A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
The parade of rookies continues for the Phillies as Nefi Ogando gets the call up to replace injured rookie Elvis Araujo. Ogando came into the Phillies organization in a trade with Boston that sent out SS John MacDonald. Last year Ogando saw a big jump in fastball velocity and was sitting 96-98 touching 100 with … Read more
Something I have really struggled with in making the minor league more accessible is unmasking the mystery that is Latin American prospects. For the most part these players are well off the radar of casual and hardcore fans because there is so little information about them. Outside of the big money signings there is no … Read more
Before becoming on of the centerpieces of the Cole Hamels trade, Jorge Alfaro injured his ankle at second base. He hasn’t played a game since while rehabbing from surgery. Overall the injury was supposed to have ended his season and begun the speculation over where he would play winter ball. There had been word out … Read more
I have had it mentioned to me a couple of times in the past few weeks that Ricardo Pinto is the Phillies top prospect that people seem to know the least about. On the surface he has been really easy to overlook. At 6’0″ he is not physical or projectable. He came out of nowhere last … Read more
No one hears me say random things unfiltered about prospects more than my girlfriend. She has become good at picking out players I am not excited about and resent ranking or just overall don’t feel confident in my evaluations. No player has drawn this distinction more in recent seasons than Threshers right fielder Dylan Cozens. Let’s … Read more
This all starts with a question. If everyone is aware of a problem, knows the solution to the problem, and has a plan to fix it, is it really a problem? The answer is probably still yes, but the problem is a lot smaller than it really appears. If your pipes are leaking and you called … Read more
Last night, Joely Rodriguez but up yet another solid line for a Reading pitching staff that seems near unbeatable as he went 7 innings, while allowing 4 hits (1 a solo HR), the 1 run, 1 walk, and 5 strikeouts. It was the 5th straight solid start for the 23 year old left hander after … Read more
I debated whether this qualified enough to warrant a post since there really is not much to this. But on Twitter yesterday fellow (now former) writer Chris LaBarge mentioned that Zach Eflin was throwing a curveball almost exclusively as opposed to his slider. @Matt_Winkelman not seeing many 2 seam or slider. Working on 4 seam, … Read more
I am going to start by saying that this subject deserves more space than I about to give it, because it is meaningful, but this better than saying anything at all. Andrew Knapp is the middle of just destroying the Eastern League (he probably got another hit somewhere while you read this sentence). After … Read more
In 2014 the GCL Phillies had a nice pitching staff and some interesting players, but the lack of HS players limited the prospect power of the team. This season has been much different. The lineup has a premium prospect at every position and while the rotation isn’t full of household names, it has carried the … Read more