Clearwater Threshers Recap – 7/17/2018

Box Score Recap

The Clearwater Threshers (46-47) beat Daytona, 5-1.  Felix Paulino (1-3, 3.18) pitched six, one-run innings on six hits and 2 walks.  He struck out four.  Blake Quinn (5.31) pitched two, scoreless innings.  And, Addison Russ (3.09) struck out two in one inning.

The Threshers overcame an early 1-run lead on Mickey Moniak’s 2-run HR in the fourth inning.  

They extended their lead with 3 runs in the fifth.  With runners on the corners, Kevin Markham chopped a ball over the first baseman that rolled down the line.  The right fielder couldn’t corral the ball along the bleacher wall and as the ball rolled into the corner, Markham cleared and circled the bases.

Luke Williams (.257) went 2-4 from the lead off spot and stole a base (9).  Moniak and Markham had 2 RBI each.  The Threshers did all but one single of their offense against a rehabbing Rookie Davis.

And finally, if the Machado to LAD rumors are true at least I’ll get to watch Medina start Saturday instead of Casimiro.

GCP Phillies East (14-9) lost to the Yankees West, 5-3.  Gabriel Cotto (10.13) gave up one unearned run in three innings on 3 hits and a walk.  Justin Miller (1-2, 1.15) gave up 3 unearned runs in 3.2 innings, but was also tagged for 6 hits and 3 walks.  Taylor Lehman (3.24) stranded two inherited runners and retired his one batter on a strike out.  Rehabbing Robinson Martinez struck out five in two innings but gave up a run on one hit and a hit batter.

Logan Simmons went 1-3 with an RBI and a walk.

James Smith went 1-4 with an RBI.

Jake Holmes (.338) and Carlos De La Cruz (.312) also had hits in the game.

GCL Phillies West (13-10) no game scheduled.

Lehigh Valley (57-37) beat Columbus, 10-6.  Jake Waguespack (1-5, 4.97) got his first win with five innings of work.  He gave up 3 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits and a walk.  He struck out four.  Yacksel Rios (5.11) gave up 2 runs in one inning of work.  Tyler Gilbert (1.64) pitched two perfect innings, striking out two.  And, Zac Curtis (2.89) gave up a run in the ninth.

Everyone in the IronPigs line up got at least one base hit except Logan Moore (0-4, .194). The IronPigs slugged 5 home runs, scoring eight of their runs via the long ball.  Joey Meneses (.304) got things started with a 2-run bomb, his 17th, in the first inning.  Danny Espinosa (.204) followed with a 2-run tater in the second, his first.  Both HRs came with two outs. Mitch Walding (.268) continued the power surge with the first of two solo HRs in the third.   The IronPigs scored a more conventional run in the fourth on an RBI single by Danny Ortiz.  After a two-inning hiatus, the IronPigs struck again in the seventh on Zach Green’s 2-run blast, his first in AAA, and Walding’s second solo HR (15).  They closed out the evening with another conventional run in the eighth on Espinosa’s RBI double.

Note: with a runner on third and two outs in the fifth, Columbus opted to walk Meneses to get to Dylan Cozens.  Probably the lefty/lefty thing, but still it caught my eye.

Reading (44-49) postponed, rain.

Lakewood (57-37) beat Columbia, 6-2.  Julian Garcia (3.32) made his first start of the year and went four innings and 55 pitches.  He held Columbia to one hit, zero walks, and struck out six.  Jonathan Hennigan (1-1, 2.83) got the win with two, one-run innings.  Connor Brogdon (3.42) pitched a perfect frame.  Ans, Luis Carrasco (3.71) allowed a run in the last two innings.

Quincy Nieporte (.255) started the scoring with a 2-run HR (6) in the second inning.  He finished 1-3 with an HBP.  Jhailyn Ortiz (.248) went 2-3 with a double, and HBP and 2 RBI.  Simon Muzziotti (.267) went 3-5 with a double, and 2 stolen bases.  Daniel Brito (.253) went 2-5.  Colby Fitch (.269) went 2-3 with 2 runs scored, an HBP, and RBI.

Williamsport (12-18) lost to Batavia, 7-5 in ten innings.  Jhordany Mezquita (2.74) gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk in five innings.  He struck out five.  Austin Ross gave up an unearned run and struck out 3 in 2.0 innings.  Luis Ramirez struck out 4 in three innings, but gave up 4 runs (3 ER).  

The Crosscutters trailed 3-0 after 7.5 innings when all heck broke loose.  They tied the game with 2 runs in the eighth on Seth Lancaster’s RBI double and Madison Stokes’ RBI single, and a run in the ninth on Jonathan Guzman’s RBI single.

During penalty kicks, Batavia scored 4 runs in the top of the tenth.  The Crosscutters scored two runs on Stokes’ RBI double and Danny Mayers’s one-out, RBI single.  They got the tying run on base, but were unable to make up the four runs given up in the top of the inning.

Catcher Jesse Wilkening had to leave the game in the eighth inning with a head injury after being struck by a pitched ball.

This from the game log –

Williamsport Bottom of the 8th
  • Pitching Change: Zach Wolf replaces Manuel Rodriguez.
  • Jesse Wilkening hit by pitch.
  • Williamsport Crosscutters catcher Jesse Wilkening left the game due to an injured head.
  • Offensive Substitution: Pinch-runner Rafael Marchan replaces Jesse Wilkening.

And, this –

The Muckdogs’ third baseman is Bubba Hollins.  He’s Phillies’ third baseman Dave Hollins son.  Bubba is hitting .375, and drove in two runs in the tenth with a single.

DSL Phillies Red (13-25) lost two games to the Twins, 4-2 and and a rain shortened 5-0.

DSL Phillies White (21-15) no game scheduled.

Here’s the affiliate scoreboard from MiLB.

The rosters and lists are up to date as of July 16th.

Transactions
7/17/18–Lakewood sent Robinson Martinez on a rehab assignment to GCL Phillies East
7/17/18–Christopher Duran assigned to DSL Phillies Red from DSL Phillies White
7/16/18–Lakewood released 1B Greg Pickett.
7/15/18–Philadelphia placed Zach Eflin on the 10-day DL retro to 7/12/18. Blister.
7/15/18–Philadelphia traded LHP Hoby Milner to Tampa Bay for cash.
7/15/18–Philadelphia recalled RHP Enyel De Los Santos from Lehigh Valley
7/15/18–Lakewood placed LHP Kyle Young on the 7-day DL
7/15/18–1B Maximo De La Rosa roster status changed by DSL Phillies Red.
7/15/18–DSL Phillies Red placed C Ryan Asencio on the 60-day DL
7/15/18–SS Albert Jerez assigned to DSL Phillies White.
7/15/18–RHP Jhostyn Marin assigned to DSL Phillies Red from DSL Phillies White.

35 thoughts on “Clearwater Threshers Recap – 7/17/2018”

  1. I was at the Crosscutter’s game last night. Wilkening indicted that the pitch first hit him high in the back near the neck and glanced sharply knocking off his helmet. As stated they took him out as a precaution.

    I was very impressed by LHP Jhordany Mezquita. Seemed to throw a lot of FB. Mitch tweeted he was 89-92 T93. Lots of first pitch strikes. Pretty good stuff and control. Someone to keep an eye on for the future. Not very tall.

  2. I keep having to remind myself that Jhailyn Ortiz is 19 – he’s really doing fine and he’s surging now in July and over the last 10 games. He’s way younger (2.3 years) than the league average and he’s still got a long runway. The last month will be important to see if he’s just hot or has really made progress, but I’m still optimistic.

    FYI – Luke Williams really seems to have turned the corner.

    1. Luke Williams is a full year older than Moniak at the same level, and looked lost for his first three years and is finally developing some power and turning the corner.

      It is a good reminder that development is not linear and hopefully Moniak can follow in Luke’s footsteps and figure things out in the same way.

  3. LOL Moniak right on cue crushes a ball when it was being bantered that he had less power than C. Still probably a ways away from fully tapping into the potential they thought they had him but I’ll take it.

    1. That’s actually his 2nd in the last 3 days which makes me wonder if they have been altering his swing to try to generate more power of if he’s just maturing into his body.

      Catch reminded us that Ortiz is only 19. We also need to remind ourselves that Moniak just turned 20 in May and is also younger than league average…..

  4. I know hes not on the 40 man, but there are a lot of guys who pinch hit frequently for the Phillies who I would much rather see Meneses then. Dude has done nothing but hit since winter ball last year.

    1. If Santana continues to stagnate, why not give Meneses a look. In fact, why not give him a look now.

        1. Yeah ur not benching Santana haha, but as a bat off the bench, Meneses would be so much better than the other options.

          1. how sure are you about this? Darin Ruf and Broxk Stassi also looks good in the minors but we know how that turned out.

            1. I’m not sure, but my motto is you promote him until he stops hitting. Sometimes you end up with Ruf or Stassi, other times you end up finding a true late bloomer like Muncy. But he hit in winter ball, hes hit all year in AAA, lets see what he can do. It would be hard to do worse than our bench bats have done so far

            2. well, it’s not fantasy baseball where you can pick up and drop any player anytime. roster space is scarce for the Phils for these coming years. The Phils have higher upside players where they can give the at bats without sacrificing a roster space —- Williams, Cozens, Knapp. Valentin, Walding needs more at bats to get settled in the majors.

              If the Phils will give Santana off, why not just give Knapp reps at 1B or move Hoskins to 1B so 2 of Williams, Cozens, Valentin and Altherr some at bats.

    2. I think it was Matt Winkelman who said that calling up Plouffe serves as a no lose situation. If he sucks, you just cut him. I think they’d have to put Mennesses on waivers to send him down. Not sure about that though

    3. would consider him for Altherr and get him at bats against lefties. Seeing a Max Muncy makes you think more about giving guys like that a shot- you never know what you might get.

  5. Really nice feedback on Medina at BP:

    Jeffrey: Medina may have been traded to the Orioles by the time you read this—and we all know what that means—but I thought he actually had one of the more impressive pitching performances in the game, ugly line in the box score aside. Showed four pitches, easy velocity, potential plus slider.

    https://www.baseballprospectus.com/prospects/article/41406/futures-game-breakdown-ive-seen-the-future-brother-it-is-dingers/

  6. Tyler Gilbert has very quietly pitched very well and out himself into consideration to be a call up at some point this year. He’s not on the 40 yet but if he keeps pitching this well, they’ll work that out.
    I agree that Meneses has earned a chance to be on the philly bench but let’s not go overboard on the guy.
    Williams has amazed me with his turnaround. He’s been hot for over a month and looks like a completely different player.
    Ortiz is not close to being ready for a promotion but he’s got lots of talent. He still needs to firm up his body more and he needs to lay off of off speed pitching.

    1. Agree on Ortiz not ready for a promotion, this season.
      But with him at CLW next season, he will be at the Complex, hopefully starting with the FIL, and then thru the spring, and perhaps can further enhance his conditioning program.

      1. slow steady progress for Ortiz is fine
        at this pace, he’ll be 22yo at LVH which is perfect

    2. Tyler Gilbert is can be the surprise addition in the 40-man. I rather want to see Gilbert than Zac Curtis.

      I rather see Zach Green, Walding or Canelo in the bench than Meneses.

  7. overall, I’m pleased with the promotional pace used by the organization this yr except a few of pitchers in Lakewood should be at Clearwater but I understand lack of openings.
    I assume some of log jam will be cleared before trade deadline.
    I cant think of too many real examples of delayed or overaggressive promotions

  8. Really happy for Mickey Moniak (and his dad). With the recent improvements shown by Mickey, Justin Williams, and even Cornelius Randolph (to some extent), I figured I would post a couple of tweets from Mitch Rupert (from over the weekend). He spoke to Johnny Almaraz on a number of topics. These two deal with the patience the club has to have when developing prospects/draft picks.

    Mitch has more on his twitter page. Scroll down to July 13.

    1. Johnny A.’s assessment above is the main reason why Moniak still lingers in my Top 20 (where most had written off Moniak in their Top 30). People can slice and dice the minor league stats to support a certain assertion but the fact that the Phillies player development teams are not worried, then it can still be assumed that Moniak still have projections to meeting his ceiling/floor.

      I significantly dropped Randolph due to age (which means less projection left) and the fact that he has less upside being a LF prospect.

    2. Hinkie, Thanks for posting. My favorite was the kids in Dusty Wathan’s family jumping with excitement watching Rhys Hoskins at the Home Run Derby.

    3. I don’t quite get the Joey Votto reference. Yes, he had 3000 MiLB PA’s but he only had one year where he had under a .850 OPS and only two below .900.

      1. My take.
        If Mickey Moniak has to restart at CLW, and then do full seasons at both Reading and LHV, or even restart LHV in his age24 season, the next season…then he will continue until he gets it…..no force-feeding.
        Apparently he must have thought Jay Bruce was forced fed thru the Reds org and ends up with an 18WAR career so far, vs a Joey Votto who was brought along thru every stop and as a result has a 58WAR career so far under his belt.

        1. Agreed he wasn’t talking about results since he specifically mentioned that he doesn’t care about the stats. His reference to Votto is that he had over 3000 minor league at-bats before hitting the big leagues and has had a long, successful career. A player doesn’t have to be in the majors by the age of 21 to be a success.

          1. Harold Reynolds interviewed JD Martinez at the All Star game on field. He asked him what changed from his days with the Astros to when he got to the Tigers. I’ll paraphrase

            “I looked at all the hitters who were having success and thought they aren’t that much better than me why am I not succeeding”

            “I Started to break down their swings and found my swing looked nothing like their swings”

            “I started to incorporate the changes that were obvious mostly to get my hands inside the ball faster”

            “I tried it out in the VZL league and had amazing success with it. So much so that it felt like I was cheating”

    4. Thanks Hinkie. I appreciate that. I know most Philly fans are pulling for him and realize he’s Young. I’m starting to definitely see a more patient approach. Hopefully he can keep it up and finish strong I have a feeling he will. I talked to him after every game and he seems pretty confident. I really appreciate you pulling for him. You know your stuff keeping up Ira enjoy reading.

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