Minor League Games - Monday, August 21, 2017

[California_Dreamin]

Nope, not in the 8th or 9th inning of a 1 run game, especially for a team that has been losing almost nightly. Losing begets losing, I simply believe it and bad habits beget bad habits. I am also a big believer that when you get a runner to 3rd base with less than two outs, you simply have to find a way to get the runner in.

Lakewood had bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th with one out in a one run game. Couldn't get the run in and lost again. I understand, maybe more than most, that you do have 9 opponents on the other side of the field who are doing their best to insure you aren't successful, I get it.

But when things continue to happen nightly its no longer a SSS, its an issue. And I believe its an issue in the Phillie organization and one of the reasons that the major league club runs the bases poorly, throws to the wrong base, do so poorly with runners in scoring position and basically lose so many 1 run games.

They have been poorly coached in fundamentals. I will give one example, I could give 50. During the entire minor league career of Franco, when we are so excited about him, there were many who warned that he had a problem with something called an "arm bar" swing, one that would hamper him when he got to the major leagues. I read about this so much I was sure that if I went to the dictionary "arm bar" would be in it with a picture of Franco.

Yet, no one in the system got him to change this, no one. And while we moan and groan about Franco's struggles, I can't help but think this should have been taken care of in the minors.."you simply don't get to the majors till you change your swing, Mr. Franco." Instead his success in the minors was celebrated, he was allowed to continue to swing the same way and now, what do you know? Franco still struggles with the "arm bar" syndrome, only now it matters.

Just one example of many I can think of.

[DougLindsay]

I hate the thought that losing seems to be almost an accepted thing in the minors now. Other than GCL, I simply wish the rest of the clubs would call it a summer and go home.

This losing is not a good thing for the organization and players know when they are receiving poor [or no] instruction. Such a shame

This is the part of your post that I take issue with. Losing is accepted, poor or no instruction. Where's your proof? You claim to "know better than most" but I see no evidence of that. Keep up with your negative ramblings though.

[California_Dreamin]

Will do, when I feel its relevant. And praise when warranted, something I enjoy much more.

[andyb]

o we think Drew Stankiewitz, the Reading 2B, might actually be a prospect? He's hitting .330 at Reading, and he's hit better than .260 in the CLW/Lakewood/WMPT deathtraps

No. Maybe he gets a Ty Kelly cup of coffee but this Reading stretch is likely a small sample and he is not that great defensively. He was really not that good last year when he played (611 OPS at age 23 in Clearwater) and this year he was 24 there. He draws his share of walks but has little speed or power.

[California_Dreamin]

PC...I think Tomscha is a prospect. He has always been a decent hitter and seems this year to have turned himself into a very good hitter. Also happy to see the performances of Eshelman and Kilome tonight, might be Kilome's best performance of the season.

[gmwannabe]

happy to see the same out of kilome, cd. i had the game on yesterday evening, while coming home. it was the fourth when the phils scored 4. then in the bottom of that inning, the announcer stated, after an out and kilome walked the next batter that the rphils pitchers have had problems with shut down innings all year. kilome proceeded to throw a few 96 mph fastballs (not sure how the bowie radar gun is) and got a K and weak ground out to second. he said the strikeout came on a 96 that sank low and away from a righty. sounds pretty good to me. keep it up.
gm

[California_Dreamin]

Thanks GM....great to see. I have been pretty tough on the minor leagues this past few weeks but I have great faith in the players talents, just wonder about the instruction they are receiving. Kilome is one I have high hopes for.

[nycphils]

From BP today:

Bailey Falter, LHP, Philadelphia Phillies (Low-A Lakewood)

"As we start winding down the MiLB season, our Ten Packs start to consist of top prospects who we’re getting late looks on (often due to promotions) and emptying our notebooks out for guys who deserve a write-up but perhaps didn’t have the greatest writing hook to sink into. Falter is distinctly the latter for me; he’s spent the entire season pitching very well for Lakewood, and he’s a prospect, if not a particularly interesting or great one. But he’s had the misfortune of pitching in a loaded Lakewood rotation containing three-to-five more interesting pitchers at any given time, and therefore he’s gotten lost in the shuffle.

Falter is a common archetype in the minors, a six-figure bonus polished prep lefty with a big old breaker and some projectability left. He’ll usually sit 89-92 with occasional readings up to 94, already up a small tick since being drafted, and he possesses a loopy overhand curve that gets a lot of chases at the level. He has above-average command of both pitches, for the level. Given that the fastball is a bit flat and the change is more or less a show-me pitch, Falter’s likely projection for a MLB role is pretty easy: lefty specialist. But he’s tall and skinny and still in Low-A, so it’s possible that he picks up some velocity and a third pitch, in which case he’d project out to a potential mid-rotation starter.

To be frank, advanced lefties like this with a shot at a real future do litter the minors. Falter isn’t even the only one of this kind in his own rotation—Nick Fanti is a little smaller and a little more advanced, but just about everything in the second paragraph applies to him, too. And they’re pretty much all a good third pitch or a grade or two of fastball (or both) away from being, well, Joey Wentz, just like all the “95 and a slider” guys are just a third pitch and a grade or two of command away from becoming something more. If more guys starting from here had good MLB careers, we’d have to reevaluate these prospects as a group, but they just don’t."

[bigegypt0417]

Doug Lindsey...you make a glittering generality without one bit of evidence to the contrary. I used an example that has been happening almost nightly, not only on the minor league front but at the major league level.

So basically your complaint is over generalization while you're doing the same thing?

How do you know this is a trend? What are the circumstances? Isn't the minors where you work on these issues?

Your example of this failure was a 19 year old kid at a short season team.

I don't know CD...you seem to go to extremes...try finding the middle.

[Austinfan]

I think what we've seen in the second half in the minors is the big influx of AAA talent to Philly exposed the "hole in the donut," Lehigh got stripped, followed by Reading losing too much talent and some players from Clearwater ended up getting pushed, so all three teams suffered.
The strength now is the rookie league teams, where they've built up a solid group, which will get deeper after next summer's draft.
So A ball should be pretty good next year while Reading and Lehigh are meh.

[schillingfan]

This is the part of your post that I take issue with. Losing is accepted, poor or no instruction. Where's your proof? You claim to "know better than most" but I see no evidence of that. Keep up with your negative ramblings though.

CD was a minor league baseball player. IIRC, he made it as far as our AAA team in Portland. While he does focus a lot on psychology of the game, which does drive some people crazy, he has his own personal experience, however anecdotal, of something non-measurable.

[Squire]

Just thought I'd also type out the list of injured guys that I can recall who have missed significant time with injuries this year.

AAA RHP Mark Appel
AAA OF Roman Quinn
AA 2B Jesmuel Valentin
AA 3B Mitch Walding
A RHP Grant Dyer
Rookie RHP Kevin Gowdy
Rookie OF Simon Muzziotti
AA RHP Mario Sanchez
AA RHP Alberto Tirado
AA RHP Miguel Nunez
A RHP Jonathan Hennigan

[DougLindsay]

CD, what year were you in Portland?

[Philsmania]

Just thought I'd also type out the list of injured guys that I can recall who have missed significant time with injuries this year.

AAA RHP Mark Appel
AAA OF Roman Quinn
AA 2B Jesmuel Valentin
AA 3B Mitch Walding
A RHP Grant Dyer
Rookie RHP Kevin Gowdy
Rookie OF Simon Muzziotti
AA RHP Mario Sanchez
AA RHP Alberto Tirado
AA RHP Miguel Nunez
A RHP Jonathan Hennigan

I think Valentin was with the Pigs in AAA. His injury may well have opened the door for Kingery. Ghost of Wally Pipp.

[allentown]

I think Valentin was with the Pigs in AAA. His injury may well have opened the door for Kingery. Ghost of Wally Pipp

The suspension may well have effectively killed what was looking like a reasonable career as a major leaguer for Valentin. Not everyone can just pick back up and resume the positive trajectory they were on.

[zambonir]

Valentin was on fire in spring training and more than solid in AA, I don't think the suspension mattered much. He just got injured at a bad time for his development, and for the Phillies roster. Had he been healthy he probably would have gotten called up as a bench player to accomodate Kingery. If they keep him on the 40 he'll have every chance to make the major league club, assuming the Phillies either make a trade or don't start Crawford in the majors. Certainly Florimon and Blanco won't be in the mix as anything other than potential minor league deal guys (again).