Threshers Recap – 4/18/2019

Box Score Recap

Clearwater (5-10) beat Tampa, 10-3.

Alejandro Requena (2.30) went 4.2 innings on a night when he didn’t have his best stuff.  He gave up 3 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks.  He struck out six, but gave up 2 solo HR on fastballs.  The third run crossed when a lead off walk eventually scored on a sac fly.

Requena threw 96 pitches, 58 strikes.  He relied heavily on his fastball, throwing 76 of them.  His FB range was 89-94 mph.  It sat 90-93 as he threw 16-18 at each speed.  All 6 of his strike outs came swinging, 5 at fastballs.

Gustavo Armas (1-0, 9.00) threw 1.1 innings of one-hit ball.  Ismael Cabrera (2.84) tossed two perfect innings.  And, recently called up Seth McGarry pitched a scoreless ninth.

The Threshers rallied to tie the game with 2 runs in the third inning on RBI singles by Nick Maton and Simon Muzziotti.  They rallied to tie and take the lead in a 3-run sixth on Jhailyn Ortiz’ RBI double, Jake Scheiner’s RBI single, and Rodolfo Duran’s RBI single.  They salted the game away with a 5-run seventh on a wild pitch, Madison Stokes’ 2-run double, Scheiner’s sac fly, and Duran’s RBI single.

Muzziotti had 3 hits, Duran and Brito had 2 each.

The Threshers went 8-14 with RISP.

(Sorry for the brevity in this and the other recaps.  Finger’s better, but we’ve got visitors and I’m not getting to the Recap until late … real late.)

  • #5 Spencer Howard (1-1, 3.14)
  • #11 Jhailyn Ortiz (.174) went 1-3 with 2 runs scored, double, RBI
  • #12 Simon Muzziotti (.288) went 3-5 with a run scored, 2 double, RBI
  • #17 Kyle Young (0-2, 2.70)
  • #18 Nick Maton (.264) went 1-5 with an RBI
  • #19 Rodolfo Duran (.156) went 2-4 with an RBI
  • #20 Daniel Brito (.167) went 2-4 with 2 runs scored

Lehigh Valley (11-3) beat Rochester, 6-5.

Enyel De Los Santos (2.81) gave up 4 runs on 7 hits (3 HR) and 3 walks while striking out five.  Austin Davis (1-0, 0.00) pitched two scoreless innings.  Yacksel Rios (3.00) gave up a run in two innings.  Edubray Ramos (0.00) pitched the ninth and picked up his third save.

Lehigh opened the scoring with a run in the first on Dylan Cozens’ solo HR, his fifth of the season.  They pulled within a run in the fourth on Sean Rodriguez’ 2-run HR.  They pulled ahead and held on with 3 runs in the fifth on Mitch Walding’s RBI double and Rodriguez’ 2-run double.

Rodriguez went 2-4 with 4 RBI.  Walding had a 2-hit game.

  • #6 Enyel De Los Santos (2-0, 2.81) – 4.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 3 HR
  • #7 JoJo Romero (0-1, 10.13)
  • #10 Ranger Suarez (1-0, 8.00)
  • #16 Cole Irvin (1-0, 1.53)
  • #28 Edgar Garcia (0-1, 3.24)

Reading (6-6) lost to Harrisburg, 5-3.

Tom Eshelman (0-1, 7.88) started and pitched three innings.  He got rocked for a 5-run second, and gave up 9 hits and a walk overall.  J.D. Hammer (1.29), Kyle Dohy (1.00), and Addison Russ (0.00) combined to throw five innings of 2-hit ball, walk one, and strike out ten.

Reading scored first in the second inning on Austin Bossart’s sac fly.  They pulled within 2 in the third inning on Josh Stephen’s 2-run single.

Josh Stephen (.261) went 1-3 with 2 RBI.

  • #2 Adonis Medina (0-0, 3.60)
  • #3 Adam Haseley (.159) went 0-4
  • #9 Mickey Moniak (.227) went 0-4
  • #13 Arquimedes Gamboa (.105) went 1-3
  • #15 Mauricio Llovera (2.89)
  • #21 David Parkinson (1-1, 4.50)
  • #22 Kyle Dohy (1-0, 1.00) – 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
  • #25 Cornelius Randolph (.229) – went 1-1
  • #29 Connor Seabold – on the 7-day IL

Lakewood (4-11) beat Lexington, 8-6.

Kevin Gowdy (2.79) struggled.  He gave up just one run on 2 hits in 2.2 innings.  But, he walked 5 and threw just 28 strikes among his 64 pitches.  Gilmael Troya (1.69) entered with the bases loaded and stranded all three runners.  He went on to pitch 1.1 innings and giving up just one hit.  James McArthur (5.79) gave up 3 runs in three innings on 5 hits and 2 walks.  Ethan Evanko (2-1, 4.76) gave up 2 runs on 3 hits.

Lakewood took the lead in the third inning on Ben Pelletier’s RBI single, a throwing error,  and Carlos De La Cruz’ 2-run single.  They broke a tie in the eighth on Matt Kroon’s RBI double, Luis Garcia’s 2-run single, and Jake Holmes’ first HR.

Pelletier had 2 hits.  De La Cruz and Garcia had 2 RBI each.

  • #1 Alec Bohm (.292) went 0-3 with a run scored, BB
  • #4 Luis Garcia (.204) went 1-3 with 2 RBI, BB 
  • #8 Francisco Morales (7.59)
  • #14 Rafael Marchan (.240)
  • #23 Dominic Pipkin (5.79)
  • #24 Kevin Gowdy (2.79) – 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 1 K
  • #26 Jhordany Mezquita (0-2, 9.31)

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 April 17th.

Today’s Transactions (newest transactions in bold text)
4/18/2019 – Phillies placed CF Odubel Herrera on the 10-day IL, hamstring strain
4/18/2019 – Phillies activated CF Roman Quinn from the 10-day IL
4/18/2019 – Lehigh Valley activated RHP Tyler Viza from the 7-day IL
4/18/2019 – Luis Carrasco assigned from Clearwater to Williamsport
4/18/2019 – Seth McGarry assigned from Williamsport to Clearwater
4/18/2019 – JD Hammer assigned from Lehigh Valley to Reading
4/17/2019 – Lehigh Valley activated 3B Gift Ngoepe from the 7-day IL
4/17/2019 – Phillies transferred RHP Tommy Hunter from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL, forearm strain
4/17/2019 – Phillies optioned RHP Nick Pivetta to Lehigh Valley
4/17/2019 – Phillies selected the contract of 2B Phil Gosselin from Lehigh Valley
4/16/2019 – Phillies optioned RHP Drew Anderson to Lehigh Valley
4/16/2019 – Phillies recalled RHP Jerad Eickhoff from Lehigh Valley
4/16/2019 – RHP Spencer Howard assigned to Clearwater from Williamsport
4/16/2019 – LHP Jhordany Mezquita assigned to Lakewood from Williamsport
4/16/2019 – RHP Dominic Pipkin assigned to Lakewood from Williamsport
4/16/2019 – JD Hammer assigned from Reading to Lehigh Valley
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
4/15/2019 – Phillies recalled RHP Drew Anderson from Lehigh Valley
4/15/2019 – Phillies placed RHP David Robertson on the 10-day IL. Elbow soreness
4/15/2019 – LHP Ethan Lindow assigned to Williamsport from Lakewood
4/15/2019 – RHP Tyler McKay assigned to Lakewood from Williamsport
4/14/2019 – LHP Kyle Young assigned to Williamsport from Clearwater
4/14/2019 – RHP Andrew Brown assigned to Clearwater from Williamsport
4/13/2019 – RHP Alexis Rivero assigned to Williamsport from Lehigh Valley
4/13/2019 – Lehigh Valley activated RHP Edubray Ramos
4/12/2019 – LHP Jhordany Mezquita assigned to Williamsport from Lakewood
4/12/2019 – RHP Tyler McKay assigned to Williamsport from Lakewood
4/12/2019 – RHP Dominic Pipkin assigned to Williamsport from Lakewood
4/12/2019 – RHP Francisco Morales assigned to Lakewood from Williamsport
4/12/2019 – OF Jhailyn Ortiz assigned to Clearwater
4/12/2019 – RHP Victor Santos assigned to Lakewood
4/12/2019 – LF Ben Pelletier assigned to Lakewood from Williamsport
4/12/2019 – Clearwater placed CF Jesus Alastre on the 7-day IL
4/12/2019 – RHP Alexis Rivero assigned to Lehigh Valley from Reading
4/12/2019 – SS Raul Rivas assigned to Reading
4/12/2019 – Phillies recalled RHP Victor Arano from Lehigh Valley
4/11/2019 – RHP Spencer Howard assigned to Williamsport from Clearwater
4/11/2019 – Phillies optioned RHP Edubray Ramos to Lehigh Valley
4/11/2019 – Lehigh Valley activated RHP Yacksel Rios from the 7-day IL
4/11/2019 – Lehigh Valley placed RHP Tyler Viza on the 7-day IL. Right foot turf toe
4/10/2019 –  Phillies sent CF Roman Quinn on a rehab assignment to Lehigh Valley
4/9/2019 – Reading placed 3B Jose Antequera on the 7-day IL
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

27 thoughts on “Threshers Recap – 4/18/2019”

  1. Randolph left the game after sliding into 3rd. The Reading pen was impressive, Dohy still throws too many balls but he was really getting to them with the off-speed stuff, a very good curve and a changeup. Overall Reading’s pitching is 2nd in SO’s despite almost 20 less innings pitched then the top team.

    Lakewood finally has audio for their games on Milb.tv, they said Bowa and other members of staff were at the game. Gowdy they said the play by play guys said the stadium gun was off several mph, that they checked with the phillies radar guy and that Gowdy was 91-92. The brought it up while McArthur was pitching as they said it showed 86 but clearly was a good bit higher.

  2. Beginning to look more and more likely that Tom Eshelman’s time within the Phillie org may be coming to a close. Once the draft takes place and the newest crop come in, and if he doesn’t show marked improvement, he could face being released.

    1. He’s an example, and we’ve seen it with other phils prospects and I’m sure other organizations are the same, of how hard it is to get to the SHOW and be successful as a soft tossers especially a righty.
      it happens but its really unusual to see a righty who sits around 88-90 to be successful and thus should be a bar when projecting A or AA prospects.
      the margin for error is too low unless you have plus plus command or some “trick ” ptich

      1. Yeah,,,,,the Tyler Cloyds and David Buchanans have to have something more special to ultimately succeed at the highest level. Saw where Tyler Cloyd was still pitching last year…Marlins….do not fare very well.

      2. For Escheleman, from his stat lines, he DID look he had plus control. His BB ratios were always low, and the hype I though as the number of strikes he would throw. He should’ve got his shot last year, but he will exposed, so will see what happens

        1. If you have below average velocity, especially as a righty, you better have an out pitch, trick pitch or some unusual level of deception in order to succeed. Otherwise, you’re pretty much toast. The history of the Phillies’ minor league system is littered with high draft pick righties who had good control and threw multiple pitches and didn’t have a shot in hell to succeed as major leaguers – like almost zero. Do exceptions exist? Yeah. They are the unicorns, but if you fill your system with this profile of player your team will always finish out of the playoffs. I’m glad the current leadership sees this.

          1. This is why I wasn’t big on Eshelman even a couple years ago. Just from seeing him I’m LHV while he was successful it seemed like he lacked the really strong secondary pitches he would need for major league success. That said, I’m sure he has more ability than he’s shown since last year. No idea what’s caused his regression.

  3. The crazy thing about Eshelman is just how close he was; he was having success at AAA! And now he cant get AA guys out. But I agree, this is why I am never a fan of guys who throw 88 but “know how to pitch” because guess what, when you get to the higher levels, you fave guys who “know how to hit” It was frustrating for awhile that the Phillies seemed to love those types of guys with zero upside. Give me a guy with a rocket arm who has no idea how to pitch any day; coach him up a bit and see what you can unlock.

    That Reading bullpen is nasty!

  4. Pelletier really should have made our top 30 prospect list I think. He’s still young and he’s batting 3rd for Lakewood. He’s starting to hit after his late start to the season.

  5. Love your recaps
    I don’t love looking at all our #1 picks who seem to be struggling
    Thank you for your reports
    MFXM

    ________________________________

  6. Romus my guy Josh Stephens is holding his own at reading. I just love his swing,

    1. Yeah…same age and draft class as Mickey Moniak..
      Also graduated from famous sports HS Mater Dei, California…same as guy who it a bomb last night off Eflin…Ryan McMahon…..and also Danny Espinosa…and that is just baseball….and a few football grads are pretty well known also in the NFL.

  7. It’s very early and a lot can change, but it is depressing as hell watching three of Johnny Almaraz’s first round prospects, players lauded for their hit tools, struggle at the very place where good hitting prospect shine and have most the most trouble with, you guessed it, their hit tools. Johnny has hit with some other picks, but good God, what he did in the first round is looking so bad right now.

      1. I lean more towards the drafting people than the development staff, because for the most part those picks didn’t meet expectations from day 1. It’d be different if they looked really good at first and just didn’t progress as they moved up.

        1. The only position player who did….from the onset, was JPC in 2013….and he fizzled at the end.

      2. I agree that the developmental philosophy has not been effective, for whatever reason. It’ll take time with new people in place to establish a more productive trend. As for 1st rounders, I find it difficult to believe that Johnny A made unilateral decisions. There is so much more scrutiny marketwise for the top brass to keep their noses out of it, justifiably or not.

        1. IMO, the defense of Almaraz that “others in the org made the decision for the first round pick” is completely irrelevant. Even if that is so (which no one knows), it is still his scouting report that the decision maker is relying upon. There is no chance that Klentak is drafting a kid that has a crappy scouting report from Almaraz.

          It is the scouting report that is the cause of the miss…not the draft decision.

          If you give a player a 70 hit tool in a scouting report, that kid’s swing better be friggin awesome. if they have to remake the swing in A ball, then that was a bad scouting report. No chance that Klentak drafts a kid in the top 10 where the scouting report says, “need to remake the swing completely.”

      3. IMO a position player drafted in the top 10 should not need a ton of development. Pitching is different. But a position player drafted that high should know how to hit the baseball. It really isn’t that complicated. which is not to say that it isn’t hard…it is the hardest thing to do in all of sports. but it isn’t complicated. a player taken in the top 10 in the draft should not need a complete remake of his swing. that is poor scouting to draft a player in the top 10 and then completely remake his swing.

        Also, a lack of walks and a high K rate indicate it is the player and not the coach. coaches at ever level say “only swing at strikes.” but they are not in the box with the kid. It is too early to draw any conclusions, but Moniak has a 31% K rate at Reading. let’s hope that comes down dramatically as the season wears on…like in half. but that is not the development staff’s fault. the kid has to make contact.

        1. I tend to agree with you. One way or another, they need to fix the draft room – something has to change. When you have consecutive picks ranked #9, #1, #8 and #3 and not one of them is a top 50 prospect (and only one is a top 100 prospect), the early returns suggest the possibility (and perhaps likelihood) of an epic fail in the draft process. If this team wants to stay good, they will focus on and fix their draft process or this current run will not continue.

  8. I was a fan of starting Moniak in Clearwater to avoid cold weather early on.
    Any eyes on Gowdy? Velocity back?

  9. Once again a routine ground ball to Reading SS. Double play ball, no effort , body language and no plate approach. Surely we have a SS in the system that give a effort

    1. I think Raul Rivas may be able to slide right in there.
      He is a year older but he probably has a bit more ‘desire and passion’.
      I still cannot fathom or make any sense of his 40 inclusion.

  10. I agree on the 40 man as well as AFL. Did show anything. The double play would of ended the inning and helped Eshelman .

    1. The Phillies, for only their reasons, are pushing or force feeding him up the rungs.
      And he has not established any solid metric foundation at any of them.
      Two years ago at Lakewood would be considered his best……slash of 261/.328/.378 cut short by injury to only half the season.
      Perhaps they see his athleticism taking over soon and he turns it around….like Jose Pujols did last season at CLW…..of course Pujols repeated levels.

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