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A hot dog at a ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz–Humphrey Bogart
Along those lines, here is some more information on our “All You Can Eat” package, a nine-game Thursday plan where you can eat as much as you want (hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, chips) and get beer for $1.00. Five hot dogs, four slices of pizza, and two bags of chips, there’s our magic number.
From Saturday’s minor league games, first Triple-A…
Double-A (L, 7-6 v TOR)…
Hi-A (W 11-2 v TOR)…
Lo-A (W 5-2 v TOR)…
The Phillies made a minor move last night, adding lefty reliever Jack Taschner from the Giants for backup catcher Ronny Paulino. The move is notable on two levels…
Paulino was acquired from the Pirates in November for former BlueClaws catcher Jason Jaramillo.
What does it “cost” to win a championship at home? From Larry Shenk’s excellent Phillies Insider blog…
“New carpeting has been installed in the Phillies clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park. Too much champagne last fall.”
Same thing happened in Lakewood in 2006.
Hard to believe we’re just 12 days away from the BlueClaws opener on April 9th. Today’s entry takes an overview of the Phillies farm system, which Baseball America recently ranked as the 12th best in all of baseball. The significance here is the improvement, as the last five years the Phillies, in these same rankings have been very stagnant, finishing between 20th and 22nd each year.
The write-up in their annual Prospect Handbook notes that “Philly fans will have to just boo the Eagles because the Phils should be good for a while.”
Remember too, the Phillies system is very solid as it is now, but in the last few years it has been used to bring in help for the big league club.
“That’s what we’re here for,” said Steve Noworyta, Phillies Director of Minor Leagues. “We tell the guys, ‘there’s 29 other teams looking at you.’ We have to help out the big league club for us or get someone in here who can help out the big league club.”
Last year, both AA-Reading and AAA-Lehigh Valley had the worst records in their respective leagues, a sign that that much of the talent was isolated in the lower levels. Lakewood, for example, won their league title in 2006, Clearwater in 2007. The BlueClaws also fielded near-playoff teams in both 2007 and 2008. That talent is now making it’s way to the higher levels and these clubs should be more competitive this season.
One other important note…last year the Phillies had six picks in the top 110 and four of the first 71. They were not very active in free agency and were able to accumulate selections unlike in years past. This most recent offseason, the signing of Raul Ibanez means they will send their first-round selection to the Mariners.
Other rankings: Texas 1st, Yankees 15th, Mets 17th
The good folks at Phillies Nation have made a list of Phils prospects who could be in Philadelphia at some point during the season. The usual suspects are on there…
Plus they added two possible surprises in Antonio Bastardo (07, pic) and Tyson Brummett (08).
The one guy we would add to that list is Kyle Drabek. Drabek, with the BlueClaws in 2007, has electric stuff, and even though he is coming off of Tommy John surgery, he is reportedly throwing the ball very well and many pitchers come back from Tommy John surgery stronger than before.
“The injury made him realize that he had something that was taken away from him, and he doesn’t want to lose it again,” said Steve Noworyta, Phillies Director of Minor Leagues in a January ClawCast. “He’s my gut-feel guy. It wouldn’t be surprising if by May he’s in Reading and that we’re talking about him at the end of the year.
“I see his dad in him so much. This guy is going to be something special and be a big part of the Phillies organization for a long time,” he added.
Drabek has also made some motion tweaks after the surgery, and he told BlueClaws Blog in a recent interview that he is ready to go.
“Before, I was doing a very high leg kick,” he said. “Now, I am much more level and it has helped me control my fastball.”
Don’t sleep on Drabek.
Today’s 70 in 70 looks back at not just the longest game in BlueClaws history but also the longest game in South Atlantic League history. April 26th, 2006, the BlueClaws and Hagerstown Suns from FirstEnergy Park. The BlueClaws won the game 8-7 in 22 innings, and those 13 innings mark the reson for today’s 70 in 70 selection.
The game began at 6:35, with the first 2,000 fans received Ryan Howard “Rookie of the Year” statues. A seemingly normal game, the BlueClaws tied it at seven in the bottom of the seventh, and then nobody scored. They played 10 more innings that night, but because of a curfew rule (can’t start an inning after 12:30 am), the game had to be suspended.
It was finally finished 10 days later, the next time Hagerstown was in town, and John Urick walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 22nd inning to clinch the victory.
Check below the fold for some notes…
While playing with Williamsport last year, Arlon Quiroz did not hit a single home run. He hit .255 over 47 games and drove in 12 runs while stealing 15 bases.
This spring, Quiroz, 22, has already hit five home runs, including two in a game last week. He’s expected to play with the BlueClaws this year.
He hit his fifth of the spring yesterday in the Lo-A game, playing for Dusty Wathan for the first time. Wathan had been managing the Hi-A team.
The Lo-A team lost to the Yankees affiliate 5-3. Jason Knapp, a likely BlueClaw, drafted in the 2nd round last year, gave up one run over three innings.
(Quiroz photo courtesy Crosscutters.com)
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Kyle Kendrick was hit hard, allowing five runs over 3.1 innings in the Triple-A game. He gave up nine hits and walked three, while throwing strike one to just seven of the 22 hitters he faced.
Michael Stutes was with the Double-A team, and he gave up two runs over four innings before giving way to Sam Walls, who threw two shutout innings.
2008 draftees Troy Hanzawa and Cody Overbeck continue to play for Double-A after playing with Williamsport all of last year.
Finally, in the Hi-A game, Kyle Drabek gave up three runs over four innings. Matt Rizzotti homered in a 5-5 tie with Yankees minor leaguers.
(Rizzotti photo courtesy SNY.tv)
This came in last night from our good friend Chuck Hixson…
Philly Baseball News has announced their 2009 Phillies Top 100 Prospects list. The list is put together by their writers, who cover the Phillies organization from Triple-A down through the short-season Gulf Coast League. The entire list can be found on PhillyBaseballNews.com. Readers can also find more information on each of the players on the list, including scouting reports and in some cases, interviews with the prospects themselves.
The Top 10 Prospects are:
1. Carlos Carrasco, RHP
2. Lou Marson, C
3. J.A. Happ, LHP
4. Joe Savery, LHP
5. Jason Donald, IF
6. Travis D’Arnaud, C
7. Kyle Drabek, RHP
8. Dominic Brown, OF
9. Michael Taylor, OF
10. Edgar Garcia, RHP
In conjunction with other Scout.com baseball publishers, Philly Baseball News has also taken part in ranking the Top 300 Prospects in all of baseball for our annual Scout.com Prospect Guide. This year’s guide is published as part of the FOXSports.com Fantasy Baseball Guide and is available at newsstands throughout the country.
The Top 10 Scout.com Baseball Prospects:
1. David Price, LHP, Tampa Bay
2. Matt Wieters, C, Baltimore
3. Rick Procello, RHP, Detroit
4. Tommy Hanson, RHP, Atlanta
5. Jesus Montero, C, NY Yankees
6. Mike Moustakas, SS, Kansas City
7. Travis Snider, OF, Toronto
8. Cameron Maybin, OF, Florida
9. Andrew McCutchen, OF, Pittsburgh
10. Jason Heyward, OF, Atlanta
The highest ranking Phillie on the Top 300 list is Carlos Carrasco, who comes in at #56. Lou Marson (81) and J.A. Happ (100) are also among the top 100 prospects in baseball.
PhillyBaseballNews.com has been posting insight on the Phillies since April of 2003 and is operated out of the Lehigh Valley. The site features both free and premium content covering Phillies baseball from the majors to the minors.
With either JA Happ (BC 05) or Chan Ho Park likely to be named the Phillies fifth starter ahead of Carlos Carrasco, and Matt Maloney sent to minor league camp by the Reds, the last hope for one of the 2006 Big Three to make a big league rotation this year seemed to be Josh Outman of the Athletics.
But those chances took a turn for the negative yesterday as Outman was roughed up in one of his final Cactus League outings. Outman allowed eight runs in just 3 1/3 innings of work, including a grand slam to Royals infielder Mike Aviles.
“It’s really aggravating, especially since my last few outings were pretty strong. I don’t think this will make or break my spring training, but it’s a bump in the road I’d rather not have,” he said.
Carrasco could be in Philadelphia this summer, and Outman, who pitched well for the A’s in September last year, will certainly get another opportunity this year. But it doesn’t look like it will work out for him right away.
Some quick BlueClaws notes as we close in on the 2009 season…
All BlueClaws games will once again be broadcast on the Shore Sports Network, 1160 WOBM-AM and Fox Sports 1310. Press release here.
April 7th is the team’s annual open practice. It’s the first chance to see the players before the season begins April 9th. Details here.
The BlueClaws & APP.com have turned Dollar Night into Dollar Weekend…tickets just $1.00 on April 10th, April 11th, and April 12th.
Amazingly enough, just two weeks to go until the BlueClaws opener. Number 14 on our 70 in 70 countdown looks at everybody’s favorite promo night: Fireworks Fridays, once again presented by our good friends at Toyota World of Lakewood. In 2009, we’ll have 14 special fireworks shows, which have been described as the “biggest, brightest, most colorful shows at the shore.”
2007 BlueClaws outfielder Quintin Berry is blogging from Florida. Here is his first post, but I wanted to clip this one piece:
Remember, they don’t play a 140 game season in high school. Even the guys who don’t make it up to Lakewood, the lowest full-season team, they are sitll playing extended spring games beginning in early April. It’s still full-time baseball.
Forty-nine. That’s how many runs, on 62 hits the Phillies four minor league teams scored in their games yesterday against affiliates of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The outbursts featured fourteen multi-run innings. Each Phillies affiliate won their game, though the Hi-A team scored only three runs in a 3-1 victory. Here’s the breakdown: