Clyde and I battled Memorial Day beach traffic to make it down to FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, New Jersey to watch the Low-A affiliates of the Phillies and Nationals.
Hagerstown (Nationals):
Brian Goodwin - As 1st round supplemental pick out of junior college last June, Goodwin was advanced enough to handle full season ball right away. So far, in 51 at-bats he has compiled a line of .275/.406/.529 with 3 stolen bases. On Sunday, he did a little bit of everything, going 2-3 with a double, and a walk. He already has solid gap power which, coupled with his speed, should allow him to rack up extra base hits. If he continues to excel in low-A, Goodwin has a chance to move up in the second half of the season and could move quickly through the rest of the system.
Cutter Dykstra - A 2nd round pick in 2008, Dykstra went 3-4 with a double and stolen base. He did not get many attempts at second base so it was hard to judge his defense.
Matt Skole - The current SAL homerun leader and 2012 5th round pick went 0-2 with 3 walks (one intentional) and 2 strikeouts. As the walks indicate, he showed solid plate discipline, however most of the pitches he faced were well out of the zone. He has a strong arm at third base and made some nice defensive plays.
Lakewood (Phillies):
Aaron Altherr - The first word that comes to mind upon seeing the 6'5" 190 pound Altherr is "lanky". In his first at-bat, Altherr laced the first pitch he saw into right-center field, then with an exceptional combination of speed and baserunning instinct, he effortlessly rounded first and hustled to second on a ball that would have been a single for most players. He finished the day 2-5 with the aforementioned double and a strikeout. Altherr had trouble laying off pitches out of the zone and will need to tone down his aggression in order to grow as a hitter.
Kelly Dugan - A 2nd round pick back in 2009, Dugan went 1-3 on Sunday, crushing a homerun well over 400 feet to right field. So far he has hit .270/.368/.490 with 4 homeruns in 100 at bats.
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