their are two things to keep on eye on however, that aren’t looking quite as positive. Darren Byrd and Jarrod Freeman, both promoted to full season ball this year, have struggled a bit. Byrd has allowed 7 ER in 8.1 innings, with 7 walks and 8 strikeouts, and Freeman has allowed 5 ER in 5.2 innings, but does have 7 strikeouts. Not every arm is going to pan out, and it is only two starts, but keep on eye on these two and see how they develop and handle the jump to a full season league. The other disconcerting aspect of not only Lakewood, but of all the Phillies affiliates, is the general lack of plate discipline being shown. In 274 AB as a team, they’ve managed to draw a grand total of 22 walks, with 5 of those going to Julian Williams and 4 to Tuffy Gosewich, neither of whom are really great prospect material. I’m not sure if it’s an organizational teaching method or not, because the big league club clearly doesn’t have a problem drawing walks. Again, keep an eye on this trend and see if it improves or gets worse as the season progresses.

Lakewood returns back home this week for a 3 game series against Delmarva and then they welcome in Hagerstown.

Nice Rashad Taylor article

2006 DFE's

Thanks to e-mailer BC for sending me this article on Rashad Taylor, our top draft and follow prospect. The article talks about the hardships Taylor had to overcome as a child, losing his father when he was only 5, as well as his impressive run this season at Skyline Community College. Taylor also hinted that he’s looking for “Top 12 round money” from the Phillies if he’s to sign, or he’ll return to Skyline next season. Top 12 round money really doesn’t tell you much, as only the first four rounds or so garner big bonuses. A large bonus for a DFE is normally in the 750k to 1 million range, so if Taylor is looking for something in the 250K to 500K range, I think he’d be more than worth it. The Phillies have until June 1st to make a decision.

Also, check out Jeff Crupper’s Threshers Blog, very well done. I’ve added a permanent link to the right in the blogroll. Nice work Jeff.

Who’s Hot, Who’s Not, Week 2

Other Stuff

Two weeks (actually 1.5) in the books, let’s see who’s hitting their stride and who’s still not quite getting it in gear.

Sizzling

Dan Brauer: 11 IP, 1 ER, 7 H,  5 BB, 12 K, 2 W
Andrew Carpenter: 11 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 9 K, 1 W
Lou Marson: 21 AB, .381/.381/.619, 2 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI
Jason Donald: 20 AB, .400/.400/.500, 2 2B, 5 R
Adrian Cardenas: 15 AB, .467/.467/.533, 1 2B, 1 R, 3 RBI
James Happ: 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 3 BB, 6 K

Frozen

Joe Bisenius: 1.2 IP, 37.50 ERA (5 ER), 4 H, 2 BB, 0 K
Mike Costanzo: 23 AB, .174/.240/.217, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI
CJ Henry: 18 AB, .167/.286/.278, 2 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI
Carlos Carrasco: 3.1 IP, 20.32 ERA (7 ER), 7 H, 1 BB, 3 K
Darren Byrd: 4.0 IP, 11.25 ERA (5 ER), 5 H, 3 BB, 5 K

Lynx Report Week 1

7. Lehigh Valley

Greetings all you Philly fans from your northern neighbor. I’m Doug Bird and this year I will be covering your Triple A affiliate- the Ottawa Lynx. Last season I reported the baseball comings and goings of the Ottawa Lynx as a daily contributor to Orioles Hangout. Our major league affiliations have ranged from the now sadly defunct Montreal Expos to the Baltimore Orioles and this season, a team which should be a strong contender in the National League East, the Philadelphia Phillies. With the Major League franchise Triple A affiliation changes this past winter, Ottawa is now home to the Northern division winner from the 2006 season. The Lynx last season finished with a 74-69 last season, but were 10.5 games out of first at the end and failed to qualify for the playoffs. Opening on the road this season with games in Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse, the Lynx will begin their home schedule April 17th vs. the Charlotte Knights. I’ll be making weekly reports on the goings on with the Lynx this season, and touching on the rest of the International League. Hopes are high for a successful run at a playoff spot this season with veteran signings such as Lou Collier and Pedro Swan and the return of top prospects such as Michael Bourn, (now with Philadelphia). Manager of the Year for 2006 John Russell returns for another season, (his tenth season as a minor league field manager), along with his pitching coach of last year, Rod Nichols, (his fourth season at Philadelphia’s highest minor league affiliate), and field coach Sal Rende, (his fourth season).

Neither the weather nor the opposition were kind to Ottawa in this, the first week of the regular season. In a week of all offense and no pitching, or all pitching and no offence, the Lynx managed only two victories in seven games. After the scheduled April 6th opener was cancelled due to snow and cold, both teams were able to finally begin the 2007 season the following day. In this one, Ottawa rallied for seven runs in the ninth to take an 11-9 lead only to have the bullpen allow three in the Rochester half of the ninth, the winning run scoring on a base loaded walk issued to Tommy Watkins by Justin Miller. Lynx starter Brian Mazone lasted only four innings, allowing four unearned runs on five hits as Rochester won 12-11.

An off day for travel saw Ottawa in Buffalo to play the Bisons who had been unable to play any of four scheduled games against the Richmond Braves due to bad weather. Ottawa fared no better in this, their second game of the season, losing to Buffalo 8-3. Ottawa starter Matt Childers surrendered four first inning runs, all top Cleveland pitching prospect Adam Miller would need as he went six innings for the win. The Buffalo pen shut down the Lynx offense over the final three innings giving Ottawa an 0-2 start to the 2007 season.

The Lynx record fell to 0-3 the next day as Buffalo once again defeated them, this time by a score of 5-3. Ottawa starter J.A. Happ in only his second Triple A start of his career, was outstanding, pitching five innings and allowing no hits. After counting 87 pitches in his five innings of work, Happ was replaced, leaving with a 2-0 lead. Again, the bullpen was unable to hold the lead as Buffalo, trailing 3-0, rallied against recently assigned Joe Besinius for three runs. Eude Britto replaced Besinius but fared no better, giving up a two run double to Keith Ginter, breaking the tie and putting Buffalo in the lead for good.

Ottawa finally got in the win column the next day, defeating Buffalo 13-7, getting 15 hits total. Lou Collier continued his hot start to the season, going 4-5 with two runs batted in and raising his average to .526. Eight different Lynx players drove in a run and three Lynx relievers followed starter Jim Crowell, reliever Fabio Castro earning the first Lynx win of the season.

The final game of this series against Buffalo was a tight pitching dual between Lynx starter Brian Mazzone and the Bisons Jeff Harris. Keith Ginter once again hurt the Lynx, this time with a solo home run in the second inning. Ryan Muthern broke up a 1-1 tie with a solo home run of his own in the Buffalo half of the fifth inning. Three Buffalo relievers shut down Ottawa the rest of the way giving Buffalo a 2-1 victory and dropping the Lynx to 1-4 on the season.

After an off day on Friday, Ottawa spent the weekend of April 14th in Syracuse against the Sky Chiefs.  Impending bad weather once again played havoc with the scheduling and what was scheduled to be a single game Saturday, a double header Sunday and a single game Monday, was reworked into a doubleheader Saturday and a postponement of the games on Sunday and Monday’s game, both games rescheduled for August. 

With all of this rescheduling, Ottawa managed a split of the Saturday double header, dropping the first game 4-0 but coming back to win game two, 4-3.  Lynx starter Zach Segovia went the distance in game one but gave up a two run homer run to John-Ford Griffith in the fourth inning and a two run home run to Mike Vento in the fifth.  The Lynx could do little against Syracuse starter Ty Taubenheim who worked six innings for the win.  Game two saw the Lynx jump out to a 2-0 first inning lead on a two out double by Chris Coste, a lead they never relinquished.   Ottawa starter Matt Childers allowed only one run through five innings and the bullpen, with a key defensive play in the sixth inning by Ottawa center fielder Chris Roberson, managed to hold off a sixth inning Syracuse rally giving Ottawa their second win of the season.    

The Lynx, 2-5 and in last place in the Northern division three games behind Buffalo,  rank third in the IL in team batting, (.280), and twelfth in team pitching, (5.63). Lou Collier leads the team with a .379 average and Chris Roberson has 8 runs batted in. The Lynx have yet to hit a home run. Brian Mazzone leads the team with a 1.64 ERA but has an 0-1 record in two starts. Fabio Castro and Matt Childers have the lone Ottawa wins and Brian Sanches has the only Lynx save.  The team is off today, (Sunday) and tomorrow.  Pitcher Kane Davis has been placed on the disabled list.