Malquin Canelo Takes Crawford’s spot in Lakewood

by

On any other team Malquin Canelo starts for their Low-A affiliate in 2014.  However, most organizations don’t have J.P. Crawford, and so Canelo stayed in Florida this spring.  He made a brief cameo in the Florida State League, where he didn’t completely embarrass himself. Canelo isn’t going to replace Crawford for the Blueclaws.  However, his … Read more

The Evolution of Ken Giles

by

There has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth this year about the Phillies development process, and inability to develop a homegrown reliever.  This past week, the Phillies promoted their best relief prospect in a while to the major leagues in Ken Giles (where he joined fellow homegrown relievers Bastardo, De Fratus, Diekman, and Hollands). … Read more

What to Make of Cam Perkins

by

One of the breakout candidates for the first half of the Phillies season has been outfielder Cam Perkins.  On his career Perkins is hitting .305/.358/.438 and he has put up gaudy doubles numbers with 74 doubles across 241 games.  In 2014 he hit 19 doubles in 52 games for the Reading Fightin Phils.  On the first glance these numbers start to create a narrative of a player who should be topping prospect lists.  Lets take a deeper look into a player who has been getting a ton of press.

Lets start with the defense.  In the field Perkins can play RF, LF, and 1B (he did play 11 games at third base in 2012, his college position).  In the outfield he has an average arm, and he is passable on his routes.  He has the athleticism to be playable in both corners, but he fits best in left field long term.  Overall the defense shouldn’t be a liability, but it isn’t going to help him.

Read more

Phillies Call Up Aaron Altherr

by

I am sure everyone wishes that Aaron Altherr would make his major league debut under happier circumstances. Howver, with the passing of Tony Gwynn, tyhe Phillies have placed Tony Gwynn Jr. on the bereavment list. Altherr has the distinction of being the only healhthy coutfielder on the roste, Kelly Dugan and Zach Collier are still on the DL and Tyson Gillies was removed from the 40 man roster recently. The other two names were Leandro Castro and Cameron Perkins, neither his on the 40 man rster and neither cshould be a primary centerfielder.

Read more

Looking to Add Writers

by

From the first plans of creating my own site, it was never going to be a solo project.  I think the best thing that one can do to learn is to always be a place where there are smart people talking, and just listen.  So my goal was always to open this up for smart … Read more

Roman Quinn to Transition to Center Field

by

Per Roman Quinn himself, Roman Quinn will be moving to center field full time. Phillies prospect Roman Quinn confirms on Twitter he's switching from shortstop to the outfield pic.twitter.com/MbHI0v6p7j — Mitch Rupert (@Mitch_Rupert) June 11, 2014 Impacts on Quinn: There has been a ton of debate over whether Quinn could actually stick it out at … Read more

Looking at Williamsport’s 2014 Roster

by

The announcement of rosters each year is a good marker of where players stand with the organization.  The release of short season rosters is always in flux as new draftees alter the lineup over the first week of the season.  So here is the current roster, what it means and how the 2014 draft fits in.

Pitching:

Mitch Gueller, Alejandro Arteago, Richard Bielski, Delvy Francisco, Manaure Martinez, Ricardo Pinto, Frank Rivas, Keivy Rojas, Feliberto Sanchez, Josh Warner

The only set members of the rotation are likely Arteaga (who started 9 disastrous games for Lakewood this year), Sanchez, and Gueller.  Of that group Gueller’s return trip to Williamsport is the most interesting name here, a former 1st round pick who had the potential for 3 plus pitches coming out of the draft.  In 2013 he showed inconsistency across the board along with a drop in velocity, but if he can show some of his pre-draft stuff he could jump back up lists.

2014 Draft –  The Phillies top 2 picks Aaron Nola and Matt Imhof could skip past Williamsport on the way to Lakewood or higher.  However, the Crosscutters rotation should pick up 4th round pick Chris Oliver and6th round pick Brandon Leibrandt.  Depending on signings, Matt Hockenberry (9th), Austin Davis (12th), Nathan Thornhill (13th), and Joey DeNato (19th) could all factor into the rotation and at least into the bullpen.  Speaking of the bullpen, 22nd round pick Ryan Powers is a power RH reliever out of Miami (OH) who could factor into the late innings of the Crosscutter bullpen if the Phillies send him there.

Read more