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Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Biddle, Franco, 3 Others Going to Clearwater

2013 Bowman Draft Top Prospects #TP-6, 2013 Topps Heritage Minor Leagues #158,
2013 Grandstand Clearwater Threshers #21 and 2012 Multi-Ad Lakewood Blueclaws #11
Last week, the Phillies most likely completed handing out their invitations to Spring Training by asking five more prospects to join camp.  The big names on the list are left-handed pitcher Jesse Biddle and third baseman Maikel Franco, who have been ranked as the top two prospects in the organization.  Biddle is expected to open the season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, but Franco could actually compete with Cody Asche for the starting third baseman's job.  With High-A Clearwater and Double-A Reading, Franco hit .320 with 31 home runs in 103 RBIs in just 134 games.

I don't know much about right-handed pitcher Ken Giles or left-handed pitcher Mario Hollands other than that they both had decent years for Clearwater.  Oddly enough, Giles completely missed out on any 2013 Phillies minor league cards as a result of the significant time he missed due to injury.

Catcher Sebastain Valle was dropped from the 40-man roster in mid-December to make room for free agent pitcher Roberto Hernandez.  Once considered the top catching prospect in the organization, he's probably now sixth on the team's depth chart behind Carlos Ruiz, Wil Nieves, Tommy Joseph, Cameron Rupp and Lou Marson.

Player (position) - 2013 Organization - Last Major Baseball Card Appearance
1.  Shawn Camp (rhp) - Cubs/Diamondbacks - 2012 Topps Update #US238 (Cubs)
2.  Leandro Castro (of) - Phillies - 2010 Topps Pro Debut #84 (Phillies)
3.  Cesar Jimenez (lhp) - Phillies - 2009 Upper Deck #857 (Mariners)
4.  Clete Thomas (of) - Twins - 2010 Topps #441 (Tigers)
5.  Reid Brignac (inf) - Yankees/Rockies - 2013 Topps Update #US206
6.  Andres Blanco (inf) - N/A - 2007 Topps #659 (Royals)
7.  Jeff Manship (rhp) - Rockies - 2010 Finest #141 (Twins)
8.  Tony Gwynn, Jr. (of) - Dodgers - 2012 Topps #284 (Dodgers)
9.  Lou Marson (c) - Indians - 2013 Topps #443 (Indians)
10.  Sean O'Sullivan (rhp) - Padres - 2011 Topps Update #US89 (Royals)
11.  Dave Sappelt (of) - Cubs - 2012 Topps #657 (Cubs)
12.  Jesse Biddle (lhp) - Phillies - 2013 Bowman Draft Top Prospects #TP-6 (Phillies)
13.  Maikel Franco (3b) - Phillies - 2013 Topps Heritage Minors #158 (Phillies)
14.  Ken Giles (rhp) - Phillies - None
15.  Mario Hollands (lhp) - Phillies - None
16.  Sebastian Valle (c) - Phillies - 2012 Topps Heritage Minors #144 (Phillies)

Memory Lane
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2014 at 9:33 AM

    Just out of curiosity, how do you determine "last major card appearance"? Leandro Castro had some Bowman Prospects inserts in 2012, Valle had a Prospect insert in 2012 Bowman Platinum, and Franco had a couple Propsect cards (including an autograph card) in the 2013 Bowman sets (some of which came out after 2013 Topps Heritage Minors). I'm not a fan of the Prospect inserts -- I stay away from them until the player actually appears in the Majors -- but they count as major card appearances in my book, even if I don't always collect them. :-)

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  2. JimJanuary 17, 2014 at 3:46 PM

    In the case of Valle and Franco, I used the more readily available cards, aka the cards I have in my collection.

    For Castro - I think his last major card was in the 2010 Bowman Prospects and 2010 Topps Pro Debut sets? I just went with the Topps Pro Debut card for the same rationale used for Valle and Franco.

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