Phillies AAA Scouting Reports: Hollands, Hernandez, and Valle

Mario Hollands was a college pick in the 10th round in 2010. He has gross looking mechanics, in which there is not much of a stride. He comes sidearm after hiding his arm behind him. The lefty was throwing mainly 90-91 (he started a little below that and seemed to regress back to the high 80s in the middle innings) with a bit of cut action when I saw him. He mixes speed with a lively changeup in the upper 70s. He has really struggled in a short sample size in AAA. It is pretty obvious that he is lacking a 3rd pitch. The Phillies obviously picked him as a guy with a low ceiling but high floor. Right now, his command is really hurting him. I don't see what his specialty is. He doesn't strikeout many batters, walks about an average amount, and doesn't get a good amount of grounders. If you believe that keeping the ball in the park is a specific skill (which I tend to think it is while xFIP and SIERA doesn't outside of GB/FB/LD rate), that is something he has done well other than his terrible start in AAA.

Cesar Hernandez is a small 2nd baseman that has moved pretty quickly since being signed out of Venezuela. He has good but not elite speed (44 steals over the last 2 years with 25 caught stealings confirm this. His speed score is just 5.9 in AAA this year, but the Baseball Cube rates his speed at 88. I think that ranking is too high, reality is most likely between 59 and 88 out of 100). His range isn't the best, which is probably why he is not a shortstop.A little bit of a chop swing that explains a lot of the mediocre numbers he has put up in the minors. The bat speed looks fine though, and he shouldn't strikeout too much, but he hasn't walked a lot in his career either.

Sebastian Valle is a catcher with what looks like pull power. His plate discipline was lacking and he was swinging at terrible pitches, but he has a pretty swing. He has been in the system since 2007 (Dominican Summer League) but is just 22 years old. Behind the plate, he seems to be able to block pitches in the dirt pretty well.

23 year old J.C. Ramirez is a big right-handed reliever. with a changeup (with some dip) at 83-85 MPH that he features along with a 93-94 MPH fastball. His control is below average but he isn't especially wild.

Jonathan Pettibone is just 21 and has already made it to AAA as a starter. In 7 starts, he was solid, with a 3.25 FIP, not giving up a single homer (despite a mediocre K/BB). The right-hander's fastball is not very impressive, sitting just at 89-92 MPH (touched 94) with a mediocre 83 MPH curveball. He has a 89 MPH cutter that breaks like a slider and this is his best pitch, getting him plenty of movement. He showed the ability to bury it and get swings and misses.