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Sign of Spring: the Bios Are Here

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

pink-flowerOne of my favorite signs of spring, like the flower on the right, is the massive file of player bios that the Phillies send over. This year: 64 pages in Microsoft Word. Draft information. Statistical information, and so much more.

Some of the good stuff…

  • New BlueClaws manager Mark Parent caught 24 innings in a doubleheader on July 24, 1998, at age 36. Two 12 inning games because starter Mike Lieberthal was injured and Parent was the only other catcher on the roster.
  • Ernie Whitt, who managed Clearwater in 2009 (Dusty Wathan manages them in 2010), led the 2004 Canadian Olympic team to a 4th place finish (ironically better than their hockey team might do at these Olympics). He also managed them in the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classics.
  • BlueClaws coach Greg Legg begins his 29th straight year in the system after being drafted in 1982. That is truly amazing when you think about it. Even more amazing was that last year’s championship with Lakewood was his first!
  • Luis Arzeno, who was a system catcher for six years, and spent part of 2009 with the BlueClaws, is now a coach for the Guanama Phillies in the Dominican Summer League.
  • Jeremy Barnes, who played SS for Williamsport last year, is the only player in the system who went to Notre Dame (and would be the first BlueClaw to have played there, unofficially).
  • Kelly Dugan, a 2nd round pick last year, went to Notre Dame HS, however.
  • While he was just 10-66 with Lakewood in the early part of last year, Leandro Castro ended up leading the Penn League in hits and total bases. Would expect him to be here this year again.
  • Siulman Lebron pitched for Williamsport last year. I smell a Lebron Chooses BlueClaws Over Knicks, Cavs press release right around the time of July 1st.
  • Last year, the BlueClaws had Tyler Cloyd and Jacob Diekman from the baseball powerhouse state of Nebraska. Could 2010 bring Darin Ruf here? He hit .207 between GCL and Williamsport (176 ABs) after being drafted in the 20th round out of Creighton.

We’ll sift through these bios and start to build some mock BlueClaws rosters. Also, this year’s media guide will be made available on-line, likely around April 1st.

Posted in 2009 BlueClaws, 2010 BlueClaws, Around the Farm, Mark Parent | No Comments »

Former BlueClaws to Spring Training

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

10springtrainingBelow, the list of all of the former BlueClaws (16 in total) that will participate in big league spring training with the Phillies beginning next week (pitchers and catchers report on February 17th.

Non-roster invitees

  • RHP BJ Rosenberg (2009): the closer for the majority of the 2009 season, he was promoted straight to Double-A Reading in August
  • C Tuffy Gosewisch (2007): a catcher for the majority of 2007, Gosewisch ended 2009 with Triple-A Lehigh Valley and will have a chance to make his big league debut in 2010
  • SS Freddy Galvis (2008): one of the best defensive players in all of Minor League Baseball, Galvis was promoted to Reading to end the 2009 season. He is ranked as the 13th best player in the system according to Baseball America
  • OF Domonic Brown (2008): the top ranked prospect in the system and one of the top ranked prospects in all of baseball. He finished 2009 with Double-A Reading

On the 40-man roster

  • LHP Antonio Bastardo (2007): went 9-0 with the BlueClaws in 2007 and was on the Phillies roster in all three rounds of the 2009 post-season
  • LHP Sergio Escalona (2007-08): spent parts of two seasons in Lakewood and made the jump from Reading to the big leagues in 2009
  • LHP Cole Hamels (2003): had a 0.84 ERA with the BlueClaws in 2003 and won the MVP of the 2008 World Series
  • LHP JA Happ (2005): Won 12 games in his rookie season last year in being named the Sporting News Rookie of the Year
  • RHP Kyle Kendrick (2004-06): spent parts of three years with the BlueClaws before breaking through and into the big leagues during the 2007 season. He is 24-14 over three years with the Phillies
  • Scott Mathieson (2004): trying to make team after having third major surgery including two Tommy John surgeries in recent years. Pitched in the 2009 Arizona Fall League
  • RHP Drew Naylor (2008): spent 2008 in Lakewood and 2009 in Clearwater, where he went 8-11
  • RHP Jesus Sanchez (2009): converted catcher went 10-6 as a pitcher for the BlueClaws during the 2009 championship season
  • LHP Mike Zagurski (2006): popular member of the 2006 championship team in Lakewood, he is recovering from Tommy John surgery and pitched for Reading last year
  • C Carlos Ruiz (2001): an original BlueClaw, he is the only player left from the 2001 BlueClaws still with the Phillies. Has been the starting catcher on two World Series teams
  • 1B Ryan Howard (2002): hit 19 home runs for the 2002 BlueClaws, won Rookie of the Year in 2005 and NL MVP in 2006. He was the first former BlueClaw to appear in the Major Leagues
  • OF Quintin Berry (2007): speedster has stolen over 150 bases the last three years and was added to the 40-man roster in November

Posted in Antonio Bastardo, Around the Farm, BJ Rosenberg, Carlos Ruiz, Cole Hamels, Domonic Brown, Freddy Galvis, JA Happ, Kyle Kendrick, Mike Zagurski, Past BlueClaws, Phillies, Quintin Berry, Ryan Howard, Sergio Escalona, Spring Training, Tuffy Gosewisch | 2 Comments »

Q&A: Jonathan Mayo of MiLB.com

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Thanks to Jonathan Mayo of MiLB.com (blog here, Twitter here) for taking some time to answer a few questions for BlueClaws Blog about the recent MiLB.com top 50 prospects, which featured several former BlueClaws (14 Domonic Brown, 17 Kyle Drabek, 35 Michael Taylor).

Without further adieu…

Q: First, what was the basic criteria in selecting prospects? How much was age a factor?

A: I poll as many scouts as possible, asking them to give me their individual top 30 lists anonymously. I dump them all into a big spreadsheet and I use an AP poll type format to come up with the rankings. For example, if a scout put Jason Heyward atop his list, he’d get 30 points. Strasburg in 2nd would get 29 points, and on down. The cumulative points is how I rank the players. I’ll break ties and tweak things a little here and there, but I let the scouts’ opinions dictate how things end up for the most part. My only criteria is that a player should still have rookie status entering the season. The rest–age, ceiling, closeness to the big leagues, etc–I leave up to each scout.

(more…)

Posted in Anthony Gose, Around the Farm, Domonic Brown, Jason Knapp, Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, Past BlueClaws, Phillies, Q&As, Travis d'Arnaud, Trevor May | No Comments »

The Evolution of Trevor May

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Sometimes expectations can rise and you can move up prospect rankings by doing, well, nothing. And that’s what happened to Trevor May this off-season.

A 4th-round pick in 2008 from Kelso, Washington, May joined the BlueClaws in June, and lasted a total of 6.2 innings in his first two starts. But from there he was lights out, going 4-1, 2.25 over the second half. He gave up three runs in his last 36 innings, including 11 shutout in the playoffs.

Then, with the trade of Kyle Drabek (in the Halladay deal), the expectation level and status of May have now gone up. He is now the premier starting pitching prospect in the organization.

Todd Zolecki of MLB.com caught up with May (read here) last week:

“There are a certain level of expectations,” May said recently. “You get bumped up [after Drabek left the organization]. Even though I haven’t pitched in the offseason, more is expected of me. It’s kind of exciting to me, because as a person I personally like to set high goals and expectations for myself. Having other people joining in on those expectations gives you more determination to get it done. I knew Kyle. He was a great guy, but it’s exciting to be held in high regards in the organization. I hope to fulfill those expectations.”

You can read our Q&A with May here (part one and part two). May heads down February 30th, and has been running a lot this offseason in preparation for the Florida heat he’ll experience this summer.

I’ll be there February 30th to get acclimated to the heat. People think, “Oh well it’s hot,” but you have to be in great shape to go eight innings in Florida. In June it’s literally 95 in degrees and humidity…I know from being there in the GCL and instructs. I ran in the offseason to get into better shape than I was going into last year.

Posted in 2009 BlueClaws, Around the Farm, Past BlueClaws, Spring Training, Trevor May | No Comments »

Now That The Dust Has Settled

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

It’s been over six weeks since the Roy Halladay/Cliff Lee trade(s) in which the Phillies swapped one Cy Young winner for prospects and different prospects for another Cy Young winner.

While the buzz at the time centered around Halladay, an adding a proven ace (and signing him to a contract extension), recently, the Phillies have taken some heat for making the Cliff Lee portion of the deal.

Ruben Amaro, at the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association banquet on Monday walked up to the podium and said, “First, the Cliff Lee trade was all Charlie [Manuel], who was sitting next to him. Obviously he was kidding, but it was mildly surprising that he even needed to make the joke, considering the elation of December.

(more…)

Posted in Around the Farm, Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, Past BlueClaws, Phillies, Travis d'Arnaud | No Comments »

Great Find on Prospect Rankings

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

We post a bunch of prospect rankings here from different sources and sometimes it’s hard to compare all of them in one setting. Baseball Daily Digest to the rescue.

I found this on Twitter through following @scoutingtheSAL. It’s a collection of prospect rankings done by Joe Hamrahi (@jhamrahi), the founder and CFO of BDD.

Click here for a complete (in Excel) database of rankings by team, league, and source. It’s a great reference point for any MiLB fan. Visit Baseball Daily Digest here.

Posted in Around the Farm, General Baseball | No Comments »

Three Former ‘Claws in MLB’s Top 50

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Three former BlueClaws were ranked among MLB’s top 50 prospects announced tonight on MLB Network. Below, find snippets of the comments on each of the players and a link to a brief video.

  • 14. Domonic Brown (2008)…“He has the potential to be a five-tool player. He’s unique in size alone. When you talk about athleticism, you usually don’t talk about somebody 6-foot-5 in our sport, but he truly has the size, the leverage and the athleticism to make him unique.” – Phillies assistant GM, Chuck LaMar.
  • 17. Kyle Drabek (2007)…Now with Toronto…Drabek has a very good fastball that sits in the low 90s and has touched 95-96 mph. He’s got one of the best curve balls in the Minor Leagues, a true plus pitch that he commands well. The changeup lags behind, but has the chance to be a very effective pitch, as well. He’s a bulldog on the mound, a real competitor. He’s matured a lot since being drafted, with the year off allowing him the time and space to grow up, and it’s been reflected in his pitching.
  • 35. Michael Taylor (2008)…Now with Oakland…“Michael Taylor is an impressive physical specimen. Brute strength, athletic, pure hitting instincts, baserunning ability and solid defensive acumen. His skill level in a perfect world would be equivalent to a right-handed hitting Dave Parker.” – A’s director of player personnel, Billy Owens

Here is the full top 50. Phillipe Aumont, by the way, a big reliever acquired by the Phillies in the Lee deal, was ranked 48th. More on this list in the coming days. But it’s always good to get a ranking, and thus a perspective.

We’re not surprised with any of these rankings by the way. The Phillies obviously had a higher grade on Brown than Taylor. So did Baseball America, who ranked Brown first in the system the last two years. So that MLB.com does is not a shock at all. Who would be next? Travis d’Arnaud? Anthony Gose? Trevor May? Safe to say that those three have a good chance to fall somewhere in a top 100 list.

Of note…before the Halladay/Lee deals, the Phillies had three of the top 35. Only Texas and Tampa Bay could say that. This is important to note, showing the quality of player that the Phillies are producing in their system.

Also, I think tomorrow the Baseball America Prospect Handbook will arrive. That’s when you know you’re close to baseball.

Posted in Around the Farm, Domonic Brown, Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, Past BlueClaws | No Comments »

From Nowo: Part Two

Monday, January 25th, 2010

If you missed part one of our ClawCast with Phillies farm director Steve Noworyta, click here. Part two, you can click here. This time, we take a further look at the scouting process, a look at some former BlueClaws from 2009 and some future BlueClaws in 2010. Some snippets:

  • Scouting the sport to prepare for trades…You have your amateur scouts doing high school and college and the pro scouts who are out there specifically for the pro teams and your big league club so when you’re ready to make trades you have reports on these guys.
  • Do you look at amateur scouting reports before a pro trade? Some guys, like (Tyson) Gilles from Seattle, we liked him as an amateur. Marti Wolever really liked him and wished we could have drafted him. But the last year is the most important. Players change over the years.
  • On Jacob Diekman…As big as he is, coming from the side, he’s done a tremendous job.
  • On Austin Hyatt…Just continue to put up the numbers that he’s had everywhere he’s gone.
  • On Neil Sellers (who played for Reading)…He’s constantly putting up the numbers. One of the reasons we got him in the Rule 5 two years ago was he keeps producing. He might be that bat of the bench that you look for. He makes contact, played well in Mexico. He has to keep proving himself, but knowing him, that won’t be a problem.
  • On Sebastian Valle…I think he’s probably better off going to Lakewood to make sure what we saw at the end of the year we see midway through the year. He had a good winter in Mexico, especially with some good power numbers…We say Lakewood now but sometimes those type of players change your mind in spring training.
  • 2010 BlueClaws…Chris Truby did a nice job with the young kids becasue we took a lot of them to Lakewood. They still finished strong. They have some good young talent that Marti (Wolever) has done a nice job bringing together. It’s going to be a competitive club. We have a lot of pitching and good pitching always beats good hitting.

Posted in 2009 BlueClaws, Around the Farm, Austin Hyatt, ClawCasts, Past BlueClaws, Sebastian Valle | 1 Comment »

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