Minor League Update 4/27

The bit of minor league bad news that was alluded to in the previous post:

Yoel Hernandez was perfect in relief of Hamels in the eighth, but the right-hander left the game after facing two batters in the ninth due to an arm injury, which caused him to writhe on the ground in pain.

Hernandez's battery mate Carlos Ruiz also got hurt, leaving the game with one out in the eighth due to a neck and shoulder injury. Dusty Wathan replaced him and caught the rest of the game.

There is no question Ruiz should be a Phillie right now while a very strong argument could be made for Hernandez' inclusion on the 25 roster as well. These injuries are obvious setbacks although, as far as I know anyway, the severity of each is unknown at this point. Ruiz stayed in the game to run the bases and later catch a bit behind the plate before coming out. Hernandez came out immediately after his injury, which sounded bad per the Scranton radio broadcast...any info on either injury is appreciated, you know I'll continue to dig around and seem if I can find more to the story.

AAA Scranton-WB

• Carlos Ruiz: 2-2, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB, HBP, SB
• Chris Roberson: 2-5, 2 R, 2 SB
• Josh Kroeger: 3-4, RBI, BB, K, OF assist
• Danny Sandoval: DL
• Brennan King: 3-5, 2B, K, E
• Angel Chavez: N/A
• Chris Coste: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R, K
  
  
• Lastings Milledge: 0-3, BB, K
• Victor Diaz: 1-4, 2 K
  
  
• Cole Hamels (W, 1-0): 7 IP 3 H 0 ER 0 BB 14 K
• Yoel Hernandez: 1.1 IP 0 H 0 ER 1 BB 1 K
• Ryan Cameron: 0.2 IP 0 H 0 ER 0 BB 1 K

Hamels and company ended Lastings Milledge's 11 game hit streak...Carlos Ruiz was on base all 5 times, while also flashing the power/speed combo (6th homerun, 2nd steal) that makes him so popular amongst Phillies fans - his season stats right now are .382/.436/.706 in 68 at bats...do you get the same feeling that I do about the way players, especially minor leaguers, raise their games when they know the big league club is watching? All eyes were on Hamels yesterday, and rightfully so, but the performances of Ruiz, Roberson, Kroeger, and King all surely caught the eye of any of the Phillies brass watching the game...

AA Reading - OFF

High A Clearwater

• Mike Costanzo: 0-4, BB, 3 K, PO
• Brad Harman: 2-4, 2B, R, K

Low A Lakewood

• Greg Golson: 0-3, BB, 3 K
• Welinson Baez: 1-4, 2B, 2 K
• Lou Marson: N/A
• Jeremy Slayden: N/A

• Josh Outman (L, 1-2): 6.2 IP 5 H 2 ER 2 BB 6 K
  
  
• Fernando Martinez (Mets): 2-4, 2 K, PO

For what it's worth, Martinez recently was the topic of discussion at Baseball America (during Jim Callis' Ask BA feature):

Mets outfielder Fernando Martinez is off to a strong start at low Class A Hagerstown as a 17-year-old, hitting .323/.408/.538 with one homer, eight RBIs and three steals in 17 games. If Martinez were a high school senior right now, where would he likely be drafted in June?

Jason Phillips
Boston

(Callis): Martinez signed for $1.4 million out of the Dominican Republic last summer. Though he was a free agent then and would be restricted to negotiating with one team in the draft, he'd do better this June.

In a draft crop that's very thin on position players and is getting the worst early reviews since the 2000 bunch, Martinez would be coveted. Realistically, he's at three years away from the major leagues, so that might keep him from going No. 1 overall, but he'd likely be one of the first five or 10 picks. He's better than any high school position player available, and you could argue him against the top college position players. Martinez has a higher ceiling than Long Beach State third baseman Evan Longoria, and scouts believe he's a safer bet to hit than Texas outfielder Drew Stubbs.

He's not a Phillie and still far from the big leagues, but it doesn't hurt to get a leg up on scouting the enemy early, right?