Five Scoreless Innings

Sept. 3: Reading 3, New Britain 1

Chance Chapman: Worked five scoreless innings on Thursday night to earn his seventh win and extend his scoreless innings streak to 15.

New Britain, CT -- In game number 137, the Reading Phillies and starting pitcher Chance Chapman revitalized their playoff hopes and gained a one game lead in the race for the final playoff spot in the Southern Division with a 3-1 victory over the New Britain Rock Cats on Thursday night at New Britain Stadium.

Chapman (7-1) used early run support to cruise to his seventh victory of the year. Even though the right-hander got the nod for his start a day prior, he seemed to settle in early as the R-Phils got on the board with one run in the second on a sacrifice fly by departing Australian Tim Kennelly.

The Aussie continued to contribute at the plate as he sacrificed himself for the team on a ground out to second in the fourth for his second run batted in of the evening. The R-Phils added their third and final run of the night on a dropped third strike by catcher Wilson Ramos.

The Reading bullpen continued to shut down the Rock Cats in the sixth as lefty Mike Zagurski came in to retire six consecutive batters after hitting leadoff hitter Whit Robbins.

Zagurski then handed the ball to righty Scott Mathieson. The Canadian cruised early as he retired the Rock Cats in order in the bottom of the eighth inning. After walking the first two batters of the inning in the ninth, Mathieson got two flyouts before Erik Lis hit a RBI single to score Yancarlos Ortiz. With runners on first and second, Wilson Ramos hit a hard line drive in the right field corner pushing Phillies top prospect Domonic Brown into the corner before he secured the final out of the game.

The Reading win combined with a 4-3 loss by the Erie SeaWolves narrows the R-Phils magic number to four entering the final series of the regular season.

The Phillies look to continue their playoff push as they open a five-game series against the Northern Division Champion Connecticut Defenders. Right-hander Vance Worley (7-11, 5.22) is slated to get the start for Reading in game one opposite Connecticut left-hander Ben Snyder (3-4, 2.57). First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

PLAYOFFS

Reading Phils vs. Akron Aeros in the 2009 Eastern League Playoffs Wednesday, September 9 and Thursday, September 10 at Akron.

Sunday Baseball

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Erie Seawolves vs. Reading Phils

19 scoreless innings

Eighteen Innings Without a Run

Chance Chapman winning pitcher Erie Seawolves vs. Reading Phillies July 31, 2009

With a tie ball game, two outs, and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, Chance Chapman entered the game to save the inning, and the game, with 2 1/3 scoreless innings!

Check out the stats

ERA still coming down, 3-1 strike out to walk ratio

clipped from www.readingphillies.com PITCHER W-L ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR HB BB SO WP OPP AVG BK AB SF SAC C Chapman 4 - 1 3.18 24 0 0 0 1 28.1 25 10 10 2 0 9 26 1 .245 0 102 1 4

New ERA 3.33

Reading Phils 5 vs. Altoona Curve 6

Altoona Bottom 5th

• Pitcher Change: Chance Chapman replaces Yohan Flande, batting 9th.
• Jose Tabata singles on a line drive to left fielder Jeremy Slayden.
• Pedro Alvarez strikes out swinging.
• Jason Delaney strikes out swinging.
• Jonel Pacheco singles on a line drive to left fielder Jeremy Slayden. Jose Tabata to 2nd.
• Miles Durham strikes out swinging.

Mid Season Stats

The R-Phils are 19-15 and in third place in their division. They are 7.5 games behind first place team Akron Aeros.

Nice Stats

ERA coming down (3.86), 4-1 record, 2:1 strikeout to walk ratio; I see a start on the horizon!

Great Job Chance!

Baseball and Bubble Gum

OMG! Chance Chapman gave us this gum! I will never chew it for the rest of my life! Well maybe just a piece or two, but the rest I will save for ever! I swear!

Final Score

July 7, 2009 R-Phils Game Recap

Akron, OH -- In a wild game that saw a total of 18 runs and 30 hits, five Reading double plays, four Akron errors and ended in a protest, the Phillies came out on top of the Aeros 11-7 in the opener of a three-game series at Canal Park.

Reading got off to a great start offensively, scoring five runs off of Akron starter Mike Tejera (0-1), who was making his debut with the Aeros, in the first two innings The early outburst was highlighted by a pair of RBI singles from Neil Sellers giving the Phillies the 5-0 lead.

Akron would narrow the gap against Vance Worley in a controversial fourth inning. With one out and the bases loaded and a run in on a RBI single from Beau Mills, John Drennen hit a chopper on the right side of the infield. Carlos Rivero ran into first baseman Kevin Mahar, who was late getting to the ball because of the collision, and Drennen reached on an infield single forcing in another run and decreasing the R-Phils' lead to 5-2. The play, which was disputed by Steve Roadcap and not overturned, would result in the remainder of the game being play under protest by the R-Phils.

Following a prolonged deliberation, Jared Goedert added a RBI single to left-center to make it a 5-3 game. Worley (6-5) would get Jose Constanza to hit into a 4-3 double play and escape the inning with the lead still intact.

The Phillies (48-35) would answer in the very next half inning. Jeremy Slayden got the Reading rally started with his fifth Eastern League home run of the season -- a one-out shot to the bleachers in right field -- giving the R-Phils a 6-3 advantage. Tereja would later issue a two-out walk to Kevin Nelson and give up a base hit to Quintin Berry forcing the end of his night. Reliever Neil Wagner entered the game and surrendered RBI base hits to Carlos Leon and Michael Taylor helping the Phillies to reclaim their three-run lead at 8-3.

Reading never looked back answering Akron's run in the bottom of the sixth with a run of its own in the top of the seventh on a RBI double from Taylor. The R-Phils then answered the Aeros (55-30) run in the bottom of the seventh with two in the top of the eighth putting themselves ahead 11-5.

A two-out, two-run homer from Nick Weglarz in the bottom of the ninth off of Mike Zagurski completed the scoring.

Worley got the win even though he gave up four runs on a career-high 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings. The victory helped the Phillies clinch the season series from the Aeros as Reading has taken six of the first eight games in the 10-game season set.

Defensively, Reading matched a season-high by turning the five double plays in a contest that ended up as the longest nine-inning game played by the team this season at 3:26.

Taylor, who went 3-for-4 in the contest with two RBI, became the first R-Phil to steal three bases in a game since Michael Bourn in 2006.

Of the eight walks issued by Akron pitching, five of them came in to score.

The three-game series continues on Wednesday as right-hander Mike Stutes (5-4, 4.46) gets the start for Reading against right-hander Josh Tomlin (8-5, 4.09). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Another Win For Chapman

The R-Phils took on cross state rivals, Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates) Tuesday night in Reading.

Chapman, now 4-1 for the season, replaced Michael Zagurski at the top of the 11th. With his first professional at bat, he went down swinging in the bottom of the inning.

His teammate, Kevin Mahar, homered on a fly ball to left center field at the bottom on the 12th to give Chance the win!

Top Of The 9th

June 12, 2009

Phils vs. Senators

Three strike outs!  A perfect inning thrown by Chapman.  

Winning Pitcher

June 5, 2009

Reading Phils 3; New Hampshire Fisher Cats 2

Chance Chapman, Josh Shortslef, and Jason Anderson combined to toss four scoreless innings of relief. Champan (3-0) was rewarded with his third win while Anderson earned his second straight save.

One, two, three

Reading vs. New Hampshire - May 29, 2009

Top of the 11th.  Relief Pitcher Chance Chapman.

 

New Hampshire Nick Gorneault strikes out swinging.  Brian Jeroloman flies out to left field.  Al Quintana called out on strikes.  

Another Win

READING, Pa. – The Phillies had the bases loaded with two out in the 11th, looking for something, anything from Michael Spidale.

They certainly weren’t looking for a routine ground ball to third, but that’s what Spidale managed off tough right-hander Daniel Farquhar.

With Michael Taylor on third, the result of his career-high fifth hit of the game to start the inning, you could say the ball was Taylor made after New Hampshire Fisher Cats third baseman Al Quintana kicked it, allowing the winning run to score in a comebacking 8-7 decision Friday night before 8,191.

All Taylor did was go 5-for-6 to jack his batting average to .342. He hit four balls hard, including his ninth home run, which accounted for four RBIs. But it was his seeing-eye single through the left side in the 11th that might have been as impressive. Facing Farquhar, a side-armer who is tough on right-handed hitters, Taylor got enough of one of his deliveries to start the winning rally.

Kevin Mahar worked a walk, Neil Sellers moved up both runners with a groundout to the right side andGus Milner was walked intentionally. One out later the Phillies (26-20) were the ones slapping celebratory hands.

The Fisher Cats had scored five runs in a bat-around first inning that included six hits and an error and featured 32 pitches from Tyson Brummett.

Brummett, to his credit, kept his team in the game when he put together five scoreless, one-hit innings. He struck out two and did not walk a batter in his six innings of work.

The Phillies clawed back into it, cutting the lead to a run through six innings. They scored two in the first on an RBI single by Taylor and a double-play grounder.

It became 5-3 in the fourth on Spidale’s homer to left, though the inning ended with the bases loaded.

A Mahar triple and a Sellers sac fly in the fifth had the home team right back in it.

The Cats (24-25) scored a pair of runs off Pat Overholt in the seventh to open a three-run lead, Quintana hitting the first pitch of the inning for his third home run.

Taylor’s bomb in the seventh cut the lead to 7-5. His two-out, two-run single in the eighth tied it.

The win went to Chance Chapman (2-0), who followed up Jason Anderson’s two innings of scoreless work, with a perfect 11th that included two strikeouts. Farquhar (0-1) got the loss.

PHILLERS: Gus Milner’s inside-the-park homer Wednesday at Akron was the first struck by a Phillie since Peter Bergeron did it July 10, 2006, also in Akron. . . . Milner’s fourth-inning single extended his hitting streak to six games. . . . The Phillies were coming off a 6-2 road trip. . . . Michael Taylor lost a 14-game hitting streak Wednesday during which he batted .407 (22-for-54) with four doubles, a triple and five home runs while scoring 10 runs and knocking in 18 . . . Quintin Berry went 3-for-5 Friday and scored twice. 

PLAYER MOVES: Veteran catcher Paul Bako was added to the roster from extended spring training. He played 99 games for the Reds last season, batting .217 with six home runs and 35 RBIs. He also has played for Detroit, Houston, Florida, Atlanta, Milwaukee, the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City and Baltimore. Bako, 36, began his major league career in 1998 with the Tigers. He took the roster spot vacated by infielder Carlos Leon, who went on the disabled list with a strained right groin.

This story was posted on May 29, 2009 on the official Reading Phils website

First Win In Double A

Akron, OH -- After giving up a three-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning and falling in the completion of Wednesday night's suspended game 6-5, the Reading Phillies came back to win the finale of the three-game series 2-1 over the Akron Aeros on Thursday afternoon at Canal Park.

Reading (25-20) scored a pair of runs in the top of the seventh and final inning as Ozzie Chavez hit a two-run single through a drawn-in infield to take a 2-0 lead.

Mike Zagurski came on in the bottom of the inning to nail down the save and gave up a one-out, solo home run to Nick Weglarz, pulling Akron (32-13) within a run at 2-1. 

Matt McBride walked on four pitches and advanced to second on a pitch in the dirt to put the tying run in scoring position. Armando Camacaro, appearing in only his seventh game of the season with the Aeros, hit a line drive to left field on a 2-2 pitch that was caught by a sliding Kevin Mahar to end the game.

It was the second save of the season for Zagurski, and it sealed the win for Chance Chapman (1-0) -- his first in Double-A.

The Phillies closed out the road trip with a 6-2 mark.

The Reading Phillies will begin a three-game series with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats on Friday night at FirstEnergy Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. 

Rain Out

Game called due to weather.  

Phils v Aeros

The Reading Phils are on their way to Ohio to take on first place team Akron Aeros.  Tune in online or to ESPN 1240 AM at 6:35 for pre game show.  

Series ends May 28 with an early morning game at 10:35 am.

Memorial Day Week-End in Western PA

Chapman and the Reading Phils will be at Altoona Curve May 22, 23, 24 and 25.

DOUBLE A HERE WE COME!!!!

It is official.  Chapman has been promoted to the Phillies Double A ball club, the Reading Phils.   

He leaves Florida with a .77 ERA!  

Red HOT!

Saturday, May 8, 2009

Threshers 11, Cubs 6

"After a delay of about 30 minutes the game finally resumed with some major defensive changes for the Cubs. They were able to get out of the inning with no further damage, but their offense was set down in order by the red hot Chance Chapman on  the mound in his second inning of work for the Threshers."

For complete game recap see Threshers Nation 

A Closer Look

Took this article from Phuture Phillies blog dated April 20, 2009.  Be sure to click on the link for responses to the blog.

We move on to our second installment of A Closer Look, but we don’t move very far, staying in Clearwater to take a look at Threshers pitcher Chance Chapman.

Chapman was the Phillies’ 8th Round Pick in 2007 out of Oral Roberts, and he signed almost immediately for a $20K bonus.  BA had this to say about him when he was taken…

Chapman’s strikeout pitch is a big league slider, and he also has an 88-91 mph fastball with life. When he commands his fastball, he’s tough to hit. Chapman’s age works against him, as he’s 23 after spending three years at Cuesta (Calif.) Junior College and missing all of 2004 with an injury.

Now in his third season of pro ball, I think it’s fair to assess what Chapman has achieved so far, and project where his career might be headed.  Check below the jump as we tackle the numbers.

As mentioned, Chapman wasted no time signing and reported to the NYPL in 2007.  As a 23-year old in the pitching-dominated league, he took care of business, making the All-Star team and posting the following line:

2007 (A-, Age 23): 77.2 IP — 7.8 K/9 — 2.3 BB/9 — 52.3% GB — 1.16 WHIP — 2.21 DICE

A solid performance, tempered of course by his age.  Still, given the supposedly plus slider, it made Chapman an intriguing candidate for conversion to a bullpen role.  You’ve undoubtedly heard the logic before, but it bears repeating — the idea is that a guy will be able to scrap his marginal pitches, concentrate on his two best offerings, and add a few ticks to his velocity since he can gear up in one- and two-inning bursts.  This seemed to be the best way forward for Chapman, and though he began 2008 in the Lakewood rotation, I wondered if the Phils were going to have him go the Pat Overholt route, i.e. have Chance pitch as a starter in order to better develop his offerings, and promote him midseason with an eye toward having him ready for the bullpen within a year or two (see Overholt’s 2007 season here).

Unfortunately for Chance, that turned out not to be the case.  This is just speculation on my part, but I wonder if: (1) the relative dearth of starting pitching options in Lakewood, at least until the Worley/Stutes/Cisco trio arrived; and (2) the fact that the BlueClaws were in a pennant race; were the primary factors that conspired to keep Chapman in Lakewood for the entirety of the season.  Whatever the case, he once again posted solid numbers:

2008 (A, Age 24): 139.0 IP — 7.6 K/9 — 2.4 BB/9 — 51.1% GB — 1.22 WHIP — 2.73 DICE

And so at Age 25, entering his third season in pro ball, Chapman has finally been shifted to the bullpen for the Threshers.  There’s reason to believe he may have some success in that role, too.  He doesn’t show a noticeable platoon split, holding LHB to a a career .253 BAA and RHB to a career .244 BAA, and his ground ball tendencies have cut down on both the extra bases hits and the home runs allowed (just 7 in 216.2 IP heading into this year).  Finally, while his peripherals have generally stayed strong from inning to inning, it appears from the numbers that his stuff is a bit more hittable the deeper Chapman goes into a game.  Here’s his career batting average against figures by inning:

1st: .192
2nd: .236
3rd: .233
4th: .255
5th: .262
6th: .292
7th: .333

That, of course, lends further credence to the idea that Chapman’s stuff, and numbers, would only improve with a shift to a relief role.

So far this year, Chapman made a spot start as part of a make-up doubleheader on April 16, and he’s been used out of the bullpen twice.  It’s certainly a miniscule sample size, but in his two relief outings totaling 3.2 innings, Chapman has surrendered 1 hit, 0 runs, walked 2 and struck out 4.   On Sunday, he was used as a set-up man, and pitched a hitless, scoreless inning (inducing 2 groundouts and 1 flyout) to bridge the gap from starter Yohan Flande to closer Jared Simon.

Based on the career numbers and his repertoire, I think Chapman has a future as a reliever.  If he posts solid numbers for the Threshers through the first half of the season, the organization should not hesistate to bump him to Reading by midseason.  Many might look at Chapman and see organizational filler, but I see a guy with a chance to help the major league club in the bullpen by 2010 or 2011 at the latest — and when you have someone who can do that for 3 years at the major league minimum, it’s a valuable asset.

Game Recap

For a game recap, see the Thresher's Nation at this link!

And see the Clearwater Threshers at this link!

Spot Start

Due to a rain out on Tuesday, the Threshers will be playing a double header on Thursday, April 16.  

Look for Chapman to start the second game of the series that is scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm!!!!

I Want My Game Day Audio

If you're like me, and tried to tune in to the season opener, you were probably upset to learn that the Clearwater games are not broadcast on the minor league baseball network.  

I also had zero luck in finding a local online news source that provides a game day recap of the baseball team .

So, now that Chapman is a relief pitcher, and with limited media sources available, it appears it is going to be a challenge to track Chapman this season.  

2009 Roster

Our boy Chapman made the cut.  

The 2009 minor league roster is complete, and he is scheduled to play for the Clearwater Threshers this season.

The high A ball club is based in sunny Clearwater, Florida and the team was the 2007 Florida League Champions.

Don't know what it means, but it looks good!

I have been searching for any news out of Florida on Chapman and his performance during the exhibition games.  I haven't found anything!!!!

 But, I did find this website that had a whole bunch of stats and charts on him that looked pretty official.   Until I find something else exciting to report, this will have to do.

Spring Training

Thanks to the Phillies Insider, we have a better idea of what is going on in Florida.

Player development has begun for 167 minor league players.   The first game is scheduled for March 18.

The training will close on March 29 and some players will be released, while others fill the roster in Reading, Clearwater, or Lakewood.

2009 Goals

During an interview in December 2008, Chapman was asked his goals for the upcoming season.  His response was "To start Clearwater and make it to Reading during the year."   He also indicated that he may consider a switch to relief pitching.

Currently, the Clearwater Threshers is the high A minor league ball club for the 2008 World Champions, the Philadelphia Phillies.   The team's Double A ball club, is located in Reading, Pennsylvania, less than one hour drive from Philadelphia.  

For the complete interview with Chapman, go to http://blog.blueclaws.com/category/chance-chapman/

  

It's That Time Of Year Again

We're gearing up for baseball season, and no word from the California Kid!

I heard a rumor he is heading to Clearwater Florida March 1 for some spring training.  I am hoping he sends word after that as to where he will be based for the season, so I can pass along to you.  

Of course, we're crossing our fingers it's Reading or Allentown!!