Clearwater Threshers Recap – 8/24/2018

Box Score Recap

The Clearwater Threshers have a four game lead over second place Lakeland and a six game lead over third place Dunedin.  Their elimination numbers are seven and four respectively.

The Threshers have nine games remaining, the other two teams have ten each.  Clearwater appears to have the most difficult schedule of the three teams. They play two home games against first place Charlotte and finish the season with seven road games at Jupiter and Fort Myers.  The combined record of their opponents is .545.

Lakeland completes their series at the sixth place Fire Frogs before returning home for eight games.  The combined record of their opponents is .426.

Dunedin who has really cratered this month (4-13 in their last 17 games) plays three games against last place Bradenton before returning home for seven games.  Their remaining opponents are a combined .443.

The Clearwater Threshers (71-57) beat Charlotte, 3-1.  Alejandro Requena pitched seven, one-run innings.  He allowed 4 hits, walked none, and struck out five.  J.D. Hammer struck out two in one inning of relief.  Addison Russ picked up his 13th save.  The Threshers were held to 4 hits, but made the most of them.  They scored 3 runs in the fifth inning on 3 singles and a fielding error.  Kevin Markham had the only RBI.  

The game was completed in 1:57.

  • #1 Sixto Sanchez (4-3, 2.51) – placed on the 7-day DL in June, 2018
  • #3 Adonis Medina (9-4, 4.31) – DNP
  • #6 Mickey Moniak (.260) went 0-4
  • #12 Daniel Brito (.237) went 0-4 with a K
  • #11 Arquimedes Gamboa (.212) went 0-3 with a BB
  • #17 Jose Gomez (.222) DNP
  • #20 David Parkinson (2-0, 1.17) –

(In the August 22nd recap, I stated that David Parkinson labored through five innings in spite of his acceptable box score line.  I neglected why.  He threw 92 pitches and faced a lot of deep counts, including six, three-ball counts.  his FB was 88-93 MPH, but sat 90-91 mph on 37 of his 57 FB.  Of his 58 strikes, only 6 were swing and miss.  He did get 17 called strikes, but some at bats were extended by some of his 18 foul balls.  His 2 strike outs came swinging, but he didn’t appear to have a put-away pitch that night.)

GCP Phillies East (30-23) no game scheduled.  

  • #25 Dominic Pipkin (1-2, 3.64) – DNP

GCL Phillies West (30-23) beat the Yankees East, 4-2 in a rain shortened six inning game. Kyle Young made a rehab start and threw two, scoreless, one-hit innings.  He walked 2 and struck out one in a 29-pitch outing.  He threw mostly fastballs and sliders with a few change ups mixed in.  His FB was 87-89 mph, sat 87-88 mph.  Rafi Gonell picked up his fifth win with four innings of two-hit ball.  He gave up 2 runs on one of his two walks followed by a HR. He struck out five.

The Phillies parlayed their 4 hits and 3 walks into four runs.  They scored their first run on a fielder’s choice.  Yerwin Trejo walked with one out and went to third on Luis Garcia’s jammed bloop into right field.  On a 3-2 pitch to Abrahan Gutierrez, Garcia broke for second and Gutierrez tried to push the ball through the hole into right field.  The first baseman threw home rather than take the sure out at first.  Garcia was out at third on the play.

They took the lead with three runs in the fifth.  Jesus Azuaje led off with a double.  Luis Matos failed to get a sacrifice down but did draw a walk.  Trejo sacrificed both runners into scoring position.  Garcia blooped a soft liner to left to drive in the tying run and put runners on the corners.  The pitcher tried to pick Garcia off a couple times, and Matos timed the throw to steal home and take the lead.  Garcia stole second and third and scored on a strike three wild pitch.

A scoreless half-inning later the rains came.

  • #14 Luis Garcia (.369) went 2-3 with a run scored, RBI, 2 SB

Lehigh Valley (77-53) lost to Scranton, 9-1.  Tom Eshelman gave up 8 runs on 11 hits and 2 walks.  Yacksel Rios pitched two scoreless innings.  Tom Windle gave up a run in the ninth. The IronPigs collected 3 hits.  

  • #8 Ranger Suarez (2-0, 2.92) –
  • #9 Enyel De Los Santos (10-4, 2.43) –
  • #10 Cole Irvin (12-4, 2.71)
  • #15 Roman Quinn (.296) – recalled by Phillies on 7/27/2018
  • #16 Dylan Cozens (.232) went 0-3 with a BB, 2 K
  • #21 Drew Anderson (8-4, 3.75) –
  • #28 Tom Eshelman (2-13, 5.83) – 6.0 IP, 11 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Reading (62-66) walked off against Portland, 5-4 in ten innings.  Ranfi Casimiro pitched six innings and held the Sea Dogs to one run on 7 hits and 3 walks.  He struck out five.  Aaron Brown gave up 3 runs in 1.1 innings.  Luke Leftwich pitched 1.2 scoreless innings but allowed an inherited runner to score.  Kyle Dohy got the win with a clean tenth.

Austin Listi went 2-3 with a walk and 3 RBI.  Cornelius Randolph had 2 hits.  Adam Haseley had a sac fly.  Pedro Florimon went 0-5 with 2 K in a rehab start.  Malquin Canelo walked to force in the winning run in the tenth.

  • #4 Adam Haseley (.316) went 0-4 with an RBI, K, SF
  • #5 JoJo Romero (7-6, 3.80) – placed on the 7-day DL on 7/20/18
  • #22 Kyle Dohy (2-4, 6.63) – 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
  • #23 Cornelius Randolph (.244) went 2-4
  • #24 Connor Seabold (1-3, 4.48) –

Lakewood (79-49)  lost to Hickory, 5-3.  Andrew Brown gave up 5 runs on 9 hits in 4.2 innings.  He struck out four.  Tyler Fallwell struck out six in 3.1 innings.  Matt Vierling had 2 hits and an RBI.  Jake Schiener (12) and Jhailyn Ortiz (12) hit solo HRs.  Ortiz had an outfield assist at home (a double play with no relay).

  • #7 Jhailyn Ortiz (.223) went 1-3 with a run scored, HR (12), RBI, BB, K
  • #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 (8-8, 3.92) –
  • #20 David Parkinson (8-1, 1.51) – promoted to Clearwater on 8/2/18
  • #30 Nick Maton (.261) went 0-4 with 3 K

Williamsport (28-38) beat Batavia, 8-3.  Juan Escorcia earned his first win with five scoreless innings.  He gave up 2 hits and a walk while striking out ten.  Randy Alcantara gave up 3 runs in two innings.  Blake Bennett struck out 3 in two innings.  

The Cutters collected 17 hits.  Every starter had a hit.  Rafael Marchan had 3 hits, 2 doubles, and an RBI.  Dannt Mayer had 3 hits and a 2-run HR (5).  Ben Aklinski had 2 hits, a double, HR (7), and 3 RBI.  Ben Pelletier had a double and 2 RBI.  Alec Bohm, Jake Holmes, and Brayan Gonzalez had 2 hits each.

  • #2 Alec Bohm (.205) went 2-5 with a run scored, BB
  • #13 Francisco Morales (4-3, 5.52) – DNP
  • #26 Kevin Gowdy – 60-day DL
  • #29 Jhordany Mezquita (1-0, 3.60) – DNP.
  • #29 Colton Eastman (0-2, 3.00) –

DSL Phillies Red (31-39) beat the Nationals, 7-1.

DSL Phillies White (38-33) lost to the Tigers1, 5-1.

Here’s the affiliate scoreboard from MiLB.

The rosters and lists are up to date as of August 24th.

Transactions (newest transactions in bold text)
8/23/18–Philadelphia placed 1B Justin Bour on the 10-day DL. Left oblique strain.
8/23/18–Philadelphia activated LHP Luis Avilan.
8/23/18–Philadelphia placed RHP Edubray Ramos on the 10-day DL. Right index finger blister.
8/23/18–Philadelphia sent SS Pedro Florimon on a rehab assignment to Reading
8/23/18–Philadelphia recalled C Andrew Knapp from Lehigh Valley
8/23/18–Lehigh Valley activated 2B Ryan Goins from the 7-day DL
8/23/18–Reading sent RHP Mario Sanchez on a rehab assignment to GCL Phillies East.
8/23/18–RHP Blake Bennett assigned to Williamsport from GCL Phillies West.
8/23/18–RHP Jack Perkins assigned to GCL Phillies West from Williamsport
8/23/18–LHP Jhordany Mezquita assigned to GCL Phillies West from Williamsport
8/23/18–LHP Ethan Evanko assigned to Williamsport from GCL Phillies West.
8/22/18–Philadelphia designated RHP Jose Taveras for assignment.

26 thoughts on “Clearwater Threshers Recap – 8/24/2018”

  1. Unless Eshelman is injured he gots to go. Soft tossing righty who has apparently lost his pinpoint control.
    Seems as though SOMETHING could be done to improve Kyle Young’s velocity. Not expecting another Randy Johnson but…..
    If the Phillies sign Machado for short where does that leave Garcia. Yeah, I know he’s only 17 but wouldn’t wanna see him blocked if he’s good to go at an early age. Not a bad problem to have.

    1. By the time Garcia arrives in the Show (hopefully ’21), Manny will already be manning 3b for whomever he signs with.

  2. The DSL teams have 1 more game before their season goes in the books. The Red team has 3 players who lead in practically every offensive category. Wilfredo Flores (18) has a .320/.396/.391 and has 18 SBs albeit with 11 CS. He plays 2B 99% of the time. Johan Rojas (18) has a .325/.381/.427 with 2 HRs and 41 RBIs and 19 SBs and 8 CS. He plays CF. Last guy is Juan Carlos Smith (21). He’s hitting .262/.347/.450 with 4 HRs and 42 RBIs and 24 SBs to 10 CS. He plays mostly RF.
    He is older than most in DSL but had a nice season just the same. Don’t think but also don’t know if he’ll be invited state-side.

    The White team has Arturo De Freitas (17) who is hitting .260/.392/.402 with 2 HRs,
    and 27 RBIs. He’s a catcher and plays 1st base. Juan Herrera is an 18 yo who plays 3rd base. He’s hitting .284/.333/.405 and was hitting over .300 until the last 8 or so games. Jevi Hernandez is 19 and has played 2B, 3B, LF and RF. He’s hitting .281/.369/.398. He has 32 SBs in 41 attempts. He’s a bit older but can play multiple positions.

    1. What is the state side equivalent of the DSL league in regard to talent?

      1. Maybe like, the top level of high school ball? A lot of the good prospects there are 16-18 years old.

  3. My boy Rafael Marchan had 3 more hits (2 2Bs) last night. His OPS (.709) is relatively low but has anyone seen or heard any recent reports on him? Stroke? Driving the ball?

  4. Eshelman, except for a couple rare good outings, has been positively awful in 2018 (134 IP):

    ERA = 5.83
    WHIP = 1.68
    HR/9 = 1.3
    BB/9 = 2.9
    W-L = 2-13

    This after a pretty good year at AAA in 2017 (121 IP):

    ERA = 2.23
    WHIP = 0.94
    HR/9 = 0.6
    BB/9 = 1.0
    W-L = 10-3

    1. bak – Location, location, location. I tend to dismiss minor league numbers because pitchers are often working on more effective ways to get batters out. Eshelman is not an overpowering pitcher, so he will have to hit the corners, and try to fool the hitters. When you look at all the Junkball pitchers who have looked like Cy Young against the Phillies, you can see where there is a place for Eshelman on the Phillies. Next spring is make or break for Eshelman.

  5. Was at the Threshers gm yesterday and they’re playing some good baseball. Another example of how moniak is hitting the s*** out of the ball and sometimes has nothing to show for it. Squared up on his first three balls yesterday big time. Not sure if Jim was there but he would say the same thing I am sure. Not only that night before he hit a ball all the way up against the wall in Center prob 405+. The wind was blowing in pretty hard last night which isn’t the norm there I think his ball to Center would have gone out last night. And just for s**** and giggles I checked the box score and the game log on all the balls moniak hit. 3 squared up balls and also says his fly outs. That’s where some of those hyper stats don’t mean crap! Unless you were there you wouldn’t know by reading the box score as I have said in the past. I re

    It’s amazing how well that team is done with a new talent coming in and talent going up.! Go pressures looking forward to the playoffs. I don’t think some jinxing anything!

    1. “That’s where some of those hyper stats don’t mean crap”

      You are citing “fly out” as a reason a “hyper stat doesnt mean crap” which is a very anti-intellectual reasoning. The more advanced stats would be the ones to consider the balls as hard hit, improving his hard hit % suggesting bad luck if he has a low BABIP and they would say that he should regress to the expecting BABIP, which would be higher than it is currently saying its likely for Moniak to break out.

      1. Rcmacc… you are missing my point. If you just go by what it says in the book or the stat line you can’t see that a lot of these so-called fly balls are hit right on the nose and are actually line drives. That was my point

    2. Moniak’s Metrics-Batted Balls:
      Line Drives vs.. Fly Balls
      2016—17.2%…vs…31.0%
      2017—18.7%…vs…33.7%
      2018—19.4%….vs…36.3%
      ……each his Line Drive percentage of batted balls has inched up….and his Ground Balls have declined from 2016 of 52% to 2018’s 44%

      2. Romus, the significant increase in his fly ball rate might support earlier reports that Moniak had altered his “launch angle” this season (as did a lot of prospects). Without starting the discussion all over again, he really is launching some balls deep into the outfield. The ball to center that Harry mentioned above had me out of my seat until it died on the warning track about 4-7 feet from the wall. The Dunedin CF (Palacio) made a great running, over the shoulder catch. As he gets stronger, these balls may reach the stands. He’ll benefit from the Reading effect next season while he continues to get stronger.

  6. Keep an eye on Austin Listi – he is showing a growing ability to control the strike zone – just as he did In Clearwater. He has had a great year considering he was in college last spring. Yeah he’s older but he’s been a fast mover and the plate discipline is huge. He’s a big time sleeper and real major league prospect.

    1. If Listi hits for power and average in AAA next year, a shot a 1B in 2020 or late 2019 could be his for the asking. Santana is a very expensive disappointment. I would play Bour in 2019 and hopefully Listi in 2020.

        1. Unless Santana is tearing the cover off the ball next year, I see him as a deadline deal.

        2. I hope not as he has been a major disappointment in and off the field. Bout it Hoskins should be at 1B.

        1. The mid-season SABR Defensive Index for NL-LF.
          Hosk at the bottom….his overall WAR is negatively affected by playing LF.
          Adam Duvall CIN 8.1
          Corey Dickerson PIT 7.5
          Kyle Schwarber CHC 5.4
          Ryan Braun MIL 3.8
          Cameron Maybin MIA 3.0
          David Peralta ARI 2.8
          Brandon Nimmo NYM 1.6
          Christian Yelich MIL 0.6
          Marcell Ozuna STL 0.2
          Joc Pederson LAD 0.2
          Gerardo Parra COL -0.3
          Matt Kemp LAD -2.3
          Juan Soto WSN -4.9
          Derek Dietrich MIA -6.7
          Rhys Hoskins PHI -8.1

          1. IMO however…the six best are stuck in the middle this season…Peralta, Nimmo, Ozuna, Yelich, Parra and Pederson……and Kyle Schwarber is three?????

            Defensive metrics are difficult to seem to get any validity on.

  7. Is Mezquita actually in Florida or is it a paper move to clear a spot for the other 2 they brought up to Williamsport

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