38 thoughts on “Clearwater Threshers Recap – 5/23/2018”

1. Let’s hope Eshelman is back to his old stingy self. In his last 2 games, 12 IP, he’s given up 10 hits and 3 ERs (2.25 ERA). He only has 4 Ks but has no BBs. That’s more like the Eshelman of old.

   Grullon has been solid this year. His .293/.317/.556 is very good. He doesn’t strike out a lot but he also doesn’t BB much. His 7 HRs are great but it is Reading and all of his HRs have come at home. Defensively he’s solid too. He’s thrown out 31% of potential base stealers. He has 4 Es and 4 PBs.

   1. Grullon’s offence has been good this year and he has a great are but being on Pace for yet another year of 10+ errors and 10+ pass balls does not scream solid defensively to me.

      I know nothing about his pitch framing or game calling skills. Is there any way to get out statistics comparison of when Grullon’s is catching versus when Bossart is catching?

      1. Home / Road splits are crazy

         Home OPS – 1.063 Slugging – .755
         Road OPS – .591 Slugging – .302

         That is about the biggest disparity we’ve seen from any prospect.

         With those splits, would you still call his offense good?

      2. I ran some career numbers a few weeks ago among all catchers with at least 500 AB’s in the org, Grullon was worst in fielding percentage and caught stealing and 3rd to last in range factor. He calls a great fastball, but other than that I don’t see what the fuss is about him defensively. Bossart, Cabral and Lartigue outshine him defensively based on the numbers.

2. a bonus pre-draft college game report- great!

   that was Zach Green with the homer for Reading. That was the Phils only damage off former 1st round pick TJ Zeuch, who went 7 ip for the first time this year. Vlad had 2 hits so he’s at .425 but one-time Phils pick Cavan Biggio is just a couple points behind Vlad in OPS at 1.12.

3. Astudillo finished last year with the Twins’ Class A team. Now he is in AAA, which is more fitting. He is a catcher. He still has the hit tool. Nice to see him doing so well.

   1. This guy is such an outlier hitting talent. He never draws walks but he also never strikes out. Such a weird player.

4. Fanti needs a few more starts to get back in the groove. A+ is a step up too. He is a good pitcher, who I am sure, will find his way.

   1. Fanti is going to have to do some things exceptionally well to continue to advance given how slow he throws. It’s not going to be easy for him.

5. I am so conflicted about where this team stands in the majors and minors.

   On the pitching side, it’s all going about as well as it could go and, frankly, if you have good pitching it’s hard not to be competitive. They are loaded at the major league and minor league levels – truly loaded. And they have found their closer for probably the next 10 years in Dominguez.

   On the hitting side, there are a lot of young hitters at the major league level with varying degrees of ability. Even the two best hitters who are established major leaguers (Herrera and Hernandez) are still pretty young. The other younger players are not doing very well so far, but you have to think that, as a group, they will do nothing but improve and you’d expect a few of them to at least be well above average regulars over time (or better).

   But on the minor league level, it’s hard to imagine the organization having a worse year. In all of their minor league teams, with the exception I guess of Listi and maybe Hall, there are no true standout performers through almost two months of the season. Again, the major leaguer hitters are young and they have pitching assets that they can trade to obtain hitting assets so it’s not a crisis now, but they need to revamp the system in terms of obtaining and developing hitting talent because on the hitting side the system is getting failing grade now.

   1. I guess you could add Cabral and Meneses to that list but the latter is old and barely a prospect and the former has struggled after a fast start.

      1. I don’t agree with your premise or your assessment.

         While it would be great to see hitters bursting out at every level, success to me is measured by the development of a small number of bats in the high minors to contribute in the near term.

         Joey Meneses has been a revelation. I’m encouraged by the progress of Mitch Walding, Nick Rickles and Roman Quinn before he went on the DL. At Reading Zach Green, Malquin Canelo, Damek Tomscha and Devi Grullon are top performers offensively.

         If Meneses were a prospect we’d been tracking over the years, we’d be ecstatic over the season he is having.

         1. You’re really fighting me at the margins here.

            None of the players you’ve mentioned (aside from perhaps Canelo or Grullon are bona fide prospects and they are doing okay – not great, but okay) are prospects and most are vagabond players. Quinn’s a real talent but he’s always injured and cannot be counted on for anything.

            Guys in their mid to late 20s putting up okay numbers in AA and AAA are nothing to write home about.

            Nope – you’ve done nothing to really refute my argument.

            1. The good news is that the pitching has been just about as good as the hitting has been bad.

            2. Not sure how you can argue against what you are saying. As far as position players go, this year has been terrible so far.

   2. Touché
      I just assume right now the need for the hitters in the minors to have immediate successful progression is not as critical since so many of the Phillies are young like you say…besides Doobie and Cesar…add in the young group of Hoskins, Kingery, Alf, Williams and even Franco. Though each one of the latter bunch, has a major wart or two that will need time and experience to iron out……..except Franco he needs to do it this season.

   3. too bad that Muzziotti got hurt because he is playing well before the injury. the lack of production is highlighted since none of top bats (Ortiz, Haseley, Moniak, C, Brito, Cozens, Gomez) are performing well. It is the “has-beens” Walding and Zach Green who are putting up a decent showing.

      Haseley is starting to warm up and maybe this will start a chain reaction.

      1. Kurdt,

         Ortiz is coming off the DL so he has time to warm up. Hope for a strong second half. Haseley is hitting and could end the season having put up the numbers we’d like to see.

         On the other side, C isn’t doing it, but is also very young for his league so I’ll continue to be patient into next year. Cozens is more problematic. If he doesn’t turn it around I’d say a change of scenery might be called for.

         On the positive side, Green is having a strong year, though his K rate is troublesome.

      2. I’m not concerned about Haseley’s average – I’m concerned about his power and his plate discipline – those are the things he needs to succeed in the long run. He has bat to ball skills – I’m okay with that.

         1. agreed. was going to say something similar. his k rate is below 20%, which means he has no problem making contact. but his walk rate is horrible. i am less concerned about his poor power, as he is still young. But the lack of walks/plate discipline is something that has to improve. that said, his performance is certainly light years ahead of MM and CR.

   4. They’re growing the arms and buying the bats, like MacPhail said.

      1. Yeah, I thought about that, but I don’t think you take three top 10 position player picks in a row with the expectation that none will be above average regulars. If so, you need to re-think your drafting strategy.

         1. I see your point, Catch, but drafting even arms is so risky that the net is cast wider throughout the later rounds for diamonds in the rough. I think the 1st rounder is based merely on availability and skill set, NOT need for arm or position player.

            1. Agreed, but you should have less of a need to buy bats when you use top 10 picks to draft bats. The Red Sox and Yankees supply most of their own lumber from their own farm systems.

               1. I agree that recent 1st rounders were taken on the cheap. Hope they learned their lesson to simply grab the BPA.

               2. I disagree. Hindsight is 20/20. Both Moniak and Haseley were reasonably if not universally considered the best player available. Randolph was slightly more of a reach but was considered the best high school hit tool at the time. None of the picks were loudly squawked about at the time

                  Now the scouts/front office should make there money hitting on the evaluations other missed. Spencer Howard might be a good example of doing that. Many people squawked at a guy that was considered a low ceiling back of the rotation arm that the front office seemed to heap a ton of praise on.

6. Haseley has his average up over .270, and has been playing much better. Instead of thinking he was going to fly to the Majors like Benintendi, I am going to be happy with the progress he is showing from the beginning of the year. Still upset about Quinn.

   1. I think if they would have move Quinn at the beginning get of the season I don’t think he would have had all these injury the kids just bust his tail trying to get there and get the raw end of the stick each time

7. the Harold Arauz experiment needs to stop now. The Phils have a lot of better arms needing new challenges. Medina needs to be protected this year, so take Arauz out of the rotation and promote either Medina or Sixto so one either Howard or Rosso can move up to CLW.

   I’m not sure if Kilome will ever develop a decent 3rd pitch behind the FB-CB. Kilome has a career 3.8 BB/9 and his BB/9 is elevated this year. Maybe a transition to the pen? I’m actually feel that Seranthony can have a better success as a starter than Kilome since Seranthony can throw at least 3 potential above average pitches and Seranthony took off when converted to a bullpen. Maybe the same can be done to Kilome.

   1. I wouldn’t worry about it – Harold Arauz isn’t blocking any of those superior prospects. When those guys are ready, they will be promoted. Mediocre prospects don’t block great prospects.

   2. KK – I suspect some view Kilome’s upside now as “only” a reliever. Problem is with those walks, though.

      1. i think the BB rate will go down if Kilome will transition to the pen. Kilome will now focus on throwing his best pitch (FB-CB) and will not worry about facing the batter more than once. Trying to mix the pitches while developing another is probably the culprit of the high BB rate.

8. To catch22 – I am inclined to agree with you. It is frustrating to see position players who are scratching out only modest offense in Reading. It would be nice to see several “recognizable” draft/ LA pieces mashing the ball with some conviction. While the ML team is stocked with young players I think we all mindful of how this team disintegrated from 2012 on through old age when there wasn’t a conscious effort to add younger players to the team each year. I am wondering now, if something was to happen to Alfaro, who in the world catches ? Knapp has been less than effective – even as a backup. Maybe Joey Bart has to be the draft choice ? Even though Madrigal appears to be the best position player, does the ML team yet another 2b ???????

   1. I wouldn’t worry about the catcher. If something happens to Alfaro they’d trade for a back-up and Knapp would get a better chance to break out of his funk – it would be fine.

   2. “Madrigal appears to be the best position player, does the ML team yet another 2b ???????’…besides being a great hitter, he is an athlete.
      He probably can play 3rd base, and has played a little of shortstop.
      And why not a corner OF position?
      if Kingery can do it…Madrigal probably can also.

      1. Generally speaking I would go with the best player. That said, the assessment of who is the best player has to be correct and the Phillies have not been good in assessing hitters. So we’ll see.

         1. agree , Randolph and Moniak have been disasters so far.

9. Jhailyn Ortiz has 3 hits so far in the Blue Claws twin bill. 2 singles in game one, just doubled to RF in 1st inning of game 2. Nice trend for the big guy.

Comments are closed.