Skip to main content

Weekly Off-season League Updates: 12/30/12

It's another edition of our weekly off-season league review. Read ahead, as we take a tour around the globe for a look at Phillies talents including Antonio Bastardo, Raul Valdes and plenty of others, who are participating in various winter league action. 


Venezuelan League-

Second baseman Cesar Hernandez (pictured, left) ended his VWL regular season batting .226 with a home run, 16 RBI and 14 steals in 44 games for Margarita, as his team did not advance to the semi-final round.  The 22-year-old switch-hitter batted a combined .291 with two homers and 57 RBI in 133 games for Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley during the 2012 regular season.

Shortstop Edgar Duran, also with Margarita, batted .240 with a home run and nine RBI in 36 games.  In 121 games for Class A Advanced Clearwater in 2012, Duran, 21, sported a .253/.310/.357 line.

Shortstop Freddy Galvis wrapped up his regular season with a 10-game hitting streak, during which he posted .349 batting average with three doubles and seven RBI.  Galvis batted .300 in 58 games for Zulia and has missed the early games of the semi-final round robin for undisclosed reasons, but has stated on his Twitter account that he expects to return to the team in January.

Catcher Humberto Quintero has posted a .333 average along with five doubles, a homer and 10 RBI in 26 games for Zulia.  The 33-year-old was signed by the Phillies last month after playing in 43 games with the Royals in 2012.

Outfielder Ender Inciarte is sporting a .250 batting average along with five doubles, a triple and eight RBI and 20 steals in 48 games for Zulia.  The 22-year-old batted .307 with 46 stolen bases combined at Class A and Class A Advanced in the Arizona system in 2012.

Left-handed hurler Cesar Jimenez has a 0-3 record along with three saves and a 3.86 ERA for Lara. The 28-year-old, who was signed to a minor league deal earlier this month, has struck out 26 batters and walked seven in 21 innings pitched.


Dominican League-

Antonio Bastardo had no decisions and a 7.71 ERA through four regular season outings with Cibaenas.  Bastardo has thrown one scoreless frame thus far in the post-season round robin, which began this past week.  The 27-year-old posted a 2-5 record with one save and a 4.33 ERA in 65 big league appearances with the Phillies in 2012.

Utility man Michael Martinez batted .205 in 23 regular season games for Oriente.  Thus far in the Dominican post-season round robin, Martinez is 2-for-6 with a stolen base.

Also with Oriente, outfield prospect Leandro Castro batted .313 with a double and four RBI in 32 games.  Castro is 1-for-2 with a double in the round robin thus far.  The 23-year-old was an All-Star in the Double-A Eastern League in 2012.

Raul Valdes had a strong outing in the round robin opener on Thursday, as he led Este to a win with seven scoreless innings while striking out seven, walking just one and allowing two hits.  The left-handed Valdes posted a 2.90 ERA in 27 games with the Phillies in 2012.


Australian League-

Infielder Jeremy Barnes (pictured, right), who played with Clearwater, Reading and Lehigh Valley in 2012, is sporting a .340 batting average through 27 games with Canberra, which is tied for third best in the league.  Barnes, a Notre Dame product, was the Phils' 11th round draft pick in 2009.


Infielder Carlos Alonso is batting .222 with a homer and six RBI through 28 games for Brisbane.  The 24-year-old University of Delaware product, was the Phillies’ 32nd round draft choice in 2010.

Righty Josh Warner has a 7.36 ERA through three relief outings for Brisbane.  The 20-year-old went 5-7 with a 4.28 ERA while striking out 63 and walking 30 in 90 1/3 over 17 combined starts for short-season Williamsport and Class A Lakewood in 2012.

Catcher Liam Bedford, 19, is batting .213 with two doubles and two RBI in 18 games for Melbourne.  Bedford and Warner are native Australians. 


Mexican League-

Through 30 games, catcher Sebastian Valle has tallied a .193 average with two homers and nine RBI for Los Mochis.  Valle, 22, was an All-Star in the Double-A Eastern League in 2012 prior to earning a promotion to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Valle is on the Phils’ 40-man roster.


Roberto Clemente (Puerto Rican) League-

Righty hurler Julio Rodriguez picked up two wins over the past week, pushing his record to 3-1 with a 3.67 ERA in 10 appearances (three starts).  Rodriguez, 22, has struck out 30 and walked 12 in 27 innings for Carolina.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Michael Taylor Q&A

Michael Taylor is currently leading the Reading Phillies' offense and is near the top of the Eastern League in most stat categories (3rd in batting avg- .342, 3rd in HR- 14, tied for second in RBI- 55, 2nd in OPS.- .994, tied for 1st in runs scored- 49, tied for 1st in hits...). The 23 year old Taylor is 6 feet 6 inches tall and has quickly grabbed the attention of phans and media alike as a top prospect to watch. I spoke with Mike Taylor over the weekend, and here is that interview. With all the big stats and being among the league leaders in so many categories, do you think you're ready for the next step? It's kind of a difficult question. Do you have anything left to prove here? There's always something to prove. There's stuff to prove every game. I mean that's one thing that's very interesting about this game. It's such a numbers oriented game. You're only as good as your last "whatever statistical category that someone's valuing". ...

Heroes- Fight of the Century

VS. It's a big day for your boy, Jay Ballz . No work, X-Men Origins: Wolverine premieres, our Phillies face the Metropolitans for the first time this season and tailgating for BOTH doesn't sound all that absurd to me. Anyway, I surveyed some qualified phans and got several opinions on how exactly a fight might go down if the mutant hero Wolverine faced off against Phillies hero Matt Stairs. Well known blogger, Chris, of I've Made a Huge Tiny Mistake , kept it real and said the following- "Wolverine has adamantium ( indestructible metal substance) claws, so that's a great advantage. Stairs' Wonder Bat is neutralized there. See, the problem becomes Wolverine's ability to recover (he has a regenerative power) faster. Stairs is merely human. Sure, he has a goatee, and goatees are great, but they're great for saving sauce, not for defeating mutants. I think Wolverine takes it in a fight to the death in about 15 minutes because Stairs simply doesn'...

Jealous Ones Envy

Joe Blanton continues to excel and prove his worth in the Phillies pitching rotation. In his latest outing on Sunday, Blanton threw 8 strong innings, striking out 6, while walking just 1 and surrendering 2 earned runs, improving his record to 7-4. This season in July, Joe is 3-0 over four starts with 22 K's, 5 walks and a 1.21 ERA. Over his last 6 starts, Joe's ERA is 1.94. As a member of the Phillies, Blanton has a 3.84 ERA after the all star break with a 5-0 record. The Phillies are 20-12 (.625 winning percentage) in games that Blanton has started, since being acquired last July. Combined this season against other National League playoff contenders St. Louis, Chicago and Los Angeles, Blanton has a combined 1.67 ERA in 4 starts with a 2-0 record. Blanton is on such a sizzling run that the Bowling Green Hot Rods, a Tampa Bay Rays farm team, will host a Joe Blanton bobble head give away tomorrow. Bowling Green will host Joe's mother, father and sister for the event, as Joe...