Limited action Monday night. Very little action in the Threshers’ second game against Tampa where they were no-hit through the seven innings of regulation, and won in the shootout.
The Clearwater Threshers (59-52) swept Tampa, 4-3 and 1-0, both in eight innings.
Game One: Mauricio Llovera gave up 3 runs (2 ER) in the first inning on a fielding error, single, and 2 doubles. But he settled down and retired 17 batters in order through the completion of the sixth inning. He struck out seven. Addison Russ grabbed the win with two, no-run, no-hit innings. He walked one, struck out two, and survived the OT runner.
The Threshers chipped away with runs in the second, fifth, and sixth innings. They converted the OT runner into the game-winning run in the eighth inning.
Luke Williams singled in the second inning and stole second. He moved to third on Kyle Martin’s single and scored on Raul Rivas sacrifice fly.
Gabriel Lino led off the fifth with a solo HR (2). Mickey Moniak’s two-out triple was squandered.
Martin tied the game with a two-out HR (3) in the sixth.
J.P. Crawford started the eighth on second base. He moved to third on Henri Lartigue’s ground out to the right side and scored on Williams’ sacrifice fly.
Moniak, Martin, and Lino each had 2 hits. Crawford went 0-2 with a run scored, 2 walks, and a strike out. Arquimedes Gamboa, Williams, and Kevin Markham each stole a base.
- #6 Mickey Moniak (.256) went 2-3 with a double, triple, BB, K
- #12 Daniel Brito (.125) entered as a PR for DH Lino in the seventh
- #11 Arquimedes Gamboa (.217) – went 1-4 with a K
- #17 Jose Gomez (.224) DNP
Game Two: Not only were the Threshers no-hit in this game, but they were on the wrong end of a seven-inning perfecto. Their first base runner was the OT runner placed at second base as part of the commissioner’s speed-up initiative.
Speedy Luke Williams started the eighth inning on second base He advanced to third when the SS dropped a throw on a fielder’s choice at third on a ball put in play by Kevin Markham. Edgar Cabral moved Markham to second with a ground out to the right side. Williams scored on a fielder’s choice at home by Daniel Brito when he beat the throw from the first baseman.
The Tarpons’ Deivi Garcia, a 19-year old, struck out 12 of the 21 batters he faced.
The Threshers’ McKenzie Mills was also pretty good. He pitched seven innings and gave up three hits and a walk, but also hit a couple batters. Mills allowed a two-out triple in the first inning and hit a batter, but kept the Tarpons off the board. He allowed four base runners over the next six innings, ending the third and fourth innings by picking runners off first base. He then picked a runner off second base in the fifth inning, making the Tarpons 0-3 in steal attempts. He retired the final seven batters he faced.
Alberto Tirado entered in the eighth and stranded the OT runner at second base fir his first save.
The last time Mills faced the Tarpons (on August 1st), they ran crazy on him. They stole 5 base in 6 attempts (his catcher was Edgar Cabral in that game). His improvement in this game with runners on base was exceptional.
This was the third time this season that Mills faced a team in back-to-back starts. He pitched at Lakewood on May 3rd and 9th, and home-and-home against Florida on July 13th and 19th. On both occasions he got pasted in the second game, lasting one inning on May 9th and giving up 6 runs (4 ER) on July 19th. When he faced Tampa on August 1st, he gave up 3 ER on 4 hits and walked five. Monday’s line is even more impressive in that light.
(FYI: the last time an FSL team won a game without a hit was on August 23, 1992. The winning team was the Clearwater Phillies over the Winter Haven Red Sox. They scored on a walk, walk, sacrifice bunt, sacrifice bunt. Note, both teams were no-hit on that day.)
- #1 Sixto Sanchez (4-3, 2.51) – placed on the 7-day DL in June, 2018
- #3 Adonis Medina (9-3, 4.96) – DNP
- #6 Mickey Moniak (.254) went 0-3 with 2 K
- #12 Daniel Brito (.091) went 0-3 with an RBI, K, SB
- #11 Arquimedes Gamboa (.215) went 0-3 with a K
- #17 Jose Gomez (.222) went 0-2 with a K
- #20 David Parkinson (1-0, 0.00) – DNP
GCP Phillies East (21-15) no game scheduled.
- #25 Dominic Pipkin (1-1, 2.61) –
GCL Phillies West (19-18) lost to the Yankees East, 7-3. Ben Brown (2.95) lasted 3.2 innings. He gave up 5 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks. He struck out three. The bullpen (Junior Tejada, Jaylen Smith, Adam Cox, and Sati Santa Cruz) combined to hold the Yankees to two unearned runs over the remaining 5.1 innings. Yerwin Trejo and Luis Garcia both went 2-4 with a run scored from the top of the order. D.J. Stewart and Trent Bowles each had an RBI.
- #14 Luis Garcia (.382) went 2-4 with a run scored
Lehigh Valley (70-43) no game scheduled.
- #8 Ranger Suarez (2-0, 3.12)
- #9 Enyel De Los Santos (9-3, 2.51) – DNP
- #10 Cole Irvin (10-3, 2.77) – DNP
- #15 Roman Quinn (.296) – recalled by Phillies on 7/27/2018
- #16 Dylan Cozens (.248) – recalled by Phillies on 7/31/2018
- #21 Drew Anderson (8-3, 3.91) – DNP
- #28 Tom Eshelman (2-10, 5.48) – DNP
Reading (52-60) no game scheduled.
- #4 Adam Haseley (.338)
- #5 JoJo Romero (7-6, 3.80) – placed on the 7-day DL on 7/20/18
- #22 Kyle Dohy (0-2, 4.50) – DNP
- #23 Cornelius Randolph (.235)
- #24 Connor Seabold (0-2, 6.42) – DNP
Lakewood (70-42) no game scheduled.
- #7 Jhailyn Ortiz (.217)
- #12 Daniel Brito (.252) promoted to Clearwater, August 3rd.
- #18 Kyle Young (3-3, 2.98) – placed on the 7-day DL on 7/15/18
- #19 Spencer Howard (6-7, 4.34) –
- #20 David Parkinson (8-1, 1.51) – promoted to Clearwater on 8/2/18
- #30 Nick Maton (.270)
Williamsport (21-28) lost to Auburn, 11-6. Ben Pelletier (.284) went 3-5 with his 5th HR, 2 RBI, and 3 runs scored. Edwin Rodriguez (.333) went 2-5 with an RBI. Jake Holmes (.329) went 2-4 with a run scored. Brayan Gonzalez added 2 hits and 3 RBI. But, the Cutters committed 4 errors, leading to 3 unearned runs. Ethan Lindow pitched five innings and gave up 5 runs (4 ER). Abdallah Aris pitched two innings and gave up 2 runs (1 ER). Oscar Marcelino pitched one inning and gave up 4 runs (3 ER).
- #2 Alec Bohm (.192) – placed on the 7-day DL on 7/14/18
- #13 Francisco Morales – (3-3, 7.11) – DNP
- #26 Kevin Gowdy – 60-day DL
- #29 Jhordany Mezquita (1-0, 3.82) – DNP.
- #29 Colton Eastman (0-2,5.63) – DNP
DSL Phillies Red (24-31) beat the Angels, 12-7.
DSL Phillies White (31-24) beat the D-backs2, 7-3.
Here’s the affiliate scoreboard from MiLB.
The rosters and lists are up to date as of August 6th.
8/4/18–Philadelphia sent RHP Jerad Eickhoff on a rehab assignment to Clearwater
8/4/18–Trevor Bettencourt assigned to Clearwater from GCL Phillies East.
8/4/18–RHP Hsin-Chieh Lin assigned to GCL Phillies East.
8/4/18–RHP Kyle Arjona assigned to GCL Phillies East.
8/4/18–RHP Yoan Antonac assigned to GCL Phillies East.
8/3/18–Lehigh Valley released OF Adron Chambers.
8/3/18–RHP Ranfi Casimiro assigned to Reading from Lehigh Valley
8/3/18–RHP Alexis Rivero assigned to Reading from Lehigh Valley
8/3/18–Lehigh Valley placed C Nick Rickles on the 7-day DL. Left forearm contusion.
8/3/18–Lehigh Valley placed LHP Tom Windle on the temporarily inactive list.
8/3/18–Lehigh Valley activated 1B Matt McBride from the 7-day DL.
8/3/18–RF Jose Pujols assigned to Reading from Clearwater
8/3/18–2B Daniel Brito assigned to Clearwater from Lakewood
8/3/18–SS Madison Stokes assigned to Lakewood from Williamsport
8/3/18–SS Jake Holmes assigned to Williamsport from GCL Phillies East.
8/2/18–Philadelphia activated LHP Aaron Loup.
8/2/18–Philadelphia activated LHP Adam Morgan from the paternity list.
8/2/18–Philadelphia optioned RHP Jake Thompson to Lehigh Valley
8/2/18–Philadelphia optioned RHP Yacksel Rios to Lehigh Valley
8/2/18–RHP Andrew Brown assigned to Lakewood from Clearwater
8/2/18–LHP David Parkinson assigned to Clearwater from Lakewood
8/1/18–Philadelphia reassigned RHP Edubray Ramos to the minor leagues.
8/1/18–Philadelphia sent SS J.P. Crawford on a rehab assignment to Clearwater
8/1/18–Philadelphia optioned RHP Edubray Ramos to Lehigh Valley
8/1/18–RHP Alexis Rivero assigned to Lehigh Valley from Reading
8/1/18–RHP Ranfi Casimiro assigned to Lehigh Valley from Reading
8/1/18–Sent LHP Junior Tejada on a rehab assignment to GCL Phillies West.
8/1/18–Sent RHP Jake Kinney on a rehab assignment to GCL Phillies West.
Phuture Phillies 
Sorry Jim, Clearwater really has little offense left. Winning without a hit, wow that’s tough to do.
Holmes continues to shine with his bat. How is his defense at 3B?
Do you mean losing Pujols, Listi, Haseley, and Hall and receiving Brito isnt a fair deal?
What they didn’t get in hitting, they got in pitching. Rosso, Parkinson and Russ have certainly done the job. Now they even know they don’t need hits to win.
Well, we did get Kyle Martin, too. 😉
Murray, as should be expected, Holmes’ defense at SS last season was better than his defense at 3B this season. But, it seemed to me that he was developing feel at the new position down here.
When they moved him to third during Instructs, I felt that ultimately, the move would put more pressure on his bat than his glove. He seems to have answered that challenge pretty well so far.
In Clearwater’s Game 2 win where they got no hit and won 1-0, I was looking at the boxscore and could not figure out how they scored a run. They were no hit, did not get a walk, were not hit by a pitch, did not steal a base, no wild pitches or passed balls, no sacrifices, and the only base runner was via a SS error. I couldnt understand how with all of the above it was possible they scored a run. Of course the game was a DH and the 8th inning became extra innings and thus a runner started the 8th on 2nd base. Thankfully I figured it out because I would have probably gotten zero sleep trying to figure out what in the world transpired to allow them to score that run.
I was at the game. Lartigue grounded hard to the pitcher and Williams broke for third, stopped, and headed back toward second. When the pitcher threw toward second, Williams broke toward third again. The shortstop covering second dropped the pitcher’s throw and Williams made it to third without a throw from second. The next batter grounded hard to short and Williams stayed at third. Brito then chopped a ball to first and Williams beat the throw to the plate, sliding in just in front of the tag. It was odd that in both extra inning games, the Tarpons didn’t try to bunt the extra runner over to third, and it cost them. Mills also could have had a no-no last night. The Tarpons’ triple was to dead center, and Mickey Moniak made a heck of an effort to attempt a Willie Mays World Series style catch. Mickey had it for a split second before it dribbled out of his glove. Heck of an effort! The two other hits were infield grounders that Martin made great stops on at first, but Mills missed the base on the first one as he grabbed Martin’s throw, and he was a tad late getting over on the second one. He was mad at himself. Can’t fault him, since it was a nasty hot/humid, energy zapping evening and he worked very hard throughout the game. Very impressive pitching by the Threshers last night in both games!
Mickey Moniak has a history of making Willie Mays types of catches. Look at this effort from one of the summer circuit HS all star games in 2015.
Thank you for the excellent description. What I might stay up nights thinking about (If I didn’t work nights, that is) is how the milb box score was able to list the hitless, walklessThreshers as “0 for 5 with runners in scoring position”!
With Luke Williams starting the inning on second, Kevin Markham grounded hard to the pitcher (in my earlier description I had said Henri Lartigue. I forgot they pinch hit Markham. My mistake!), and Williams ended up on third after the error, so that was batter 1 with a runner in scoring position. Edgar Cabral came up and grounded out hard to short, so that is batter 2 with a runner in scoring position. Daniel Brito then hit the FC grounder to first that Williams beat the throw to the plate, Markham ended up at third, and Brito at first, so that is batter 3 with runners in scoring position. Kyle Martin struck out as batter 4 with runners in scoring position. With Grenny Cumana batting, Brito stole second. Cumana grounded out to short as batter 5 with runners in scoring position. A lot of batters in that half inning with runners in scoring position, but just the one run. Hope that helps.
That kid they faced Deivi Garcia is no joke. 19 and just promoted from the SAL he boasts a 13K/9
The riches of the Yankees farm might come back to bite them in the end.
DMAR…..Yankees signed right-handed pitcher Deivi Garcia for $100K…July 2015
One Yankee site had him at 59 on their top 75 before this season.
Looks like a long term reliever based on his size,
…..the one scouting report….”At 5’10” and 163 pounds, Garcia is not an imposing force on the mound. His fastball is in the low-90s, usually around 91-93 but has hit 96 at times. He backs it up with a plus curveball and an average changeup that is still developing. He has made a lot of progress in 2017 in controlling his pitches and commanding the ball. There is a lot to like about him as he has no trouble repeating his delivery and is still young”
Anyway, Luis Garcia and Jake Holmes are really starting to stand out. I also know that it looks, on the surface, like Spencer Howard has not had a great season and in many ways that’s true. But the reports of his stuff and his strikeout rates are excellent. I think he still has a huge upside, but it may take a few years while he refines his stuff and his command.
I’ve come to the conclusion that Holmes, Luis Garcia, and Nicolas Torres all need to start the 2019 season in Lakewood. I’m positive Holmes is already a lock for Lakewood. Garcia and Torres are very interesting. They have been outstanding in the GCL this year, and are quickly climbing the Phillies prospect rankings. IMO, they’ve passed the MIF duo of Jonathan Guzman and Brayan Gonzalez. If it were up to me, I’d have Garcia and Torres start 2019 in Lakewood, and have Guzman and Gonzalez repeat Williamsport.
I’m neither for or against your conclusion, just presenting possible Phillies developmental considerations –
1.) Alec Bohm. His starting point next season will probably dictate where a lot of other third basemen will start. If he is done for this season and returns healthy next season, he may start in Lakewood. Maybe if he comes back in late August and continues to the AFL, he starts in Clearwater next season.
2.) The Phillies don’t often (hardly ever?) bump second year, teenage prospects over other prospects whom they haven’t given up on yet..
However, with 3 Rookie League teams (2 GCL teams and a Williamsport team), the Phillies have created a bottleneck of sorts at Lakewood. They will likely have to at least reconsider how they are going to handle their young middle infield prospects next year, as you suggest.
Luis Garcia amazes me. He is a 17-year-old SS with the sixth highest OPS in the GCL. So far he looks worth the money.
Garcia’s BB/K is remarkable considering its his first year in state side ball and his age.
Yes, keep your fingers crossed that he continues to progress – but this is how stars generally look in the lower minors. I want to see how he closes out August, but his performance carries through, he will be a top 10 for me – maybe even a top 5. What he’s doing as a 17 year is a huge deal and not only is he at the most critical defensive position on the field and said to have a plus glove, his batting stats suggest a possibly plus hit tool, good plate discipline and power potential. The biggest wow moment for me since Sixto broke out.
The Phillies do appear to have some very talented middle infield Latin combinations coming down the road….all a year apart.
1.Gamboa-Brito
2.Guzman-Gonzalez
3.Garcia-Torres
It will be interesting to see how this all transpires in a few years.
I’ll take #3 for 400 Alex
Baseball Ross comment on Cole Irwin, AAA , A+ BAiley Falter ( before DL) A Will Stewart not getting promotion But promoting Ramon Russo, Felix Paulino and Albert Tirado to Clearwater shows Phillies Comment to Latins players over others. Atlanta seems to being okay, promoting Soroka, Toussant, and Alford all young prospects. No fear of Rule 5. Yet New Flavors of the Month Dyer, Dohy, Russ all seem to make jumps yet have not paid there dues. Phillies not being committed to development
Wow……really tough to go that thought.
Best to listen to what Joe Jordan says on pitcher development.
There will be 40 issues…Irvin vs Suarez getting that rogue start vs the Reds….then there is the starter (Stewart/Falter) vs the reliever (Dyer/Dohy /Russ) circumstances
Now the Latin angle…..not sure how I would address that.
Rosso, Paulino and Tirado are rather older for their levels, so that may be another factor in their promotions over the other pitchers.
Just so many angles to development….which is rarely linear.
Tirado pitched in AA in 2017. I would describe his “promotion” as actually a demotion to Clearwater. He was assigned to XST out of ST and was only assigned to Clearwater in May. What looks like a promotion is at best a repeat. (Note, he was assigned to Lehigh Valley in November 2017.)
Not the best blog to go looking for objective content.
Agreed – Baseball Ross is actually quite biased. That comment about how the Phillies have 22 white guys on the 40 man roster is completely irrelevant. Ranger got the start. Period. Not because of the color of his skin, but because of his stuff.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions. It’s his blog and he is entitled to print what he wants. But, I shudder anytime I see someone reference one of his statements. I know him personally. I met him and his wife during our first season at the Threshers. And we discuss the org when we are together. But, our opinions have drifted apart in the intervening years. I also shudder whenever I see a link to one of their videos or pictures. They are very vigilant when someone uses their stuff without asking. That’s why when I see their stuff on PP, I delete it before they see it, although I don’t believe they read PP.
Are you sure he said “white” or did he say “Americans”?