The Phillies played the Yankees at Bright House Field on Thursday. With Franklyn Kilome and Tyler Gilbert leading the way and a little offense for a change, today’s game was much easier to watch. There were still some ineffective at bats, but a few hard hit balls lessened that concern a little.
Franklyn Kilome started and pitched three innings. He looked pretty dominant. He gave up one run on two infield hits, a walk, three Ks, and 2 WP. He recorded two Ks in the first inning at 93 and 94 mph FB. He started the second inning with a pop single that landed in the no man’s land among LF, CF, and SS (and which should have been caught by the SS). Kilome responded with a DP ball. He got the third out of the inning with the batter taking a called third strike on a 79 mph CB. The Yankees took the lead in the third inning when they got their lead off batter on base on a single off the glove of shortstop Gamboa. While Kilome was walking the next batter on four pitches, the runner stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. The runner on first was thrown out on an attempted steal of second. However, a second wild pitch allowed the runner to score.
Tyler Gilbert pitched the next two innings. He retired all six batters he faced. He struck out his final two batters swinging – one on an 88 FB, the other on a 74 CB.
Skylar Hunter followed with two innings. He gave up a soft single to center that was erased on a stolen base attempt in the sixth inning. He started the seventh inning by giving up a double on a ground ball down the left field line and allowed the runner to take third on an errant pick off throw. He came close to escaping the inning without a run but Tobias booted a line drive that allowed the run to score.
Robert Tasin finished up. He breezed through 14-pitch eighth and recorded his only strike out on an 85 mph off speed pitch. Tasin gave up an unearned run in a 23-pitch ninth inning. An error with two outs extended the inning. A wild pitch moved the runner into scoring position. A ground single to right scored the run.
Just to give you an idea how bad the offense was this week, the Phillies hadn’t sent five batters to the plate in any inning of the two games I watched earlier in the week. That streak was snapped in the second inning when Edgar Cabral reached on a HBP and Cornelius Randolph lined a double off the base of the right field wall. However, the next three batters couldn’t produce a run.
They sent five batters to the plate in the third inning, but couldn’t score again. Cabral broke the string of shutout innings I watched this week with a lead off home run in the fourth. He drove the ball deep into the Tiki Terrace in left.
The Phillies scored three more runs in the fifth. Ortiz dropped a Texas League single in left center field to start the inning. Luke Williams followed that with a soft line drive single to center. Greg Pickett chased them both home with a hard ground ball down the right field line that reached the corner. He raced to third for his first professional triple. He scored on a fielding error two outs later.
The Phillies offense went dormant after the fifth. They got a ground single from Brito in the sixth, but the Yankees’ 6’6 Domingo Acevedo came in to dominant the final two innings. His FB was 96-97. He recorded two Ks, one at 97 and the other at 98.
For those who are interested, here’s the batting order –
- Juan Luis/Reggie Wilson, CF
- Josh Tobias, 2B
- Luis Encarnacion 1B/DH
- Edgar Cabral/Nerluis Martinez, C
- Cornelius Randolph/Zachary Coppola, LF
- Jonathan Arauz/Daniel Brito, SS
- Brendon Hayden, DH/1B
- Jhailyn Ortiz, RF/DH
- Luke Williams, 3B
- Greg Pickett, DH/RF
The pitchers put up the following lines –
- IP H R ER BB K Other
- Kilome 3.0 2 1 1 1 3 2 WP
- Gilbert 2.0 0 0 0 2 1
- Hunter 1.0 1 1 1 2 1
- Tasin 2.0 3 2 2 2 2 WP
- Batters Faced: Kilome 10, Gilbert 6, Hunter 7, Tasin 8
Extra Innings –
- Kilome threw 32 pitches in 3 IP, 25 FB. His FB was 91-94.
- Gilbert threw 22 pitches in 2 IP, 15 FB. His FB was 86-89, T90 once.
- Hunter threw 40 pitches in 2 IP, 35 FB. His FB was 90-91, T92 in his 11-pitch first inning, but 88-90 in his 29-pitch second inning.
- Hunter threw 29 pitches to four batters in the seventh inning as batters were able to foul off pitches to extend their at bats.
- Tasin threw 37 pitches in 2 IP, 24 FB. His FB was 87-90, T91
- The Phillies collected 7 hits, including Cabral’s HR, Pickett’s triple, Randolph’s double, and singles by Tobias, Brito, Ortiz, and Williams.
- Pickett also worked a walk, the Phillies second of the week.
- I’m impressed with the patience the HS kids have shown at the plate – Randolph, Pickett, Williams, Ortiz.
Phuture Phillies 
Yankees usually drop big dollars on LA guys, but Acevedo was a low-dollar and late age signing@19…..huge, reports say he reminds some of Dellin Betances or Michael Pineda. A good challenge for the young Phillies hitters.
was wondering Jim if you have any thoughts on the number of wild pitches, which struck me as high but maybe isn’t. Did the pitchers look especially wild? Not on the same page as the catcher?
My guess is that the pitchers are all working on new pitches in Instructs and sometimes they bounce them.
I would attribute the wildness as a result of the pitchers attempting new pitches, new deliveries, and different release points. Instructs is a time when pitchers can try the new things the coaches suggest without fear of failure. It’s a learning environment. More so than the summer leagues where outcomes are a little more scrutinized.
I really appreciate your continuing accounts, as always. They are frank and detailed. Great job! But I have to say that they don’t represent the young Phils in a very good light by comparison with the FIL peers. Where are the budding stars?
What does that mean? Where are the budding stars?
olgrandad….look at the lineup above in JP’s post? Other then Tobias, many are under 20-years old and most 18, maybe 19-years old. Yesterday they faced at one point. a 21-year old Yankee pitcher who velos at 97/98.
One reason the Phillies hitters , these last few particular weeks, may be struggling, they may be facing pitchers in the Jays and Yankees orgs that are a few years older then them. And at their point of development that could be a determining factor in their offensive struggles. Most times 20/21-year old layers will best 18/19-year old players, except for that rare talent like a Harper or Trout.
Good point. Monday they faced three Jays’ pitchers who tossed an inning each before leaving for Arizona. Additionally, there were three position players in the line up who were headed to Arizona.
Without knowing what each player is working on, it is difficult to assess a player’s progress. So far,I have been comfortable with what I’ve seen from the pitchers. The lack of velocity stands out, but it doesn’t concern me too much. It’s not likely that they would concentrate on a four-seamer here. It’s more likely that they work on two-seamers, cutters, change-ups, sliders, etc, and their movement.
Batters are probably seeing a lot of inconsistency from pitchers who are working on their own new stuff; while they are working on new stances, grips, loads, etc.
Olgrandad good question
Jim, from your vantage point, can you tell whether Kilome is striking guys out with fastballs IN the zone, or are they chasing fastballs outside the zone.
I was behind the plate, top of the section. From where I sat, it looked like his FB are in the zone. His lower than expected velocity leads me to believe that he is working on a two-seamer with sink and run.
Thanks for the info! That’s one of the things that successful pitchers at the higher levels are able to do. Get swings and misses from fastballs in the zone.
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