Sweet Lou Heating Up

The Philadelphia Phillies organization is full of strong catching prospects, but it seems like they can’t get anyone to the majors soon enough. Adding to the equation is the recent hot hitting of Lou Marson, the catcher on the BlueClaws 2006 SAL title team. Let’s first take a look at Marson’s season and his before and after recovering from a foot injury:

Before the injury: .232 Avg., .321 OBP, .333 SLG

Since coming off the DL: Marson is 20-for-52 = .384….280 Avg., .359 OBP, .354 SLG.
He is also 14-for-34 in his last 10 games for an average of .417.

Now lets take a look at the other catchers in the organization (Below the fold):

After a strong start to the season, Carlos Ruiz has cooled down. On June 7th he was hitting .309, however Ruiz is down to .236 with an on-base of .339.

Tim Kennelly: Not really a catcher but has been used as a backstop for about 1/3 of his career. Filled in for Joel Naughton when he was away with an injury and performed well enough to be named an All-Star in the Florida State League. Kennelly is hitting .310 with a .393 on-base and .452 slugging. He also leads the FSL with 25 doubles.

Travis d’Arnaud: A supp. first round pick by the Phillies, d’Arnaud led the Williamsport Crosscutters in average last season but is off to a slow start statistically speaking this season. He has begun the season with a .216 average, which is on the rise, 8 home runs and 43 RBI. The Phillies see a lot of potential in this young backstop and will be willing to watch him progress over the next few years.

Sebastian Valle: A free swinging 18-year old, Valle was very good with the GCL Phillies last season .281 average, but struggled in an on and off role with Lakewood this year. Valle has enjoyed being the every-day catcher for the Crosscutters this season and in 10 games is hitting .406 with a .719 slugging. Very young and very raw talent that is right behind d’Arnaud in the depth chart.

Why is this question raised? Well, the Phillies are looking to upgrade their rotation, possibly through a trade. The Phillies have a future MLB backstop in Marson, especially with his hot hitting of late and track record of getting on base, but do they have enough behind Marson to use him in a trade? If the Phillies dish Marson, will someone like d’Arnaud be ready in a few years to take over for Ruiz?

My opinion…Marson is the next every-day catcher for the Phillies. Ruiz, a BlueClaws catcher in 2001, is not the every-day guy the Phillies need and with all the grooming of Marson to be an every-day backstop one day, I think what the organization has put into him has been too much to let him go.

With the trade deadline approaching, its going to be interesting to see who the Phillies are willing to trade and who they will not be willing to trade. Marson is not an untouchable player, however I just don’t see anyone behind him ready to play at the MLB level in two years so he might be a keeper. The Phillies system is pretty deep in other positions and guys like Donald, Brown or Carrasco might be used. We’ll see.