Phillies Minor League Roundup - July 7, 2014

Indianapolis 1, Lehigh Valley 0

Greg Smith - 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 K, 5 GB, 4 FB
Cesar Jimenez - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB
Grady Sizemore - 0 for 4, K
Tyler Henson - 1 for 4, 2 K
Darin Ruf - 1 for 4
Maikel Franco - 2 for 3, 2B, K
Cam Perkins - 0 for 3
Sebastian Valle - 0 for 3, K

Greg Smith pitches one of his best in awhile, but succumbs to the loss. Iron Pigs hitters had the pleasure of facing a rehabbing Francisco Liriano, who shut them down with the help of the bullpen. Darin Ruf came the closest to scoring all game, getting thrown out at home in the 1st inning after a Russ Canzler double. Maikel Franco picks things up after a hitless day before. Cam Perkins is having a hard time adjusting to the more seasoned pitching of AAA. After 102 at bats he is batting .196/.241/.265. This is something that he will have to work through and sending him back down to Reading won't solve anything.

Trenton 10, Reading 3

Hoby Milner - 5 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, HR, 7 GB, 3 FB
Seth Rosin - 2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, HR
Perci Garner - 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, K
Carlos Alonso - 1 for 2, 2 R, HR, 2 BB
Peter Lavin - 2 for 4, K, SB
Aaron Altherr - 0 for 4, 2 K
KC Serna - 1 for 4, 2B, K
Zach Collier - 1 for 4, HR, 2 K

Hoby Milner gets pulverized for the 2nd straight start and the bullpen did Reading no favors either. Carlos Alonso hits his 8th homer, while Zach Collier picks up his 2nd of the season. Nothing seems to be stopping Peter Lavin, who has basically become the new Cam Perkins of Reading. He brings his Reading average up to .296 and steals his 4th base.

Clearwater 3, Brevard County 0 (Game 1 of doubleheader, continuation of 7/6/14 game)

Cliff Lee - 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K
Aaron Nola - 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 5 K, 4 GB, 6 FB
Roman Quinn - 0 for 1, R, RBI, K
JP Crawford - 1 for 3, HR, 2 RBI
Art Charles - 2 for 3, 2 2B
Gabriel Lino - 0 for 3, K
Brian Pointer - 0 for 3, K

This isn't deja vu, JP Crawford hit this homer on Sunday and Cliff Lee got two innings in a rain shortened outing. It picked back up yesterday with Aaron Nola getting the starting duties. And what a start it was. He was dominant and it looks as though FSL hitters aren't much of a match. I'm just going to go ahead and say it. Nola will probably be in the Phillies rotation in April.

Clearwater 7, Brevard County 3 (Game 2 of doubleheader)

Mark Leiter - 6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, BB, 5 K, 7 GB, 3 FB
Roman Quinn - 2 for 3, 2 R, 3B, K, HBP
JP Crawford - 1 for 4, R, K
Everett Williams - 3 for 4, 2B, 3 RBI
Brian Pointer - 1 for 3, HR, 3 RBI
Harold Martinez - 0 for 3, 2 K

The curious case of Mark Leiter. He is giving up a lot of hits, but isn't necessarily walking anyone, which is very encouraging. He also keeps striking guys out. Mark had the benefit of 4 doubleplays on the day. Roman Quinn gets on base 3 times, including his 2nd triple of the season. Brian Pointer hits HR number 7. He is still batting .273/.333/.576 in his last 10.

Hagerstown 8, Lakewood 4

Ranfi Casimiro - 3 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, K, HR, 6 GB, 0 FB
Will Morris - 3 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 K, 2 GB, 2 FB
Carlos Tocci - 1 for 4, R, BB
Andrew Pullin - 0 for 5, 4 K (pickoff error)
Andrew Knapp - 2 for 5, R, 2B, K
Dylan Cozens - 3 for 5, K
Zach Green - 0 for 4, BB, K
Larry Greene - 3 for 5, 3B, RBI, CS (outfield assist, home)
Samuel Hiciano - 0 for 4, 4 K
Mitch Walding - 1 for 2, R, 2B, 2 BB
Malquin Canelo - 2 for 4, R, RBI (fielding error)

Ranfi has had a rough go of it all season, so this start fell in line. The positive of this game however was the offense being able to get to Lucas Giolito for some runs (Nat's #1 pitching prospect and likely the top pitching prospect in all of baseball). Larry Greene with an outstanding day. If he could only do that consistently. Dylan Cozens has raised his average to .235. If he could get that up to the .260 range by the end of the season, he would easily move into my top15. Pullin, despite an excellent June/early-July, didn't have a good game yesterday. He committed his 20th error on top of getting a golden sombrero. Hiciano has also gone ice cold, batting .135/.195/.162 in his last 10 games.

Williamsport 8, Mahoning Valley 1

Matt Imhof - 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, 5 K, 4 GB, 1 FB
Joey Denato - 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 K
Richard Bielski - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R
Cord Sandberg - 0 for 4
Jiandido Tromp - 1 for 5, R, 2B, 2 RBI
Aaron Brown - 1 for 5
Derek Campbell - 4 for 5, R, 2 2B, RBI, K
Rhys Hoskins - 4 for 5, 3 R, 2 2B, RBI, K
Drew Stankiewicz - 3 for 3, R, 3 RBI
Emmanuel Marrero - 0 for 4, 2 K

It was a really good day for most 2014 draftees. 2nd rounder Matt Imhof threw 54 of his 70 pitches for strikes. Hoskins and Campbell with 4 hit days. Campbell is batting .488/.512/.780 in his last 10 games (41 AB). The 20th rounder from UC Berkley is sure adjusting well to pro-ball.

GCL Blue Jays 4, GCL Phillies 0

Brandon Leibrandt - 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, BB, 6 K, 3 GB, 3 FB
Venn Biter - 0 for 3, 2 K, HBP
Wil Nieves - 0 for 3, K
Damek Tomscha - 1 for 2, BB, K, HBP (throwing error)
Gustavo Martinez - 1 for 4
Jake Sweaney - 0 for 3, 2 K
Luis Encarnacion - 1 for 3, K
William Cucias - 0 for 3

Brandon Leibrandt has been quite impressive in 3 of his first 4 professional starts. The tall, lefty, 2014 6th rounder could be a fast riser as he is already a few years old for the GCL. Damek Tomscha's OBP is up to .518 through 14 games and 45 at bats.