Archive for the ‘Michael Bourn’ Category

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Countdown 2010: BlueClaws Moments in the Bigs

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 »

Former Claws at Other Camps

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

10springtraining1We’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.

(more…)

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 »

A Busy Birthday Month

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

December is a busy birthday month for former BlueClaws, with several keyp layers in team history getting to have a little party around the holidays…

  • December 8th: Kyle Drabek (2007)…Phillies top pitching prospect turned 22 yesterday
  • December 9th: D’Arby Myers (2008-09)…Starting LF on 2009 BlueClaws SAL Championship team turns 21 today
  • December 19th: Michael Taylor (2008)…Power hitting outfielder turns 24 this month. Taylor is likely headed to Lehigh Valley to open 2010 after two dynamite years which saw him hit Lakewood, Clearwater, Reading, and LHV
  • December 27th: Cole Hamels (2003)…Phillies pitcher turns 26 this month. He had a 0.84 ERA with the 2003 BlueClaws
  • December 27th: Michael Bourn (2004)…Bourn, who won a Gold Glove Award with Houston this year, turns 27. He stole 55 bases with the BlueClaws in 2004 and was traded to the Astros as part of the deal that brought Brad Lidge to Philadelphia

Posted in Around the Farm, Cole Hamels, D'Arby Myers, Kyle Drabek, Michael Bourn, Michael Taylor, Past BlueClaws | No Comments »

BlueClaws and Friday the 13th

Friday, November 13th, 2009

Here’s a nice little Friday the 13th Fun Fact for you…the BlueClaws are 6-1 all-time on Friday the 13th, including a 2004 double-header sweep of the then-Greensboro Bats.

  • 2001: April, W 1-0 vs Hickory (11)…Two future big leaguers, Yoel Hernandez, six, and Eude Brito, three, helped pitch the shutout.
  • 2003: June, L 7-5 vs Delmarva…Led 5-1 but gave up six runs in the eighth inning.
  • 2004: August, W 7-3 and 11-0 vs Greensboro…Michael Buorn went 4-8 over the double-header and Randy Ruiz hit a home run in game two.
  • 2005: May, W 10-4 at Delmarva…Jason Jaramillo went 4-4.
  • 2007: April, W 9-5 at Hickory…’Claws pound out 14 hits including two from Quintin Berry, Adrian Cardenas, Tuffy Gosewisch, and three from Jay Miller.
  • 2008: June: W 4-0 at DEL…six shutout innings from Chance Chapman.

Mark the date: Friday August 13th, 2010. Lakewood vs Delmarva, FirstEnergy Park, 7:05.

Posted in Adrian Cardenas, Michael Bourn, Misc, Past BlueClaws, Quintin Berry, Tuffy Gosewisch | No Comments »

Former BlueClaw Bourn Wins Gold Glove

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

michaelbournCongrats to 2004 BlueClaws outfielder Michael Bourn who picked up his first Gold Glove on Wednesday. Two Phillies, shortstop Jimmy Rollins and outfielder Shane Victorino, were also winners.

Bourn, originally a 4th round pick of the Phillies in 2003, was traded to Houston as part of the Brad Lidge deal in 2007. He debuted with the Phillies in 2006 and was with the Phillies in 2007 before the trade.

“It comes as no surprise,” Astros general manager Ed Wade told MLB.com. “It’s a tremendous honor for Michael and well-deserved. He makes center field seem awfully small when he’s out there, and I don’t think you really appreciate what he does defensively until you see somebody else out there and realize how big our ballpark and other ballparks are.

“He covers a tremendous amount of ground, is a great athlete and has great instincts and never takes anything for granted. We’re fortunate to have him, and I’m happy that his peers have recognized him for what I assume will be many Gold Gloves.”

Wade was the GM of the Phillies when they drafted Bourn out of the University of Houston in 2003. He was the GM of the Astros when they acquired him from the Phillies in 2007.

“He came with all the athleticism and instincts,” Wade said of his arrival in Philadelphia. “It’s tough to teach either one of those, if not impossible. He brings those things to the table, but there’s always been a great work ethic there. I think the time he spent Philadelphia paid a lot of dividends.”

Bourn hit .313 and stole 57 bases with the BlueClaws in 2004. The 57 stolen bases ranks third in franchise history behind Chris Roberson (59, 2003) and Anthony Gose (76, 2009).

Rollins won his third straight and Victorino his second straight Gold Glove.

Posted in General Baseball, Michael Bourn, Past BlueClaws, Phillies | No Comments »

The Draft

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 »

Former BlueClaws in Fantasy Baseball

Monday, March 30th, 2009

Over their eight seasons of BlueClaws baseball, the BlueClaws have sent 25 players to the major leagues. With fantasy baseball drafts heating up, with the season less than a week away, here are how the former BlueClaws stack up and where to pick them.

Ryan Howard (Late 1st round, Early 2nd) - The former MVP and Rookie of the year is the top rated former Lakewood BlueClaws player in terms of fantasy baseball. Over the past three years, Howard has dominated opposing pitchers with his power and is an asset in fantasy baseball. He’s not going to help your team in the average category, Howard projects to hit in the .260 range, but he can be a top player in runs, RBI and home runs. With a hot spring, Howard has 8 home runs, he could begin the season strong unlike he did last year. Expect another 45-50 home runs for Howard and for him to top 100 runs and 135 RBI.

Cole Hamels (4th round) - Despite his arm problems, the World Series and NLCS MVP is a strong candidate for his first Cy Young award. Hamels, 25, is entering his third full season in the Phillies rotation. He has gotten progressively better the past two years.  A 15 game winner last season, Hamels numbers were hampered by low run support numbers. He pitched 227 innings last season, think more around 180 this season, and fanned 196 hitters. If healthy, Hamels can be a 4th to 5th round steal because of how many batters he strikes out, the team he’s on and his stinginess to let people on base. If healthy, Hamels will win 18-22 games, maintain an ERA right around 3, a WHIP close to or below 1.10 and nearly one strikeout per inning.Gavin Floyd

Gavin Floyd (16th - 20th round) - The only Lakewood BlueClaws player to throw a no-hitter and lose, Floyd has value in deeper fantasy leagues as a starting pitcher. In 2008, Floyd began to realize some of the potential we all saw in 2002. He won 17 games last season with a 3.84 ERA. He also flirted twice with no-hitters, going deep into two games within the same month without allowing a hit. With a new four-year deal in place the White Sox are reliant upon Floyd building on his stellar 2008. A generous expectation has Floyd equaling his numbers from last season, however more realistically you can expect 15 wins and an ERA around 4.

Michael Bourn (20th round+) - A speedster, Bourn will be entering his second full season in the Major Leagues. Bourn stole 41 bases last season and was caught only 10 times. His value stopped there last season as he only hit .229 with 29 RBIs. Depending on his playing time, Bourn could steal more than 50 bases, but if he continues to hit for a poor average, he could be on the pine, instead of the bases.

Others for consideration:

JA Happ and Carlos Carrasco (Free Agents) - If Happ is named the 5th starter, the lefty has value in deep leagues and in NL-Only leagues. He showed strong stuff last season and is a highly rated Phillies prospect. On the other hand, Carrasco will probably make his long-awaited Phillies debut this season, eventually, and could be the next top-of-the-line starter. Keep an eye on how both progress as they could have some value as the season goes along.

Posted in Carlos Carrasco, Cole Hamels, Gavin Floyd, Lakewood BlueClaws, Michael Bourn, Past BlueClaws, Ryan Howard | No Comments »

70 in 70: Number 25

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

Just 25 days to go now until the Lakewood’s April 9th opener against Delmarva. Today’s 70 in 70 entry looks back at the former BlueClaws with Major League experience, those who have reached the highest level of professional baseball. We’re going to sort these by the year they made their debut in the big leagues. The year that follows each player is the year(s) that the player was with the BlueClaws.

2004: Ryan Howard (02), Gavin Floyd (02)

2005: Ezequiel Astacio (02), Robinson Tejeda (01, 03), Eude Brito (01, 02)

2006: Taylor Buchholz (01), Carlos Ruiz (01), Cole Hamels (03), Chris Roberson (03), Scott Mathieson (04), Michael Bourn (04)

2007: Joe Bisenius (05), Zach Segovia (03), Yoel Hernandez (01), Mike Zagurski (06), Kyle Kendrick (04-06), JA Happ (05)

2008: Brad Harman (05), Bobby Korecky (05), RJ Swindle (07), Randy Ruiz (04), Josh Outman (06), Greg Golson (05, 06), Alfredo Simon-Cabrera (03), Lou Marson (06)

Posted in 70 in 70, Cole Hamels, Gavin Floyd, JA Happ, Josh Outman, Kyle Kendrick, Lou Marson, Michael Bourn, Past BlueClaws, Ryan Howard | No Comments »

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