phillypressbox

Posts Tagged ‘Philadelphia Phillies’

,

Phillies Profile – Raul Valdez

In Philadelphia Phillies on June 1, 2012 at 8:21 pm

If you follow the Philly Pressbox (https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com) (@phillypressbox) you’re aware that we did a review and analysis of each Phillies player, Manager Charlie Manuel and the coaching staff leading up to Opening Day 2012.  Now that the season has reached the 50 game mark there have been four additional players that are on the roster that we will get to know. Yesterday we profiled Jake Diekman. Today we’ll get to know Raul Valdez. 

Raul Valdez –The 34-year-old Cuban born Valdez was signed as a free agent in the 2004 amateur draft by the Chicago Cubs. He bounced around the minor leagues from 2004 to 2010 before making his major league debut with the New York Mets on April 11, 2010. At the age of 32, Valdex had a nice rookie year with Mets. He pitched in 38 games, finished with a 3-3 record with a 4.91 ERA and a save. That rookie season wasn’t good enough to keep him with the Mets, he was released following the season and signed by the St. Louis Cardinals. Valdez pitched in just 7 games for the Cards before being released and picked up by the Yankees where he pitched in only 6 majoe league games. He was released by the Yankees following the season and signed by the Phillies. Valdez has pitched in 8 games thus far for the Phils, recording a 2-0 record with a 3.00 ERA. He has stuck out 11 batters in his 9 innings of work.

As a journeyman minor leaguer, Valdez has worked as both a starter and reliever. He has pitched in 133 games in his 6 years at the lower levels with the majority of his work coming at the AAA level. He’s won 28 games and lost 21 with a 4.59 career ERA.

Personal Analysis:It will be interesting to see if Valdez sticks with the Phillies. He has done a decent job thus far, however, he was called up from Lehigh Valley due to injuries in the bullpen. Our expectation is that he will be sent back down as soon as Michael Stutes is healthy and able to return. He could also be the first guy that returns to the big leagues if the injuries continue. At the least we would expect to see Raul again in September.

Tomorrow we will preview Mike Fontenot.

For those that haven’t followed our Phillies Profiles you can see them all in the archives file under “Phillies”.

Feel free to click the FOLLOW button on the bottom right of this page, input your email address and receive your Philly Pressbox posts directly in your email. As always feel free to leave a “Comment” on any of our posts.

We would like to thank our sponsor for their support. Click the following link to check out all of their Spring health items. http://www.shop.com/ul!60874!spring+health!www.shop.com%2Fbobsullivan-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795  Lastly, click on the business card below to see all of their items.

,

Phillies Profile – Jake Diekman

In Philadelphia Phillies on May 30, 2012 at 6:32 pm

If you follow the Philly Pressbox (https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com) (@phillypressbox) you’re aware that we did a review and analysis of each Phillies player, Manager Charlie Manuel and the coaching staff leading up to Opening Day 2012.  Now that the season has reached the 50 game mark there have been four additional players that are on the roster that we will get to know. Today we will profile Jake Diekman. 

Jake Diekman –The 6’4″, 200 lb., 25-year-old lefthanded was the Phillies 30th round draft choice in the 2007 amateur draft out of Cloud County Community College in Concordia Kansas. He was called up from AAA Lehigh Valley and made his major league debut on May 15th against the Houston Astros. Jake pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless baseball in that game and picked up the win, 4-3. To date, he has pitched in 7 games, all in relief, has a 1-0 record with a 5.68 ERA. He has struck out 12 and walked 2 in his 6.1 innings of work.

Diekman began his minor league career in 2007 playing in the Gulf Coast League and with Class A Williamsport. He posted a combined 3-4 record with a 2.72 ERA. He started 10 games and relieved in 3. During that first season Diekman started to earn the reputation as a strike out pitcher. He tallied 46 k’s in 51 innings of work. In 2008, Jake split time between Class A Williamsport and Class A Lakewood. He was a full-time started on both teams. He started a total of 27 games and loggged 141.1 innings of work. His combined record was 4-9 with a 5.09 ERA. He totalled 96 strike outs. 2009 saw the move to the bullpen at Lakewood. Diekman pitched in 32 games, 30 of them in relief. His record was 2-0 with a 4.04 ERA and 2 saves. He struck out 52 batters in 55.2 innings of work. By 2010 Jake was spending his fourth season in “A” ball. He was with both Lakewood and Clearwater. The path to the big leagues wasn’t looking very promising, however he pitched well in 2010. He appeared in 45 games, all in relief. He was 2-2 with a 2.91 ERA and 1 save. He struck out 56 batters in 55.2 innings. In 2011, Jake finally got the promotion to AA Reading and again pitched very well. He was 0-1 with a 3.05 ERA in 53 games with 3 saves. He struck out 83 batters in 65 innings of relief. The outstanding 2011 got Diekman promoted to AAA Lehigh Valley to start 2012 and it didn’t take long for him to excel. Before getting the call to the Phillies he had pitched in 13 games with a 1-0 record a 0.59 ERA and 5 saves. He had struck out 22 batters in 15.1 innings. It wasn’t an easy climb for Diekman but it appears that everything has come together.

The promotion to the big leagues was well deserved!! 

Personal Analysis:It will be interesting to see how the Phillies use Diekman at the big league level once he gets comfortable. They presently have Antonio Bastardo and Joe Savory as lefthanded relievers with Bastardo having worked himself back in to the 8th inning slot. That leaves Diekman and Savory as clean up guys. Obviously being a strike out pitcher will be to Diekmans advantage moving forward and will likely put him in position to get big lefthanded hitters out. We look for Diekman to get more work once he gets settled in the big leagues. He’s a good looking, young lefthander with an unusual delivery that has nothing but upside.

Tomorrow we will preview Raul Valdez.

For those that haven’t followed our Phillies Profiles you can see them all in the archives file under “Phillies”.

Feel free to click the FOLLOW button on the bottom right of this page, input your email address and receive your Philly Pressbox posts directly in your email.

We would like to thank our sponsor for their support. Click the following link to check out all of their Spring health items. http://www.shop.com/ul!60874!spring+health!www.shop.com%2Fbobsullivan-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795  Lastly, click on the business card below to see all of their items.

, , , ,

5 Phillies Things to Ponder – You Rank Them!!

In Philadelphia Phillies on May 18, 2012 at 10:41 am

While driving down the interstate of Missouri I’m pondering a few things about the Phillies and the first 38 games of the season. I’ve come up with a list of 5 things and I ask you, what do you think will happen in what order? I’ll list them randomly and give you my list at the bottom.

  • ·        The Phillies take over 1st Place in the NL East.
  • ·        Greg Gross gets fired as the hitting coach.
  • ·        Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz is named the starting catcher for the NL in the All Star game.
  • ·        Cole Hamels is signed to a long term contract.
  • ·        Jimmy Rollins will be moved out of the leadoff spot permanently.

 

Here is our list and our reasoning:

  1. Greg Gross will be fired. It’s not fair to blame everything on the hitting coach but that’s what happens, ask Mickey Hatcher who was fired after 13 seasons as the hitting coach of the Angels because he and Albert Pujols had a disagreement and the team was underachieving at the plate. GG has been fired before in favor of Milt Thompson who was replaced again by GG. When it’s all said and done, there are a lot of the same hitters that have been here throughout and they haven’t changed, regardless of who the hitting coach is. The Phils are presently playing .500 ball, 19-19, and in last place in the NL East. They rank 4th in the NL in batting average at .261, however, they rank only 10th of 16 teams in OBP, on base percentage, are 8th in runs scored  and home runs but 15th in bases on balls. It’s a shame to say but someone may have to be the scapegoat if the Phils don’t start to score more runs and GG will be that guy. Maybe Chase Utley and Ryan Howard can help out if it’s not too late.
  2. “Chooch” is named to start in the All Star game. At this point in the season he has done it all. Always solid on defense and managing the pitching staff, he has now added some pretty significant offensive numbers. He’s sporting a .343 batting average, .388 OBP, 7 HR’s, 24 RBI’s and 19 runs scored, all second on the team to Hunter Pence. It’s a no-brainer that Chooch is the NL starting catcher.
  3. Cole Hamels signs a multi- year deal. Every time Hamels goes to the mound it’s costing the Phillies money. He’s presently 5-1 with a 2.28 ERA. He’s started 7 games and the Phils have won 6 of them. He leads the team with 49 strike outs while holding the opposition to a .229 batting average. The 28 year old lefty has not reached his prime yet and needs to be locked up for the long haul. We’ve been on that bandwagon since Spring Training. The Dodgers, Angels and Yankees will likely be interested if Cole tests the free agent market and will all be willing to dish out big money. The Matt Cain contract in San Francisco has set the bar at $120m and the Phillies need to beat it and they need to do it now. Following is the link to our preseason player profile on Hamels.   https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/phillies-profile-cole-hamels/
  4. The Phils take over 1st place in the NL East. The Phils have played poorly through the first 38 games of the season. Utley and Howard are out, the middle bullpen is a mess, Cliff Lee has been on the DL, Jim Thome has been a bust, Freddy Galvis, Lance Nix and John Mayberry, among others, have struggled and the Phils are only 4.5 games out of 1st place. Although the division has improved the Phillies still have the top line of starting pitchers. It’s just a matter of time until they find some consistency at the plate and start scoring runs in bunches.
  5. Jimmy Rollins is moved out of the leadoff spot. The Philly Pressbox doesn’t under Charlie Manuals love for JRoll in the leadoff spot. Those days are gone. Jimmy is presently hitting a measly .232 with an OBP of .290. That is awful for a guy in the leadoff spot.   He has also already struck out 27 times while walking only 13 and stealing 8 bases. Only Galvis and Mayberry have a lower OBP than Rollins. With Juan Pierre swinging a hot bat, .343 average, with a .388 OBP, he needs to be in the leadoff spot until he can’t get the job done. Pierre is a proven big league player and he will produce. JRoll and Manuel need to swallow the egos and move Rollins down near the bottom of the lineup where he belongs. We don’t see it happening any time soon and the Phils will suffer because of it unless Jimmy turns back the clock to 2007 and 2008. See our preseason preview of JRoll at the following link. https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/phillies-profile-jimmy-rollins/

There you have our thoughts at close to the quarter point of the season.

What do you think????

Feel free to click the FOLLOW button on the bottom right of this page, input your email address and receive your Philly Pressbox posts directly in your email.

We would like to thank our sponsor for their support. Please check out the new trends for Spring Phillies baseball gear. http://www.shop.com/ul!52667!Spring+baseball-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795 Also, check out the All Sports Philadelphia Team Jerseys on the following link. http://www.shop.com/ul!52674!Philly+Jersey:s-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795. Lastly, click on the business card below to see all of their items.

 

, , ,

“View from the Philly Pressbox” – Marlins Series

In Philadelphia Phillies on April 13, 2012 at 7:08 pm

In our second installment of the “View from the Philly Pressbox” we’ll review the 3 games series, against the Florida Marlins at Citizens Bank Park, in which the Phils won the last two games after losing the home opener of the season.

Cole Hamels struggled on opening night at The Bank. Hamels struck out 9 batters in his 5.1 innings but allowed 8 hits and 4 runs, 3 earned. Joe Savery saw his first action of the season in relief. David Herndon and Jonathan Papelbon also threw in the game. The Phils managed only 6 hits off of four Marlins pitchers, none of them off their bullpen. Anibal Sanchez pitched well and picked up the win. Jimmy Rollins had 2 hits while Freddie Galvis got his first major league hit and first two RBI’s.

Roy Halladay is off to a great start. He won his 2nd game of the season. Doc threw 7 innings, allowing 5 hits and 1 run. He walked 1 and struck out 3. He lowered his ERA to 0.50. Chad Qualls and Michael Stutes threw perfect innings of relief. The hits finally started coming, 14 total. Carlos Ruiz continued his hot hitting with 2 hits, including his first home run of the season. Rollins, Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco all added a pair of hits while Hunter Pence banged 3 hits. Galvis added 2 RBI’s.

Game 3 belonged to Joe Blanton. The #5 starter in the rotation made his first start of the season a dandy, leading the Phillies to a 3-1 win. Blanton threw 7 innings, allowed 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk and struck out 3. Chad Qualls pitched the 8th for his first hold of the season and Papelbon pitched the 9th to earn his 2nd save. Offensively, Hunter Pence added 2 more hits, raising his average to .391. Ty Wigginton belted his first home run of the season as did Shane Victorino.

To summarize the series, the Phillies pitching was outstanding again with quality starts from Halladay and Blanton. The Marlins also have good pitching with Sanchez, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle, however, the Phillies banged out 28 hits in the series. That’s a good sign!

Next up, the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park. Their ace Johan Santana threw on Wednesday against Washington, losing to Steven Strasburg, 4-0. Santana won’t pitch against the Phils. The Phils will throw Cliff Lee on Friday night against R.A. Dickey, Vance Worley against Jon Neise on Saturday at 4:05 and Cole Hamels against Mike Pelfrey on Sunday afternoon. The Mets have started the season with a 4-2 record. The Mets have listed 3rd baseman David Wright as day-to-day after breaking his pinky finger on Monday. If Wright can tolerate the pain he could play at some point during the series.

As far as the Phillies lineup, Charlie Manuel has made a few moves; however, he seems to have settled back to his opening day lineup. Juan Pierre did get some work in the leadoff spot. Pierre is hitting only .214 in his 4 games played. With only 6 games in to the season Pence is leading the team in hitting at .391, followed by Ruiz at .375 and Victorino at .333. No one has more than one home run. Pence and Galvis lead with 4 RBI’s each.

The season is still very young and the bats will be warming up. Like everyone else we expect Hunter Pence to lead the way for a good portion of the season until Chase Utley and Ryan Howard return. We’ve attached the link to our Phillies Profile on Pence.  https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/phillie-profile-hunter-pence/

It would be a great weekend for a Phillies sweep of the Mets!

 For now, WE’RE OUTTTTTTA HERE!!!!!

Feel free to click the FOLLOW button on the bottom right of this page, input your email address and receive your Philly Pressbox posts directly in your email.

We would like to thank our sponsor for their support. Please check out the new trends for Spring Phillies baseball gear. http://www.shop.com/ul!52667!Spring+baseball-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795 Also, check out the All Sports Philadelphia Team Jerseys on the following link. http://www.shop.com/ul!52674!Philly+Jersey:s-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795. Lastly, click on the business card below to see all of their items.

 

, , , , , , , ,

“View from the Philly Pressbox” – Pirates Series

In Philadelphia Phillies on April 9, 2012 at 11:47 am

In our first installment of the “View from the Philly Pressbox” we’ll review the 3 games series, at Pittsburgh, against the Pirates, in which the Phils lost two out of three.

We learned the following:

Roy Halladay and Jonathan Papelbon were really good in the opener, combining for a 2 hit, 1-0 shutout.

Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle lost his mind by pitching to Carlos Ruiz with the score 0-0, with Phillies on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out and Freddie Galvis, in his first major league game, and the pitcher, Halladay due up. Chooch hit a SAC Fly to rightfield that was all Halladay needed. 1-0 Phillies.

Cliff Lee can still be good even when he’s not at his best. He gave up 2 hits and 1 run through 6 innings, allowing a run on a wild pitch. Lee appeared to be struggling with his location some and wasn’t happy with some balls and strikes from the umpire but still pitched very well.

Games will end on bang-bang calls on the bases. This one was close and went against the Phils allowing the winning run to score giving them their first lose.

The Vanimal, Vance Worley, doesn’t appear to have any sophomore season concerns. Worley threw 6 innings of 5 hit, 1 run baseball, leaving with a 4-1lead.

Overall the Phillies starters threw 20 innings, gave up 9 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks and had 14 strikeouts and Cole Hamels hasn’t pitched yet.

The Phillies hitting is awful!! They accounted for 20 hits, 1 by Halladay, in the first three games against average pitching, hit 1 home run, had 2 doubles and only scored 6 runs.

Juan Pierre needs to be the leadoff hitter that can get on base and make things happen. If Charlie Manuel wants John Mayberry to get At-Bats it needs to be at 1st base. Not that Mayberry can’t play leftfield, but Pierre needs to be in the lineup until he proves he can’t get the job done. Shane Victorino is not a lead-off hitter and Jimmy Rollins is not a number 3 hitter. Our thought is play Mayberry every day at 1st base and bat 5th so opponents don’t walk Hunter Pence like they did Sunday with Jim Thome hitting behind him. The Phils need to establish a 5th hitter in the line-up and leave him there until he fails.

How long of a leash do you have with Freddie Galvis? He needs to hit something! 0-10 in your first series is not a great start, especially for a guy who isn’t a notoriously good hitter to begin with. He has played well in the field but he needs to hit. The Ty Wigginton, Galvis, Brian Schneider experiment in the 6, 7 and 8 spots produced a 0-9 with 2 walks for the day. They did score 2 runs. That won’t get it. Tack on another 0-4 for the 9th spot and it wasn’t a very good day.

Why pull Worley after 6 innings and only 78 pitches?

Lastly, Charlie let Sunday’s game get away. As long as I can remember being around baseball there’s been a cardinal rule of “NEVER let the other team’s best player beat you”. Charlie decided to pitch to both Jose Tabata and Andrew McCutchen with a runner on 3rd and 1 out in the bottom of the 9th inning. David Herndon was fortunate enough to strikeout Tabata for the 2nd out before McCutchen hit the game winner off the centerfield wall. Baseball wisdom says they should’ve walked both Tabata and McCutchen and set up a double play situation with Adam Walker. Those runners meant nothing so why not put them on base. Choosing to pitch to Tabata was one thing but letting McCutchen, easily the Pirates best player, beat you with two empty bases is inexcusable.

With that said, it’s early in the season and today’s game against the Marlins brings Hamels to the mound. There’s nothing like the home opener. As we stated in our Phillies Profile on Hamels, the link is attached, https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/phillies-profile-cole-hamels/, we expect a great season from him and it starts today. The Phillies pitching is going to be fun to watch but we sure need some answers at the plate, and soon.

For now, WE’RE OUTTTTTTA HERE!!!!!

Feel free to click the FOLLOW button on the bottom right of this page, input your email address and receive your Philly Pressbox posts directly in your email.

We would like to thank our sponsor for their support. Please check out the new trends for Spring Phillies baseball gear. http://www.shop.com/ul!52667!Spring+baseball-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795 Also, check out the All Sports Philadelphia Team Jerseys on the following link. http://www.shop.com/ul!52674!Philly+Jersey:s-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795. Lastly, click on the business card below to see all of their items.

 

, ,

Phillies Profiles – Michael Stutes and Pete Orr

In Philadelphia Phillies on April 5, 2012 at 9:50 am

Over the next 28 days Philly Pressbox (https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com) (@phillypressbox) will be doing a review and analysis of each Phillies player, Manager Charlie Manuel and the coaching staff leading up to Opening Day 2012.  On Day 28 we preview, Michael Stutes and Pete Orr.

Michael Stutes – Stutes was drafted out of high school in the 32nd round in 2004 by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Instead of signing he chose to go to college at Oregon State University and later at Santa Clara University. He was drafted again in the 9th round, by the St. Louis Cardinals, in 2007 and again by the Phillies, in the 11th round, in 2008.

Stutes, a starting pitcher at the time, cruised through “A” ball at Williamsport and Lakewood in 2008, posting a 7-2 record with a 1.42 ERA in 13 starts. In 2009, Mike was promoted to “AA” Reading where he posted an 8-8 record with a 4.26 ERA, while starting all 27 of his games.  The decision was made for Stutes to move to the bullpen between the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He started the season at Reading before being promoted to “AAA” Lehigh Valley. He finished the combined season with a 7-1 record, a 3.42 ERA and 3 saves. All of his 53 appearances were in relief. Stutes started the 2011 season back at Lehigh Valley before getting the call after pitching in just 7 games.

The 25 year old Stutes arrived on the scene and quickly became a very important part of the Phillies bullpen. Stutes, from the right side, and fellow rookie Antonio Bastardo, from the left side, carried the 8th inning bullpen work before tiring a bit down the stretch. Stutes finished the season with a 6-2 record with a 3.63 ERA in 57 games.

Personal Analysis:

Stutes ended up in a battle to make the team coming out of spring training. He suffered some arm soreness that looked like was going to land him on the DL and not come north with the team. Apparently he has recovered and is ready to go. Stutes has been a quality pitcher throughout his career in the minor leagues and as a rookie in 2011.  It’s not clear, at this time, what role Stutes will play as one of the 12 pitchers on the roster, however, whatever role it is we expect Stutes to compete and be productive.

Pete Orr –Pete Orr has won the last roster position as a backup infielder. Pete has primarily been a 2nd baseman throughout his career although he has played 3rd base and some outfield. Pete was invited to camp as non-roster player, however, he’s another journeyman that should provide the Phils some depth until Chase Utley returns or possible until Michael Martinez returns. The 32 year old Orr has 6 years of major league experience with Atlanta, Washington and the Phillies in 2011.

Pete was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Braves in 1999. Orr made his major league debut with the Braves in 2005. He stayed with the Braves through the 2007 season bouncing back and forth to AAA. He bounced between the Nationals and AAA Syracuse in 2008-2009. He only tallied 150 major league at bats and hit .253. The Phillies signed Orr as a free agent prior to the 2011 season. Again, he split time between the Phillies and AAA Lehigh Valley. He hit .219, with 0 home runs and 4 RBI’s in 96 at bats for The Fightins. Pete is a career .254 hitter with 615 at bats.

Personal Analysis:

With Orr you know exactly what you have. He’s going to be a spot player to fill in as needed. He can step in and play every day if Freddie Galvis struggles. Galvis will have every opportunity to play and improve at the big league level. Orr will provide good defense and baserunning when called on. Overall, Orr is good guy to have on your ballclub but we don’t expect anything big from him. The downside is that he’s another left handed hitter on the bench.

The series: Day 1, Charlie Manuel. Day 2, The Coaching Staff. Day 3, Roy Halladay. Day 4, Cliff Lee. Day 5, Cole Hamels. Day 6, Vance Worley. Day 7, Joe Blanton. Day 8, Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz. Day 9, Ryan Howard. Day 10, Chase Utley. Day 11, Jimmy Rollins. Day 12, Placido Polanco. Day 13, John Mayberry, Jr. Day 14, Shane Victorino. Day 15, Hunter Pence. Day 16, Brian Schneider. Day 17, Jim Thome. Day 18, Kyle Kendrick. Day 19, Antonio Bastardo. Day 20, Ty Wigginton. Day 21, Chad Qualls. Day 22, Freddy Galvis. Day 23, David Herndon. Day 24, Juan Pierre. Day 25, Laynce Nix, Day 26, Jonathan Papelbon. Day 27, Joe Savery.

Feel free to click the FOLLOW button on the bottom right of this page, input your email address and receive your Philly Pressbox posts directly in your email.

We would like to thank our sponsor for their support. Please check out the new trends for Spring Phillies baseball gear. http://www.shop.com/ul!52667!Spring+baseball-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795 Also, check out the All Sports Philadelphia Team Jerseys on the following link. http://www.shop.com/ul!52674!Philly+Jersey:s-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795. Lastly, click on the business card below to see all of their items.

 

,

Phillies Profile – Joe Savery

In Philadelphia Phillies on April 4, 2012 at 7:35 pm

Over the next 28 days Philly Pressbox (https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com) (@phillypressbox) will be doing a review and analysis of each Phillies player, Manager Charlie Manuel and the coaching staff leading up to Opening Day 2012.  On Day 27 we preview, Joe Savery.

Joe Savery –Savery making the Opening Day roster, as a pitcher, is a dream come true for the former 1st round draft pick, #19 overall, of the Phillies in the 2007 amateur draft out of Rice University. The amazing story is that the lefthanded Savery crashed as a pitcher in the minor leagues. The only reason he was still in baseball is because he was also a great hitter and the Phillies tried to make him a 1st baseman.

Early in his career Savory progressed fairly well. In 2007, right out of college, he posted a 2-3 record at Williamsport in 7 appearances. He was promoted to Clearwater in 2008 and posted a 9-10 record with a 4.13 ERA in 150.1 innings. 2009 saw another promotion, he pitched 21 games at AA Reading and 7 games at AAA Lehigh Valley. His combined totals were 16 wins, 6 loses with a 4.40 ERA with 151.1 innings worked. Although the numbers looked good, Savery’s control was becoming an issue. He walked 77 and struck out 96. The following year, 2010, the wheels came off for Savery. While pitching at Lehigh Valley he posted a 1-12 record with a 4.66 ERA in 127.1 innings. He walked 51 and struck out 67.

The Phillies pulled the plug after the disaster of 2010. Savery was sent back to Clearwater to start over as a 1st baseman. He pitched only 2 innings at Clearwater, but hit .307 with 2 home runs and 25 RBI’s in 52 games. His bat got him promoted to Reading again. At that point the Phillies made the decision for Savory to go back on the hill. He pitched 9 innings at Reading, all in relief, going 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA. He walked “0” batters and struck out 14. His mid-90’s velocity was back! The Phillies quickly promoted him to Lehigh Valley where he pitched 18 games of relief, recorded 2 saves along with 4-0 record and 1.80 ERA. He walked 6 and struck out 26. The 2011 odyssey ended with a call up to the Phillies. He pitched in 4 games for The Fightins, throwing 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball.

What a journey from Class A 1st baseman to a major league pitcher in one season!

Upon being notified that he had made the 2012 Opening day roster the 26 year old said, “There were a number of things that factored into that, I didn’t pitch for 9 months, so I’m sure that helped.

“Being in the infield and having to shorten up my arm motion helped. And the rest was just an act of God.

“I don’t know how to explain it. I’d like to think those things were part of it, but it just doesn’t make sense to me sometimes.”

Savery has been humbled by his experience but realizes that this is just the beginning of his new odyssey. He plans to continue the hard work that got him the call to the big leagues. “I need to get better and learn from these guys and hopefully help them win some games. To make an Opening Day roster, to be there for the romantic side of baseball in this country – to be part of that – I’m really looking forward to that and very thankful.”

Personal Analysis:

We thought that Savery was going to be the guy all along to get the call. The forearm tightness that Antonio Bastardo suffered was just another indication that the Phils would need to bring another lefthanded reliever north with them and Savery was that guy. We expect Savory to get a lot of work as a 7th inning guy and gain experience, unless Bastardo can’t stay healthy and his role expands. He is considered an excellent athlete and a hard working player as shown by his journey. We don’t look for big numbers from Savery; however, we do look for a nice contribution from him. He can also hit, if needed.

Tomorrow we will preview Michael Stutes & Pete Orr.

The series: Day 1, Charlie Manuel. Day 2, The Coaching Staff. Day 3, Roy Halladay. Day 4, Cliff Lee. Day 5, Cole Hamels. Day 6, Vance Worley. Day 7, Joe Blanton. Day 8, Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz. Day 9, Ryan Howard. Day 10, Chase Utley. Day 11, Jimmy Rollins. Day 12, Placido Polanco. Day 13, John Mayberry, Jr. Day 14, Shane Victorino. Day 15, Hunter Pence. Day 16, Brian Schneider. Day 17, Jim Thome. Day 18, Kyle Kendrick. Day 19, Antonio Bastardo. Day 20, Ty Wigginton. Day 21, Chad Qualls. Day 22, Freddy Galvis. Day 23, David Herndon. Day 24, Juan Pierre. Day 25, Laynce Nix, Day 26, Jonathan Papelbon.

Feel free to click the FOLLOW button on the bottom right of this page, input your email address and receive your Philly Pressbox posts directly in your email.

We would like to thank our sponsor for their support. Please check out the new trends for Spring Phillies baseball gear. http://www.shop.com/ul!52667!Spring+baseball-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795 Also, check out the All Sports Philadelphia Team Jerseys on the following link. http://www.shop.com/ul!52674!Philly+Jersey:s-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795. Lastly, click on the business card below to see all of their items.

,

Phillies Profile – Jonathan Papelbon

In Philadelphia Phillies on April 3, 2012 at 4:37 pm

Over the next 28 days Philly Pressbox (https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com) (@phillypressbox) will be doing a review and analysis of each Phillies player, Manager Charlie Manuel and the coaching staff leading up to Opening Day 2012.  On Day 26 we preview, Jonathan Papelbon. We were saving Papelbon for our last profile as “The Closer”. Unfortunately, injuries to Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Michael Martinez, Michael Stutes and Jose Contreras have created some roster chaos that’s going down to the last day. Papelbon becomes our 24th player profile instead of 25th.

Jonathan Papelbon – The Phillies went “all in” on signing the 31 year old former Boston Red Sox closer to a 4 year – $50 million contract with a vesting year that will carry through the 2016 season. Papelbon is scheduled to make $11,000,058 in 2012. Yes, that’s 058 to match his jersey number.

Papelbon is a former 4th round draft choice of the Red Sox out of Mississippi State University in the 2003 amateur draft. In 2005, he had his major league debut. In 2006, he became the closer for the Red Sox. In the 6 seasons since taking over the role he has had some amazing seasons. In 2006, he finished 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting after posting a 4-2 record with a 0.92 ERA and 35 saves. He walked 13 while striking out 75. He made his first of four all star teams.

He followed up his 2006 season with just as good of a season in 2007. He finished the season with a 1-3, 1.85 ERA and 37 saves. Again his walks to strikeouts were amazing. He walked 15 and struck out 84. His playoff numbers were unbelievable. In the combined three series, he pitched 10.2 innings, gave up 5 hits, 0 runs, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts, 1 win, 4 saves and ERA of 0.00 and a World Championship.

For an encore, in 2008, Papelbon increased his saves to his career high of 41 while posting a 5-4 record with a 2.34 ERA. 2008 saw another 35 saves as he lowered his ERA back down to 1.85. He continued his fine work in 2010 and 2011 recording 37 and 31 more saves for the Sox.

All told his career numbers after 6 ½ seasons in Boston are 23 wins, 19 loses, 2.33 ERA with 219 Saves. Since becoming a regular his career low in appearances is 59 and in saves 31. He has been a workhorse!

Personal Analysis:

The Phillies thought enough of Papelbon to not only sign him to a long term, big money contract but also to not resign Ryan Madson, their closer, that had done a nice job for Phils. It was pay Madson or pay Papelbon and the Phils chose Papelbon. His numbers slipped slightly last season, by his standards, he only had 31 saves and a 2.94 ERA while getting caught in the meltdown that was the Boston Red Sox locker room. A fresh start will be great for Papelbon and great for the Phillies. This guy will be huge! We’re looking for his normal 60-65 games pitched and 40+ saves. He has put up fantastic numbers in Boston but has never pitched behind a rotation like the Phillies have. He’ll have many more chances to save games for The Fightins as he ever had in the past with the Red Sox. Just get the lead to the 9th inning and Papelbon will take care of business!

Tomorrow we will preview The NL East or the last roster spot.

The series: Day 1, Charlie Manuel. Day 2, The Coaching Staff. Day 3, Roy Halladay. Day 4, Cliff Lee. Day 5, Cole Hamels. Day 6, Vance Worley. Day 7, Joe Blanton. Day 8, Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz. Day 9, Ryan Howard. Day 10, Chase Utley. Day 11, Jimmy Rollins. Day 12, Placido Polanco. Day 13, John Mayberry, Jr. Day 14, Shane Victorino. Day 15, Hunter Pence. Day 16, Brian Schneider. Day 17, Jim Thome. Day 18, Kyle Kendrick. Day 19, Antonio Bastardo. Day 20, Ty Wigginton. Day 21, Chad Qualls. Day 22, Freddy Galvis. Day 23, David Herndon. Day 24, Juan Pierre. Day 25, Laynce Nix.

Feel free to click the FOLLOW button on the bottom right of this page, input your email address and receive your Philly Pressbox posts directly in your email.

We would like to thank our sponsor for their support. Please check out the new trends for Spring Phillies baseball gear. http://www.shop.com/ul!52667!Spring+baseball-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795 Also, check out the All Sports Philadelphia Team Jerseys on the following link. http://www.shop.com/ul!52674!Philly+Jersey:s-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795. Lastly, click on the business card below to see all of their items.

 

,

Phillies Profile – Laynce Nix

In Philadelphia Phillies on April 2, 2012 at 7:46 pm

Over the next 28 days Philly Pressbox (https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com) (@phillypressbox) will be doing a review and analysis of each Phillies player, Manager Charlie Manuel and the coaching staff leading up to Opening Day 2012.  On Day 25 we preview, Laynce Nix.

Laynce Nix – The 31 year old lefthanded hitting Nix was signed in the off season to provide both outfield depth and a lefthanded bat off the bench. Nix is another journeyman player that the Phillies feel can come in and produce. Nix has never really been a full time starter at the major league level. In his 9 seasons of experience he has only appeared in 100+ games 3 times. Nix is a former 4th round draft pick of the Texas Rangers in the 2000 amateur draft. He made his big league debut in July of 2003 at the age of 22. He played for the Rangers from 2003 – 2006 before being traded in mid-season to the Milwaukee Brewers. He played in only 30 games for the Brewers from mid 2006 through the end of 2008 at which time he was granted his free agency. Laynce moved on to Cincinnati for 2 seasons before landing with the Washington Nationals in 2011.

Nix is a career .244 hitter with 64 home runs and 226 runs batted in over 1673 at bats. He has posted 14 or more home runs in a season 3 times in his limited duty.

One of the big battles going in to Spring Training was between non-roster players Juan Pierre and Scott Podsednik for a reserve outfield position. Pierre won that battle, although both had outstanding springs. Keeping both of them doesn’t seem like much of an option since they are very similar. Nix, on the other hand has seemed to be under the radar.  He has hit only .208 this spring with 0 home runs and 4 rbi’s. At this point, the Phils have Jim Thome, Juan Pierre and Brian Schneider as lefthanded bats on the bench. There is still a chance that Podsednik could make the team and Nix not make it. Pods is also a lefthanded hitter.

Personal Analysis:

We’re not really excited about this situation. We feel that the lefthanded power hitting side of the bench is covered by Thome. Nix’ history does not indicate that he brings a lot more to the table than that. He’s been known to strikeout a good bit, provide an occasional long ball and hit for a low average. We don’t expect much here. Honestly, the roster spot can be upgraded with Podsednik, a waiver wire pickup or possibly carrying another pitcher. This will depend on the final infield roster spot and Chase Utley’s health.

Tomorrow we will preview Jonathan Papelbon.

The series: Day 1, Charlie Manuel. Day 2, The Coaching Staff. Day 3, Roy Halladay. Day 4, Cliff Lee. Day 5, Cole Hamels. Day 6, Vance Worley. Day 7, Joe Blanton. Day 8, Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz. Day 9, Ryan Howard. Day 10, Chase Utley. Day 11, Jimmy Rollins. Day 12, Placido Polanco. Day 13, John Mayberry, Jr. Day 14, Shane Victorino. Day 15, Hunter Pence. Day 16, Brian Schneider. Day 17, Jim Thome. Day 18, Kyle Kendrick. Day 19, Antonio Bastardo. Day 20, Ty Wigginton. Day 21, Chad Qualls. Day 22, Freddy Galvis. Day 23, David Herndon. Day 24, Juan Pierre.

Feel free to click the FOLLOW button on the bottom right of this page, input your email address and receive your Philly Pressbox posts directly in your email.

We would like to thank our sponsor for their support. Please check out the new trends for Spring Phillies baseball gear. http://www.shop.com/ul!52667!Spring+baseball-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795 Also, check out the All Sports Philadelphia Team Jerseys on the following link. http://www.shop.com/ul!52674!Philly+Jersey:s-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795. Lastly, click on the business card below to see all of their items.

 

,

Phillies Profile – Juan Pierre

In Philadelphia Phillies on April 1, 2012 at 8:03 pm

Over the next 28 days Philly Pressbox (https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com) (@phillypressbox) will be doing a review and analysis of each Phillies player, Manager Charlie Manuel and the coaching staff leading up to Opening Day 2012.  On Day 24 we preview, Juan Pierre.

Juan Pierre – The 34 year old Pierre was signed during the off season as a free agent after being released by the Chicago White Sox. Pierre has been a full time outfielder and leadoff hitter his entire career. In his 12 major league seasons Pierre has tallied more than 600 at bats 8 times, most recently in 2010 and 2011. He has also posted 200+ hits in a season 3 times. He led the league in hits 2 of those seasons. Juan has also led the league in triples once and stolen bases 3 times. All while posting a career .296 batting average over 1752 games. From 2003 – 2007 Pierre played in all 162 games in each of those seasons.  Back to stolen bases, Juan has 554 in his career. He has stolen over 60 in a season 3 times, 50 or more in 2 other seasons and 40 or more in 4 other seasons. Obviously, Pierre has been a terror on the base paths! To put Pierre’s base running accomplishments in perspective, Jimmy Rollins has stolen 373 in bases in his career.

 Pierre is a former 13th round draft choice of the Colorado Rockies in the 1998 amateur draft. He debuted in the big leagues in August of 2000 at the age of 22. He played for 3 seasons in Colorado, 3 seasons in Florida, which were his best, 1 season with the Cubs, 3 seasons with the Dodgers and 2 with the White Sox before joining the Phillies.

Pierre was in a Spring Training battle with another non-roster invitee Scott Podsednik. Both had outstanding camps, however, for now Pierre is in and Podsednik is out. Pods could make the club on the final cut down but it doesn’t appear that way right now.

Personal Analysis:

We’re really excited that the Phils have acquired Pierre and that he has made the team. Pierre can be a full time player, if necessary. He can start in the outfield if John Mayberry moves to 1st base, needs a rest or doesn’t produce. He can hit at the top of the lineup, get on base and steal bases. Frankly, he’s a better leadoff hitter than Jimmy Rollins in regards to being a pure leadoff man. He gives Manager Charlie Manuel a lot of options in the outfield and flexibility in his lineup especially being a left handed hitter. We look for Pierre to hit .290 and steal 20-25 bases depending on how many at bats he gets. Obviously, the return and Chase Utley and Ryan Howard will determine how the lineup sets up; however, we look for Pierre to get a lot of work. If he can continue to produce as he has in the last two seasons, .275, 179 hits and 68 stolen bases in 2010 and .279, 175 hits and 27 stolen bases in 2011, he will be a big boost for the Phils. If Pierre has a weakness in his running game, he has led the league in being caught stealing 7 times as well. With the base running comes the risk of getting thrown out. The coaching staff will have to pick and choose good times for Pierre to swipe a base to cut down on the times he is caught.

Tomorrow we will preview Laynce Nix.

The series: Day 1, Charlie Manuel. Day 2, The Coaching Staff. Day 3, Roy Halladay. Day 4, Cliff Lee. Day 5, Cole Hamels. Day 6, Vance Worley. Day 7, Joe Blanton. Day 8, Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz. Day 9, Ryan Howard. Day 10, Chase Utley. Day 11, Jimmy Rollins. Day 12, Placido Polanco. Day 13, John Mayberry, Jr. Day 14, Shane Victorino. Day 15, Hunter Pence. Day 16, Brian Schneider. Day 17, Jim Thome. Day 18, Kyle Kendrick. Day 19, Antonio Bastardo. Day 20, Ty Wigginton. Day 21, Chad Qualls. Day 22, Freddy Galvis. Day 23, David Herndon.

Feel free to click the FOLLOW button on the bottom right of this page, input your email address and receive your Philly Pressbox posts directly in your email.

We would like to thank our sponsor for their support. Please check out the new trends for Spring Phillies baseball gear. http://www.shop.com/ul!52667!Spring+baseball-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795 Also, check out the All Sports Philadelphia Team Jerseys on the following link. http://www.shop.com/ul!52674!Philly+Jersey:s-trends.xhtml?credituser=C9407795. Lastly, click on the business card below to see all of their items.