Four games. Four wins. Four shutouts.
Lehigh Valley swept Scranton behind shutout pitching by Enyel De Los Santos and Pedro Beato in the opener; and the bullpen in the second game (Brandon Leibrandt, Seranthony Dominguez, Austin Davis, and Tom Windle.
Reading was postponed, again.
Clearwater beat Dunedin behind a combined one-hitter by Bailey Falter, Alexis Rivero, and Aaron Brown. Darick Hall’s eighth home run provided the winning margin.
Lakewood beat Kannapols behind David Parkinson’s solid start, and some scrambling by Zach Warren, Julian Garcia, and Kyle Dohy. Danny Mayer’s first home run of the season provided all the offense as the BlueClaws managed just two hits.
Here’s the affiliate scoreboard from MiLB.
Lehigh Valley (11-10) swept Scranton, 4-0 and 3-0.
Game One: Enyel De Los Santos pitched into the sixth inning, allowing 6 hits and a walk. Pedro Beato (3.60) entered with 2 runners on base, stranded both, and struck out three in 1.1 innings on the way to his 5th save.
The IronPigs provided De Los Santos all the runs he would need when Danny Ortiz homered (3) following Roman Quinn’s lead off walk in the first. The tacked on 2 more in the fifth on RBI singles by Quinn and Dylan Cozens.
Quinn had 2 hits and 2 stolen bases.
- #14 Enyel De Los Santos (2-0, 1.40): 5.2 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K,
- #15 Tom Eshelman (1-1, 5.29):
- #16 Roman Quinn (.318): went 2-2 with a run scored, RBI, BB, 2 SB (9)
- #18 Dylan Cozens (.250): went 1-3 with an RBI
- #24 Drew Anderson: 7-day DL, right forearm strain
- #25 Cole Irvin (0-1, 5.40):
Game Two: Brandon Leibrandt (0.00) was asked to start and turned in 3.0. one-hit innings. Seranthony Dominguez (1-0, 0.00) followed with 2.0, no-hit innings, striking out three, and getting the win. Austin Davis (3.09) pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out two. Tom Windle (5.06) allowed two hits in the seventh on his way to earning his first save.
The IronPigs scored all three of their runs in the fourth inning on RBI singles by Trevor Plouffe and Joey Meneses, and a sacrifice fly by Nick Rickles. They made the most of their limited offense. Their only other hit was a double by Meneses in the 6th inning.
- #14 Enyel De Los Santos (2-0, 1.40):
- #15 Tom Eshelman (1-1, 5.29):
- #16 Roman Quinn (.318): entered the game as a defensive substition
- #18 Dylan Cozens (.254): went 1-3 with a run scored
- #24 Drew Anderson: 7-day DL, right forearm strain
- #25 Cole Irvin (0-1, 5.40):
Reading (8-12) postponed, wet grounds.
- #8 JoJo Romero (0-3, 7.20):
- #9 Franklyn Kilome (1-0, 3.68):
- #11 Ranger Suarez (1-1, 4.13):
- #12 Seranthony Dominguez (1-2, 2.08):
- #17 Cornelius Randolph (.159):
Clearwater (9-15) beat Dunedin, 1-0.
Bailey Falter allowed just one hit in 7.0 innings. He walked one and struck out five. Alexis Rivero followed with a clean inning. Aaron Brown earned his first save, but made it interesting, walking the first 2 batters in the ninth.
Darick Hall provided all the offense that Falter would need with a lead off HR (8) in the second inning. Austin Listi, Hall, and Henri Lartigue had 2 hits apiece.
Falter was perfect through three innings. He lost the no-hit bid when Logan Warmouth doubled after the umpire missed a third strike call on a perfect off speed pitch. Always a controversial call in these low hit games. He issued his only free pass after the double, but ended the inning with a strike out and a double play Later, the baseball gods inserted an equalizer when Joshua Palacios was ruled out for interference after a perfect drag bunt in the seventh inning. An errant throw on the play would have put Palacios on second with nobody out.
Falter threw just 82 pitches, 57 for strikes (69.5%).
Falter had a game score of 83.
Hall leads the FSL with his 8 HR.
Gamboa and Moniak had the day off. Haseley started in center for just the 4th time this season. It did not show up in the box score, but the Threshers mis-handled a lot of balls. Their one error (throwing) was the result of one of many bobbles and drops. This was a recurring theme throughout the series. Maybe the off day Monday will allow them to work on their fielding (and their bunting, you would be surprised how many times they fail to get down a bunt, both as a sacrifice and for a hit).
Had it not been for a scoring change after a game in Charlotte, Falter would have allowed just 4 earned runs in 23.0 innings for a 1.57 ERA instead of his bloated 2.35. 😉
- #1 Sixto Sanchez (1-1, 3.71):
- #4 Adonis Medina (1-1, 5.63):
- #5 Mickey Moniak: DNP
- #6 Adam Haseley: 1-4
- #10 Arquimedes Gamboa: DNP
- #19 Jose Gomez: went 1-4 with a double
- #23 McKenzie Mills (0-1, 3.00):
- Darick Hall: went 2-4 with a run scored, HR (8), RBI (18)
- Austin Listi: went 2-4
- Henri Lartigue: went 2-4 with a double
- Bailey Falter (3-0, 2.35): 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Lakewood (14-10) beat Kannapolis, 1-0.
David Parkinson (2-1, 0.21) pitched 6.0, shutout innings allowing 5 hits, walking 2, and striking out five. The bullpen made it interesting down the stretch.
Zach Warren (4.15) opened the seventh with a single and a walk. A ground out put runners on second and third. Warren escaped with 2 strike outs sandwiching a bases loading walk.
Julian Garcia (5.25) opened the eighth by retiring the first batter on an attempted bunt. Then went walk, strike out, walk, strike out.
Kyle Dohy (0.00, 3 saves) opened the ninth with a strike out. The next batter sinfled to center, but was thrown out trying to steal by Rodolfo Duran. Dohy walked the next batter who was replaced by a pinch runner who reached second on a wild pitch. A fly ball to Josh Stephen ended the suspense.
Lakewood only managed two hits, but one was a HR by Danny Mayer (.333), his first this season. Daniel Brito’s two-out double in the third was their only other hit.
- #7 Jhailyn Ortiz (.158): is on the 7-day DL
- #13 Daniel Brito (.171): went 1-3 with a double
- #22 Spencer Howard (2-1, 1.89):
- #30 Simon Muzziotti (.293): is on the 7-day DL (hand injury)
- Colby Fitch (.238): DNP
- Nick Maton (.288): DNP
- Josh Stephen (.237): went 0-3
These prospects are in Philadelphia.
- #2 Scott Kingery: 85 of 130 career AB, 31 of 45 days with Phillies (May 13th)
- #3 J.P. Crawford: >130 of 130 career AB (added to the 10-day DL)
- #27 Victor Arano: 22.2 of 50 innings, 31 of 45 days with Phillies (May 13th)
And these guys are still in Clearwater.
- #20 Kyle Young: XST
- #21 Francisco Morales: XST
- #26 Luis Garcia: XST
- #28 J.D. Hammer: XST
- #29 Kevin Gowdy: not expected to pitch this season
XST
Kyle Young is scheduled to start a game Monday.
There are over 90 players at the Complex. The Phillies have provided a roster that includes 80 players in extended spring training.
2018 XST League Schedule and link to Phillies XST schedule.
Link to Phillies GCL schedule.
Transactions
4/29/18–Phillies placed SS J.P. Crawford on the 10-day DL. Right forearm strain
4/29/18–Phillies recalled 2B Jesmuel Valentin from Lehigh
4/29/18–RHP Ismael Cabrera assigned to Williamsport from Clearwater
4/29/18–Clearwater activated RHP Will Hibbs from the 7-day DL
4/28/18–Wilson Garcia assigned to Williamsport from Clearwater .
4/28/18–Clearwater activated C Edgar Cabral from the 7-day DL.
4/27/18–Tyler Gilbert transferred from Williamsport to Reading
4/27/18–Phillies recalled Jake Thompson from Lehigh Valley
4/27/18–Phillies placed Ben Lively on the 10-day disabled list. Lower back strain
4/27/18–Lehigh Valley placed Logan Moore on the 7-day DL retro to 4/26/18. Right shin contusion
4/27/18–Danny Mayer assigned to Lakewood from Clearwater
4/27/18–Spencer Howard assigned to Williamsport from Lakewood
4/27/18–Clearwater activated 2B Jose Antequera
4/27/18–Jhostyn Marin signed as an international FA; assigned to DSL Phillies Red
4/27/18–RHP Seranthony Dominguez assigned to Lehigh Valley from Reading
4/26/18–Austin Davis assigned to Lehigh Valley from Reading
4/26/18–Tyler Gilbert transferred from Reading to Williamsport
4/26/18–Lakewood placed Jhailyn Ortiz on the 7-day Disabled List
4/26/18–RHP Luis Carrasco assigned to Lakewood from Williamsport
4/25/18–Signed Nathaniel Bido as an international FA; assigned to DSL Phillies Red
4/25/18–LHP Austin Davis assigned to Reading from Lehigh Valley
4/25/18–3B Trevor Plouffe assigned to Lehigh Valley
4/24/18–Voided contract of Felix Neguis with DSL Phillies Red
4/24/18–RHP Luis Carrasco assigned to Williamsport from Lakewood.
4/24/18–RHP Ramon Rosso assigned to Lakewood from Williamsport.
4/23/18–Trevor Plouffe signed to a minor league contract; assigned to Lehigh Valley
4/23/18–3B Heiker Meneses assigned to Reading from Lehigh Valley
4/23/18–RHP Tyler Viza assigned to Reading from Lehigh Valley
4/23/18–Jose Antequera assigned to Williamsport from Reading
4/23/18–Jacob Waguespack added to Lehigh Valley active roster
4/23/18–Hoby Milner added to Lehigh Valley active roster
I’ve brought the rosters and lists up to date as of 4/25. I’ve got 326 players in the organization. It’s probably more.
Phuture Phillies 
Bailey Falter is the man and CLW continues to hit. With 10 hits in last nights game. but only 1 run scored and that came on a HR. They aren’t timely hitting. That should improve and as the pitching improves, the hitters will get a lot looser.
I found the perfect example of a 1st round bust (2014 draft). No, he doesn’t play in the Phil’s organization. His name is Braxton Davidson and he plays for Florida in the FSL (ATL organization). Braxton is a 1st baseman who has 42 Ks in 78 ABs. He only has 2 HRs this year and 29 total in over 1,400 ABs. He’s still 21 but has shown very little. He has a .352 OBP over the 4 prior years but only has a .233 OBP this year. Pitchers in the FSL have realized he can’t hit a lick so why nibble around the edges. Just throw the pitch down main street. And with 29 HRs in those 1,400 ABs, if he does hit the ball it probably won’t leave the park.
Lots of pitching doing better now but the hitting is light. De Los Santos will be in Philly by June if he keeps this up in May, he looks very good. He just has to improve his control a bit more. Also, not too far fetched to see Williams and Quinn swap places.
Falter and Parkinson both looking terrific. Congrats to Hibbs!
Right now (and probably in the future too) Quinn is a much better player than Williams.
For reasons that are mystifying, Williams feels as if he arrived last year when, in fact, he barely started his journey. He needs to go down to AAA to see if he can really become a player. I’d like Quinn to have another month of ABs (and Williams probably deserves a month too), but then if nothing has changed, they should trade places. Quinn is one of the most exciting players I’ve ever watched and not just in the minors. He can do it all. A lot like Jimmy Rollins when he first came up.
Thanks for this, Jim. How hard is Falter throwing now?
I see Cody Asche raised his avg to .145 with his 1-3 yesterday. LF of the future….
One of my worst predictions ever, I was so wrong on Asche
Four of the 10 worst BB% in the FSL belong to Clearwater hitters: Jose Gomez (1.4%), Raul Rivas (1.5%), Adam Haseley (2.1%), and Mickey Moniak (2.2%).
Mickey Mo, after drawing a walk in each of his first two games, has not done so in the twenty games since.
This is … not good. Are Clearwater coaches encouraging these guys to be super aggressive at the plate?
Could just be that pitchers are attacking the zone since they haven’t been much of a risk to punish mistakes.
Think of it like Ben Revere; it’s not that he didn’t recognize when a pitch was out of the zone, it just never was because he had no power.
That’s a solid theory. It’s also scary, considering Mickey Mo’s struggles to hit the ball consistently. If they’re pounding the zone, a good hitter should be making regular contact.