Phillies Minor League Roundup - August 4, 2014

Lehigh Valley 7, Durham 1

Greg Smith - 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 K, HR, 9 GB, 6 FB
Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez - 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, K
Luis Garcia - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, K
Cesar Hernandez - 2 for 5, 2 R, RBI
Freddy Galvis - 1 for 4, R, 2B, K
Maikel Franco - 2 for 4, 2B, 2 RBI, K
Leandro Castro - 0 for 4
Cam Perkins - 1 for 4
Cameron Rupp - 0 for 3, R, K, HBP

After 3 consecutive starts of giving up 5 or more runs, Greg Smith teases us with a solid outing. MAG was reported at 96 on the radar gun last night. Even if it is a little hot (which I don't believe it is), that is quite impressive. Not to be out done though, Garcia was throwing up to 98 mph last night as well. Maikel Franco's hot streak continues with another XBH and is slashing .325/.357/.575 in his last 10. We've seen this flashes before, but for the sake of consistency it needs to hold f or a longer period of time for us to know if he has truly adjusted his swing. There are still reports that he is swinging at bad pitches.

Reading 5, Harrisburg 1

Adam Loewen - 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 8 GB, 10 FB
Austin Wright - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, K
Kyle Simon - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, K
Carlos Alonso - 1 for 4, R, RBI
Peter Lavin - 1 for 3, R, BB
Kelly Dugan - 2 for 3, R, RBI, BB (fielding error)
KC Serna - 1 for 4, 2 RBI (fielding error)
Zach Collier - 2 for 4, HR, K

Adam Loewen has compiled 8 quality starts in a row and has lowered his ERA to 3.45 in Reading. Could he be a possible contributor in the future? Austin Wright has back to back scoreless appearances for the first time since May 16/19. Where oh where has Kelly Dugan's power gone? On the plus side, his K-rate is down, walk-rate is up and he just keeps hitting. There is really no reason he shouldn't be in Lehigh at this point. What has gotten into Zach Collier? Ever since coming back from injury and being taken off the 40 man roster he has been a lot better. He has 4 home runs in his last 3 games. He is slugging .857 in his last 10 games (28 at bats).

St. Lucie 10, Clearwater 4

Nic Hanson - 4 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, K, 6 GB, 3 FB
Jeb Stefan - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K
Perci Garner - 2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, WP
Kevin Walter - 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, BB, K, HR (throwing error)
Roman Quinn - 2 for 5, R, 2B, SB (fielding error)
JP Crawford - 2 for 3, R, RBI, BB
Brian Pointer - 1 for 3, R, BB, K
Harold Martinez - 3 for 4, 2 RBI, K, picked off (fielding error)
Gabriel Lino - 0 for 4, K (2 passed balls)

Poor defense and pitching doom the Threshers in last night's game. The offense put up 9 hits and 12 baserunners. Roman Quinn has 8 stolen bases in his last 10 games and 23 overall on the season. His line for the season is up to .260/.343/.366. We can all continue to swoon over Crawford who is showing he belongs in High-A as a 19 year old shortstop. He has 56 walks against 60 strikeouts across 383 at bats and two levels. Perci Garner makes his Clearwater debut after being demoted, but has similar results. Perci clearly has talent, but if he can't get his walks under control he will be out of the organization by this time next season.

Lakewood 6, Asheville 5

Tyler Viza - 4.1 IP, 11 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 K, 7 GB, 1 FB
Joey Denato - 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, BB, 2 K
Aaron Baker - 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 K, 5 GB, 2 FB
Carlos Tocci - 1 for 4, 2 K, CS (fielding error)
Andrew Pullin - 0 for 4
Andrew Knapp - 1 for 3, R, 3B, K, SB, HBP
Dylan Cozens - 1 for 4, 2B, RBI, K, CS
Zach Green - 1 for 2, 2 R, 2 BB
Mitch Walding - 1 for 3, R, 2B, RBI
Larry Greene - 1 for 2, R, RBI, 2 BB, K, picked off
Jose Mayorga - 2 for 4, R, RBI, K
Malquin Canelo - 1 for 4, 2B, 2 RBI, K

Tyler Viza has just 2 quality starts in his past 10. Over that same stretch he has a 6.00 ERA. A positive? He has only walked 9 batters over that time? Hey Phillies, I think Andrew Knapp is ready for Clearwater again. I know that Lino guy is there, but I think Knapp might be a bit better. Cozens and Walding are tied for the team lead in doubles with 22 each. I'm curious at what Cozens is able to do in Clearwater next season as he seems to be hampered by playing in Lakewood.

Aberdeen 6, Williamsport 3

Brandon Leibrandt - 6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, BB, 10 K, 3 GB, 3 FB
Richard Bielski - 1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, BB
Scott Harris - 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K
Bryan Sova - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K
Cord Sandberg - 1 for 4, R
Jiandido Tromp - 1 for 3, HR, K
Aaron Brown - 2 for 4, R, RBI
Rhys Hoskins - 1 for 4, K (pickoff error)
Derek Campbell - 0 for 3, K, HBP
Jan Hernandez - 0 for 3, K
Sean McHugh - 0 for 3
Emmanuel Marrero - 0 for 2, BB, K

Brandon Leibrandt was CRUISING through 5 innings in which he gave up no hits and struck out 8! That 6th inning though...he gave up 4 doubles, a single and a sac fly before striking out the last 2 batters to end the inning. Tromp doing his best Zach Collier impression has 3 homeruns in his last 3 games. He has 12 on the season, which is good for 2nd in the NY/Penn League. The leader has 14, but is also a year older than Tromp.

GCL Phillies 11, GCL Braves 6

Luis Morales - 4.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 0 ER, BB, 2 K, 12 GB, 2 FB
Austin Davis - 3.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, BB, 3 K, 4 GB, 3 FB
Jared Fisher - 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K
Venn Biter - 0 for 3, BB, K, HBP
Tim Zier - 4 for 5, R, 3B, 3 RBI, BB, CS (fielding error)
Damek Tomscha - 0 for 4, R, K, HBP
Carlos Duran - 3 for 4, 4 R, 2B, RBI, BB, SB (throwing error)
Jose Pujols - 0 for 4, RBI, BB, 2 K
Trey Williams - 1 for 4, 2B, RBI, BB, K
Luis Encarnacion - 1 for 5, R, RBI (throwing error)
William Cucias - 3 for 4, 3 R, BB, SB (throwing error)

Luis Morales is a GB machine this season, but is giving up way too many hits overall. Huge game from Tim Zier who is slashing .362/.429/.493 with the GCL Phils this season (69 at bats). He has a 1.247 OPS in his last 10 games. The rest of the offense plays hot/cold each game and remain a little disappointing.