Game chat: Phils visit Lehigh Valley for final warm-up

Coca-Cola Park in Allentown will be the home to the Phillies new Triple-A affiliate, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. The parent club helps break in the new facility this afternoon at 2 p.m.

This is a great day for sports fans in the Lehigh Valley, who’ve been starved for affiliated baseball for far too long. Opening day (April 11) is sold out, a sign of things to come for the state’s third-largest metropolitan region. Pulling in fans from Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton and Philipsburg, N.J., along with their affluent suburbs, it won’t take long for this franchise to be seen as one of the class operations in Minor League baseball. For the Phillies, who also have a financial stake in the new franchise, it brings their highest levels of the minors into a nice, neat, expressway-linked base of operations. Coca-Cola Park will be well worth a visit.

As for the Phillies, they have one-last shot to work out the kinks before tomorrow’s game against the Nationals, who open their new stadium tonight against Atlanta. This afternoon’s game will air locally on channels 57 and 15. For a link of IronPigs regular-season broadcast information, click here.

Comments

[J. Weitzel]

I'm more than a little concerned with the spring Jayson Werth has had. His second half of '07 was something of a fluke. I see opportunities opening up for others in right, including Vic, with Taguchi getting some starts in center.

[spartanburgphillies]

Nice burp, Larry.

[RSB]

I agree with Jason on Jayson. Beerleaguers went from mocking this guy to praising him in the blink of an eye. He's useful as a bench player, but not someone I want starting 60 games. People look at his size and assume he's going to knock the cover off the ball, but he has poor hitting mechanics and drags the bat through the strike zone. And he remains frequently overmatched against right-handed pitching. Defensively, he's strictly average.

A lot of people think Carrasco is going to be with this team sometime this season, and I agree. I'm wondering if the same can't be said of Greg Golson. I admit that I may have missed discussions, if there were any, about who might be replacing Burrell next year. Already having signed over-the-hill filler in Jenkins, and with the lack of any other outfield prospects in the farm system, I have to think they may be targeting Golson to fill the next impending vacancy. His speed and defense are on par with Michael Bourn's right now, and there's no reason to think they shouldn't give him a head start if Werth repeats the first half he handed the Phillies last year.

[king myno]

Isn't Golson's strikeout/walk ratio as horrifying as Feliz's?

[RSB]

It's worse, actually. And I'm not saying Golson is the answer in the outfield. But he's about all they've got down there.

[Ben]

Anyone think there is any chance that Robinson Tejeda and/or Steve Kline is added to the roster before the opener tommorrow?

[J. Weitzel]

Snelling would be the only other guy who could come up and play. Maybe Brandon Watson. I think they're sort of set however with what they have. I don't see any chance Golson gets called up, even in September.

[Slocs]

O's eat $11.9 million dump Gibbons.

[RSB]

JW - even if someone got hurt? I wonder.

[J. Weitzel]

RSB: I don't think so. He's got a ways to go. And think about how many 4th and 5th outfielders shake loose late in the season. Teams practically give them away, guys like Conine, Wilkerson, Dellucci. The Phils would almost certainly turn to a veteran in an emergency. Snelling is good depth, too.

[sifl]

Kendrick's getting a bunch of K's. I wonder how much that has to do with him coming around to form, and how much it has to do with the state of our AAA lineup.

[kdon]

RSB, Snelling would be the number 1 option if there was an injury.

The number 2 option would be Bohn, since he is already on the 40 Man.

The number 3 option would likely be to bring up an infielder and give Dobbs more time in the OF

The number 3 option would be to call Juan Gonzalez and see what he's up to.

The number 4 option is Barry Bonds

The number 5 option is you

Somewhere between option 6 and 1000 is when you would see Golson.

[RSB]

I don't know if I agree. If someone like Victorino gets hurt for an extended period of time - granted, this would be more a 60-day DL scenario rather than a 15-day - I have to think Golson would at least be considered if he started out hitting well at AA. Again, do you not suppose that, if he demonstrates even moderate offensive progress this season, that they may well have him earmarked to replace Burrell in '09?

[kdon]

RSB, I think they have their fingers crossed he could replace Burrell in '09, but for him to make the roster prior to September would require avian flu to break out in the clubhouse.

He has 153 ABs above single A and was completely overmatched in those at-bats. I mean why in the world do you think he could contribute, given his minor league record? Pretend you didn't know he was a high draft pick and saw:

22 years old, career 703 OPS in the minors, 493 career Ks, 89 BB.

And he is nowhere near Bourn in terms of speed. Why do you think that? Bourn swiped 57 bags when he was 21 in A ball with a much higher percentage.

And I haven't seen anything that puts Golson on a defensive par with Bourn. Bourn was considered an excellent defender in CF while Golson is considered a solid to above defender in a corner spot.

And even Bourn didn't sniff the big leagues until he was 23. So, in short. No! You will not see Greg Golson this year, nor should you!

[AWH the RBP]

"I agree with Jason on Jayson. Beerleaguers went from mocking this guy to praising him in the blink of an eye."

RSB, as I posted on a couple of occasions last season, the criticism of Werth was justified during the first half of the season as he stank the joint up. The praise he received after he came back from the DL and played well was equally justified.

As far as Golson is concerned, kdon is correct. (Did I just type that?) A hope and a prayer is the modus operandi at 1 Citizen's Bank Way. They're hoping divine intervention will occur, and he'll be able to replace Burrell's production.

IMO, the hope is unfounded and their prayers will not be answered.

[barack obama]

Hey guys, I just wanted you to know that I'll be rooting for the Phils this year (well, at least until the 4/22 primary). And if I'm elected, I promise to pressure Congress to appropriate money for a 5th starter!

[bruceg]

Hey guys, I just wanted to let everyone know that the season is over, we have no chance. Nevertheless, I'll be dropping in periodically throughout the season to reinforce the point.

[MG]

bruceg - Being a little melodramatic don't you think?

[kdon]

I'm pretty sure last year the season was declared "over" a few hundred times.

BTW, that got me to thinking that we only have one more day to enjoy the front page of Baseball Reference. Seeing those standing every time I checked on a player was a highlight of the offseason.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/

[kdon]

Oh, damn! It's already gone. I checked earlier in the weekend and they still had:

PHI 89-73
NYM 88-74

[lekh tizdayen]

I agree with RSB on Golson. Obviously he would have to being playing quite well in AA or later AAA to be called up but if Werth or Vic got hurt later in the season I think he very well could be called up. Golson is similar to both Vic and Werth in that he can play all OF spots, has some pop and can steal a base. He may be the best replacement available at the time. That said, I couldn't see him as much more than a pinch-hitter or def. replacement.

[mw_217]

I just realized the Nats' new park is called simply, Nationals Park. Is that a throwback to the Senators? I seem to remember hearing that they played in something called "Nationals Park," though that doesn't make a lot of sense.

Or is it just a stopgap name until they find a company to buy the naming rights?

[Slocs]

Rosenthal and Stark in love with the Braves. We'll see. They look fine on paper but we'll see. Escobar looks to be awesome and Jurrjens looks interesting but I think the key is still health. If Chipper and Smoltz miss lots of games, I think they'll struggle. If not, it will be a battle.

[J. Weitzel]

Because it hasn't been mentioned, Abraham Nunez did not make the cut with Milwaukee. The best fielding third baseman in the league, according to some, will begin the season in Triple-A Nashville.

[AWH the RBP]

Jason, it just goes to show you how many good-field, no-hit players there are, and how devalued they are in today's game with all of the offensive tilted ballparks.

[MG]

AWH - Yeah but No-Hit was an extreme example of that who can't do a single thing offensively and who only can really play 2 positions (2B, 3B). One player I will not miss seeing in the least and a guy who will be lucky to get more than a cup of coffee the rest of his career.

[s97]

DC Naming: Not yet completed. Full story in yesterday's Washington Post online.

Golson: It's unreasonable to expect this ownership to add any service days for look-sees on AA-level prospects, especially after the Howard arb result.

[AWH the RBP]

I don't want to jinx him, but Odalis Perez has thrown 5 innings of 1 run ball at the Bravos.

And what was it about him that the Phillies didn't like? Why did they think he wasn't better than Eaton?

Never mind. It's the Phillies pitching scouts. That explains it.

[AWH the RBP]

The above discussion of Werth made me go back and look at the second half of the season in 2007.

Am I correct in my computations? Was his BABIP really .470? Did he really strike out 51 times in 170 at bats?

We may be in for a letdown in RF.