Clearwater (4-9) beat Florida, 4-3. The Threshers rallied twice to tie the score before finally pushing the go ahead run across in the top of the ninth.
Spencer Howard pitched four innings and held the Frogs to 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks. He struck out seven. He threw 77 pitches through four innings. Grant Dyer (2.35) came in and gave up one run on one hit in two innings. Austin Ross (1-0, 4.70) picked up the win with two perfect innings that included 4 strike outs. Jonathan Hennigan (0.00) earned his first save with a one-hit, 2-K ninth inning.
After falling behind in the first inning, the Threshers tied the game with single runs in the second on Nick Maton’s RBI single, and in the third on Madison Stokes’ solo HR (2). They tied the game again in the seventh on Simon Muzziotti’s RBI single. And, they took the lead for good on Danny Mayer’s solo HR (2) in the ninth.
Maton (.267) had 3 hits. Stokes (.318) had 2 hits. Muzziotti (.273) stole 2 bases (5).
(Sorry for the brevity in this and the other recaps. I had an accident and my left index finger is bandaged and useless, except for hitting extra keys. My normal hunt-and-peck has become hunt-peck, hunt-peck, hunt-peck, backspace, hunt-peck, hunt-peck, hunt-peck, mouse back to block and delete a single character, hunt-peck, repeat… I’m up to about 80% efficiency. And now my grandkids are here for a two-week visit.)
- #5 Spencer Howard (1-1, 3.14) – 4.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
- #11 Jhailyn Ortiz went 0-3 with a BB
- #12 Simon Muzziotti (.273) went 1-4 with an RBI, BB, 2 SB
- #17 Kyle Young (0-2, 2.70)
- #18 Nick Maton (.267) went 3-5 with an RBI
- #19 Rodolfo Duran (.107)
- #20 Daniel Brito (.125) went 0-3 with a run scored, HBP
Lehigh Valley (8-3) postponed.
- #6 Enyel De Los Santos (2-0, 0.75)
- #7 JoJo Romero (0-1, 10.13)
- #10 Ranger Suarez (1-0, 8.00)
- #16 Cole Irvin (0-0, 1.64)
- #28 Edgar Garcia (0-1, 3.38) –
Reading (6-4) beat Portland, 5-2.
Bailey Falter (1-1, 3.97) picked up his first win with a solid six innings. He gave up 2 runs (only 1 ER) on 5 hits and a walk. He struck out three. He threw 68 strikes among his 90 pitches. That’s an astonishing 75.6% strike rate. He also induced 10 ground outs to 4 fly ball outs.
The bullpen also pitched well. Luke Leftwich (0.00) had another scoreless outing, two innings, one hit, one walk, FIVE strike outs. Addison Russ (0.00) also had another scoreless outing, one inning, 2 hits, 2 strike outs, first save.
Austin Bossart gave the Phils an early lead on an RBI single in the second inning. The Phils took the lead for good with 2 runs in the fifth inning on an RBI double by Adam Haseley and a passed ball. They tacked on a couple of insurance runs in the seventh on an RBI double by Ali Castillo and an RBI single by Grenny Cumana.
Ali Castillo (.440) went 3-3 with a run scored, RBI, and a walk. Luke Williams (.258) and Adam Haseley had 2-hit games. Austin Listi didn’t get a hit but he walked twice and scored once.
- #2 Adonis Medina (0-0, 3.60)
- #3 Adam Haseley (.194) went 2-4 with a run scored, RBI
- #9 Mickey Moniak (.250) went 0-4
- #13 Arquimedes Gamboa (.094) went 1-3 with a BB
- #15 Mauricio Llovera
- #21 David Parkinson (1-1, 4.50)
- #22 Kyle Dohy (1-0, 1.29)
- #25 Cornelius Randolph (.200)
- #29 Connor Seabold
Lakewood (3-10) lost to West Virginia, 7-1.
It might be time to “… get off the pot” and make some hard decisions. This piggyback thing with the starting pitchers doesn’t seem to be working.
Jhordany Mezquita lasted 3.2 innings and gave up 4 runs on 6 hits and a walk while striking out five. Ethan Evanko (2.45) gave up his first run of the 2019 season and allowed an inherited runner to score on one-third of an inning. Dominic Pipkin gave up 2 runs on 4 hits in 3.1 innings. Oscar marcelino allowed an inherited runner to score in his two-thirds of an inning.
The BlueClaws scored their run in the eighth when, with runners on the corners, Alec Bohm stole second base. Jonathan Guzman scored on the catcher’s throwing error.
The Claws had just 4 hits, all singles.
Carlos De La Cruz picked up an outfield assist on a play at the plate. Luis Garcia committed his 5th error on the play.
- #1 Alec Bohm (.311) went 1-3 with a BB, SB (3)
- #4 Luis Garcia (.186) went 0-2 with a BB
- #8 Francisco Morales (4.91)
- #14 Rafael Marchan (.240) went 0-3 with a BB
- #23 Dominic Pipkin (5.79) – 3.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
- #24 Kevin Gowdy
- #26 Jhordany Mezquita (0-2, 9.31) – 3.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Unassigned Prospects
- #27 Starlyn Castillo
- #30 Manuel Silva
Williamsport begins its 2019 season on June 14th.
GCL Phillies East begins its 2019 season on June 24th.
GCL Phillies West begins its 2019 season on June 24th.
DSL Phillies Red begins its 2019 season on June 2nd.
DSL Phillies White begins its 2019 season on June 2nd.
Here’s the affiliate scoreboard from MiLB.
The rosters and lists are up to date as of March 31st.
4/16/2019 – Alexis Rivero assigned from Williamsport to Reading
4/16/2019 – Julian Garcia assigned from Clearwater to Williamsport
4/16/2019 – Tyler Carr assigned from Lakewood to Williamsport
4/16/2019 – Jack Perkins assigned from Lakewood to Williamsport
4/9/2019 – Reading placed RHP Trevor Bettencourt on the 7-day IL
4/9/2019 – RHP Alexis Rivero assigned to Reading
4/9/2019 – RHP Tom Eshelman assigned to Reading
4/9/2019 – RHP Julian Garcia assigned to Clearwater from Williamsport
4/9/2019 – RHP Andrew Brown assigned to Williamsport
4/8/2019 – RHP James McArthur assigned to Lakewood
4/8/2019 – RHP Kevin Gowdy assigned to Lakewood
4/8/2019 – RHP Francisco Morales assigned to Williamsport from Lakewood
4/8/2019 – RHP Victor Santos assigned to Williamsport from Lakewood
4/8/2019 – RHP Francisco Morales assigned to Williamsport from Lakewood
Phuture Phillies 
The start to the season must be decimating to Listi. 0 ‘fer 25. He’s shown a great eye at the plate with only 7 Ks and 7 BBs but 32 PAs without a hit? They’ve given him some days off to clear his head and whatever is needed. He’s only hit 3rd or 4th in the lineup. Maybe they can drop him down the lineup to ease his angst. The next step might be a demotion just so he can straighten things out and get some confidence back. Another way to fix this is just to have me write about it — like I’m doing now, that always helps.
Just got his first hit, double that just missed going out, although the OF almost robbed him in what would have been an outstanding catch.
LKW is third from the bottom of the team batting in the SAL… and that’s the good news. They are dead last and by a decent margin in ERA and WHIP. That is not a good combination. The team is young. The team has a lot of guys who were double jumped this year but not a lot of bright spots this early in the season. If your trying to find one, Bohm might be your guy. He’s hitting .311/400/.467. The HRs haven’t really shown up yet but 5 of his 14 hits are for xtra bases. Bohm is also 2nd in the league in hits. He’s 22 and a top 3 pick in the draft so he should be dominating the SAL and the league is known to sap some of the power guys.
The team is very young and a slow start to the season should have been expected. Combine that with the cold weather up north and it’s really too early to draw any conclusions. Patience is required.
I am wondering if Bohm might be moved up at least one level and possibly two this year if he continues to hit like this. Any word on how his defense looks? I know when he was drafted there were concerns about his ability to stick at third
With Franco hitting lights out, we don’t need Bohm to move up that fast. Let him take his time and do his thing.
Bohm will move at the pace that’s best for him, independent of how Franco’s doing. A top-5 pick college bat would ideally finish his first full season in AA at least but most would also start in Hi-A.
I disagree. The prospects are there to benefit the big club. If it’s in the club’s interest to not double jump Bohm, they won’t.
I’m not saying double jump, I think he’ll move one at a time but if he’s not being challenged at a level he should advance. What’s in the best interests of his development is in the best interests of the team.
Obviously that’s getting ahead of ourselves. He probably needs more than a few good games to show that he’s ready for something new.
A guy to take note of who we rarely talk about is Madison Stokes. He’s hitting well this year as he has hit himself up to the middle of the order and is playing both infield corner spots. He also hit well last year after being drafted. He’s a big strong guy who might surprise.
….and he’s got a pretty badass name, too.
I started a write-up on Stokes until I looked a little deeper. This year he’s K’ing at a 34% clip and has no BBs. in 44 ABs. His .318/.326/.568 is very nice and I prefer a guy who hits more than BBs but he is showing some power and pitchers will try to nibble more. Leading to more BBs. The next 50 ABs might give an idea of how he’s trending. Is he a swing at anything guy or is he a guy that can hit anything in the strike zone?
Over time, I’ve become more and more convinced that the players who excel most at the higher levels are generally those who take a lot of walks and, certainly, I emphatically do not believe in players who barely walk at all. The latter group almost never, ever excels with extremely rare exceptions. The former group has shown the plate discipline that is pretty much essential to hit major league pitching. I don’t care how talented you are, if you allow major league pitchers to set the agenda at the plate force you to swing at their pitches, it’s a virtual foregone conclusion that you will fail.
There are the handful few exceptions…mostly Latin great free-swinging players…like a Vlad Guerrero….with BB% around 5 or 6% (which is exclusive of the intentional bases on balls)
Larry M had to work really hard to convince me of this but I too am a firm believer that if a player cannot control the strike zone in the minors he will have a really tough time in the MLB
Yes!!! I have been saying this for years on this blog. I care more about walk rate and k rate than I do batting average (which can be driven by an abnormal babip).
Not at all a fan of blaming the weather for slow starts. Both teams play in the same weather, if they are hitting, you should be able to as well. Also, its cold in April and October in the big leagues too, so its something you need to adjust to.
Not trying to be harsh and say that all these guys off to slow starts are gonna be total busts, but at the same time I’m not a fan of the weather excuse.
Do we have a scouting report on Stokes?
Dan I posted a link for you on Madison Stokes but apparently because his school of record was the gamec@#ks it will need Jim’s approval before it appears…
In a nutshell he was a college senior drafted once by the Yankees in the 40th round and then by us last year in the 10th round. Very productive but he is 23 at the end of this month so almost a full 18 months older than Bohm.
Madison Stokes I posted this link for you guys last week. He was drafted as a college senior
https://gamecocksonline.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=40
He’ll turn 23 this month so he is almost 18 months older than Bohm. An interesting find for sure as he is hitting the ball well. If both players keep this up one will go to Reading while the other goes to CLW.
With regard to Luis Garcia if we harkin back to something Jimmy P said way back in the winter which I paraphrase because I am going off memory it was that Luis wasn’t that impressive despite the high average. Not many hard hit balls I believe was the observation.
Jimmy correct me if I am wrong of course!
I didn’t mean to imply that Garcia wasn’t impressive. Geez, he was 17, playing in his first professional season, and in a foreign country.
My purpose was to give a rational review of his accomplishments so that you guys wouldn’t raise your expectations to an unreasonable level. But, yes, he seemed to get a fair amount of hits in a way that wasn’t going to be sustainable..
Remember, he’s probably experiencing cold weather for the first time in his life. He’s playing two positions this season (splitting time at SS and 2B with Jonathan Guzman, another prospect).
I didn’t question the jump to Lakewood. The challenge seemed warranted. I questioned the jump from 47 games to 140 while trying to get people to temper their expectations.
Does seem strange and out of the ordinary on Lakewood’s and Phillies decision on handling the starting pitchers…..but they need innings for developmental purposes.
The wins/losses are probably not viewed by the organization as the motivating factor on a pitcher’s minor league resume.
IMO, this experiment will probably be only done at the lower A levels…..Lakewood, Williamsport and maybe the GCL…I will have to see if that is the case with Josh Bonifay’s plan.
What’s the word on Roman Quinn? Apologize if this has already been discussed.
Quinn is reportedly healthy and ready to return once Altherr or Williams’ fate is decided. Tigers are supposedly interested in Altherr, per Jim Salisbury. If a deal is imminent, that would seem to make room for Quinn, who must return by April 23 or be DFA’d which is highly unlikely.
Francisco Morales got rocked again today, ERA over 7. Any reports on his performance thus far?
@8mark – not necessary he was rocked. As expected from a 19 yo, Morales is still having issues with command, He BBd 3 batters and 2 reached the home plate and gave out a HR. On the brightside, Morales is missing bats and he is throwing a 3rd pitch – a change up.
Hall just smoked a 2 run HR way over the RF fence.
Randolph follows Hall with a 3 run HR that was also a blast to RF.
For Hall, long overdue.
How about Maton doing well.
if he’s still in the minors, Vlad Guerrero Jr is in Lehigh Valley next weekend-
hit one out of Pawtuckets stadium tonight.