A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
Understanding sample sizes is a basic part of baseball statistics. It is easy to be influenced by a singular events and use them to create narrative. I find early in a player’s career that small sample sizes give us an interesting look at adjustments occurring during development. The danger of looking at these slight shifts … Read more
Prospect lists are an easy way to take a glimpse into an unknown future. If any player has made the majors, their stay has been short enough to not give us much. The problem with prospect lists is that they do not give a complete look into the young talent in an organization, and consequently … Read more
Ever since he went out and hit .287/.367/.411 in Williamsport at age 18, Maikel Franco has been on Phillies prospect radars. He made a big splash in 2012 when he bounced back from a rough start in Lakewood to tear up the league in the second half. His stock went through the roof in 2013 … Read more
The League Top 20s come to an end with the strongest AAA list I have ever seen come out. The only players on the list to not play in the majors were Jose Berrios, Robert Stephenson, and Josh Bell. Overall the #1 player on the list should win the AL Rookie of the year and … Read more
Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel did a reevaluation of sorts for the state of the minor leagues right now. There isn’t a ton new for Phillies fans since it doesn’t go very deep, but it is an interesting look at pop up guys and other things going on. Crawford at #3: Not much new here, J.P. Crawford comes … Read more
If there’s one thing I’ve gotten good at over the years, it’s admitting that I was wrong. I don’t make many mistakes, but when I do I try my best to own them. My son and I decided at the last minute to attend this Tuesday’s Iron Pigs game, each for our own reasons. My … Read more
Maikel Franco really emerged as a prospect in 2012 when he hit .341/.395/.530 in the second half of the year for Lakewood. He then had his breakout in 2013 where he compiled a .320/.356/.569 line with 31 home runs while splitting time between Clearwater and Reading. He was rated extremely highly by some publications before … Read more
Well, this was a pretty exciting trip to Coca-Cola Park for me tonight. First off, it was my first time using our new seats. We’ve been partial season ticket holders for three seasons now and this year we moved closer to home plate in Section 115. Something always seems to come up which keeps me … Read more
I noticed that this year Maikel Franco had walked in his first 4 games and only one since, and that he had hit 8 of his 10 doubles in his first 10 games (he has played 25). So I set out to find out why Franco appeared to be low on power and expected to find … Read more
As I will do 20+ times this season, I had the opportunity to see my hometown IronPigs first hand last night. While the roster is filled with mostly veteran talent, there were a few prospects to keep an eye on. So, in between Walking Tacos and a box of Rivets, here’s are my impressions: Severino … Read more