Lehigh Valley and Reading are on their All Star breaks.
Clearwater pitchers struck out 15 in a close win, Ranger Saurez struck out 7 in his debut.
Lakewood lost in spite of HRs by Jesus Alastre, Edgar Cabral, and Arquimedes Gamboa.
Williamsport scheduled off.
The GCL Phillies won on a walk off HR by Nieporte. Dominguez pitched rehab innings.
The Phillies have reached the All Star break with the worst record in baseball. They have lost twice as many games as they have won, have a 29-58 record, and a .333 PCT. They are 22.5 games out of first place in the East Division. They are 10.5 games behind the fourth place Mets. As far as the playoffs go, they are better off in the Wild Card race where they are only 21 games behind the Rockies. “Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game” (In Jim Mora’s squeaky voice.) Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of July 9th
Lehigh Valley powered past Scranton on J.P. Crawford’s sixth HR.
Reading saw their winning streak end at one
Clearwater wasted another fine pitching effort by Jose Taveras, one run in 7 innings.
Lakewood won via shut out behind Nick Fanti’s seven 3-hit innings.
Williamsport mashed 16 hits including HRs by Stobbe (5) and Listi (1) en route to victory.
Lehigh Valley couldn’t manufacture many runs with two of their stars in Miami.
Reading ended a five game losing streak.
Clearwater won with six shutout innings from JoJo Romero.
Lakewood got three perfect innings from Felix Paulino.
Williamsport debuted two more newly signed pitchers.
A look around the lower levels with plenty to talk about in Clearwater and Lakewood; Too early for any commentary on Williamsport or GCL performances.
Clearwater
Edgar Garcia, 20, Signed as a free agent in 2014; 19G (8 starts); 2-3 with a 4.03ERA; 51.1IP 55H 17BB 56K; .271 opp avg; 1.40WHIP; 3.0BB/9.8K per 9; .310 vs LHH, .244 vs RHH, .298 opp avg last 30 days; Garcia moved into the Clearwater rotation relatively recently and the results have been ok, his stuff is a bit better than ok.
Franklyn Kilome, 22, Signed as a free agent in 2014; 14 starts; 4-3 with a 2.61ERA; 69IP 65H 26BB 62K; .257 opp avg; 1.32WHIP; 3.4BB/8.1K per 9; .255 vs LHH, .259 vs RHH, .253 opp avg last 30 days; Very Good results for Kilome but not overwhelming; Has been consistent all season; Needs to improve his walk rate a bit.
JoJo Romero, 20, Phils 4th round pick in 2016; 14 starts between CLearwater and Lakewood; 5-2 with a 1.95ERA; 83IP 64H 23BB 89K; 2.5BB/9.7K per 9; .161 vs LHH, .254 vs RHH; .179 opp avg with RISP; Romero has been extremely impressive this year throwing consistently well for Lakewood before his promotion last week to Clearwater. He projects as a #3 or 4 major league starter at this rate.
Ranger Suarez, 21, Signed as a free agent in 2011; 14 starts, all for Lakewood; 6-2 with a 1.59ERA; 85IP 52H 24BB 90K; .177 opp avg; 0.89WHIP; 2.5BB/9.5K per 9; .080 vs LHH, .218 vs RHH; .109 with RISP; 1.05 ERA since June 1; Suarez received his well deserved promotion this week and has yet to make a start for Clearwater; The numbers simply cant get much better.
Jose Taveras, 23, Signed as a free agent in 2014; 14 starts, 5-4 with a 2.45ERA; 88IP 74H 22BB 77K; .227 opp avg; 1.09WHIP; 2.3BB/7.9K per 9; .193 vs LHH, .251 vs RHH, .244 opp avg last 30 days; Taveras has been excellent all season; I would love to see him get a half dozen starts for Reading before the year is out.
Jacob Waguespack, 23, Signed as a free agent in 2015; 21 games, 7 starts; 5-3 with a 2.53ERA; 53.1IP 47H 19BB 57K; 3.2BB/9.6K per 9; .258 vs LHH, .223 vs RHH; .239 opp avg last 30 days; As a starter: 4-1 with a 1.97ERA; .231 opp avg; 1.06WHIP; Waguespack’s transition into the rotation has been largely successful. Still needs to be stretched out a bit.
Lakewood
Bailey Falter, 20, Phils 5th round pick in 2015; 14 starts, 4-5 with a 3.24ERA; 75IP 80H 13BB 63K; .276 opp avg; 1.24WHIP; 1.6BB/7.6K per 9; .315 vs LH, .245 vs RHH, .300 opp avg last 30 days; Falter has thrown well this year with an occasional expected bump along the way. Continue reading Around the System–Starting Pitching, Lower Levels
Lehigh Valley won – pitching by Leibrandt, offense by Cozens and Rodriguez.
Reading dropped a double header.
Clearwater lost by ten.
Lakewood wasted a nice start by Llovera.
Williamsport got a great start from Kyle Young and HR by Haseley (1) and Ortiz.
The GCL Phillies won, Mezquita made his debut and Pelletier hit his first HR.
Lehigh Valley was shut out by the Nationals new pitcher, former major leaguer, Edwin Jackson.
Reading lost, Velasquez pitched three rehab innings.
Clearwater lost a slugfest.
Lakewood got a nice game from Medina.
Williamsport got pounded.
The GCL Phillies held on to win a one-run game.
I saw on Twitter that SS Dalton Guthrie has signed. No word on the bonus.
This is the ninth in a series of interviews conducted by Steve Potter.
Minor League Spot Light: Jack Zoellner
Phillies 2017 9th Round Draft Pick Jack Zoellner Jack is yet another ballplayer from the state of Arizona to become part of the Phillies system, he hails from Gilbert, Arizona where he attended Gilbert High School. He led the state in home runs as a high school senior with 13 and was named All-Conference, All-Tribune and All-State. Continue reading Jack Zoellner Interview – 2017
This is the eighth in a series of interviews conducted by Steve Potter.
Spot Light: Connor Brogdon
Phillies 10th round pick, Connor Brogdon, was one of the first of the 2017 draft class to sign a contract. He’s a 6’6″ senior from three time consecutive NAIA National Champion Lewis Clark State in Idaho. Continue reading Connor Brogdon Interview – 2017
Lehigh Valley lost, issuing more walks (12) than hits (11). Moore hit his 4th.
Reading lost after a 6-run fifth. Tromp hit his 11th.
Clearwater won but was out hit 13-6.
Lakewood lost but the pitching was good.
Williamsport won, the pitching was good. Haseley, Fitch, and Duran had multi-hit games.
The GCL Phillies won. Quincy Nieporte had an auspicious debut with 2 hits including a HR. Jake Holmes also debuted and collected his first hit.
Another dozen transactions – 4 signings announced, 1 rehab assignment, 1 trip to the DL, and 6 more players assigned to Williamsport. Their roster now numbers 33 players.
Phuture Phillies 