September 21, 2010

End of Season Wrap — (Part 3)

Good morning — it’s time for part three of the year end wrap. Let’s take a look at some of the infielders who enjoyed solid seasons in Baseballtown in 2010.

Part 3 of 5

Freddy Galvis — SS
Galvis was a solid contributor to the Reading lineup this season, but will always be known for his outstanding defense. The 20-year-old won the Rawling’s Factory Outlet Gold Glove Award this season — leading the Eastern League with an impressive .982 fielding percentage. A native of Venezuela, Galvis played exceptional defense all-season long, but came through for the R-Phils with some clutch offense at times.

Galvis came up big on June 18, by ripping a game-winning triple in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Rock Cats in a 9-8 Reading victory. Two nights later, it was his three-run home run in the eighth inning which led the R-Phils to a 7-4 win over the Rock Cats. In all, he hit .233 with five home runs, 58 runs, 48 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases.

Harold Garcia — 2B
Out of all the performances in the Philadelphia system in 2010, Harold Garcia may have been known for the most impressive. The Venezuelan second baseman, who finished the year with Reading, made history by hitting in 37-straight games while with Clearwater. The astonishing streak broke the Florida State League record, and patrolled him to prospect status.

A pure-hitter, who is also a solid defensive player, Garcia, 23, hit a combined .305 between Reading and Clearwater, and launched eight home runs and drove-in 64 RBIs. After hitting .335 with the Threshers, Garcia was promoted to Reading where he continued to shine. He finished his season in Baseballtown — hitting .281 with five home runs and 32 RBIs for the R-Phils. He has a bright future ahead, one which could see him make an impact in Philadelphia sooner, rather than later.

Cody Overbeck — 3B
Much like Harold Garcia, Cody Overbeck really made a mark on the Philadelphia system in 2010.

After beginning the year in Clearwater, where he was a Florida State League All-Star, Overbeck was promoted to the Reading Phillies and became a staple in the R-Phils lineup. The 24-year-old hit 13 home runs for Reading in just 78 games, and proved to be a solid contributor each day at the plate.

For the season, Overbeck hit a combined 24 home runs and drove-in 82 RBIs, both very impressive numbers for the youngster.

September 15, 2010

End of the Season Wrap — (Part 2)

Welcome back to the “Philling You In” blog, and today we continue with the five-part blog series of the End of the Season roundup. Let’s take a look at some of the starting pitchers who competed in Baseballtown in 2010 — enjoy!

Part 2 of 5

Drew Naylor — RHP
A native of Brisbane, Australia, Naylor was on the mound for the R-Phils final game of the season, and, the young righty tossed one of his best games of the season. Naylor, 24, finished the 2010 campaign with a 12-10 mark and a 4.63 ERA. His 12 wins were tops on the R-Phils, and he also led the club in innings pitched (167), complete games (3), shutouts (2), and strikeouts (113).

On Monday, September 6, in what was the final game of the season, Naylor tossed a complete game three-hit shutout in Altoona against the Curve. In his final two starts of the season, he posted a 1-1 mark with a 1.84 ERA. A member of the Philadelphia Phillies 40-man roster, Naylor fanned a season-high 11 batters on August 27 against the Binghamton Mets. He won three of his last four starts, and finished the year as one of the best starters on the R-Phils staff.

Yohan Flande — LHP
Flande, 24, struggled at times during the 2010 season, but finishedthe season on a high-note. The Dominican native threw seven solid innings in his final start of the season, en route to notching his tenth win of the year. During his final start, which helped lead the R-Phils to a 4-1 win over New Britain, Flande fanned a season-high 7 batters, and allowed just one run on seven hits.

In all, Flande finished the year 10-8 with a 4.38 ERA, and while his final win came at home, the young lefty shined on the road in 2010. In 13 road starts, Flande posted a 7-3 mark with a 2.93 ERA. At home, he went just 3-5 with a 5.86 ERA in 14 starts.

J.C. Ramirez — RHP
The Philadelphia Phillies ramirez_j.c._7-10-10_full_2.jpg traded Cliff Lee in the offseason, and in return received three players who all spent time in Reading during the 2010 season. Ramirez, 22, was the one that made the most impact in Baseballtown.

A native of Nicaragua, Ramirez began the 2010 season with Clearwater (A+), and after posting a 4-3 mark with a 4.06 ERA, was promoted to Reading, where he would make 13 starts. Over that time with the R-Phils, Ramirez had mixed results. His best month came in July when he posted a 2-1 record with a 4.62 ERA, including one complete game.

The former Seattle product missed the final week of the season due to a hip injury, and while he recently had surgery to repair a torn labrum (cartilage) in his hip, he should be ready for spring training.

September 13, 2010

End of the Season Wrap —

The 2010 season has come and gone and the R-Phils finished the year in fourth place in the Eastern League East division with a 69-72 record.

While the team struggled at times, and in the end, was unable to make it to the playoffs, there were many great individual performances from this year’s squad.

For the next five days, I will take the time to look back at some of the impressive seasons we witnessed in Baseballtown this season. Players like Michael Spidale, Tagg Bozied, Drew Naylor, and more, enjoyed breakout performances, and set career-highs in several different categories.

Check back each day for another three players from the 2010 R-Phils team. Enjoy for now…

Part 1 of 5

Tagg Bozied — 1B/3B
The 31-year-old enjoyed a solid season in

Baseballtown,leading the
R-Phils in batting average (.315), home runs (27), RBIs (92), doubles
(29), OBP (.402), SLG (.631), and OPS (1.033). He led the Eastern
League in batting average, OBP, SLG, and OPS, and finished near the top
in both home runs (tied for 2nd) and RBIs (fourth).

While he missed over 30 games with a strained left quad this season,
Bozied never stopped hitting. Over his last ten games of the season, he
continued to shine, hitting .316 (12-38) with five home runs and eight
RBIs.

Michael Spidale — OF
During his fourth year in Reading, Michael Spidale patrolled the Reading outfield and did a great job defensively, and offensively, and in turn, was named as the FirstEnergy Reading Phillies 2010 MVP.

At the plate, the Illinois native compiled a .303 batting average — third best in the Eastern League, and hit 3 home runs, while driving home a career-high 50 RBIs. His 145 hits were good for sixth-best in the league, and his 31 stolen bases (a career-high) were good for fifth best. Originally selected by the White Sox in the 12th round of the 2000 draft, Spidale, 28, also set a career-high in runs (74), doubles (21), and games played (131).

Tuffy Gosewisch — C
The 2010 season will go down as a very positive one for R-Phils starting catcher Tuffy Gosewisch. In August, Gosewisch was named by Baseball America as the Eastern League’s best defensive catcher. The Freeport, IL native finished the season with the best fielding percentage among Eastern League catchers (.997) and had just two errors in 674 total chances.

While his defense was spot-on from day one, the 27-year-old backstop also was solid at the dish — posting nine home runs (tied a career-high), 32 RBIs, and 46 runs scored. Originally selected by the Phillies in the 11th round of the 2005 draft, Gosewisch had his best game of the season on August 27 against the B-Mets. He ripped three hits — two home runs and drove-in four runs en route to a 9-1 R-Phils win over Binghamton at FirstEnergy Stadium.

July 28, 2010

Matt Rizzotti — E.L. Leader in Batting Average…

Matt Rizzotti seems to have been able to do just about anything since his promotion to Reading on May 13. Now, the New York native, who has had eight hits over his last 11 at-bats (3 games), has finally qualified for the league lead in batting average.

During his two plus months here in Baseballtown, Rizzotti has racked up numerous awards (Eastern League Player of the Week, Eastern League Player of the Month for June, Eastern
League All-Star, and Philadelphia Phillies Minor League Player of the
Month), and has become a staple in the Reading lineup each and everyday.

While it seems as if his numbers have been there since his first week in an R-Phils uniform, Rizzotti, 24, has not been among the league leaders due to not having enough plate appearances to qualify — until now.

On Sunday, the R-Phils and Akron Aeros game was suspended due to rain, so Rizzotti’s plate appearances didn’t count — yet. On Monday, much of the same, as the 265 pound slugger was in the middle of a great game (4-4), before a light malfunction suspended the contest after six innings.

On Tuesday, however, Rizzotti and the Reading Phillies were able to play baseball. The club completed their suspended game, and “Rizz” finished with a perfect 5-5 performance. In game two (Tuesday’s originally scheduled contest), he would need just four plate appearances to have his name amongst the Eastern League leaders.

In his first at-bat, he singled — in his second, he walked. Now, with just two plate appearances away from taking over the lead, Rizzotti would strikeout in the sixth, walk in the eighth, and although the R-Phils dropped Tuesday’s game 6-2, the Manhattan College product got the plate appearances he needed to qualify.

As of Wednesday, July 28 — Rizzotti is hitting .364 with 16 home runs and 58 RBIs in 68 games with the Reading Phillies. His .443 on-base percentage, .653 slugging percentage, and 1.096 OPS are also tops in the Eastern League.

Going forward, with just 40 games left in the 2010 season, Matt Rizzotti is on his way to shattering a Reading record. If the season were to end today, Rizzotti would be the new Reading Phillies All-Time leader in batting average, passing current leader Randy Ruiz, who hit a remarkable .349 in 2005.

What if he never played in Clearwater (A+), and started the 2010 season in Reading? Take away his 109 at-bats and 31 games with the Threshers, and who knows?

Oh, and in case you were wondering — “Rizz” hit .358 with one home run and 10 RBIs for Clearwater. Overall, he is a combined .362 with 17 home runs and 58 RBIs over 99 games between Cleawater and Reading — talk about impressive.

It has been one of those seasons for Rizzotti — a season you could only dream about. Day in and day out, he has not only been an impressive player to watch on the field, but one you cheer for.

Whether it has been his walk-off home run, his game-changing hits, his great personality, or the intensity in which he plays with, Matt Rizzotti has been a great guy to have around Baseballtown this season.

July 13, 2010

2010 E.L. All-Stars…

The 2010 Eastern League All-Star Game will be played tomorrow (Wednesday, July 14) in Harrisburg, PA, and the Reading Phillies will be well represented.

When the original rosters were announced, four R-Phils were selected to the team (MIchael Schwimer, Vance Worley, Tagg Bozied, and Matt Rizzotti). As things change, and players are promoted, or injured, the rosters began to change — by the day.

Not too much later, R-Phils SS Freddy Galvis was added to the roster, running the total of R-Phils players to five. Then, Michael Schwimer, who was enjoying an impressive 2010 in Baseballtown, was promoted to Lehigh Valley. Wth Schwimer off the roster, starter Drew Naylor was added to take his place.

Yesterday, Kevin Mahar was added to the roster for Brandon Laird, who was unable to participate. Now, seven R-Phils in all were selected, and six will go to represent their club. An impressive number of All-Stars!

Let’s take a look at your 2010 R-Phils All-Stars…

Vance Worley —
Worley, 22, makes the Eastern League All-Star team for the
second-straight season. The Sacramento, CA native is 8-4 with a 3.44
ERA over 18 starts this season. In the month of June, Worley went 2-2 with a 3.12 ERA (five starts). Originally selected by Philadelphia
in the third round of the 2008 draft, Worley is the reigning Eastern League Pitcher of the Week, after tossing a complete game, three-hit shutout on July 11..

Tagg Bozied —
Bozied, 30, is in his first season in the Philadelphia organization,
and has excelled at the plate this season for Reading. A native of
Sioux, Falls, SD, Bozied is currently hitting .293 with 13 home runs
and a team-high 55 RBIs. He, as well as Matt Rizzotti, will participate in the HR Derby.

Matt Rizzotti —
Rizzotti has enjoyed an impressive season in Baseballtown since his
promotion from Clearwater (A+) on May 13. The Floral Park, NY native is
hitting .355 with 12 home runs and 47 RBIs. This season, Rizzotti has already won such awards as — Eastern League Player of the Month (June), Eastern League Player of
the Week (for the week ending June 29), and Philadelphia
Phillies Minor League Player of the Month (May). Originally selected
by Philadelphia in the sixth round of the 2007 draft, Rizzotti, 24, is
hitting .379 with six home runs and 21 RBIs in the month of June.

Freddy Galvis —
A native of Punto Fijo, Venezuela, Galvis is hitting .221 with two home
runs and 30 RBIs over 89 games with the R-Phils this season. Originally
signed by Philadelphia as a non-drafted free agent on July 2, 2006,
Galvis has enjoyed a successful season at the plate, on the bases (eight stolen bases), as well as in the field for Reading this season.
He is ranked by Baseball America as the number 13 prospect in the
Philadelphia Phillies organization.

Drew Naylor —
A native of Brisbane, Australia, Naylor has posted an 8-6 mark with a
4.01 ERA over 17 games (16 starts) with the R-Phils this season. His
best game of the season came on May 25 at FirstEnergy Stadium. The 6’4″
Naylor threw a complete-game, three hitter, en-route to an impressive
6-0 victory over Portland. He allowed just one walk and fanned six
batters on the evening.

Kevin Mahar —
A product of Indiana University, Mahar has enjoyed a successful season
with the R-Phils in 2010. In his second-straight campaign in
Baseballtown, the 29-year-old is hitting .270 with eight home runs and
33 RBIs. The 6’5″ slugger has been red-hot in July – hitting .300 with
three home runs and ten RBIs.

July 10, 2010

Worley Dazzles Friday…

Vance Worley is an All-Star in 2010 — the second straight season the 22-year-old will play in the Eastern League’s mid-summer classic. On Friday, July 9, Worley twirled his best game of the season in his last start before the All-Star game.

Worley tossed a complete game three-hit shutout, launched a mammoth
home run, and thered-hot Reading Phillies beat the Harrisburg Senators
2-0 in the opening game of their four-game set from FirstEnergy Stadium
in Reading on Friday evening.

The Sacramento, CA native fanned seven batters and did not allow a walk
over his masterful outing on Friday – leading the R-Phils to their
seventh-straight win of the season. Worley, 22, needed just 88 pitches
to toss his first complete game of the season.

Ranked as the 18th best prospect in the Philadelphia organization by
Baseball America, Worley has now won his last three starts, and has
gone 3-0 with a 2.57 ERA over that period. The Californian righty has
also fanned 18 batters over that three-game span (21 innings pitched).

Equally as impressive on the evening was the fact that Worley ripped a
solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning. His last home run
came back on April 17, 2009 against the Senators – his only home run of
2009. His homer was just the second run of the night for Reading — and
it was all they would need.

June 21, 2010

The Week That Was…

.375, 9 H, 2 2B, 4 HR, 1 GS, 14 RBI, 5R, 4 straight Rizzotti_Matt_Ralph Trout.JPG games with a home run — impressive right?

What if I told you those were the numbers for an R-Phils player in just one week’s time — even more impressive right?

Well, those numbers are from the bat of Matt Rizzotti, the 24-year-old slugger, who has taken the Reading Phillies by storm since his promotion from Clearwater (A+) on May 13.

Rizzotti, a product of Manhattan College, is hitting .325 with nine homers and 31 RBIs over 35 games with the R-Phils this season. Eight of his nine home runs have been at FirstEnergy Stadium, and it seems that each one has played a big part in the outcome of the game.

His May was truly great — .377 with 4 homers and 14 RBIs for the R-Phils in just 17 games — which helped earn him Philadelphia Phillies Minor League Player of the Month honors.

His June has a chance to be even better! So far this month, Rizzotti has hit .284 with five homers and 17 RBIs.

Check out these numbers:

Over his last ten games — .306, 4 HR, 16 RBIs
Over his last five games — .421, 4 HR, 13 RBIs

June 19, 2010

The Year of the Pie Continues…

Last night’s pie fest was not the first here in Baseballtown this season, but, it was certainly the longest.

In what was a thrilling 9-8 walk-off victory for the R-Phils last night, the pie returned, and returned, and returned, and well, returned for the first time in awhile.

Freddy Galvis ripped a game-winning triple in the ninth after a mammoth game-tying two-run blast from Matt Rizzotti, and then was mauled by his teammates who celebrated the spectacular win. Galvis was the Railroad House Player of the Game, and it was my chance to talk to him about that great at-bat, or so I thought.

Sergio Escalona, who has been the pie guy this season, was back at it again on Friday — this time with a pie in each hand and he got Galvis good. While the 20-year-old shortstop was trying to dry off, he was hit again, and again, and again — five pies!

It was an unbelievable night in Baseballtown. The fans were in to it from the first pitch on — and when the game was over, the fans were treated to a game they will never forget.

Friday’s Pie Post-Game Interview

June 17, 2010

Alumni Report —

SCOTT ROLEN rolen & held.jpg

Rolen has enjoyed a very successful season in the Majors in 2010, and has resurrected his career with the Cincinnati Reds.

The Jasper, IN, native is currently hitting .307 with 14 homers and 45 RBIs. His 14 HRs ties him for second in the N.L., and he is just three away from leader Corey Hart (17). He is in the top ten in RBIs, just seven away from leader David Wright (52), and his impressive .307 average is good for ninth in the league (Andre Eithier leads with a remarkable .346).

Rolen, 35, began the 2009 season with the Toronto Blue Jays, where he hit .320 with eight home runs and 43 RBIs over 88 games. He was dealt by the Jays at the July 31 deadline, along with cash considerations to the Cincinnati Reds for Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Roenicke, and Zach Stewart. The 1997 NL Rookie of the Year finished the season with the Reds, and hit .270 with three home runs and 24 RBIs over 40 games.

A career .284 hitter with 297 career home runs, Rolen has always been impressive at the plate, but it has always been his defense which has made him standout. A 7-time National League Gold Glove Award winner at 3B, Rolen is third behind Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson (16) and Mike Schmidt (10) for most Gold Gloves by a 3B.

Originally selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2nd round of the 1993 draft, Rolen began his Reading Phillies career in 1995, playing in 20 games, and hitting .289 with three homers and 15 RBIs.

A year later, Rolen was back in Baseballtown, and excelled at the dish. He hit .361 with nine home runs and 42 RBIs — earning a promotion to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA), where he continued to rake. He made his Major League debut in the same season for Philadelphia, and just a year later, he was the N.L. Rookie of the Year.

While injuries have played a big part of his career, there’s no denying that Scott Rolen has been one of the game’s greatest third basemen in the history of baseball. Along with his Rookie of the Year and Gold Glove awards, Rolen is also a 5-time All-Star (2010 should be 6), a World Series champion with the Cardinals in 2006, and a Silver Slugger Award winner in 2002. It is great to see that Rolen is healthy and back to form in 2010 — which has indeed been an impressive season for the former R-Phil.

June 2, 2010

May Leaders…

The Month of May had its ups and downs for the Reading Phillies.

In 28 games in May, the club posted a 13-15 mark, and had some incredible wins, combined with some heart-breaking losses.

The month saw the emergence of Vance Worley (3-0, 3.35), Yohan Flande (3-2, 3.72), and Drew Naylor (3-2, 3.68), who all enjoyed success on the hill.

Offensively, Domonic Brown got off to an incredible start to the month, and finished with a .296 BA, 8 HR, 21 RBIs, and 7 SB. Tagg Bozied also was a solid contributor in the everyday lineup. Bozied hit .321 with 4 HR, 17 RBIs.

Let’s take a look at the Reading Phillies May Leaderboard:

BA — Tagg Bozied hit .321 in 81 at-bats. Matt Rizzotti hit an impressive .353 in 51 at-bats. He was promoted from Clearwater on May 14.

HR — Domonic Brown ripped 8 of his 10 home runs in May. Bozied & Rizzotti each had 4.

RBI — Brown led the way with 21. Bozied was second with 17.

2B — Bozied had 8, while Brown was second with 7.

3B — Brown had 2, both came in one game. The last R-Phils player to have 2 in a game was Pat Burrell in 1999.

SB — Quintin Berry stole 12 in May.

SLG % — Brown had an impressive .622 Slugging Percentage, which led the E.L.

Pitching Leaders —

Wins — Yohan Flande, Drew Naylor, and Vance Worley all had 3 wins.

ERA — Naylor’s 2.68 in 40.1 IP was impressive.

SV — Michael Schwimer led the way with 3 saves.

SO — Vance Worley had 29.

SHO — Drew Naylor had a complete game, three-hit shutout on May 25 against Portland.