Prospect ranking season is just around the corner. In anticipation of that, we present an intro series looking at some of the players who deserve mentioning but probably will not be appearing on their teams’ Top 10 lists. The popular series is back for a second year.

The Graduate: Jake Fox, IF/OF
Finally given an opportunity for significant playing time at the MLB level, Fox had a nice year as a bench player. His has almost zero value on defense, although he can fill in at a few different positions. The 27-year-old rookie showed good power with an ISO rate of .208. Overall, he hit .259/.311/.468 in 216 at-bats. He displayed more power against right-handers (.549 slugging) than southpaws (.373). Fox won’t be confused with a vampire after hitting just .189 in night games, compared to .314 in the sunlight.

The Riser: Chris Archer, RHP
I was tempted to include LHP John Gaub here, who was acquired along with Archer in the Mark DeRosa deal. Archer, though, has a higher ceiling even if he’s still a lot further off than Gaub. The right-hander repeated low-A ball in ’09 and was tough to hit (.202 average). Unfortunately, he was hard to touch in some games because his pitches could not find the strike zone (5.45 BB/9). Archer throws a pretty heavy ball and did not allow a home run all season (50.5% ground-ball rate). He has a fastball that can touch 93 mph, a plus curveball, and a changeup.

The Tumbler: Welington Castillo, C
Castillo took the wrong year to take a step back in his development with MLB catcher Geovany Soto being bitten by the sophomore jinx at the Major League level. Castillo’s overly-aggressive approach at the plate (4.5 BB%) caught up with him in ’09 at double-A. He was also hurt by a .266 BABIP; his overall line was .232/.275/.386 in 319 at-bats. Castillo did show some intriguing power with a .154 ISO rate, which was a career high. Defensively, he cut down on his careless errors, but he still allowed a significant number of passed balls. The 22-year-old catcher threw out 44% of base stealers.

The ’10 Sleeper: Chris Huseby, RHP
A former over-slot draft pick out of high school in the 2006 draft, Huseby has been slower to develop than the organization would have liked, mainly due to injuries. The right-hander has been shifted to the bullpen where he can focus on his two best pitches: low 90s fastball and plus breaking ball. In ’09 at low-A ball, Huseby allowed 43 hits in 54 innings of work, while posting a walk rate of 1.67 BB/9 and a strikeout rate of 12.17 K/9. He also allowed just three home runs. He dominated right-handed hitters with a .193 batting average, but he showed promise against lefties, as well, thanks to a 60% ground-ball rate.

Bonus: Steve Clevenger, C/IF
Meet Mr. Jake-Fox-Lite, whom I identified as the ’09 sleeper for the organization during the ’08 minor-league review. Clevenger is another minor-league catcher who’s not really good enough defensively to play everyday, but there is potential in his bat (although very little power). Clevenger split the season between double-A and triple-A. At the higher level, he hit a disappointing .265/.310/.327 in 226 at-bats. Prior to reaching triple-A, Clevenger displayed the ability to hit .300+ with gap power. The 23-year-old actually handles southpaw pitchers quite well, with a .298 career average. He threw out just 20% of triple-A base stealers.

With a win in Game Five of the National League Championship Series (NLCS) on Wednesday, the defending World Champions have an opportunity to return to the Fall Classic. Up three games to one, the Phillies club will hand the ball to young lefty Cole Hamels. The southpaw was hit hard in his first start against LA in the series (8 hits, 5 line drives, 4 run in 5.1 innings), but he kept his team in the game and recorded the victory.

Los Angeles will counter with Vicente Padilla, who pitched 7.1 innings on Oct. 18 and allowed just one run. Padilla threw an economical 95 pitches (73% for strikes) and allowed just one run. As a result of the short rest for the right-hander, the Dodgers club may have to use the bullpen heavily on Wednesday. Manager Joe Torre has used four relievers in each of the past two games (over a three-day span). Regardless, everyone should be fresh and ready to go, with the possible exception of Chad Billingsley.

The key post-season performers (eight games) for Philadelphia have been:
Ryan Howard: 14 RBI, 379 AVG (1.18 WPA)
Jayson Werth: 6 BB, 3 HR, 7 R (0.10 WPA)
Carlos Ruiz: .391 AVG, 6 BB, 7 RBI (0.32 WPA)
Chase Utley: .472 OBA, 7 runs, 2 SB (0.42 WPA)
Shane Victorino: .344 AVG, .625 SLG, 7 R (-0.19 WPA)
Raul Ibanez: 8 RBI (0.20 WPA)

Unfortunately for Los Angeles, the only player who has consistently risen to the occasion in fall ball is outfielder Andre Ethier (0.49 WPA), who is currently hitting .333/.419/.741 in seven games and is leading the club in runs scored, RBI, and is tied for the lead in both doubles and homers. Veteran outfielder Manny Ramirez has been the team’s second best hitter, but his line is just .276/.300/.483. More importantly, he has just four RBI in seven games.

Unless the offense suddenly wakes up, Los Angeles will need another dominating performance out of Padilla, who has not pitched on short rest at all this season – and he’s gone seven innings or more in three straight games just once this season (in May).

Prospect ranking season is just around the corner. In anticipation of that, we present an intro series looking at some of the players who deserve mentioning but probably will not be appearing on their teams’ Top 10 lists. The popular series is back for a second year.

The Graduate: David Huff, LHP
A 2006 supplemental first round pick, Huff’s first MLB season was a bit of a letdown. The left-hander allowed 159 hits in 128.1 innings of work and gave up his fair share of homers (1.12 HR/9). His walk rate was good at 2.88 BB/9 but his strikeout rate was just 4.56 K/9. Huff has a good slider (1.16 wSL/C) but he had trouble setting up hitters for it due to a poor fastball (-0.97 wFB/C). The 25-year-old will have to show some improvements in 2010 if he’s going to hold off a wave of fresh arms moving quickly through the minors.

The Riser: T.J. McFarland, LHP
The Indians organization has a couple of intriguing left-handed pitchers named T.J. in the system. McFarland is not quite the prospect that T.J. House is… yet. However, the former had an encouraging first full season in the minors in ’09. McFarland allowed 128 hits in 120.2 innings of work, but he did a nice job of keeping the ball in the park (0.45 HR/9) due to a solid ground-ball rate at 53.6%. His walk rate was OK at 3.13 BB/9, but his strikeout rate was a little low at 6.34 K/9. McFarland has a solid repertoire: 87-92 mph fastball, slider, changeup.

The Tumbler: Nick Weglarz, OF
It’s been said that Weglarz’ bat will have to carry him to the Majors because he’s not much of a fielder – or an athlete. The 21-year-old was moving through the system just fine until ’09 when he reached double-A and hit just .227/.377/.431 in 339 at-bats. The left-handed hitter held his own against southpaws in ’09, but he struggled to hit right-handers, with a line of .210/.363/.388. Those numbers definitely won’t cut it for a LF/1B/DH type. On the plus side, Weglarz had a walk rate of 18.1% and an ISO of .204. His BABIP of .249 screams “Fluke season!”

The ’10 Sleeper: Eric Berger, LHP
Berger was an astute pick-up out of the University of Arizona in the eighth round of the ’08 draft. The southpaw has posted solid pro numbers and he reached double-A in just his first full season. Berger isn’t flashy but he has a solid repertoire that includes an 88-93 mph fastball, curveball and changeup. He does a nice job of keeping the ball in the park despite modest ground-ball rates. The southpaw will need to tighten up his control after posting a walk rate of 4.28 BB/9 in double-A and 3.67 BB/9 in high-A.

Bonus: Hector Rondon, RHP
I jumped on the Rondon bandwagon pretty quickly, and the Venezuelan native was listed as the Indians sleeper for 2009 in the ’08 review series. The right-handed pitcher followed up his breakout ’08 campaign by ending ’09 in triple-A. He has excellent control for a 21-year-old, and he’s maintained solid strikeout rates throughout his career. Rondon allowed a few too many hits in triple-A (83 in 74.1 innings). He could be in Cleveland, if needed, by mid-2010.

If you missed the game last night, this pretty much says it all.

The Philadelphia Phillies club took advantage of a Los Angeles starter who was clearly rusty after being activated off the disabled list prior to the start of the National League Championship Series (NLCS). Hiroki Kuroda allowed six runs on six hits in just 1.1 innings of work, for a WPA of -.334. Starter-turned-playoff-reliever Chad Billingsley offered some relief with 3.1 innings of work, but his recent inactivity (it was the first time he’d pitched since Sept. 29) eventually caught up with him.

On the flip side, Phillies starter Cliff Lee (.153 WPA) was magnificent yet again. He pitched eight shutout innings with just three hits allowed. He struck out 10 Dodgers hitters without allowing a walk. Lee also induced nine ground-ball outs (plus five fly balls and two line drives).

This is Mr. October, Cliff Lee:
Oct. 7 – 9.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0-5 BB-K, 37.0 GB%, .397 WPA
Oct. 12 – 7.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3-5 BB-K, 32.0 GB%, .307 WPA
Oct. 18 – 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0-10 BB-K, 56.0 GB%, .153 WPA

Last night, first baseman Ryan Howard was the Phillies best hitter… again. He drove in three runs and posted a WPA of .155. Outfielder Shane Victorino (.045 WPA) had a good night as well, with three RBI, two runs scored and two hits, including a homer. Catcher Carlos Ruiz (.028) continued his hot hitting with two base knocks. He also scored two runs and drove in one. Outfielder Jayson Werth posted the second highest WPA at .074 and drove in two runs.

Game Four is tonight in Philadelphia with the home team up 2-1 in the NLCS. The Phillies organization will look to take a stranglehold on the series with Joe Blanton on the hill against Randy Wolf. Blanton has made two appearances in the 2009 playoffs so far – and both came out of the bullpen. In 3.2 innings, he’s allowed two runs on four hits and has a 43% ground-ball rate. Blanton struggled with his fastball (-0.80 wFB/C) command during the regular season, but he’ll look to establish the heater well enough to set up his changeup (1.95 wCH/C) and slider (1.22 wSL/C).

Wolf will be looking to bounce back from a poor outing against St. Louis on Oct. 7, his only appearance in the series so far. The left-hander allowed two runs in 3.2 innings. He allowed six hits and five walks. Although it averages out at just 89 mph, Wolf has an effective fastball (1.47 wFB/C) that he backs up with a good curveball (1.66 wCB/C). He also mixes in a slider and changeup.

The National League Championship Series (NLCS) Game Two starters put on a show on Friday night. Los Angeles’ Vicente Padilla allowed just one run on four hits and a walk in 7.1 innings (.258 WPA). Philadelphia’s Pedro Martinez (.500 WPA), who hadn’t pitched in a game since Sept. 30, pitched 7.0 innings and allowed just two hits (and no walks).

The most questionable move came when Martinez was pulled from the game with Philadelphia up 1-0 in the eighth. Manager Charlie Manuel chose to bring in reliever Chan Ho Park (-.296 WPA). Park had dominated his former team the night before, so it’s easy to understand the line of thinking.

However, the veteran had just been activated from the disabled list before Game One of the series. Park had not pitched since Sept. 16 due to the injury problem. Why would you sit a guy for a month and then ask him to pitch on back-to-back days? It was well publicized that Park was not at 100% at the start of the series.

On offense for the Phillies, only first baseman Ryan Howard and catcher Carlos Ruiz had positive WPAs at .141 and .058, respectively.

The rest of the offense will look to get rolling tonight against LA’s Hiroki Kuroda, who has historically had good success against Philadelphia. Kuroda was activated prior to the NLCS after missing time due to a neck injury. He has not pitched since Sept. 28. As a result, the bullpen will be on its toes.

Cliff Lee will head to the hill for Philly. The club has won both of Lee’s 2009 playoff starts. The game will begin in Philadephia shortly after 8 p.m. Eastern.

The pitching was not pretty but the bats certainly picked up the slack for Philadelphia. The Phillies took Game One of the National League Championship Series on Thursday night with an 8-6 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

On offense, both left fielder Raul Ibanez and catcher Carlos Ruiz added nails to the Dodgers’ Game One coffin with three-run homers. Ruiz posted a WPA of .275, while Ibanez sat at .151. Ruiz added a single and walk to his performance on Thursday. Ibanez also had a single and scored a second run. For the third straight game, first baseman Ryan Howard made the most of one hit. He drove in two runs, scored once and walked twice. His WPA was .158.

Both left-handed starters, Cole Hamels for Philly (-.196 WPA) and Clayton Kershaw for LA (-.301), struggled. The pitcher of the game was Philadelphia reliever Chan Ho Park, who interestingly enough pitched for Los Angeles last year. He took to the mound in the seventh inning and posted a .240 WPA while striking out a batter and inducing two ground balls. Park missed the National League Division Series with injury woes and is not considered to be at full strength yet.

It’s not often that a team will walk away with a win in Los Angeles after allowing five Dodgers hitters to bang out two or more hits. Both James Loney (.193 WPA) and Andre Ethier (.176) had three hits. Manny Ramirez (-.042) was held to just one hit – but it was a two-run homer off of Hamels.

Let’s take a closer look at Carlos Ruiz‘ season. He doesn’t get a lot of attention as a top catcher because he doesn’t hit for a high average or slug a lot of homers, but the Panama native is better than most people realize (at least in the catcher context). For the ’09 season, Ruiz finished tied for fourth with St. Louis’ Yadier Molina in wOBA (.337) amongst catchers in the National League (300+ at-bats).

His ISO of .171 was good for fifth in the league for backstops. Ruiz also had the third highest walk rate and the third lowest strikeout rate. His BABIP of just .266 helps to explain the low batting average. He had the fourth best WPA (0.37) behind Atlanta’s Brian McCann (1.57), Arizona’s Miguel Montero (0.80), and Cincinnati’s Ramon Hernandez (0.62).

Overall, Ruiz was worth about $10 million to the Phillies in 2009 (he’s actually making just $475,000, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts), or slightly more than two runs above replacement. With his post-season contributions to this point added in, Ruiz has been worth much more than that to the Phillies.

Game One of the National League Championship Series (NLCS) begins in Los Angeles tonight. Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels will take to the mound against the Dodgers’ young lefty Clayton Kershaw.

Hamels will look to throw the ball better than he did in his one NLDS start against Colorado. In that game, Hamels took the loss after allowing four runs on seven hits in five innings of work. If confidence plays into his success at all, Hamels should be brimming with it when facing the Dodgers. He dominated the team a year ago in the ’08 NLCS.

The offense was pretty darn successful against Colorado in the National League Division Series. Entering the ’09 NLCS, the hot hitters include the big names like Shane Victorino, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, Chase Utley, and Raul Ibanez. Even Carlos Ruiz got in on the act. The one player we have yet to see break out in post-season play is shortstop Jimmy Rollins. He scored just one run in the NLDS, and posted an on-base average of just .263. Rollins did not drive in any runs, either, although, to be fair, that is not his job.

The bench – Miguel Cairo, Greg Dobbs, Matt Stairs, and Ben Francisco – was also quiet. Collectively, the quartet went 0-for-8 with one walk. That lack of production from the veterans could very easily have a much larger impact in the NLCS than it did in the NLDS.

As mentioned, these two teams faced off in the ’08 NLCS… With few major subtractions on either team, let’s have a look at the key additions for each club from one year ago.

Key Additions for Philadelphia:
Chan Ho Park, RHP
Pedro Martinez, RHP
Cliff Lee, LHP
Raul Ibanez, LF

Key Additions for Los Angeles:
Ronald Belisario, RHP
Vicente Padilla, RHP
George Sherrill, LHP
Randy Wolf, LHP
Jeff Weaver, RHP
Ronnie Belliard, 2B
Orlando Hudson, 2B
Jim Thome, 1B

Los Angeles has certainly had the bigger of the two face-lifts. Overall, though, you have to like the value of Philadelphia’s four additions over the eight players that LA added, based on what they collectively provided during the regular season: 12.3 vs 9.2 WAR.

On paper, it’s hard to pick a favorite to win the NLCS. Both teams have good pitching and good hitting. For the fans, this could end up being a very entertaining series. I’m also willing to bet that the bullpens and benches will play much larger roles than they did in the two division series.

At mid-season, Philadelphia was making a well-publicized push for Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay, a free agent after the 2010 season. With then Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi wanting the moon and then some, the Phillies organization looked elsewhere for pitching depth. General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. is looking like a very smart man.

Cleveland sent veteran southpaw Cliff Lee to the Phillies for four prospects: right-handed pitchers Carlos Carrasco and Jason Knapp, infielder Jason Donald, as well as catcher Lou Marson. Lee made 22 starts in Cleveland and was good for four wins above replacement (WAR). For Philly, he made 12 regular season starts and was good for a 2.4 WAR. In the playoffs to this point, Lee’s excellent pitching allowed Philadelphia the opportunity to win both of his starts (a 0.70 WPA).

So, how did the prospects end the season in the Cleveland organization? For Philly’s Triple-A squad, Carrasco – the highest-rated prospect in the trade – had a 2.92 FIP in 114.2 innings. In Cleveland’s system, he posted a 4.01 FIP in 42.1 innings, while allowing 31 hits and posting a walk rate of 2.98 BB/9 and a strikeout rate of 8.79. He made five starts in Cleveland and posted a 7.08 FIP. He had equal walk/strikeout rates at 4.43. Carrasco’s fastball value was well below-average at -5.95 wFB/C despite averaging 92.3 mph.

Marson hit .250/.346/.386 with a .136 ISO in 44 big-league at-bats for Cleveland. He also hit .243/.319/.340 in 103 Triple-A at-bats for the organization. Donald hit .257/.350/.400 but appeared in just 10 games after the trade due to an injury. Knapp also struggled through injuries in his new organization. (He was dealing with shoulder woes before the trade, too) Cleveland, though, could not turn down the opportunity to acquire his blazing fastball and gaudy strikeout numbers in low-A ball (11.03 K/9). Once in the Cleveland organization, Knapp made four starts and pitched just 11.2 innings.

That’s not a whole lot for the 2008 Cy Young award winner. Also keep in mind that Cleveland also tossed in outfielder Ben Francisco, who has some value as a bench player. To be honest, Donald and Marson are likely part-time players at best. Clevaland has better options, especially at catcher. Knapp is a long way away and the injury to his shoulder is worrisome. Carrasco is a pitcher who has never been able to live up to his impressive potential. Lee, on the other hand, has already exceeded expectation.

The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Colorado Rockies by the score of 5-4 on Monday night to take the best-of-five National League Division Series (NLDS) in four games. It was certainly an exciting end to the series with Colorado storming back to take the lead by the score of 4-2 in the eighth inning, with a three-run explosion. Unfortunately, yet another veteran closer blew up as Huston Street gave up three runs to the Phillies in the ninth inning.

Both starters were solid: Colorado’s Ubaldo Jimenez went 7.0 innings and posted a WPA of .133. Philly’s Cliff Lee went 7.1 innings and posted a WPA of .276. Offensively, Jayson Werth and Ryan Howard led the way for Philadelphia. Werth drove in two runs, plated once and posted a WPA of .397. Howard, again, made the most of one hit in the game – a double – and he drove in two runs and scored once. His WPA was .320.

Offensive MVP: Ryan Howard
Howard led the team with six RBI in the NLDS, and he also scored three runs. He heated up throughout the series, posting WPAs each game of .007, .115, .208, and .320.

Pitching MVP: Cliff Lee
Lee pitched a total of 16.1 innings out of a possible 18.0 frames, saving the bullpen and giving the team a great opportunity to win both games, which it did. He posted WPAs of .397 and .276.

Honorable Mentions:
Colorado’s most consistent hitter, despite the overall losing effort in the series, was young outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. In 17 at-bats, he hit .588/.632/.882 with 10 hits in four games. He also stole two bases, walked twice and struck out just once. Gonzalez had at least two hits in each game.

Veteran catcher Yorvit Torrealba had a big impact on the series as well, posting WPAs of .021, .213, -.132 and .321. He also played solid defense and did a nice job with his game calling. Torrealba led Rockies hitters with five RBI in the series and was second to Gonzalez in total bases with 10.

It’s now onto Los Angeles, where Philadelphia will face the Dodgers on Thursday night. The starters have not been announced yet, but lefty Cole Hamels is expected to get the ball in Game One of the National League Championship Series (NLCS). The two teams faced off in the 2008 NLCS, as well, with Philly coming out on top and eventually winning the World Series.

Prospect ranking season is just around the corner. In anticipation of that, we present an intro series looking at some of the players who deserve mentioning but probably will not be appearing on their teams’ Top 10 lists. The popular series is back for a second year.

The Graduate: Daniel Herrera, LHP
At 5’6” (or so), simply appearing in a Major League game would have been an accomplishment for Herrera. This southpaw appeared in 70 games for the Reds while posting a walk rate of 3.50 BB/9 and a strikeout rate of 6.42 K/9. His ground-ball rate of 50% was encouraging, especially considering that his heater averages out at a lukewarm 84 mph. His changeup, by far his best pitch (7.3 wCH) floats in around 68 mph. Left-handed batters hate him (.183) but right-handers love him (.361).

The Riser: Matt Maloney, LHP
The Reds big-league club received solid production from Maloney during a seven-start stint in the Majors. He showed good poise with a walk rate of 1.77 BB/9. Maloney allowd 43 hits in 40.2 innings of work. He gave up too many homers (1.99 HR/9) as a fly-ball pitcher. The southpaw has always posted good minor-league numbers despite having average stuff. His best pitch is his changeup, which he sets up with below-average fastball. Maloney has a chance to settle into the backend of the Reds’ rotation.

The Tumbler: Devin Mesoraco, C
The good news is that Mesoraco is still young; he’s just 21 years old. The bad news, though, is that his bat has been pretty much ineffective for his three pro seasons since being taken in the first round of the amateur draft. At high-A in 2009, Mesoraco hit .228/.311/.381 with a strikeout rate of 24.4%. His walk rate did show some signs of life at 10.4%, as did his power. Mesoraco’s ISO has increased each season and it topped out at .154 in ’09. Defensively, he threw out 30% of base runners attempting to steal.

The ’10 Sleeper: Juan Carlos Sulbaran, RHP
Sulbaran gained a following after appearing in the most recent World Baseball Classic. He did not make his Reds system debut until 2009 and the 19-year-old hurler was challenged with a gig in low-A ball. Sulbaran did not embarass himself, but his walk rate (4.95 BB/9) was high and he gave up a lot of homers (1.85 HR/9). His strikeout rate of 9.71 K/9 was encouraging. Look for bigger and better things in 2010, although he may return to the Midwest League.

Bonus: Kyle Lotzkar, RHP
Lotzkar was drafted out of Canada as a raw, but intriguing, pitching prospect and he was highlighted as the Reds’ sleeper prospect prior to the 2009 season. His pro career – like a lot of hard-throwing Canucks – has been littered with injuries. He made just 10 starts in ’09 and allowed 29 hits in 37.2 innings. Lotzkar’s strikeout rate of 11.95 K/9 is eye-popping, but so is the 5.73 BB/9. He needs to get a healthy streak together so he can gain some much-needed experience on the mound.