FLP update

Blog favorites Howie Clark, Joe Thurston and Brian Sanches were all granted free agency (by the Twins, Boston and Washington respectively).  The “line” on Howie in 2008:

2008 Season
Team	League	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
ROC	INT	.293	93	338	50	99	17	6	6	48	146	25	30	2	1	.341	.432	.772
Minors		.293	93	338	50	99	17	6	6	48	146	25	30	2	1	.341	.432	.772
MLB		.250	4	8	0	2	2	0	0	1	4	0	2	0	0	.250	.500	.750

 

Until I checked over at The Baseball Cube, I didn’t realize how consistent Mr. Clark was – a MiLB career .285 hitter, .262 at the MLB level:

Batting Statistics

Year	Team	Lg	Age	Org.	Level		Pos	Ln	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	HBP	IBB	SH	SF	DP	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	GB%
1992	GCL Oriols	GCL	18	Bal	Rk		2b-3b		43	138	12	33	7	1	0	6	1	2	12	21	2	2	1	0		.239	.309	.304	613	–
1993	Bluefield	App	19	Bal	Rk		2b-of		58	180	29	53	10	1	3	30	2	2	26	34	4	2	1	4		.294	.388	.411	799	–
	Albany	SAL	19	Bal	A		2b		7	17	2	4	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	3	0	0	0	0		.235	.235	.235	470	–
1994	Albany	SAL	20	Bal	A		1b-2b		108	353	56	95	22	7	2	47	5	4	51	58	7	3	4	1	7	.269	.371	.388	759	–
	Frederick	Caro	20	Bal	A+		2b		2	7	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	.143	.143	.286	429	–
1995	High Dsert	Calif	21	Bal	A+		3b		100	329	50	85	20	2	5	40	12	6	32	51	4	0	3	3	4	.258	.329	.377	706	–
1996	Bowie	East	22	Bal	AA		2b		127	449	55	122	29	3	4	52	2	8	59	54	2	1	10	7	8	.272	.354	.376	730	–
1997	Bowie	East	23	Bal	AA		3b-2b		105	314	39	90	16	0	9	37	2	2	32	38	1	2	1	3	5	.287	.351	.424	775	–
1998	Bowie	East	24	Bal	AA		of		88	276	37	79	16	0	9	45	1	1	29	42	3	2	0	1	7	.286	.359	.442	801	–
	Rochester	IL	24	Bal	AAA		1b-2b		30	95	13	22	4	1	3	8	1	2	9	11	0	0	0	0	2	.232	.298	.389	687	–
1999	Bowie	East	25	Bal	AA		2b-of		39	126	17	37	6	0	2	12	2	0	10	12	3	0	0	0	0	.294	.360	.389	749	–
	Rochester	IL	25	Bal	AAA		of		79	279	33	82	19	4	6	28	1	2	34	24	1	2	1	2	8	.294	.370	.455	825	–
2000	Bowie	East	26	Bal	AA		of		13	53	11	18	6	0	1	9	0	0	3	6	1	0	0	1	1	.340	.379	.509	888	–
	Rochester	IL	26	Bal	AAA		2b-of		54	189	25	54	10	0	3	21	3	1	26	14	1	0	1	1	4	.286	.373	.386	759	–
2001	chico	West	27		Ind		2b		4	15	3	8	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.533	.563	.667	1230	–
2002	Rochester	IL	28	Bal	AAA		of-1b		105	418	57	129	21	4	7	43	3	4	41	28	2	2	2	5	11	.309	.369	.428	797	–
	Baltimore	AL	28	Bal	MLB		dh-lf	7,2	14	53	3	16	5	0	0	4	0	0	3	6	2	0	0	0	5	.302	.362	.396	758	66%
2003	Syracuse	IL	29	Tor	AAA		2b		66	252	29	65	14	1	4	30	1	0	21	20	3	2	3	6	3	.258	.316	.369	685	–
	Toronto	AL	29	Tor	MLB		3b-dh	9,8,5	38	70	9	25	3	1	0	7	0	1	3	6	2	0	2	0	3	.357	.400	.429	829	58%
2004	Syracuse	IL	30	Tor	AAA		of-2b		72	256	43	80	14	2	6	32	1	0	40	18	3	2	3	3	3	.313	.407	.453	860	–
	Toronto	AL	30	Tor	MLB		rf-1b	1	40	115	17	25	6	0	3	12	0	0	13	15	0	0	3	2	2	.217	.292	.348	640	50%
2005	GCL Pirtes	GCL	31	Pit	Rk		of-3b		8	27	7	13	3	1	0	4	0	0	3	2	0	0	0	0	1	.481	.533	.667	1200	–
	Altoona	East	31	Pit	AA		of		31	110	15	41	3	0	2	13	2	1	19	5	0	0	0	1	1	.373	.462	.455	917	–
2006	Ottawa	IL	32	Bal	AAA		3b-2b		86	308	41	81	16	1	3	27	2	2	36	28	2	2	2	2	5	.263	.342	.351	693	–
	Baltimore	AL	32	Bal	MLB		dh-3b	9	7	7	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	1	0	0	.143	.333	.143	476	67%
2007	N Hampshre	East	33	Tor	AA		3b		1	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333	.500	.333	833	–
	Syracuse	IL	33	Tor	AAA		2b-ss		22	81	8	22	3	0	3	15	1	0	6	6	0	0	0	0	2	.272	.322	.420	742	–
	Toronto	AL	33	Tor	MLB		3b-2b	9,8	31	49	6	10	2	0	0	2	1	0	7	5	0	1	0	1	1	.204	.298	.245	543	48%
2008	Rochester	IL	34	Min	AAA				93	338	50	99	17	6	6	48	2	1	25	30	2	4	1	5	12	.293	.341	.432	773	–
	Minnesota	AL	34	Min	MLB		1b-3b		4	8	0	2	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	.250	.250	.500	750	–
Major League Totals – 6 Season(s)									134	302	36	79	18	1	3	26	1	1	28	36	4	1	6	3	11	.262	.329	.358	687	–
Minor League Totals – 17 Season(s)									1341	4613	633	1314	257	35	78	548	45	38	516	508	41	26	33	45		.285	.359	.406	765	–

 

The story is similar for Joe Thurston – in 2008 he hit .316 in Pawtucket, 21 points above his MiLB career .295 average:

Batting Statistics

Year	Team	Lg	Age	Org.	Level		Pos	Ln	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	HBP	IBB	SH	SF	DP	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	GB%
1999	Yakima	Nwest	19	La	A-		ss		71	277	48	79	10	3	0	32	27	18	27	34	21	1	6	3	3	.285	.387	.343	730	–
	San Bernar	Calif	19	La	A+		ss		2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	.000	.250	.000	250	–
2000	San Bernar	Calif	20	La	A+		ss-2b		138	551	97	167	31	8	4	70	43	25	56	61	17	1	9	8	8	.303	.380	.410	790	–
2001	Jcksnvlle	Sou	21	La	AA		2b		134	544	80	145	25	7	7	46	20	18	48	65	12	0	9	3	5	.267	.338	.377	715	–
2002	Las Vegas	PCL	22	La	AAA		2b		136	587	106	196	39	13	12	55	22	9	25	60	12	1	5	2	10	.334	.372	.506	878	–
	LA Dodgers	NL	22	La	MLB		2b	9	8	13	1	6	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	.462	.429	.538	967	33%
2003	Las Vegas	PCL	23	La	AAA		2b		132	538	77	156	27	6	7	68	1	12	31	48	18	0	11	8	10	.290	.345	.401	746	–
	LA Dodgers	NL	23	La	MLB		2b	9	12	10	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.200	.273	.200	473	71%
2004	Las Vegas	PCL	24	La	AAA		2b		101	317	38	90	17	3	4	23	7	2	20	46	17	3	3	3	5	.284	.356	.394	750	–
	LA Dodgers	NL	24	La	MLB		2b	9	17	17	1	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	1	0	.176	.167	.353	520	50%
2005	Columbus	IL	25	Nyy	AAA		2b		29	107	13	25	3	3	2	7	2	2	7	19	1	0	3	0	1	.234	.287	.374	661	–
	Las Vegas	PCL	25	La	AAA		2b		84	257	32	74	10	2	6	35	4	5	13	36	3	0	10	3	3	.288	.326	.412	738	–
2006	Scr/wb	IL	26	Phi	AAA		2b		127	479	74	135	29	9	9	55	20	10	43	65	7	0	14	1	3	.282	.349	.436	785	–
	Philadelph	NL	26	Phi	MLB		2b-lf	9	18	18	3	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	.222	.300	.278	578	41%
2007	Reading	East	27	Phi	AA		2b		4	13	2	4	2	0	0	2	1	1	2	1	0	0	2	0	0	.308	.400	.462	862	–
	Ottawa	IL	27	Phi	AAA		2b-of		129	496	70	149	29	9	5	59	16	14	44	55	11	3	16	5	9	.300	.367	.425	792	–
2008	Pawtucket	IL	28	Bos	AAA				126	507	83	160	28	5	11	64	19	11	35	75	11	1	14	8	8	.316	.367	.456	823	–
	Boston	AL	28	Bos	MLB		lf		4	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	.000	.111	.000	111	–
Major League Totals – 5 Season(s)									59	66	7	15	3	1	0	2	0	0	2	10	2	0	1	2	0	.227	.264	.303	567	–
Minor League Totals – 10 Season(s)									1213	4676	720	1380	250	68	67	516	182	127	351	566	131	10	102	44	65	.295	.358	.421	779

 

When it comes to pitching stats, I’m more than a little lost – I can report that Brian Sanches’ had a respectable season in AAA Columbus with an ERA of .241.  Unfortunately, the average balooned to 7.36 over twelve appearances in Washington:

Pitching Statistics

Year	Team	Lg	Age	Org	Level		W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SH	GF	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WP	BK	H9	HR9	BB9	K9	WHIP	GB%
1999	Spokane	Nwest	20	Kc	A-		1	1	4.76	9	9	0	0	0	0	34.0	32	19	18	2	12	51	0	0	8.47	0.53	3.18	13.50	1.29	–
2000	Wilmington	Caro	21	Kc	A+		6	12	3.53	28	27	2	1	0	0	158.0	132	77	62	9	69	122	11	3	7.52	0.51	3.93	6.95	1.27	–
2001	Wichita	Tex	22	Kc	AA		7	9	5.98	29	21	0	0	3	0	134.0	152	96	89	12	61	95	12	1	10.21	0.81	4.10	6.38	1.59	–
2002	Wichita	Tex	23	Kc	AA		10	6	4.40	33	15	0	0	7	0	116.2	111	60	57	8	43	101	7	1	8.56	0.62	3.32	7.79	1.32	–
2003	Wichita	Tex	24	Kc	AA		1	5	3.16	38	6	0	0	13	2	85.1	84	38	30	8	17	73	3		8.86	0.84	1.79	7.70	1.18	–
2004	Reading	East	25	Phi	AA		4	2	2.71	41	0	0	0	14	3	69.2	55	22	21	10	25	60	1		7.11	1.29	3.23	7.75	1.15	–
	Scr/wb	IL	25	Phi	AAA		0	0	7.50	4	0	0	0	1	0	6.0	9	5	5	1	3	4	0		13.50	1.50	4.50	6.00	2.00	–
2005	Scr/wb	IL	26	Phi	AAA		5	3	3.69	51	2	0	0		1	83.0	81	36	34	9	27	75	1	0	8.78	0.98	2.93	8.13	1.30	–
2006	Scr/wb	IL	27	Phi	AAA		3	2	1.86	36	0	0	0	28	19	43.2	24	9	9	2	13	52	1	1	4.95	0.41	2.68	10.72	0.85	–
	Philadelph	NL	27	Phi	MLB		0	0	5.91	18	0	0	0	5	0	21.1	23	14	14	5	13	22	0	1	9.70	2.11	5.49	9.28	1.69	29%
2007	Ottawa	IL	28	Phi	AAA		2	3	4.75	36	1	0	0	29	16	47.1	57	29	25	5	8	52	6	0	10.84	0.95	1.52	9.89	1.37	–
	Philadelph	NL	28	Phi	MLB		1	1	5.53	12	0	0	0	4	0	14.2	13	11	9	6	12	9	1	0	7.98	3.68	7.37	5.53	1.71	43%
2008	Columbus	IL	29	Wan	AAA		2	1	2.41	32	0	0	0	26	13	33.2	24	9	9	2	9	45	3	0	6.42	0.53	2.41	12.03	0.98	–
	Washington	NL	29	Wan	MLB		2	0	7.36	12	0	0	0	2	0	11.0	16	10	9	2	5	10	0	0	13.09	1.64	4.09	8.18	1.91	–
Major League Totals – 3 Season(s)							3	1	6.13	42	0	0	0	11	0	47.0	52	35	32	13	30	41	1	1	9.96	2.49	5.74	7.85	1.74	–
Minor League Totals – 10 Season(s)							41	44	3.98	337	81	2	1		54	811.1	761	400	359	68	287	730	45		8.44	0.75	3.18	8.10	1.29	–

 

All three are still young enough (34, 29, 30 respectively), and certainly productive enough that they should have no difficulty re-signing with an affiliated or Independent league team.

Extended weekend

You’d think I’d have a little more time for blogging, but as is often the case during a three (or four) day weekend, there’s actually a little less.

Quick FLP update – Danny Sandoval began his season with the Buffalo Bisons, but has played the last 28 games with the Syracuse Chiefs.  His fortunes in Syracuse have taken a most decided turn for the better – in 43 games with the Bisons, he hit .247.  In a Chiefs jersey?  He’s raised his average by 74 points to .321 and his OBP 63 points to .372.  His slugging percentage is a whopping 200 points better in Syracuse.

One of the last remaining FLPs still doing duty with the big club in Philadelphia is Clay “Air Miles” Condrey.  Funny, for all the time he spent here in Ottawa, I’m still going through my “less extensive than John Bradley’s” photo archive for a single photo of Clay.   I’ll keep looking, but meanwhile, it seems that Clay is about to log more time on a plane:

PHILADELPHIA — Entering a game with the bases loaded can be a nervous time for any reliever, and the Phillies’ Clay Condrey is no exception.

Making the right pitch in such a spot is nothing compared to what he’ll experience during Monday’s day off. Condrey headed home to Navasota, Texas — about 3 1/2 hours from Arlington, where the team finished a three-game series — to witness the birth of his first child.

It doesn’t matter that his wife will be doing all the work.

“Right now, I’m nervous more than anything,” he said. “She’s having a C-section. I’m sure they do those things all the time, just not with my wife.”

Condrey has received permission to spend two days with his wife, Elizabeth, and his son, and is expected to rejoin the team Thursday in Atlanta.

Best wishes to Clay and family and congratulations on the new arrival.

Finally, a quick Q+A from the Philadelphia Inquirer with Clay Condrey – figured we’d go with the “breaking news” story first.

Q: It’s Game 7 of the World Series and you recover So Taguchi’s walkoff home run in the bullpen. Are you giving the ball to Taguchi or Cooperstown, or are you Mientkiewicz-ing it?

- Kevin K., Mt. Laurel, N.J.
A: I give it to So. It’s not mine. It would mean something more for him to tell stories.

Q: How did you avoid suspension during triple-A Portland’s brawl with a Las Vegas 51′s fan in 2003 [every member of the Portland Beavers except Condrey was suspended after they chased a fan into the stands after he threw a soft squeezeball at Tagg Bozied]?

- John T., Montclair, N.J.
A: It was after the game and I was inside icing my shoulder. I was starting that year, so I was inside. They didn’t come into the clubhouse for about five or 10 minutes. I had the ice and I was sitting on the couch. I went to take it off and started going outside, but they were coming in whooping and hollering and I realized I was in my underwear so I wasn’t going outside. I didn’t really know what was going on until they came in.

Q: Being an avid outdoorsman, do you, like “Sack Master” in the movie Wedding Crashers, hunt quail? - Greg P., Hoboken, N.J.
A: I don’t hunt quail. I hunt deer, dove, duck. That’s it. Rabbits. Whatever I can eat.

Q: Squirrels?

A: Squirrels, too. It’s good stuff.

Q: Have you had a raccoon?

A: Yeah, I was forced to eat one once. It’s very greasy and very tough. I’ve had armadillo one time. It’s the same type of deal. The armadillo is probably the worst thing I’ve eaten. We ate it because we shot it, and anything we shoot we’re supposed to eat.

Okay, now finally.  FOTL, the Vermont Lake Monsters sit in first place in the very tight Stedler division with a record of 7-6.

Deep into the FLP vault

A recent conversation provoked a Google search of FLP, Bobby Darula.  We watched Bobby when he was with the Lynx in 2005 during the Orioles affiliation days.  Zak appreciated his hustle and throwback uniform style – high socks, short pants.  Bobby’s played the last three seasons in Bridgeport, Connecticut for the Bluefish of the Independent Atlantic League. 

In other, more recent FLP news, after struggling in AAA, Joe Bisenius appears to be getting things back on track.  Regulars will know that Joe pitched most of last season in Ottawa like Zack Segovia: Injured.  Over his last ten games, in 14.1 innings of work, he’s 1-1 with 8Ks and an ERA of 1.88.

What a difference a year makes, not to mention good health. Bisenius was keenly aware some had written him off following last season.

“It comes with the territory of being a 12th-round pick,” he said. “If I was a first- or second-rounder it probably never would have happened. Being a 12th-round pick you kind of get overlooked a lot. You’ve got to deal with it. Personally I think the draft’s a little overrated. After the first or second round it’s kind of a crapshoot. It seems if you get picked late in the draft you have to pay for it the rest of your professional career. I’m used to it.”

To make it in this game, especially as a pitcher from an NAIA school such as Bisenius was, you almost have to adopt the attitude of a runway model.

“I’ve always had pretty good stuff,” said Bisenius, who never doubted his abilities from the start. “I have decent velocity and I always had a real good curveball. When I got drafted, coming in I expected to see all these guys picked ahead of me with better stuff, throwing harder, with better breaking stuff. When I got there I realized I was as good if not better than a lot of those guys.

“I knew it was just a matter of time before I opened some eyes and eventually got a shot at the big leagues, and I did.”

Fastball command has been a priority the last couple of seasons. This year, for example, Bisenius has issued 10 walks in 20 innings while striking out 13. Following a slight adjustment by Filer, however, Bisenius has been able to throw more downhill lately and his location has improved in recent outings.

“I’m throwing every day with no pain,” Bisenius said. “My arm feels great compared to last year when I had a lot of shoulder issues and with my arm. This year I feel 100 percent.”

Finishing up today with news that Gookie Dawkins has been traded out of the Windy City to Kansas City for future considerations.  This will be the fourth team this season for Gookie – Lehigh Valley (6 games), Reading (19), Charlotte (12)  and finally the Omaha Royals (10) in the Pacific Coast League.

Still relevant

Thanks to readers Nick and Jim for the updates.  Nick has posted up on the stats of most (all?) of the FLP still in circulation:

An update on Former Lynx Players around AAA and the Atlantic League of Baseball

Batters: AVG/OBP/OPS
Luis Terrero (Norfolk): .336/.407/.937
Darnell McDonald (Rochester): .336/.392/.992
Joe Thurston (Pawtucket): .275/.308/.674
Danny Sandoval (Buffalo): .267/.333/.650
Howie Clark (Rochester): .260/.316/.701
Bernie Castro (Scranton): .520/.344/.603
Andy Tracy (Lehigh Valley): .230/.336/.780
Brennan King (Lehigh Valley): .225/.246/.541
Jason Jaramillo (Lehigh Valley): .192/.244/.536
Tim Raines (Tucson): .286/.326/.747
Fernando Tatis (New Orleans): .242/.345/.937
Bobby Darula (Bridgeport): .222/.324/.694
Henry Mateo (Bridgeport): .278/.365/.717
Curtis Pride (Southern Maryland): .211/.366/.699
Brent Abernathy (Long Island): .320/.346/.706
Val Majewski (Newark): .283/.382/.752
Keith Reed (Newark): .279/.324/.717
Matt Padgett (York): .246/.368/.754

Pitchers: W-L, ERA, IP
Brian Mazone (Lehigh Valley): 4-3, 3.48, 51.2
Hayden Penn (Norfolk): 2-2, 5.01, 46.2
JA Happ (Lehigh Valley): 0-4, 2.72, 46.1
Kane Davis (Syracuse): 2-5, 3.91. 46.0
JD Durbin (Lehigh Valley): 0-5, 9.42, 28.2
Andy Mitchell (Norfolk): 3-1, 2.52,
Heath Totten (Rochester): 0-1, 3.86, 21.0
Gary Knotts (Lehigh Valley): 0-0, 4.79, 20.2
John Ennis (Lehigh Valley): 1-2, 4.12, 19.2
Scott Strickland (Scranton): 2-0, 4.19, 19.1
Brian Sancehes (Columbus): 0-0, 1.10, 16.1
Matt Childers (Lehigh Valley): 0-1, 3.31. 16.1
Rick Bauer (Buffalo): 0-0, 0.59, 15.1
Steve Kline (Lehigh Valley): 0-1, 5.40, 13.1
Tony Armas (New Orleans): 1-4, 3.02, 47.2
Matt Riley (Las Vegas): 0-0, 3.29, 13.2
Tim Byrdak (Round Rock): 0-0, 3.68, 7.1
Tim Drew (Bridgeport): 2-1, 5.57, 21.0
TJ Tucker (Bridgeport): 0-0, 2.84, 6.1
Eric Dubose (Bridgeport): 0-2, 4.50, 22.0
Aaron Rakers (York): 1-1, 6.43, 14.0
Nick McCurdy (York): 0-0, 2.38, 11.1

Thanks Nick for taking care of the heavy lifting.

Reader Joe from Sioux City, Iowa alerts us to an article in the Reading Eagle – apparently people are still talkin’ about the UOLB.

International Burnie

Not sure why I checked in on “The ‘unofficial’ Ottawa Lynx Blog” the other day, since the town no longer has a team (the Phillies’ Triple-A club played there last season).

It had to be fate, because what I stumbled upon is classic stuff: A YouTube video of former Reading Phillies favorite Gary Burnham homering for the La New Bears of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan.

Just as fun: The postgame interview featuring Burnham, who revealed to a bilingual reporter that the Taiwanese culture has been good for his game.

“The amount of fish that the Taiwanese people eat is a heckuva lot more than I eat in the U.S.,” Burnham said. “It’s also good for you. I can get in better shape, and maybe lose five pounds.”

Thanks for sending it along Joe.  In addition to Nick’s breakdown, I’ll try to have an update on one of Sioux City’s finest shortly.

Finally for today, a quick vid of an up and coming closer closer to home.

 

The 33 yr. old…. whatever

Thanks to Ronnie for the link to the excerpt from Chris Coste’s new book – I’d read an article/interview in the Philadelphia Inquirer, touting its release this week.  I’ve said this before, but after seeing how Coste conducted himself after being sent down to the minors at the beginning of 2007, I lost a lot of respect for him.  I get it – he had a great season with the Phils in 2006.  But with no disrespect intended, at the start of last year he had a whopping 198 plate appearances in the bigs.  198.  I’m sorry, but it wasn’t like they were sending down A-Rod.  Unfortunately, (from my perspective) that’s how he chose to conduct himself; as if he was above all of this. 

At one point last season, Kyle mentioned to me that it has been said that AAA is the “angriest level of baseball – because none of them think they should be playing here.  They all think they should be in the Majors”.  Thankfully, most of the guys don’t let that anger bleed through, and instead conduct themselves with a great deal of class - think Pedro Swann, Ron Calloway, Lou Collier.

Filed under “better late than never”:

Classy guy, Jim Rushford (pictured right) has been signed to a minor league contract by the Chicago White Sox.  Tough deal for Fabio Castro – he was sent down to Reading to start the 08 season.

Zack’s back!

Zack Segovia (Photo courtesy Patrick Shanks)

FLP and all around decent guy, Zack Segovia seems to have shaken off last year and the season ending surgery.  Zack threw a couple of innings in yesterday’s 3-1 Grapefruit League win over the Pittsburgh Pirates – the line on Zack:  2IP, no hits, no runs allowed.  Joe Bisenius also got in an inning, giving up a pair of hits, but didn’t allow any runs and picked up the save.  Quick breakdown on Zack from Phillybaseballnews:

Acquired: Drafted by the Phillies in the 2nd round of the 2002 Draft.B: R T: R  /  Height: 6′ 2″  /  Weight: 220 lbs. 2007 Team(s): Ottawa (13 g), Reading (10 g), Philadelphia (1 g)Games/Games Started in 2007: 24 g / 24 gs School: Forney High School Last Year’s Ranking: #7

Why he fell from #7 to #31: Last season started on such a promising note for Zack Segovia. He made a start in the bigs with the Phillies and even though he didn’t overwhelm the Florida Marlins, he made it through five innings and did pretty much what the Phillies were looking for him to do. From there though, his season fell apart as he struggled at Triple-A Ottawa and was finally dropped down to Double-A Reading and ultimately off the Phillies 40 man roster. He also suffered another injury and had yet another surgery, bringing back concerns about his health, which were expanded when Segovia attempted to pitch through an injury last season and ultimately wound up having shoulder surgery after the season.

Repertoire: Segovia has a low to mid-90s fastball that the Phillies are hoping returns after he underwent posterior shoulder release surgery. His slider has been a very good pitch for him and he generally has it in the low-80s. On all of his pitches, Segovia gets a lot of downward movement and usually keeps the ball in the park very well.

Pitching Style: Segovia generally lives by keeping the ball down in the zone and not letting hitters take him deep. He pitches ahead in the count and has strong control and is a smart pitcher, who is in control of himself on the mound. There have been some thoughts about moving Segovia to the bullpen and it’s a move that he has said he would be fine with if he was asked. He certainly has the bulldog mentality and prefers to go right after hitters, making a relief role a possibility down the road.

Projection: When the Phillies drafted Segovia out of high school, he was like most other high school pitchers and needed a lot of work. The Phillies believed that they had a great and potentially dominating pitcher in Segovia, but Tommy John surgery slowed his progress. If he returns from the most recent surgery in good shape, Segovia should be able to bounce back from what became pretty much of a lost season and there’s no reason – other than health – why he wouldn’t be able to do that. The early reports out of Clearwater where Segovia was rehabbing were very good. He seemed to be throwing without the stiffness that he showed at times during the season and thoughts were that he would be ready to go when the season starts. That’s all good news and if Segovia can pick up from where he was coming into next season, he would wind up being an option for an emergency call to the Phillies bullpen or starting rotation if they needed it.

ETA: The big question is whether Segovia truly did take a step back last season. The injury obviously played a part in his slide and the trouble that he had at pitching at Ottawa. If he’s healthy, Segovia would likely be ready to step in for the Phillies if they really needed him, but his health is a definite concern.

What else you should know about Zack Segovia: 

• Segovia had accepted a scholarship to the University of Miami, but signed with the Phillies out of high school.

Zack Segovia’s career stats

YEAR / TEAM	W	L	ERA	SV	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	KO	WHIP	OPP AVG
2002 GCL	3	2	2.10	0	8	8	34.1	21	11	8	0	3	30	0.70	.174
2003 Lakewood	1	5	3.99	0	11	10	49.2	63	25	22	2	14	27	1.55	.307
2003 GCL	0	1	4.00	0	5	4	9.0	8	5	4	0	0	6	0.89	.235
2004 Injured	0	0	0.00	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	.000
2005 Clearwater	4	14	5.54	0	27	27	144.2	168	98	89	18	48	83	1.49	.291
2006 Clearwater	5	1	2.19	0	7	7	49.1	39	14	12	2	12	41	1.03	.222
2006 Reading	11	5	3.11	0	17	16	107.0	90	45	37	8	24	75	1.06	.226
2007 Ottawa	1	9	6.05	0	13	13	77.1	99	55	52	8	28	22	1.64	.315
2007 Reading	5	3	4.84	0	10	10	57.2	65	34	31	4	22	30	1.51	.290
2007 Philadelphia	0	1	9.00	0	1	1	5.0	8	5	5	1	1	2	1.80	.400
Minor League Totals	30	40	4.34	0	98	95	529.0	553	287	255	42	151	314	1.33	.270

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Getting current

Despite my low expectations, tomorrow is still a big day.  As you may recall, Mr. Wolffe has asked the City to respond to his sublease proposal by November 14.  I’m not holding my breath, but hey – you never know.

First off, there was this seemingly troubling bit of news about the Grays dispersal draft.  I dug a little deeper and found out that this was done as a courtesy to the current Grays roster – it’s asking a lot of a baseball player to sign up for more than two years of constant “visitor” status.  If things don’t work out here in Ottawa for 2008, rest assurred there will be another “all road” team.  (blogger: good thing someone’s keeping their eye on things!)

Catching up with the Canadian team at the 2007 World Baseball Cup, Canada sits tied for third in their Group B division with a record of 4-2.  Not much detail yet from the official website, but today they beat Venezuela 6-3.  The US team (which includes Lynx catcher, Jason Jaramillo), sits atop the A pool with a 5-1 record.  It looks like playoffs begin on the 16th of November.

Games continue over in the Arizona Fall League, with the Peoria Saguaros sitting last in the West division with a record of 10-19.  Unfortunately, Joe Bisenius who last pitched on October 29, was shut down due to a groin injury.  Here’s Joe’s take on 2007:

Phillies reliever Joe Bisenius may just want to have 2007 erased from his memory. What began as such a promising year — he was on the Major League roster when the season began — quickly deteriorated, with the final blow coming last week when his AFL season came to an abrupt halt due to a strained groin muscle. He’s not sure when or if he’ll pitch again during the fall but says the injury isn’t so serious that it will impede his offseason work.

Bisenius got sent down to Triple-A Ottawa after pitching in a pair of games for the Phillies in April. He began to experience tightness in his shoulder while pitching in the International League and was on the shelf from the beginning of June to the middle of July. Though he pitched to a 0.84 ERA in his final seven regular-season outings, that simply lowered his ERA to 5.48, a far cry from the 2.25 ERA he posted while splitting the 2006 season between Class A Advanced Clearwater and Double-A Reading.

“It was a pretty disappointing year, to make the team out of Spring Training, then get sent down, then have the shoulder problems,” Bisenius said. “But you can take it two ways. You can mope or work harder. I’m working harder.

“It was frustrating to be on the DL in Triple-A and watch all the guys get called up to Philadelphia because of injuries. I feel like I’m throwing the ball well again here. I had one bad outing and then last outing I strained my groin. It’s definitely been frustrating.”

Because John Russell was named skipper of the Pirates on Monday, he will not manage the final two weeks of the AFL season. The Phillies will have Dave Huppert take over the Saguaros’ managerial duties starting on Tuesday. Huppert managed the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers to a Florida State League championship in 2007 and the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws to a league title in 2006. … OF Xavier Paul (Dodgers) took an eight-game hitting streak into Monday’s action, having hit .400 (14-for-35) over that stretch to raise his AFL average to .268.

                                                                                            (MiLB news, November 5, 2007)

Then finally, for today, there’s this piece from Charles Gordon, wayyyy back on August 19.  Mr. Gordon clearly agrees with many who discovered that attending a Lynx game was about far more than just tallying up the boxscore – it was about the experience itself.  Money quote:

A game is not only a game. It’s also an environment. When you have your head in your electronics you become absent from that environment.

Take baseball, arguably the slowest of all sports, and therefore an ideal environment for electronic gizmos. All that time between pitches, the time between innings, the time when the manager takes out the right-handed pitcher so a left-handed pitcher can pitch to a left-handed batter and the left-handed pitcher has to warm up and then when the next batter is right-handed, the manager takes out the left-handed pitcher and puts in another right-hander and the right-hander has to warm up — during all that time you could be watching your monitor and getting replays of previous warmups… 

But if you had rented a hand-held video monitor at the Lynx Stadium on Wednesday night, you would have missed fine aspects of an excellent game, the kind of game that makes you realize what a loss it will be when the team leaves for Pennsylvania and becomes, as reported, the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs… You would also have missed the fans walking around, in a wild variety of garb and carrying a wild variety of things to eat. You would have missed the between-innings musical chairs game and the cynical speculation that it might be fixed because the cute little girl always wins. Other things would have escaped you, such as the mascots, large animal-like things in stuffed costumes with which you desperately avoided eye contact. On the other hand, you would have seen how kids flock to these things, if you didn’t have your head in a monitor, looking at replays.

How would you feel if you came home and someone told you that while you were looking at a monitor you had missed seeing a boy showing off a goatee made of pink cotton candy?

Read it all.  The rest, as they say, is here.

Cut and paste

Sorry, but that’s all that time will allow for today (courtesy of scout.com)

Some Familiar Faces Likely To Exit
Bye-bye, Jose. (photo: Drew Hallowell/Getty)		By Chuck Hixson Publisher Posted Oct 8, 2007 After every season there are players who exit and this fall and winter will be no different in Philadelphia. With a number of free agents and some tough decisions to make, there could be a number of exits from the 2007 Phillies.
Over the course of a 162-game regular season, the Phillies scored more runs than any team in the National League. But in getting swept in their best-of-five Division Series by the Colorado Rockies, their vaunted offense produced only eight in three games and batted just .172 (16-for-93) in the series.”Nobody wants to go home right now,” free agent-to-be center fielder Aaron Rowand said. “We ran into a team that was extremely hot. We didn’t hold up our end of it. We didn’t hit.”In the knockout game, the Phils were held to three hits by hard-throwing Rockies rookie right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez. Shane Victorino’s game-tying solo homer in the seventh inning was their only big hit as the Phillies dropped their third straight game for the first time since September third. The Phillies’ offense failure was profound. Utley went 2-for-11 (.182) with five strikeouts. Ryan Howard went 3-for-12 (.250) with seven strikeouts. Jimmy Rollins went 2-for-11 (.182). Rowand went 1-for-12 (.083). “We were chasing balls out of the strike zone, and we were getting overanxious,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “That’s the sign of a time that’s … I wouldn’t call it pressing, I would say we were anxious, like we wanted it too bad or tried too hard or whatever.” So, which of the 2007 Phillies are likely to be back and who are the ones likely to exit? Free Agents: Antonio Alfonseca, Freddy Garcia, Tadahito Iguchi, Jon Lieber, Kyle Lohse, Jose Mesa, J.C. Romero, Aaron Rowand. Alfonseca, Garcia, Lieber and Mesa are goners. The Phillies would be interested in re-signing Iguchi, Lohse and Romero unless they out-price themselves. Iguchi and Werth could also look to find starting jobs elsewhere. Rowand is the big question mark, but with Ryan Howard eligible for free agency and liable to get a big chunk of change either through an arbitrator or a long-term deal with the Phillies, there may not be enough money to keep Rowand. Arbitration Eligible: Geoff Geary, Ryan Howard, Ryan Madson and Jayson Werth. Howard is going to get big bucks. Madson’s late season injury could hurt him, but he won’t be needing to borrow money from anyone. Geary will likely avoid arbitration and take what the Phillies offer him. Options: Rod Barajas ($5 million or [BODY].5 million buyout), Julio Mateo ($1.5 million or [BODY].1 million buyout), Abraham Nunez ($2 million or [BODY].355 million buyout). Barajas isn’t going to get $5 million from the Phillies and Mateo isn’t going to get $1.5 million, although he may need it to pay his lawyers to defend him from domestic abuse charges that he’s facing. Nunez is up in the air; the Phillies need an upgrade at third base, but Nunez is a nice option to bring off the bench. To find out the contract status of your favorite Phillie, just check out our Player Contracts page.

Now we know that shortly after this article went to press, Barajas and Nunez had their contracts bought out by the team.  Kane Davis was also DFA’d – presumably if he clears waivers, he’ll be back with the Lynx.  Does the loss of Barajas open up a spot for Jason Jaramillo?  Doubtful.  Most of the experts think he needs another season at the AAA level.  And speaking of the Lynx catcher, did you know:

Jaramillo has a solid background in baseball. His father has been a well respected hitting coach both in the minors and the major leagues. That didn’t help Jaramillo’s two older brothers too much though. Both played minor league ball and both sputtered when they reached the AA level. There are also a couple of interesting Phillies connections. Jaramillo was originally drafted out of high school by the Phillies. They took him in the 39th round of the 2001 Draft. Instead of signing with the Phillies, he opted to play for Oklahoma State, where he was coached by Robbie Wine, the son of former Phillie player, coach and scout Bobby Wine. If you need more of a Phillies connection; Jaramillo played in the Cape Cod League for the league champion Orleans Cardinals. Also on that team were Phillie farmhands Anthony Buffone, who was drafted in the 22nd round of the 2004 draft, and Myron Leslie, who the Phillies drafted in the 11th round of the 2003 Draft.

                                                                                                          [scout.com]

Catch up (I’ve used that one before too).

Baseball stuff for a change – but it’ll have to be quick, today was the day we celebrated Thanksgiving.

Lynx pitcher of the year, J.A. Happ was scheduled to play in the Arizona Fall League, but has been sidelined again due to injury.  Like Zack Segovia’s season, this one has been largely forgettable for Mr. Happ – this time it’s a sore elbow which will keep him off the diamond.  Zack Segovia’s season ended with shoulder surgery down in Clearwater – he’s expected to be ready for spring training.

The Arizona Fall League is scheduled to get underway this Tuesday with Jason Jaramillo backstopping the Peoria Seguaros along with fellow former Lynx player (FLP) Joe Bisenius.  Best wishes go out to both players.

Finally, sadly, the Phillies post-season was over before it even began.  Thankfully, no part of the fact that they lost in three straight can be hung on any FLP.

Hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend – I should have something up tomorrow, but if not, Tuesday for sure.

Indian summer

For those of you not in the Ottawa area, summer has finally arrived.  It wasn’t this warm in July – and believe me, most of us aren’t complaining about it.  It does seem odd though, to not be thinking about baseball, or at least local baseball – I feel like I should be heading out to the Stadium, or checking in on the out of town scores.  Hard to believe that the season ended over three weeks ago….

Some end of season awards were handed out last week by the Phillies for the best player and pitcher in their minor league system.  One of them, Mike Zagurski, spent a bit of time right here in Ottawa.  Mike picked up the Paul Owens award for the ”best pitcher in the minor league organization in 2007″.  Congratulations Mike!

Mike Zagurski in his Ottawa uni.

Not the clearest shot, but I was having trouble with the camera and the flash that night.

Afraid that’s all I’ve got time for today – it’ll be interesting to see and hear more about Landsdowne Park in the next few days.  Has anyone heard if the plan includes renovating the Civic Centre as well?