SB Nation - Carlos Carrasco

Phillies Top 10 Stories of 2009: No. 10 -- Improvement on the Farm

WholeCamels — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:38:45 -0000

First in a series of ten (seriously!) articles on the 2009 Phillies.

As recently as 2005, the Phillies farm system had the worst minor league winning percentage in all of professional baseball. Organizational winning percentage may not be the best way to judge system strength, but you get the idea. Things have turned around since then. So much so, that the organization has been able to unload six of their top ten prospects (Adrian Cardenas, Josh Outman, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, Lou Marson, and Jason Knapp) at the deadline for pitching help, and they still have one of the best farm systems in baseball.

The biggest reason? The system's top three prospects -- RHP Kyle Drabek, and outfielders Michael Taylor and Domonic Brown. The three guys who were too good to trade for Roy Halladay.

More after the jump...

Drabek, coming off Tommy John surgery, posted a 3.19 ERA with 150 strikeouts and just 50 walks in 158 innings pitched between Class A Clearwater and Double-A Reading. Drabek only turns 22 early next month. The Phillies shut Drabek down in August when he led the minors in innings pitched; a judicious decision, considering his recent arm surgery. He projects as a #2 starter in the majors, but will likely spend all of 2010 in Double-A and Triple-A, barring disaster in Philadelphia.

Michael Taylor posted a combined .320/.395/.549 line between Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley, with 20 home runs. An extremely strong contact hitter (just 70 strikeouts) with a line-drive swing, the 6'6", 250 pound outfielder looks to force his way into the big leagues as soon as mid 2010 -- whether it's with the Phillies or another team remains to be seen. He'll be 24 next season, so he's just about "done."

Domonic Brown has emerged as the organization's top prospect. An exciting mix of tools and skills, Brown went .299/.377/.504 mostly between Clearwater and Reading in his age 21 season. Brown will need at least one more full year in the minors and will probably start 2010 in Reading.

Aside from those three, there's a great deal of organizational depth, particularly among the pitchers -- lower level guys with high upside like Trevor May and Brody Colvin, and future reliever types like Joe Savery, Mike Stutes and Vance Worley, not to mention Justin DeFratus, Austin Hyatt, Jonathan Pettibone, Matt Way, etc. etc. You get the idea. Grab a bunch of nice arms, and hope to hit on a couple of them. It's as good a strategy as any. Oh, and Scott Mathieson is hitting the mid to upper 90s again.

Among the position players, catcher Travis D'Arnaud and outfielder Anthony Gose lead the non-Taylor/Brown positional prospects, but both are still at least a few years away.

Of course there are weaknesses -- no real third base or middle infield prospects to speak of (unless Freddy Galvis can actually figure out how to hit a little) -- and a disconcerting tendency to go for toolsy outfielder types with high picks. But in 2009, the Phillies farm system proved beyond any doubt that it belongs in the top third in MLB. Quite a change from a few years ago, when it was one of the very worst.

A Tale of Two Lefties: Clifton Phifer Lee v. Carsten Charles Sabathia

David S. Cohen — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:41:16 -0000

More photos » by Matt Slocum - AP

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Tomorrow night, Cliff Lee will face CC Sabathia in Game 1 of the 2009 World Series. It's possible that the two lefties will face each other two more times over the course of the possible seven game series, as each manager has indicated that his ace lefty could pitch Games 1, 4, and 7 (if necessary).

The two aces share a lot in common besides both being lefties. Both were initially drafted in the 1998 amateur draft, Sabathia by the Indians and Lee by the Orioles. Sabathia was a first round pick who quickly signed. Lee, a twentieth round pick, did not sign, re-entering the draft in 2000 when he was drafted by the Expos. In 2002, before he had reached the majors, he was traded to the Indians as part of a package in the Bartolo Colon deadline deal.

Until 2008, both Lee and Sabathia spent their major league careers as Indians, with Sabathia being the better pitcher, although not by much. From 2001 through mid-2008, Sabathia was 106-71 with a 3.83 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, and 116 ERA+ over 1528 innings. From 2002 through mid-2009, Lee was 83-48 for the Indians with a 4.01 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and 110 ERA+ over 1117 innings.

Even though Sabathia had the better career as an Indian, Lee's peak was better. The two won back-to-back Cy Young Awards as Indians, but Lee had the better Cy Young season. In 2007, Sabathia went 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA over 241 innings. His ERA+ was 143 and his WARP3 was 7.2. In Lee's 2008 Cy Young season, he went 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA over 223.1 innings. His ERA+ was 175 with a WARP3 of 8.6.

Both Sabathia and Lee were traded in blockbuster mid-season trades that netted the Indians a good portion of a future lineup and rotation. The Indians got Matt LaPorta, Rob Bryson, and Zach Jackson from the Brewers for Sabathia in July 2008. A year later, they got Carlos Carrasco, Jason Knapp, Lou Marson, and Jason Donald from the Phillies for Lee. Both players were then key cogs in getting their new team to the post-season, with Sabathia coming in fifth place in the NL Cy Young voting for his half-year of work for the Brewers and Cliff Lee anchoring an until-then shaky Phillies rotation in the second half of their third-in-a-row NL East championship season.

Both players have been excellent so far this post-season. They've both pitched 3 games, allowed 4 runs, and have a 20:3 strikeout to walk ratio. The big difference, if you can call it big, is that Lee has pitched more innings (24.1 to Sabathia's 22.2), and has allowed fewer earned runs (2 to Sabathia's 3). Thus, Lee has an eye-popping 0.74 ERA compared to Sabathia's merely gaudy 1.19 ERA.

So what can we expect from these two in this series? Both have faltered in their career against the opposing team. In 9 career starts, Lee has a 4-4 record against the Yankees, posting a 5.02 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, and 39:18 strikeout to walk ratio. In 4 career starts against the Phillies (including the post-season), Sabathia has a 1-2 record with a 5.55 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, and 17:8 strikeout to walk ratio.

Looking to splits, both pitchers have been better against right-handed hitters over their entire careers, although not drastically so. For Sabathia, he has given up a .694 OPS to righties and .647 OPS to lefties. For Lee, he has given up a .733 OPS to righties and .714 to lefties. This year, however, it has been much more drastic for both pitchers. For Sabathia, .681 for righties and .560 for lefties. For Lee, .734 for righties and .583 for lefties. Both teams' lefties should struggle against these pitchers.

At the new Yankee Stadium, both pitchers have done well this year, although with Cliff Lee having a very small sample size, of course. Sabathia pitched 15 games during the regular season and had a 3.17 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. Lee won the 1 game he pitched there this year, letting up 1 earned run in 6 innings, for a 1.50 ERA but a 1.67 WHIP. At CBP, Lee was 3-2 with a 2.52 ERA and 1.01 WHIP. ~~Sabathia hasn't pitched in Philadelphia yet in his career.~~ [EDIT: Sabathia has pitched one post-season game at CBP and no regular season games. In that one game, he took the loss and had a 12.27 ERA, 3+ WHIP, and a 5:4 strikeout to walk ratio. Clearly not good at all, the "small sample size" bell should be ringing loud and clear.]

Finally, how have the two done against the individual hitters in the opposing lineups? Having been in the AL, Lee has a much longer track record against the Yankees' hitters and many have fared very well against him. Only Raul Ibanez has seen Sabathia a significant number of times, although in limited at-bats the top of the Phillies lineup has dominated Sabathia. (The numbers here include post-season plate appearances.)

	PA	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Victorino	10	0.556	0.600	1.000	1.600
Rollins	14	0.385	0.429	0.769	1.198
Ibanez	43	0.275	0.326	0.525	0.851
Ruiz	5	0.400	0.400	0.400	0.800
Howard	9	0.333	0.333	0.444	0.777
Werth	8	0.250	0.250	0.500	0.750
Francisco	6	0.200	0.333	0.400	0.733
Feliz	8	0.125	0.125	0.250	0.375
Utley	6	0.000	0.167	0.000	0.167

	PA	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Rodriguez	20	0.333	0.450	0.733	1.183
Teixeira	26	0.391	0.462	0.696	1.158
Jeter	30	0.407	0.467	0.519	0.986
Posada	22	0.286	0.273	0.667	0.940
Swisher	24	0.333	0.458	0.444	0.902
Cabrera	12	0.273	0.333	0.545	0.878
Matsui	19	0.294	0.368	0.412	0.780
Cano	19	0.222	0.263	0.222	0.485
Damon	23	0.091	0.130	0.091	0.221

With the track record for these two aces being so close, the best prediction is that the games they pitch should be close battles, at least as long as the starters stay in the game.

The only clear loser here is the Cleveland Indians.

Game 159: Red Sox 3, Indians 0

Ryan — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 02:48:50 -0000

More photos » by Charles Krupa - AP

Carlos Carrasco had to be helped off the field in the fourth inning after being struck by a line drive.

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If this game were not a tuneup for Boston starter Jon Lester, the left-hander might have finished the game. Instead, he went 6.1, and let his bullpen finish the shutout. The Indians managed two hits against Lester, and one more against three Red Sox relievers.

The run of promising finales ended at three, as Carlos Carrasco struggled against Boston's patient lineup. To cap things off, he left the game after a line drive hit him flush just above his left knee. Carrasco had to be helped off the field, a rather bad ending to his first major-league stint. The 22-year-old started five games, and went more than five innings just once. It's tough to make a call on this young a pitcher after a month's worth of starts, but to me it would make sense to have him start 2010 in Columbus, have some success, and then bring him back to the majors.

The Indians have now lost 12 straight road games, tying a franchise record (1963 and 1991).

Next Up: Sowers vs. Matsuzaka, 7:10 PM

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Jensen Lewis	.064	Andy Marte	-.196
Matt LaPorta	.041	Carlos Carrasco	-.167
Shin-Soo Choo	.034	Jamey Carroll	-.087

Brewers make pitching a priority

Eli Greenspan — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:59:39 -0000

More photos » by Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP

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Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said that pitching is a priority for the Brewers this offseason, and is giving GM Doug Melvin some flexibility to make a move.

"Doug has to decide based on how much capital is available," Attanasio said. "He looks at how much money is available, the guys whose contracts are coming off, the guys he might be able to trade. He can get pitching through trades or free agents."

Pitching is scarce this offseason due to the weak free agent market, which could make teams more reluctant to trade pitching. Attanasio didn't rule out trading Prince Fielder, who is hitting a career best .297 with 43 home runs this season.

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Prince Fielder	156	569	99	169	35	3	43	137	102	134	2	3	.297	.406	.596

The Giants seem like a very logical destination for Fielder. The Giants have the pitching that could entice the Brewers, who are looking for a legitimate number two starter behind Yovani Gallardo. Matt Cain's name has been mentioned, but he is under contract through the 2011 season, while Fielder will be a free agent after next season.

The Brewers could attempt to move Prince Fielder to the Indians for Grady Sizemore, among others. The Brewers could look to acquire young pitchers Carlos Carrasco or Aaron Laffey, or attempt to snag a package of young pitchers from the Indians' minor league system.

The Indians would land an impact power hitter, who they could always move at the trade deadline in 2010 if they cannot sign him long-term (similar to what the Braves did with Mark Teixeira).

Another possibility would be to contact the Blue Jays about trading Prince Fielder for Roy Halladay. Who would benefit more from this trade?

The Tribe is Swept Again: Tigers 6, Indians 5

Ian Casselberry — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:06:43 -0000

More photos » by DAVID RICHARD - AP

Justin Verlander got into a bit of trouble when he tried to overpower his way out of a jam. But he eventually settled down and earned his 17th win of the season.

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If you looked at the pitching match-up before this game and thought, "Well, Justin Verlander should pitch better than Carlos Carrasco, so the Tigers ought to beat the Indians," you'd have been exactly right. Verlander gave up two runs in seven innings, with 11 strikeouts. Carrasco allowed four runs in five innings, with three walks.

Of course, there's usually more to the story.

As is often the case in one of Verlander's starts, he had one of those innings. Thursday night, it was the third inning, as Verlander put the first four Cleveland batters on base, resulting in two runs. Making matters worse was Verlander trying to throw his way out of trouble, figuring no one could touch his 98 m.p.h. and above heat. He was right about that. Except the Indians just let the hard stuff go by, and waited for the soft stuff.

Once Verlander resumed pitching instead of throwing, however, he began getting hitters out and escaped with only hose two runs allowed.

Carrasco wasn't so lucky in his half of the inning. He wasn't fooling anyone in the Tigers lineup, giving up four singles to the first five batters he faced. (And he walked the other one.) By the time Carrasco could finally get someone out, Detroit had scored four runs and essentially taken control of the game.

The Tigers added insurance runs in the seventh and eighth innings, but it turned out they needed that cushion. Bobby Seay came in fo face the big lefties in Cleveland's lineup, but couldn't get either Shin-Soo Choo or Travis Hafner out. Worse, it appeared that Seay just wasn't feeling right. (And he'll have his shoulder looked at today.) Fortunately for Detroit, Brandon Lyon was able to clean up the mess and finish the inning.

Fernando Rodney, however, had a bit of trouble closing out the game. It didn't look that way initially, as he retired his first two batters. But Rodney then had difficulty locating his fastball, and walked Jamey Carroll. He got ahead of Choo 0-2 with change-ups, but once again couldn't find the control on his fastball. So Choo sat on the change-up and when he got another one, he blasted it for a two-run homer. Uh-oh.

Rodney forgot about the change-up against Travis Hafner, and finally found the strike zone with his fastball. But Hafner singled on a pitch right down the middle, giving Cleveland a chance to tie the game. Jhonny Peralta bailed Rodney out swinging at a high-and-inside fastball. Yet that might have been a base hit, if not for a lunging stop by Brandon Inge to end the game.

Much closer than it should've been. And the final result wasn't all that pretty. But the bullpen could afford a bad night, thanks to those extra runs. With the win (their fourth straight), the Tigers sweep the Indians yet again and gain a half-game over the Twins in the AL Central.

How does a 14-4 record against Cleveland this year look to you?

Roar:

Carlos Guillen racked up three hits for the second consecutive night, batting 3-for-3 with a RBI.

Whimper:

Curtis Granderson drove in a run with a groundout, but finished his night 0-for-5. And in this three-game series, he batted 2-for-16. That's dropped his OPS to .769, the lowest it's been since mid-April.

Comment of the Night:

I hate Nick Punto.

Just thought I’d put it out there.

by 13194013

Game 153: Tigers 6, Indians 5

Ryan — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:37:24 -0000

More photos » by DAVID RICHARD - AP

There were some good things to take away from tonight's eleventh straight loss.

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This was, inexplicably, the best-played game during the current eleven-game losing streak. And though the matchup on paper predicted a blowout loss, the Indians had several opportunities to take control of the game.

Carlos Carrasco looked much more comfortable in his second start against the Tigers, though he's a long ways from a solid major-league starter. He got out of a couple jams early in the game, but couldn't limit the damage in the fourth inning. In that frame, he didn't give up the big hit, but three run-scoring singles and an RBI ground out. He didn't give up an extra-base hit, but instead allowed 6 singles and 3 walks.

The Indians owned Justin Verlander last year, but the lanky right-hander turned a corner in 2009. After the Indians took a 2-0 lead in the third on a Michael Brantley single, they had a great opportunity for an even larger inning with two on and still nobody out. Brantley stole second a couple pitches later to make the opportunity even more favorable. But Verlander, perhaps thinking of who was pitching for the Indians, retired the next three Indians and cruised from there. He threw a ton of pitches to get through seven innings thanks to that third inning, but the Tigers in retrospect needed him to go that long.

Meanwhile, the Indians actually made a game of it, though the two late-inning runs the bullpen allowed pushed the game just out of reach. Still, the Indians brought the winning run to the plate in the ninth inning, and would have had to the winning run on base had Brandon Inge not made a fantastic diving play to end the game.

There were some nice offensive signs. Travis Hafner pulled a ball on the inner half of the plate down the right-field line, something I can't recall him doing in quite a while. Shin-Soo Choo hit a two-run homer off Tigers closer Fernando Rodney. Michael Brantley continued to impress with his bat control; he collected another two hits, and stole a base. And Andy Marte is taking advantage of some unexpected playing time; he singled and doubled in four at-bats.

Next Up: The Indians go for a share of franchise infamy. Hernandez vs. Carmona, 7:05 PM

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Michael Brantley	.121	Carlos Carrasco	-.213
Travis Hafner	.108	Jhonny Peralta	-.169
Andy Marte	.080	Jamey Carroll	-.167

Game 140: Rangers 10, Indians 0

afh4 — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:09:44 -0000

More photos » by Tony Dejak - AP

Will Fausto ever get fixed?

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It took the Texas Rangers less than 24 hours to sweep the Indians and make much of the pitching "progress" that the Tribe had been clinging to start to look more than a bit shaky. Last night, we had to watch Aaron Laffey and Carlos Carrasco get shelled, as well as witness Jess Todd's continued unraveling and then, finally and most despicably, Chris Perez didn't even look inhuman. Today, the pain kept coming as Fausto Carmona lasted only 0.2 IP and surrendered 5 ER. In the last two days the Indians have watched key parts in their 2010 rotation turn in outings that match the shortest starts of their careers, with Carmona's 0.2 standing alone in his illustrious career and Laffey's 3.1 IP performance matching his explosion in Detroit this year.

There were no bright spots in today's game, as the Indians managed only six hits and only Luis V. managed extra bases, with his double in the 8th. To add insult to injury, Rafael Perez got demolished again, going only 0.1 IP and allowing 5 runs to cross the plate, 3 earned. Perez' ERA has now ballooned to 7.94 and I wonder if there's still a place for him in the Cleveland organization this winter.

No matter, though, the Indians losing is old hat. The real problem today was the lineup and that's coming from somebody who normally cares very little about the lineup. However, when Eric Wedge filled in Niuman Romero as the first basemen today he finally crossed the line. I am literally seething about this:

He cannot possibly believe that Romero, a player who managed a .626 OPS in Columbus this year and who has hit righties even worse than he has hit lefties this year, gave the Indians a better chance to win today than did either Andy Marte, who has always pounded righties despite his handedness, or Jamey Carroll, who's having a near career year at the plate.
He undermined the front office and developmental staff who just yesterday had Ross Atkins explaining Jordan Brown's non-callup by saying: "With Andy Marte, Matt LaPorta and four catchers on the roster, there just weren’t plate appearances for Jordan. That is the most important aspect of the decision." Hey, Ross! What do you know, Eric found four at-bats that were just lying around! There is literally no argument, zero, that the Indians should have Romero taking at-bats in Cleveland instead of Brown. There is plenty of argument, being made cogently elsewhere on the site, that at-bats should be taken by LaPorta, Marte, Toregas, Shoppach, Gimenez or Marson before they are taken by Brown. But there is no justification, none, for giving the at-bats that ought to be going to LaPorta, Marte, Toregas, Shoppach, Gimenez or Marson to Romero. Wedge has made Atkins look like a fool and, more importantly, he's made him look like a liar to Brown.

Wedge is a rogue agent on this one: this cannot possibly be the front office's plan and, frankly, I think it represents the most obvious act of insubordination out of Wedge that I've ever seen. As a manager, Eric has always wielded the lineup card as a weapon, using it to punish players and seemingly to send messages to the front office about what will and will not fly on his watch (specifically: Marte will not fly). This, though, this is unbelievable. If Shapiro is not excoriating Wedge right now, I'm disappointed.

Wedge ought to have already been fired for trotting Romero out there. Giving Marte major league at-bats is critical at this point as the Indians need to gather as much information as possible before the offseason. The decision on Marte is going to reverberate to a decision on Peralta and also to decisions on guys like Brown. Wedge stupidly wasting a game watching Romero isn't just stupid, it's hurting the team.

The only upside here is that the Rangers are only 1.5 back of Boston now.

Wedge does things that have no conceivable explanation, large and small.

-Jay

Game 138: Rangers 11, Indians 9

Ryan — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:25:50 -0000

by Mark Duncan - AP

Carlos Carrasco, throwing his Super G ball.

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After the Indians were quickly down 5-1, the offense scored eight more runs, but today the bullpen couldn't keep the Rangers down. Carlos Carrasco again couldn't throw strikes, and had to be pulled after five innings. The right-hander allowed 11 baserunners and two more home runs.

The lineup, meanwhile, solved Tommy Hunter. In his last start against the Indians, Hunter threw 7.2 scoreless innings. Tonight the Indians tagged Hunter for eight hits in 5.1 innings of work. Rangers manager Ron Washington pulled Hunter in the sixth, replacing him with young phenom Neftali Feliz, who in his short career has dominated opposing hitters. But tonight's results seemed to go against the grain, and the Indians plated both of Feliz's inherited runners in the sixth, and scored a run off him in the seventh.

But the Rangers kept scoring runs, and although the Indians tied the game in the sixth, they never relinquished the lead. Marlon Byrd ended Chris Perez's long scoreless streak by blasting a three-run homer in the top of the seventh.

Next Up: Game Two, minutes from now.

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Travis Hafner	.172	Chris Perez	-.278
Michael Brantley	.160	Carlos Carrasco
Matt LaPorta	.081	Jhonny Peralta	-.190

Philadelphia Phillies Top 20 PRE-SEASON Prospects in Review

John Sickels — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:00:18 -0000

by H. RUMPH JR - AP

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher J.A. Happ (AP Photo/H. Rumph Jr)

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Philadelphia Phillies Top 20 PRE-SEASON Prospects in Review

This list was originally published October 28, 2008. This is a review of the PRE-SEASON list for 2009, not a revision of that list. This is a REVIEW of the old list. I'm not doing new grades or lists until I start working on the 2010 book.

1) Carlos Carrasco, RHP, Grade B: Traded to Cleveland. 11-10, 4.64 with a 148/45 K/BB in 157 innings between Triple-A Lehigh Valley and Triple-A Columbus.

2) Michael Taylor, OF, Grade B: Hitting .320/.395/.549 with 21 steals in 26 attempts, between Double-A Reading and Lehigh Valley. Tools have blossomed into skills.

3) Travis D'Arnaud, C, Grade B: Hitting .247/.312/.413 at Class A Lakewood. Not exactly thriving with the stick but young.

4) Jason Donald, SS, Grade B-: Traded to Cleveland. Hitting .238/.303/.342 between GCL Phillies, Lehigh Valley, and Columbus. Hampered by injuries this year.

5) J.A. Happ, LHP, Grade B-: 2.77 ERA with 104/52 K/BB in 150 innings for the Phillies, 125 hits. Hard to find fault with his numbers, doing very well indeed.

6) Domonic Brown, OF, Grade B-: Hitting .305/.380/.516 with 22 steals in 31 attempts between GCL Phillies, Class A Clearwater, and Reading. Like Taylor, Brown has developed the skills to go with his tools and is now an elite prospect.

7) Zach Collier, OF, Grade B-: Hit poorly for Class A Lakewood, .218/.275/.319 in 82 games. Sent down to the New York-Penn League and not much better for Williamsport, .236/.277/.346. Can he follow the Taylor/Brown development path?

8) Jason Knapp, RHP, Grade B-: Traded to Cleveland. 4.18 ERA with 123/47 K/BB in 97 innings between Lakewood and Class A Lake County. Excellent ceiling.

9) Joe Savery, LHP, Grade C+: 15-8, 4.61 with 94/74 K/BB in 144 innings between Reading and Lehigh Valley, 148 hits. Ratios have slipped since promotion to Triple-A.

10) Lou Marson, C, Grade C+: Traded to Cleveland. Hitting .279/.359/.352 between Lehigh Valley and Columbus. Good glove, but I doubt he'll hit enough to be a starter.

11) Kyle Drabek, RHP, Grade C+: Recovery from injury has gone very well, 12-3, 3.19, 150/50 K/BB in 158 innings combined between Class A Clearwater and Double-A Reading. Elite prospect again.

12) Greg Golson, OF, Grade C+: Traded to Texas. Hitting .261/.303/.344 with 19 steals in 23 attempts for Triple-A Oklahoma City. Great tools, speed and glove, can't hit.

13) Drew Naylor, RHP, Grade C+: 4.22 ERA with 115/37 K/BB in 158 innings for Clearwater, 162 hits. Stuff may be short for higher levels, but he throws strikes.

14) Mike Stutes, RHP, Grade C+: 4.26 ERA, 109/58 K/BB in 146 innings, 147 hits for Reading. Not overly impressive.

15) Vance Worley, RHP, Grade C+: 5.22 ERA with 98/49 K/BB in 148 innings for Reading, 152 hits. Ech.

16) Antonio Bastardo, LHP, Grade C+: 53 innings combined between GCL, Clearwater, Reading, Lehigh Valley results in 2.21 ERA, 54/12 K/BB in 53 innings. 6.75 ERA with 19/8 K/BB in 23 major league innings, 26 hits. Needs some stability next year.

17) Anthony Gose, OF, Grade C+: Hitting .266/.303/.363, 75 steals in 95 attempts for Lakewood. Lack of power a concern, needs better plate discipline, but excellent speed.

18) Chance Chapman, RHP, Grade C: 1.93 ERA with 62/25 K/BB in 70 innings, 52 hits combined between Clearwater and Reading. Could be relief option for '10.

19) Anthony Hewitt, 3B, Grade C: Hitting .221/.254/.387 for Williamsport. Ultimate great tools/no skills player.

20) Jeremy Slayden, OF, Grade C: Voluntarily retired after hitting .281/.372/.525 at Reading but just .229/.295/.398 at Lehigh Valley.

The Phillies avoided giving up Brown, Taylor, or Drabek in the Cleveland trade, but they still gave up three of their pre-season top ten in a system that wasn't especially deep to begin with. Tools guys Collier and Hewitt don't look too good right now, but they are young, and the examples of Brown and Taylor show what can happen under the right circumstances. Drabek looks excellent of course. Happ has been very strong this year, and while I think we'll see some regression in 2010, I think he can be a solid three/four guy for a long time.

New Arms of the Week: Roster Expansion Bumper Crop

Harry Pavlidis — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:35:29 -0000

Nine rookie debuts marked the first six days of September.

Brad Kilby	#	MPH	PFX_X	PFX_Z
Fastball	19	93	7	8
Slider	5	84	-1	1

Carlos Carrasco	#	MPH	PFX_X	PFX_Z
Curveball	7	77	7	-7
Cutter	1	84	-2	4
Fastball	75	93	-6	9
Slider	5	80	2	-1
Splitter	22	85	-6	1

Daniel Hudson	#	MPH	PFX_X	PFX_Z
Change-up	4	84	-11	4
Fastball	14	94	-9	10
Slider	6	84	-2	4

Dan Runzler	#	MPH	PFX_X	PFX_Z
Curveball	4	81	-6	-7
Fastball	1	96	10	2
Sinker	8	97	9	4
Slider	1	86	-2	-4

Dusty Hughes	#	MPH	PFX_X	PFX_Z
Change-up	21	81	6	5
Curveball	2	73	-7	-2
Cutter	6	81	2	9
Fastball	22	91	4	9
Sinker	1	89	8	8
Slider	10	84	-1	2

Michael Dunn	#	MPH	PFX_X	PFX_Z
Change-up	3	86	4	8
Fastball	14	95	3	13
Slider	2	86	-3	5

Victor Garate	#	MPH	PFX_X	PFX_Z
Fastball	20	89	9	6
Slider	5	78	-1	0

Victor Marte	#	MPH	PFX_X	PFX_Z
Change-up	4	88	-9	3
Curveball	4	84	3	-4
Fastball	6	97	-7	9

Wade Davis	#	MPH	PFX_X	PFX_Z
Change-up	5	82	-7	8
Curveball	13	79	6	-6
Fastball	71	93	-3	12
Sinker	2	90	-7	5
Slider	9	86	4	2

Carrasco and Davis made their debuts as starters, while the rest came out of the bullpen.

A few observations, based on the limited samples:

Carrasco was signed by the Phillies as a 16-year old. He moved to Cleveland in the deal that sent Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco to Philadelphia. His first outing was rough, as he was hit hard and had some trouble finding the zone.
Garate was a well regarded relief prospect in the Dodgers' system. Washington received Garate in the Ronnie Belliard trade and was quickly given a shot at the big time. Doesn't throw hard, but threw plenty of strikes in his debut.
Kilby is a big lefty, and was effective in his debut despite not throwing a lot of strikes. His minor league numbers indicate a tendency to give up fly balls, but not a lot of home runs. We'll see how that plays if he sticks around.
Davis is my favorite of the batch. He took Scott Kazmir's job in Tampa and made a nice first impression. His stuff looks pretty good, and he threw strikes and missed bats. And he struck out the first four batters he faced.
Hughes came in Sunday for KC when Luke Hochevar was yanked in the fourth inning. Unless B-R is out of date, Hughes is not your typical lefty in terms of body type, unless Danny Herrera is your template.
Marte got into the same game as Hughes, working in out of trouble in the ninth. He threw plenty of off-speed and breaking stuff, but his fastball was electric. Results of the high-90s heater: four balls, a called strike and a single.
Runzler is big southpaw who throws a high-90s sinker. The Giants have used him in two quick outings, and could be an effective LOOGY for the stretch run.
Dunn is the pitcher being taken out by Joe Girardi in the photo. Yet another lefty, also of the power variety, this rookie couldn't find the strike zone. 19 pitches, 13 missed the zone.
Hudson was called-up by the White Sox suddenly, as the news was delivered after three shutout innings in his last start for Charlotte. In a couple innings of work, Hudson is yet to give up a hit, or get a swinging strike. He is pounding the strike zone, so far.

We'll see if this week's batch cracks double digits.