Aaron Altherr

Post Season Minor League Mailbag

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I have been slowly build mailbag questions for a while waiting until I had enough to answer them all, and here it is.  Like always there great questions here.

Christopher Smith (@shindaga7225): Next prospect to make an impact that has not been placed on 40 man roster ie Franco?

Dan (@Sixers_Fan1243): Chance Nola pitches for Philly next year?

I have to go with Aaron Nola as the answer to the first question.  Jesse Biddle will get his 40 man spot this offseason, but Nola has more impact long term.  In an ideal world Nola has 100% chance to arrive in Philadelphia in 2015.  He was the most advanced starting pitcher in the 2015 draft.  The reason this is not 100% chance is that there is a small chance he won’t be ready, but a slightly larger chance he gets hurt.  Nola is a freak in his delivery it works really well for him, but pitchers get hurt for entirely mysterious reasons.  But if Nola stays healthy next year there is probably a 90%+ chance he ends up in the majors at some point.  If everything goes fairly well I would expect him to debut at some point between the middle of June and the All-Star game.

If you are looking for the sleeper guy, Crawford should be in AA next year and the jump over AAA is always in play.  If Crawford tears it up in AA and shows above average defense, there is a chance he could make the majors in 2015 if there is a major Rollins injury or trade.  It is much more likely he doesn’t get there until 2016, but he is so advanced he could make the majors early and then develop there.

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2014 Reading Fightin Phils Recap: Interview with Mike Ventola

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Before we jump into talking about players why don’t you introduce yourself and what you do?

My name is Michael Ventola and I am the play-by-play radio voice of the Reading Fightin Phils.  I broadcast all 142 games home and away for the Fightin Phils.

You covered the Fightins from start to finish, can you sum up their season as a whole?

I can easily use one word to describe the season:  Challenge.  The Fightin Phils roster suffered over a 100 moves throughout the entire season and only finished with a handful of players that began with the team on opening day.  The team though continued to play hard each and every game.

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Phillies Scouting Staff Graduates 13 Players to Majors in 2014

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Over the years the Phillies amatuer talent acquisition staff has gotten a lot of crap from fans.  I personally think a lot of it is unfounded and comes from a set of unreasonable expectations for the developmental process.  The scouting staff has no control over the developmental process, especially after a player is traded to another organization.  The staff deserves huge amounts of credit for finding the player in the first place, and with a huge 2014 it is only fair to give them their due.

This is not an indictment of trades that have been made, merely the originally signed players

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Roman Quinn’s Comeback From Surgery

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The Clearwater Threshers (45-86) are the worst minor league team record wise in the Phillies system and one of the worst in baseball. Their biggest prospect on the roster is slick fielding shortstop J.P. Crawford who the Phillies selected in the first round  of the 2013 MLB draft. Another name that should be on Phillies’ … Read more

Improving Defense Long Term

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The Phillies’ offense and pitching has been a focal point of discussion from spring training to this point as the club continues to near the trade deadline where the obvious decision to sell should be made by GM Ruben Amaro and team ownership.  Philadelphia’s offense ranked eighth worse in the league at 3.86 runs per … Read more

Phillies Midseason Top 20 Prospects

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Most of the draft picks are signed so it is time to revisit the preseason rankings.  It is still a small sample size, and an even smaller one for those newly drafted, so this list may be a bit conservative on any large scale changes.  In general the system is heading in the right direction, … Read more

Phillies Call Up Aaron Altherr

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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.

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