Prospects Plus: Reading's Jake Thompson

Name: Jake Thompson
Team: Reading Fightins
Organization: Phillies
Position: SP
Organizational Rank: Third ranked prospect in the Phillies system by MLB.com
Saturday vs. Trenton Thunder: 6 innings,  2 earned  runs, 2 hits, 5 walks, 5 Ks.

Positives: Showed some good stuff during this 89 pitch performance Saturday night. Thompson topped out at 93 and  showed a good slider. He seemed to hold base runners well. Thompson has a classic starter's build that should give him durability and allows him to pitch on a tough downhill plane.

Negatives: Walking five batters in six innings is not what people want to see in prospect who was a key part of the Cole Hammels deal. His machanics looked to be all over the place. He is pitcher that I would not rush to the big leagues. Thompson should start the season in AAA next season.    

Prospects Plus: Reading's Nick Williams

Name: Nick Williams
Team: Reading Fightins
Organization: Phillies
Position: CF
Organizational Rank: Fifth ranked prospect in the Phillies system by  MLB.com
Saturday vs. Trenton Thunder: 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and stolen base

POSITIVES: This was my second time seeing Williams. I saw him two years ago vs. Lakewood when he was with the Rangers organization. When I saw on Saturday night, he looked more like a baseball player then an athlete playing baseball. Really did a nice job in center field. Williams was a key player in the Cole Hammels trade.

NEGATIVES: There has been some talk in the local media that Williams might get a September call up,  which is something that I don't understand. He still needs time to develop, I would be be against him playing winter ball to improve his skills.

The Philly Daily News must love Chip

First he traded away fans favorite players, now Chip has signed Tim Teabow. The Philadelphia Daily News owed Chip a thank you card for providing such great content.

Prospects Plus: Crabbing for Prospects

A new season of Lakewood Blueclaws baseball is now here and again the family and I have a ticket package. Last night, we took in the Claws exhibition game vs. Brookdale Community College. While the game was a blow out, it did make me think of a couple of prospects that I want to keep my eye on this year.

• Cord Sandberg: the former Mississippi State QB commit is one of the more interesting players on the blueclaws. During the exhibition game he showed a sweet left handed swing with doubles powered. 
• Rhys Hoskins: the power hitting first basemen is not listed in Baseball America top 30 Phillies prospects. During the game Hoskins hit a monster home run. 
• Deivi Grullon: the 13th ranked player in the Phillies system. Grullon hit a huge home run during the game. Baseball America considers him a high risk/high reward. 
• Carlos Tocci: Tocci is back in Lakewood for a third straight year. This could be the biggest season of his career. Tocci needs a strong season or his career might be in jeopardy. 

Cup Fail

On Monday night I went to the Eagles/Panthers game, while I had a great time and my Eagles played well. But one thing drove me nuts I went to get a Diet Coke. While getting the drink the lady said the tops didn't fit right. The Eagles are a $4 billion company and they can't get the right size tops. Come on.

Professional Tailgating: Cup Final Day

For the first time, I attended a competitive Philadelphia Union match but it may have been the biggest in their history. The Union played the Sounders in the final of the US Open Cup. Here are some of sights.

 

Professional Tailgating: Eagles go home

The Eagles took a trip back in time on Sunday. Instead of having training camp at The Linc, they went back to original home Franklin Field. Here are some of the sights from the day. 

Prospects Plus: Phillies Dylan Cozens

Name: Dylan Cozens
Organization: Philadelphia Phillies 
Team: Lakewood Blueclaws
Position: Outfield
Stats Friday: 2-2 in before the game was called due to fog. 

Positives: The raw power is impressive and he gets it from everywhere in his swing and strength.Cozens is a giant human being with a classic slugger profile, with nothing left to projection at this point.    At the plate he has huge raw power and a good approach, he made decent contact in his debut but he will need to make more to reach his power ceiling. Regardless of what position Cozens finishes at his bat will be the tool that carries him.

Negatives: The problem is there is some natural swing and miss because his arms are so long.  He doesn’t have crazy bat speed and the swing can get a bit long.  He is mostly a pull hitter and so it will remain to be seen if he can adjust and go the other way at higher levels.

Professional Tailgating: Nats show some fighting spirit

On Friday night, I head to Philly to see my beloved Washington Nationals take on the Phillies and for once the Nats showed some toughness. Below are some of the imagines of the night.

See ya #10

The relationship between the Eagles and their explosive playmaker Desean Jackson ended in a dramatic way yesterday. Here is how the Philly papers covered it. 

 

   

Prospects Plus: Baltimore Adrian Marin

 
Name: Adrian Marin

Position: shortstop

Team: Delmarva Shorebirds

Prospect Status: 10th ranked prospect in Orioles organization by Baseball America

Friday vs. Lakewood: 1-4 with an RBI

Positives:  Marin has a great feel for the game and you could likely plug his glove anywhere on the field and he would perform well.  He has a highly athletic body, and is very quick in game and very agile.  He is either a shortstop or center fielder down the road. Marin is a plus runner with some quick-twitch actions that suggest he’s got more pop in his bat than his 170-pound frame would otherwise suggest. He’s drawn comparisons to former first-round pick and Florida product Nick Franklin along the way. Marin has a good shot to stick at shortstop and if a club believes he will mature physically and hit enough.

During the game Friday night against Lakewood, Marin showed great bat control in bunting for a hit in his first at bat, also made some good defensive plays but nothing that stands out.

Negatives: Probably won’t hit for much power going forward. Marin is a small-framed, wiry kid. He’ll get a little bit stronger, but doesn’t project as a real physical kid.

Prospects Plus: Phillies JP Crawford

Name: JP Crawford

Position: Shortstop 

Team: Lakewood Blueclaws

Prospect Status: 1st round draft pick in 2013

Friday vs. Delmarva: 1-4 with a double, a run scored, and a run batted in.

Positives: JP Crawford was the 2013 draft’s best shortstop prospect. He is the only player in the entire draft scouts confidently project to stay at the position. He has the athleticism, reactions, and range, to play in the middle of the diamond and arm strength and throwing accuracy to play on the left side of the infield. He has all the raw athleticism, including plus speed and superior fast-twitch muscles, to succeed almost anywhere on the diamond.

During the game on Friday night Crawford showed all of the tools to be a solid player. Crawford made a couple of really good defensive plays including a great diving catch on a line drive in the eighth inning. On his second at bat of the game, Crawford pulled a fastball into the right center field for a double. Despite being a player that just drafted three months ago, Crawford looks like he belongs at this level. He has the swagger of an older player. Through eight games with the Claws, Crawford is hitting .321.

Negatives: His bat is not projected to be any sort of earth-shattering, middle of the order weapon but there are things to like about it. His hands are zippy and quick and the same natural athleticism and coordination that makes him a good shortstop should help him take to mechanical instruction and make necessary adjustments. That instruction is almost inevitable, as Crawford’s swing is a bit of a mess. His hands drift too far (both up and away) from his body, his lower half is quite noisy and his weight transfer can get out of whack, leaving too much weight on his front foot too early in his swing.

Prospects Plus: Larry Greene

NAME: Larry Greene Jr.
POSITION: Outfielder
TEAM: Lakewood BlueClaws
PROSPECT STATUS: 11th ranked prospect in the Phillies system by Baseball America.
FRIDAY VS. GREENVILLE: 0-4 two strikeouts.

POSITIVES: Greene is a huge man and is incredibly athletic for his size. Right now Greene still has the speed and arm to be a good left fielder. Greene has huge raw power but he has yet to show it in games, but he has shown a better ability to hit for average than previously shown, according to Phuture Phillies. He could be a All Star with great power but is limited with his glove. Could be the perfect DH in AL. The Phillies have likened him to former prospect Jonathan Singleton with less hit tool but more power and defensive ability, according to Phuture Phillies.


NEGATIVES:Unlike a lot of high school leagues in Georgia, the one that produced  Greene is considered to be a weak one and that is holding back his development. The four times that I've seen him since the start of the season, he seems to be over matched at every turn. This is not a short term type of prospect, this is a long term guy that could take four to five years to get to the big leagues. Some scouts think that it could take until 2017 or later for Greene to put on a big league uniform.

Eagles Training Camp: 11 vs. 11 Drills

Went to Eagles Training Camp yesterday and it was the first time fans got to the see Chip Kelly's offense. Overall I think that the offense is going to be fun to watch. Based on what we saw yesterday the offense is based on speed and match ups. Its going to be a fun and frustrating year.

Prospects Plus: Severnio Gonzalez

NAME: Severino Gonzalez
POSITION: right-handed pitcher
TEAM: Lakewood BlueClaws
PROSPECT STATUS: not ranked by Baseball America in the Phillies top 30 prospect list
STATS VS. HICKORY FRIDAY NIGHT: six innings pitched, three hits allowed, two walks, 11 strikeouts and zero runs allowed.

POSITIVES:  Totally overpowered hitters during his six innings of works. The prospect rich Crawdads could do nothing with him. Gonzalez sat between 87-90 miles per hour on his fast ball, while showing a variety of off speed pitches. Gonzalez has shown a great ability to pound the strike zone. Some have said that he is a right hand version of Phillies top prospect Jesse Biddle. In four starts for the Blueclaws Gonzalez has strike out 31 hitters in 21 innings. During that time he has allowed 10 hits and four earned runs.

NEGATIVES: While having good stuff, Gonzalez does not have that overpowering fastball that you would like to see. In his three four starts in Lakewood, Gonzalez has little to show the need for a plus fastball.

NHL Draft Notebook

Here are some thoughts on the recently completed NHL Draft.

1. The Devils know how to make an impact when they are hosting. Wow never say that coming. 

2. If you have a top defenseman available you have to take him, they are harder to find than forwards so Avalanche fans beware on passing on Jones. 

3. How good a junior team was the Halifax Moosehead, very few teams could match up with the that team.

4. Is it me that its weird to be watching the draft late on Sunday after, the last affect of the lockout. 

5. By the way the Dallas Stars new logo is as bad as it gets. That is what happens when you have a team in Dallas.

6. The so Flyers finally get their defenseman. I think that I might pass out after hearing they drafted a d-man in the first round. Don't worry they will probably trade him before he makes it to the NHL. 

7.This tweet sums up how the Flyers have to handle its newest defenseman: "@TheOrangeNBlack: The key to Morin? Patience. Hopefully the Flyers have learned their lesson and let him develop. Will be a player in time."

8. You start to get to the middle of the first round and the estimated arrival time for these players goes from 13-14 to 15-16 to 16-17. That means that most of these kids are projects and need times. 

9. I think that I might fall over, the Flyers used their first two picks on defensemen. 

Two days of baseball fun

Nationals at Phillies tonight. South Atlantic League All Star Game in Lakewood tomorrow night. Not a bad two days of baseball.

Professional Tailgating: Dollar Dog Night

So baseball season is in full swing and the OTWT head to Philly for our first trip to Citizens Bank Park for dollar dog night. By the way the Phillies hammered the Mets 8-3 during the game but the real story was the hot dogs.

Another great front page from the Philly Daily News

During the Penguins/Flyers playoff series the Philly Daily News has been on the top of their game when it comes to its front page and today they hit another home run.