Phillies Minor League Review
May 13 - May 19
Players of the Week
Pitcher - RHP, Justin Friend, Lehigh Valley… 3 appearances in relief… 0-0, 0.00 ERA (4.2 IP), H, 2 BB, 8 SO… Friend began 2013 with LHV before being assigned to Reading (AA) on 5/2. Since being transferred back to LHV on 5/9 Friend has appeared in 4 G ,3 H, 3 BB, 9 SO and has an active 6.1 inning scoreless streak, his longest of the season… A non-roster invitee to spring training this season, the 26-year-old Friend was selected by the Phillies in the Rule 5 draft, December 9, 2010 from the Oakland Athletics… Friend was originally drafted by the A's in the 13th round of the 2007 draft.
Player - 3B, Maikel Franco, Clearwater… Batted .321 (9-28) in 7 G, 2 R, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 2B, 3B, 2 HR… Highlighted by a 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI performance on 5/16 vs Brevard County, Franco continues to swing the bat well for CLR hitting safely in five-straight games and eight of his last nine… Franco is tied with teammate Cameron Perkins for both the Florida State League and organizational lead in doubles... With 32 doubles in 132 games with Lakewood (A) last season, Franco now has 48 two-baggers over his last 173 minor league games… Since making his professional debut with the GCL Phillies in 2010, Franco has 78 career doubles in only 295 minor league games… The 20-year-old Franco was signed by Koby Perez as an amateur free agent, January 13, 2010.
Lehigh Valley IronPigs - International League North Division…18-25, 4th place… 2-5 for the week… After four-straight victories (5/3-6, vs. IND & LOU) that brought the Pigs to within 2 G of .500, LHV has lost 9 of their last 13 G, and are a season-worst 7 G under .500 as of print… Despite their struggles of late, LHV has only managed to lose 1 G in the standings and currently sit 7.5 G out of 1st place in the IL North Division… After two-straight wins, Lehigh Valley's week ended on sour note, losing 11-0 at home to Rochester… Rochester RHP Kyle Gibson came within four outs of a no-hitter, which according to Pigs PR, is the longest one pitcher has no-hit the Pigs in franchise history… The no-hit bid was broken up by OF Steve Susdorf's opposite field double in the bottom of the 8th inning… LHP Tom Cochran went 4.1 innings on Sunday, which is the 6th time in the last 7 games that a LHV starter has not gone at least 5.0 innings… 3B Cody Asche had 8 H, including a 2B & HR… 2B Cesar Hernandez saw his 11 G hitting streak come to an end on 5/14, however the second-baseman has hit safely in 25 of his last 29 games… RHP Ethan Martin continued to impress on the mound, notching his third-straight win, going 7.0 innings, allowing 2 R with 6 SO… After starting the year 1-2, 7.66 ERA (19 ER, 22.1 IP) through five starts, Martin has rebounded going 3-0, 2.37 ERA (5 ER, 19.0 IP) over his last three… A key to Martin's early-season revival has been his ability to cut down on free passes. Martin has averaged 2.4 BB/9.0 IP over his last three starts compared to 8.1 BB/9.0 IP over his first five… RHP Michael Stutes saw his 10.2 inning scoreless streak snapped on 5/16 at Norfolk… Stutes bounced back the next night, picking up the save with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief… Stutes has now allowed only 1 ER in his last 13.1 IP… LHP Raul Valdes made his season debut in LHV, throwing 4.0 scoreless innings in a spot start 5/18 vs Rochester…. RHP Justin Friend earned Player of the Week honors, throwing 4.2 innings of scoreless relief in three appearances.
Reading Fightin Phils - Eastern League Eastern Division…15-26, 6th place… 1-5 for the week… Reading dropped to a season-low 11 games under .500 with Sunday's 11-3 loss to Harrisburg… The Fightins team ERA was 6.13 for the week… After starting the season 11-8, Reading has now lost 18 of their last 22 games. 14 of those 18 losses have been by 3 runs or less… 1B Jim Murphy hit .381 (8-for-21), 2 HR, 2 2B, 6 RBI… Murphy is hitting .429 (15-for-35), 3 HR, 3 2B, 10 RBI over his last 10 games and is tied for the EL lead in HR (10)… OF Zach Collier hit .350 (7-for-20), 2B, 3B… OF Anthony Hewitt batted .375 (6-for-16) 2B, 3 R… 2B Albert Cartwright had 3 hits on Friday, and batted .286 (6-for-21), 2 3B and a HR this week… RHP David Buchanan was solid in his two starts going 12.0 innings, 9 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO… LHP Jay Johnson and RHP Tyler Knigge each had two scoreless appearances.
Clearwater Threshers - Florida State League North Division…22-20, T-2nd place… 3-4 for the week… Two of CLR's losses were in extra-innings, including a 13-inning loss on 5/17 at Tampa… 3B Maikel Franco earned Player of the Week honors by batting .321 (9-for-28), 2 HR, 2B, 3B… Franco tied teammate OF Cameron Perkins for the FSL and organizational lead in doubles (16)… OF Kelly Dugan batted .310 (9-for-29) 5 R, 2 HR, 2B, 3B… 2B Carlos Alonso scored 8 R this week, and has the organizational lead with 34, that ranks him second in the FSL… OF Kyrell Hudson hit .333 (5-for-15) with 2 2B, SB… LHP Nick Hernandez made one start, 6.0 innings 3 H, 1 ER, 8 SO… LHP Mario Hollands started two games, allowing 2 ER in 9.0 innings of work with 9 strikeouts… RHP Severino Gonzalez spun 3.0 scoreless innings on Sunday, striking out 6 batters and totaled 5.0 scoreless innings of relief for the week.
Lakewood BlueClaws - South Atlantic League North Division…17-24, T-4th place… 4-2 for the week… Lakewood has won four of six on the current homestand, eight of eleven, and four in which they allowed the opponent to score first (first four wins of the season when opponent scores 1st)… The BlueClaws are now 10-7 in May after a 7-17 April… 3B Mitch Walding batted .318 (7-for-22), 3 2B, and has consecutive two-hit games, his 7th and 8th multi-hit games this season… SS Roman Quinn had 6 H and 4 SB this week… Quinn leads the organization in steals (19) which ranks him 5th in the SAL… OF Carlos Tocci had 6 H, 4 of which were doubles… INF Willie Carmona totaled six hits including his first professional home run… Since 4/19, C Chace Numata has reached base in 20-striaght games. Over that span Numata is batting .348 (24-70), 2 HR, 19 RBI… 1B Art Charles had 5 H and 8 BB, and leads LWD with a .362 OBP… RHP Nic Hanson was sharp in two starts, 12.2 innings, BB, 13 SO for the week, including 9 SO in his last start… RHP Geoff Broussard allowed his first ER of the season 5/13 vs Delmarva; he now has a 0.82 ERA (1 ER, 11.0 IP) 0 BB, 13 SO this season… RHP Shane Watson earned a W, going 5.0 innings, 0 ER, 3 SO… RHP Jordan Guth continued his stellar work out of the bullpen with 3.0 scoreless innings Wednesday… Since being moved to the bullpen Guth has a 1.59 ERA (2 ER, 11.1 IP) 6 H, 3 BB, 12 SO.