Skip to main content

The Whole Organization is .500

We're all aware that our Philadelphia Phillies have a .500 winning percentage with a 4-4 record. Low A Ball Lakewood is also .500 at 4-4 Those double A Reading Phillies are .500 also, at 3-3. Triple A Lehigh Valley and High A Clearwater total out to .500 with their 2-5 and 5-2 records respectively.


A look around the stat boards after just over a week of minor leagues games delivers some surprises...


Lakewood's first baseman Jim Murphy is roughing up South Atlantic League pitching. His .522 batting avg. and 1.288 OPS through 6 games are very impressive. Meanwhile, top catching prospect Travis D'Arnaud has a .207 batting avg. in 7 games. D'Arnaud does have a homer and 6 RBI in those 7 games though, so don't count him out.


23 year-old Clearwater first baseman, Matthew Rizzotti has 7 RBI in 6 games with a .476 batting avg. and a 1.187 OPS to go along with them, while OF prospect Dominic Brown struggles. Brown's .231 average and 2 RBI through 5 games is small time, based on what people expect from him this season.



Reading's back-up catcher may not be the back-up for too long. Kevin Nelson has 4 hits, one of which is a double and another a homer, in 5 at bats. That is a 2.400 OPS! The following probably should not surprise me, but Joe Bisenius continues to slip further away from the major leagues. The one time opening day Major League roster member, Bisenius, has given up 5 earned runs in just 3 1/3 innings pitched for the Reading Phils. That's a 13.50 ERA.


4/5 of The Lehigh Valley IronPigs' pitching rotation has a combined 2.10 ERA. 2 solid starts each from Carlos Carrasco and Kyle Kendrick added to nice starts from Justin Lehr and Rodrigo Lopez total 34 1/3 innings and only 8 earned runs. The thumbs-down recognition in Lehigh goes to Jason Ellison. His .382 OPS through 7 games is worse than horrific. No extra base hits and no RBI will not get Ellison back to the majors....ever.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sunday School: Phillies History Lesson 73

Danny Ozark was the Phillies' manager from 1973-1979. During his tenure as the team's general, Ozark led Philadelphia to three straight division titles. In his playing days, Ozark was a first baseman, who was a career minor leaguer in the Dodgers system. When Ozark took over the team in 1973, the Phillies were fresh off 5 consecutive losing seasons and 3 straight last place finishes. During his first season in charge, the Phillies would again finish in last place, 20 games under .500, but as his core of young talent, like Mike Schmidt and Larry Bowa, developed, the Phillies' win totals rose. Within 2 years, the Phillies were above .500 and in the playoff hunt until late in the season and the most successful era of Phillies history was about to begin. By 1976, the Phillies were headed to the post-season for the first time since 1950. The Phils would enjoy a 10-game lead over their nearest division rival at the midway point of the season. Despite a lul, which saw their lead d...

PhoulBallz Interview: First round pick Bryson Stott

Bryson Stott, image- Jay Floyd Shortstop Bryson Stott , the Phillies' first round draft selection this year, has enjoyed a successful initial pro campaign.  En route to being recognized as an All-Star for the Class A short-season Williamsport Crosscutters the 21-year-old UNLV product has tallied a .295 average with six home runs and 25 RBI in 45 minor league contests. Last week I spoke with the lefty hitting Stott to discuss his transition to professional baseball, joining the Phillies organization and plenty more.  Read ahead for that interview.  -Obviously, your performance and the production on the field is going well, but how do you feel you have adapted to the pro life? It feels good.  You hear about the everyday grind, but you don't really believe it till you feel it. I would say that's the difference between college and the pros, is you're not practicing, you're playing games every day.  I would say that's the biggest difference.  But I...

Velasquez shut down, Eflin on deck?

Eflin with Reading in 2015, image- Jay Floyd Following Vincent Velasquez leaving his start after just two pitches for the Phillies on Wednesday, righty prospect Zach Eflin was pulled from his start for Triple-A Lehigh Valley at Gwinnett. The 22-year-old sports a 5-1 record with a 3.14 ERA and a .210 batting average against in 10 starts for the IronPigs this season. He could take the place of Velasquez if he is required to miss any additional time. Initial word on Velasquez after he threw two fastballs that clocked in the 86-87 MPH range (considerably slower than the 94 MPH he averages) and was swiftly pulled from his outing, is that he has a biceps strain. He'll be further evaluated in the coming days. Prior to the regular season, Eflin got a taste of competing against big leaguers when he was charged with 12 runs (nine earned) on 11 hits while striking out two and walking one with a wild pitch in three innings of work in an intrasquad exhibition that pitted the Phils...