Clearwater Threshers Recap – 8/17/2018

Box Score Recap

The Clearwater Threshers (67-55) lost to Bradenton, 3-2.  Alejandro Requena gave up 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out seven in seven innings.  Jonathan Hennigan gave up s olo HR in one inning that proved to be the winning run.  Rehabbing Pedro Florimon went 0-4.  Kyle Martin went 1-3 with an RBI.  Mickey Moniak hit a solo HR (5).  He now has an eleven game hitting streak.

GCL Phillies East (26-21) lost to the GCL Phillies West (27-21), 19-1.  West got five 3-hit innings from Rafi Gonell.  Alex Garcia gave up a run.  Jaylen Smith, Sati Santa Cruz, and Junior Tejada each pitched a scoreless inning.  Rixon Wingrove had 3 hits, a HR (1), and 4 RBI.  Yerwin Trejo had 2 hits and 2 RBI, Luis Garcia had 2 hits and 2 walks, Abrahan Gutierrez had 2 hits and 3 RBI, Stony O’Brien had 2 hits and 3 RBI, Logan O’Hoppe had 2 hits and 2 RBI, Trent Bowles had 2 hits and 2 RBI, and Christian Valerio had 2 hits and 2 RBI.  East pitchers, Dominic Pipkin and Gabriel Cotto gave up 6 ER each.  East hitters managed just 5 hits.  Carlos De La Cruz had their lone RBI.

Lehigh Valley (74-49) trailed 1-0 in the first inning against Indianapolis when the game was suspended due to rain. 

Reading (59-63) lost to Binghamton, 5-3.  Blake Quinn pitched three, no-hit innings but walked five without giving up a run.  Jose Taveras gave up 2 runs in two innings.  Aaro Brown gave up 3 and took the loss.  Adam Haseley had a solo HR (4).  Cornelius Randolph and Damek Tomscha went 2-3.  Deivi Grullon and Darick Hall had sacrifice flies. 

Lakewood (78-44) beat Rome, 7-2.  Andrew Brown pitched seven innings allowing a run on 4 hits.  Rodolf Duran had 2 hits, a solo HR (17), and 2 RBI.  Five other BlueClaws also had 2 hits – Dalton Guthrie, Simon Muzziotti, Jake Scheiner, Rodolfo Duran, and Jhailyn Ortiz.

Williamsport (24-33) lost to West Virginia, 4-1.  Colton Eastman pitched two shutout innings.  as did Jack Perkins.  Rafael Carvajal 4 unearned runs in two innings.  Ben Aklinski had 2 hits.  Rafael Marchan had an RBI. 

DSL Phillies Red (28-36) lost to the Twins, 3-2 in 11 innings.

DSL Phillies White (36-29) lost to the Rangers2, 3-2 in a game where they no-hit the opposition.

Here’s the affiliate scoreboard from MiLB.

Transactions (newest transactions in bold text)

8/17/18–Philadelphia optioned RHP Mark Leiter Jr. to Lehigh Valley
8/17/18–Philadelphia recalled RHP Edubray Ramos from Lehigh Valley
8/17/18–RHP Zach Eflin returned to Lehigh Valley from Philadelphia
8/17/18–Lehigh Valley activated CF Collin Cowgill from the 7-day disabled list
8/17/18–Lehigh Valley placed 2B Ryan Goins on the 7-day DL
8/17/18–Reading activated RHP Jose Taveras from the 7-day DL
8/17/18–Reading placed RHP Alexis Rivero on the 7-day DL retro to 8/15/18. Right wrist strain
8/17/18–RHP Blake Quinn assigned to Reading from Williamsport
8/17/18–Williamsport sent 3B Alec Bohm on a rehab assignment to GCL Phillies East
8/17/18–Philadelphia optioned LHP Ranger Suarez to Lehigh Valley
8/16/18–Philadelphia recalled RHP Mark Leiter Jr. from Lehigh Valley
8/16/18–Philadelphia recalled LHP Ranger Suarez from Lehigh Valley
8/16/18–Philadelphia recalled RHP Zach Eflin from Lehigh Valley
8/16/18–Philadelphia recalled RHP Yacksel Rios from Lehigh Valley
8/16/18–Philadelphia placed LHP Aaron Loup on the 10-day DL. Left forearm strain
8/16/18–Philadelphia placed LHP Austin Davis on the 10-day DL. Low back tightness
8/16/18–LHP Jeff Singer assigned to Lehigh Valley from Reading
8/16/18–RHP Harold Arauz assigned to Lehigh Valley from Reading
8/15/18–Kevin Escalante signed a 2019 international free agent contract
8/15/18–Lizardo Herrera signed a 2019 international free agent contract
8/15/18–Philadelphia activated C Wilson Ramos from the 10-day DL
8/15/18–Philadelphia optioned C Andrew Knapp to Lehigh Valley
8/15/18–Lehigh Valley released RHP Steve Geltz.
8/15/18–Lehigh Valley activated Drew Anderson from the temporarily inactive list
8/15/18–Lehigh Valley placed RF Jiandido Tromp on the 7-day DL
8/15/18–Williamsport sent 3B Alec Bohm on a rehab assignment to GCL Phillies West
8/14/18–Philadelphia sent SS Pedro Florimon on a rehab assignment to Clearwater
8/14/18–Philadelphia optioned SS J.P. Crawford to Lehigh Valley
8/14/18–Milwaukee claimed RHP Jake Thompson off waivers from Philadelphia
8/14/18–Philadelphia recalled RHP Hector Neris from Lehigh Valley
8/14/18–Lehigh Valley placed RHP Drew Anderson on the temporarily inactive list
8/14/18–Williamsport sent 3B Alec Bohm on a rehab assignment to GCL Phillies East
8/13/18–Williamsport sent 3B Alec Bohm on a rehab assignment to GCL Phillies West
8/13/18–Philadelphia sent SS Pedro Florimon on a rehab assignment to GCL Phillies West
8/12/18–Clearwater activated RHP Will Hibbs from the 7-day DL
8/12/18–RHP Blake Quinn assigned to Williamsport from Clearwater
8/12/18–RHP Harold Arauz assigned to Reading from Lehigh Valley
8/11/18–Philadelphia activated 1B Justin Bour
8/11/18–Philadelphia optioned Zach Eflin to Lehigh Valley
8/11/18–Philadelphia sent SS Pedro Florimon on a rehab assignment to GCL Phillies East.
8/11/18–Reading sent RHP Mario Sanchez on a rehab assignment to GCL Phillies West.
8/11/18–Clearwater sent RHP JD Hammer on a rehab assignment to GCL Phillies East.
8/11/18–Philadelphia sent C Wilson Ramos on a rehab assignment to Clearwater
8/10/18–Philadelphia activated SS J.P. Crawford from the 10-day disabled list.
8/10/18–Philadelphia designated RHP Jake Thompson for assignment.
8/10/18–Miami traded 1B Justin Bour and cash to Philadelphia  for LHP McKenzie Mills.
8/10/18–RHP Harold Arauz assigned to Lehigh Valley from Reading
8/10/18–Reading   activated 2B Emmanuel Marrero from the 7-day DL.
8/10/18–Williamsport  sent 3B Alec Bohm on a rehab assignment to GCL Phillies East.
8/9/18–Bruce Wang signed as an international free agent to a 2019 contract

23 thoughts on “Clearwater Threshers Recap – 8/17/2018”

  1. Haseley and Moniak both with HRs yesterday.
    Oddly….both have almost identical iSOs…..Moniak@.120…..Haseley @.121

    1. There was kind of a one-sided scouting report of Haseley floating around here due to a scout seeing one of his bad games and reporting it to one of the main minor league analysts. He looked great last night hitting a bomb to the opposite field and I’ve seen him look great at the plate on many occasions. He’s still developing his game – I like his swing and his approach. As for his not using his lower half I’d suggest someone look at a hitter like Daniel Murphy who is all hands – if you know what you’re doing you can be a great hitter with that type of approach. I think Haseley is going to develop into a really good player – a regular at the least, quite possibly a 3-4 WAR player and maybe even better than that.

      As for Moniak, the progress is evident in his improved OPS. He’s starting to hit his stride. His power seems to be evolving and he’ll be in Reading next year at the same age as he would be if he was going into his junior year in college. He’s no Ronald Acuna or wunderkind but he’s getting on track and if his power continues to spike and his hit tool and plate discipline continue to improve he could still be a good player. It will be interesting to see how he’s doing a year from now.

      1. And two more hits and two walks for Luis Garcia – he’ll be in my top 10 for sure. If you asked me to look at our system right now and pick the one guy who I think would most likely become a hitting/position player star – I might pick him and he’d certainly be in the top 3 or 4. I’ll probably have him ranked ahead of the non-elite pitching prospects such as Suarez and maybe even Romero – probably in the 4-7 range, very closely ranked with Ortiz and with a big “up” arrow.

            1. Yes, on the position player side, I might have him ahead of everyone except Haseley and, with a fast start in Lakewood next year, he could even be top 5.

              By the way, it’s fun to watch Roman Quinn play – say what you want about him and his ability to stay healthy (and there’s a LOT to say on that topic), but the guy has so much talent. If he had stayed mostly healthy all these years, he’d probably be a 3 or 4 WAR MLB player by now. He can flat out play the game and he’s the fastest Phillie since Michael Bourn.

            2. But his upside is actually even higher than Michael Bourn because he’s a better hitter (more power) and has a better arm (and that’s no backhanded compliment – Michael Bourn had 5, 5.5 and 6.0 WAR seasons – at his peak, he was an all-star, but Roman Quinn, I believe, has more raw talent).

              The triple he hit last night was breathtaking. First, the fact that he can drive the ball the opposite way to the fence against Noah Syndegaard is impressive enough, but add to that that even with a ball hit to left field he was able to cruise into third standing up. Seriously, his speed is insane. I’m not sure he has stolen base speed (quick twitch) that is quite as good as Billy Hamilton’s but from home plate to third, I’d be surprised if anyone in baseball is as fast as Quinn. I call him “newsreel” because he runs so much faster than normal that he looks like baseball players from those old black and white newsreels from the 1920s where everything was sped up. Roman Quinn has elite talent – whether he can stay healthy enough and develop is another question – but the man can freaking play baseball and I think Gabe Kapler loves him.

            3. Agree on Quinn.
              What a talent!
              I did a quick calculation …between 2013 and thru 2017, I have him missing approx 375 games (based on a 142 game seasons for minor league ball) within that 5 year period.
              If he had stayed healthy, I cannot imagine what he could have been.
              Him and Betts fit similar physical and defensive profiles…at the plate could be also similar.
              Then again, if Roman had stayed healthy, Ruben may not have drafted Herrera in the 2014 Rule 5.

  2. Were Phillies West’s bats that good or were Phillies East’s arms that poor? After a run of pretty solid appearances, Cotto evidently couldn’t find the strike zone. I’m not quite sure what to make of him since Almaraz guys usually have some advanced feel but Cotto seems like a project in every sense.

  3. My first time seeing Mickey Mo live last night. Two observations:

    1. While much is made of his lack of power to date, he looks like he has the frame to add weight and power unlike, say, the much-debated Carlos Tocci.

    2. His home run was a line drive. I don’t know exit velocity, of course, but it got out in a hurry. Very impressive.

    Two other observations:

    Requena was really good. Fastball 90-93, but mostly 92-93. Down in the zone. Good breaking pitches in the mid and upper 80s. Didn’t lose composure when in trouble. In one inning, he had runners at first and third with nobody out and struck out the next three batters.

    Kevin Markham showed a right fielder’s arm on one play that looked like a sure double until Markham got quickly to the ball and fired in to second base persuading the runner to back peddle back to first.

    1. An important note: Arquimedes Gamboa suffered some sort of leg injury.

      I don’t know how it happened. The team was walking in from the end of the inning and to my surprise I noticed there were two guys out there with Gamboa’s arms around their shoulders limping off the field. He was replaced by Grenny Cumana.

  4. The Phillies’ GCL West team used about 13 and-a-half feet of Long Island pitchers to cover the first 5.1 innings of this morning’s game. Kyle Young (in a rehab start) went 1 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K. Ben Brown totaled 4.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 4 K.
    Logan O’Hoppe (another Long Islander) has doubled and walked so far.

  5. Player A: 21 yo in AA, post All-star split .296/.357/.443 (.801 OPS), 8% walk rate, 17% k rate

    Play B: 20yo on A+, post All-star split .280/.330/.462 (.792 OPS), 8% walk rate, 21% k rate

    Without looking can you guess who those players are?

    Player A is Cornelius Randolph
    Player B is Mickey Moniak

    Just so it is clear what my point is, I am in no way diminishing Mickey’s second half, which has been good. My point is, that C has had a damn good second half too at a higher level and is also very young for his league. It seems that many have written off C, but he is making adjustments.

    1. Did hear Joe Jordan say in June, Randolph’s second half will be much more of an improvement over the first two months of the season. That has been Randolph’s nature and what they have come to expect.
      .

    2. But the difference to me is that a young player – here, Randolph – who has already done pretty well in Clearwater should tear things up a bit in AA/Eastern League/Reading – that’s where real hitting talents typically shine and usually right away. I’m not trying to diminish how much he has improved and I really don’t have a good feel either way about his projections going forward, but the fact that he struggled so much there for so long definitely has me questioning how well he can handle AAA and whether he projects as a big league hitter. He might – it just makes me question whether what we are seeing will hold up over time.

      1. He is the second youngest player in the EL. He started the year as a 20 year old. If you thought that he would tear up AA as a 20yo then the problem is that you had unreasonable expectations.

  7. Posted about Yerwin Trejo yesterday. Another good for him today going 3 of 4 with 2R and 1 SB. Trejo has speed, good contract ability and great plate discipline. See his BB:K ratio. Not the Acuna or Soto wunderkind but Trejo has the makings of playmaking lead off hitter.

  8. So much already been said about Randolph and Moniak. Moniak has the higher floor due to his defensive profile. 2019 will be crucial for Randolph as he can be exposed to Rule 5 if Klentak doesn’t think he deserves the roster spot.

  9. Moniak showing why he was the number one pick. So glad i don’t hear about that a’s prospect anymore.

  10. I’ll vent again in AM but why would they bat Moniak 5th? His splits there are not that good. And go figure he goes 0-5

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