Archive for the ‘Matt Maloney’ Category
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Welcome back to Countdown 2010, a weekly look at some of the greatest parts of BlueClaws history through the lens of a top ten list. This week, we look at some of the best moments by former BlueClaws in the big leagues. (Click here for list of former ‘Claws that made the majors)
Previously: Photos, Entertainers, Concerts/Events, Bobblehead Dolls, Celebrity Guests
Without further adieu…
10. A BlueClaw Makes the World Series…But it wasn’t Ryan Howard or Cole Hamels. It was Ezequiel Astacio. The right-handed pitcher was here in 2002 (with Howard and Gavin Floyd), and was sent to Houston in the Billy Wagner trade and pitched for Houston in the 2005 World Series. He gave up the game-winning home run to Geoff Blum in game three.
9. Zagurski’s Debut…While relatively uneventful in the big picture, Mike Zagurski reaching the big leagues as fast as he did goes into the list. Remember, he was a BlueClaws pitcher (in Lo-A) when the 2006 season ended. Then on May 25th, 2007 (basically two months of baseball later), he’s in the big leagues. I would guess that we will never see a player go from Lakewood to Philadelphia faster than Mike did.
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Posted in Carlos Carrasco, Carlos Ruiz, Cole Hamels, Countdown 2010, Gavin Floyd, Josh Outman, Matt Maloney, Michael Bourn, Mike Zagurski, Past BlueClaws, Phillies, Ryan Howard | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
A quick look from around spring training with a former BlueClaws flavor.
We’ll start in Clearwater, where Todd Zolecki wrote this article for MLB.com about the Phillies revamping their farm system.
“We were fortunate to be in a position to do it,” Phillies assistant general manager Chuck LaMar said Sunday at the Carpenter Complex. “Secondly, we were able to do it because we weren’t completely wiping out the system.”
Remember, as we talked about with Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, the Phillies cupboard was replenished at least a little bit with the prospects they got back from Seattle in the Cliff Lee portion of the Halladay trade.
“It becomes a little bit more difficult to continue to pull from your Minor Leagues,” Philadelphia general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “You keep doing that, and you kind of defeat the purpose of what we’re trying to do, which is try to extend our ability to contend for more years than just 2010, 2011 and 2012. We want to extend it beyond that. But time and circumstance will dictate what we want to do and what we’ll be able to do. We have some depth in certain areas. We have less depth in others, just like every other organization. But we’ve moved a lot of talent from our system and you want to try to preserve the talent as much as you can.”
Dave Murphy writes here about Domonic Brown’s education, learning from some of the best in the game to prepare himself to join them, someday soon most likely. As detailed in the article: when Brown first heard about the Halladay trade, he was driving to Port St. Lucie to see his mother. He called Michael Taylor, and it was Taylor who told Brown that he, not Brown, had been traded away.
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Posted in Carlos Carrasco, Domonic Brown, Jason Donald, Kyle Drabek, Lou Marson, Matt Maloney, Michael Taylor, Past BlueClaws, Phillies, Spring Training | No Comments »
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
We’ve already looked at (here) the 16 former BlueClaws in Phillies big league camp, but there are 20 other former BlueClaws in 12 big league camps around baseball.
The most heavily populated team with former ‘Claws? No surprise, the Toronto Blue Jays.
- Travis d’Arnaud (2009): starting catcher on the 2009 SAL champion BlueClaws (.255-13-71), and was sent to the Blue Jays as part of the Roy Halladay trade. A non-roster invitee for the 21 year old who had never been above Lo-A is significant and impressive.
- Kyle Drabek (2007): more on Drabek here, but the 2007 BlueClaws pitcher is considered one of the top 20 prospects in the sport. He could debut in Toronto later this summer or early 2011. He is another non-roster invitee.
- Jesus Merchan (2005): Now in his 6th organization, Merchan played 25 games with the BlueClaws in 2005 and is a non-roster invitee here. Hit .339 with Arizona in AAA durign the 2008 season.
- Randy Ruiz (2004): Hit 27 home runs with the BlueClaws, debuted with the Twins in 2008 and is now on the Jays 40-man roster. He homered in Yankee Stadium last year.
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Posted in Adrian Cardenas, Carlos Carrasco, Gavin Floyd, General Baseball, Jason Donald, Josh Outman, Kyle Drabek, Lou Marson, Matt Maloney, Michael Bourn, Michael Taylor, Past BlueClaws, Travis d'Arnaud | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
It’s that time of the year…free agency begins on Friday (first time players can be signed by other teams…they’ve been allowed to talk since the end of the World Series) and the Rule Five Draft (Shane Victorino anyone?) is less than a month away at the Winter Meetings in Indy.
Basically, any high school player drafted in 2005 or college player drafted in 2006 would have to be put in on their organization’s 40-man roster to protect them from being drafted. Of course, if they are selected, they must be on the new team’s 25-man roster for the entire season or be offered back. More on this below. Here’s our take:
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Posted in Adrian Cardenas, Around the Farm, Domonic Brown, Josh Outman, Kyle Drabek, Matt Maloney, Michael Taylor, Past BlueClaws, Phillies, Quintin Berry, Tuffy Gosewisch | 1 Comment »
Monday, November 9th, 2009
The MLB amateur draft sometimes gets lost in the shuffle (it’s in the middle of the season, you’ve never heard otf the guys getting drafted save one here or one there), but in reality it’s such an effective way to build your organization.
A quick glance at their highest ranked prospects over the last few years shows the importance the organization puts on the draft, and that they’ve gotten a lot out of the draft the last few years.
- 2009: Nine of the top ten (save Carlos Carrasco) come out of the draft and three of those nine (plus Carrasco) land the Phillies Cliff Lee…Lou Marson’s trade elevates status of Travis d’Arnaud (another draft pick), plus big years from Anthony Gose and Trevor May from the 2008 draft class.
- 2008: Nine of the top ten (again, save Carrasco) are draft picks. This top ten includes Adrian Cardenas and Josh Outman, traded later this year for Joe Blanton, and Greg Golson, traded after the season for John Mayberry, Jr.
- 2007: Eight of the top ten (save Carrasco and Edgar Garcia) are draft picks. In here is Matt Maloney, traded this year for Kyle Lohse, and Michael Bourn, traded after the season for Brad Lidge.
So the Phillies have put a clear premium on the draft in recent years, compared to international free agency. We figure in the Baseball America list, released later today, there’s a decent chance eight of the top ten are draft picks (save Sebastian Valle and Yohan Flande) are draft picks.
Next, look at Phillies core players that were drafted by the team: Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Madson.
Jayson Werth was a bargain free agent, Shane Victorino was acquired in the Rule Five Draft
Posted in Adrian Cardenas, Around the Farm, Carlos Carrasco, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, JA Happ, Jason Donald, Jason Knapp, Matt Maloney, Michael Bourn, Phillies, Ryan Howard, Sebastian Valle, Travis d'Arnaud, Trevor May, Yohan Flande | 1 Comment »
Friday, September 18th, 2009
Congrats to 2006 BlueClaws pitcher Matt Maloney on his first big-league win, earned last night 3-2 over Florida in Cincinnati. Maloney, who was traded by the Phillies for Kyle Lohse in 2007, gave up two runs over five innings to pick up the W.
“It was awesome,” Maloney said. “I got the beer shower and everything.”
Interesting Note…Matt Maloney threw a complete game shutout on 9/15/2006 in game four of the SAL Championship Series to give the BlueClaws the SAL title. Wouldn’t it be fitting if, one night after Maloney won his first big league game, the BlueClaws won their second SAL Championhip? Could happen tonight.
(AP photo via Cincinnati Enquirer)
Posted in Matt Maloney, Past BlueClaws | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
Our friend Ben Wagner recently caught up with Dave Huppert (click here to listen), the manager of the 2006 SAL Champion BlueClaws. Ben is currently calling games with Buffalo (AAA-Mets), who this weekend played Dave Huppert’s Lehigh Valley club. Here’s a great look back at the 2006 Claws in advance of the 2009 Claws entering the post-season.
Some snippets below:
- The start (0-9): “It was tough…We won the first game in extra innings too. It was a long road back.”
- Two halves: “When you play a full season and fall down 0-9 it’s tough to come back. The two-half season is fair in the minor leagues. If you get off to a bad start, you’re in trouble because you’re going to lose players.”
- Huppert’s key to the season: “They left us alone. They could have moved that pitching and we would have been in deep trouble.”
- Which of the big three would the Phillies want to keep: “My judgment is Carrasco because of the stuff. He’s got a chance to be a top line pitcher, but he’s going to have to work on the make-up.”
- Where’s the ring? “It’s at home with my father. I know where it’s at.”
- Maloney in the clincher: “He had all of his pitches, locating, and they weren’t getting very good swings. There was no way he was coming out of that game.”
Posted in Carlos Carrasco, ClawCasts, Josh Outman, Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Matt Maloney, Past BlueClaws | No Comments »
Saturday, June 13th, 2009
Matt Maloney gave up two runs in his first five innings last night but allowed a two-run home run in the sixth inning as the Reds dropped a game to the Royals. Maloney, who has now started two games (six runs over 12 innings) has certainly earned a third start. Hopefully his team gets him some runs; they’ve scored 37 in their last 13 games.
Josh Outman (4-0) has five big league wins, and starts tonight against Randy Johnson and the Giants, who only has 300. A 2006 BlueClaw, Outman has won four of his last six starts and has settled in with the A’s after failing to win a rotation spot out of spring training.
Posted in General Baseball, Josh Outman, Matt Maloney, Past BlueClaws | No Comments »