42 thoughts on “Threshers Recap – 4/28/2019”

1. Julian Garcia has reduced his BBs in CLW from 3 per 9 IP to 2.25 per IP. He’s K’ing more than a man per inning. He’s given up runs in only 2 of his 4 games. Looks like he’s comfortable in A+.

   Gustavo Armas has not taken to relieving or A+ very well. He was a very efficient starter in the SAL last year with a 2.32 ERA and .93 WHIP. His BBs have increased dramatically and he absolutely can’t get anybody out. His Ks have increased slightly but with opponents hitting .500 against him, that hasn’t helped at all. He’s already 23 yo and needs to figure a whole lot out in a short period of time.

   1. Anybody know what Garcia throws? He’s always been a big strikeout guy but without much fanfare. Walks have been abundant in the past too but so far so good this year.

2. LKW put both Marchan and Gutierrez in the same lineup. Gutierrez caught and Marchan was DH. It’s a good way to get two good bats in the lineup. LHV has been putting Grullon and Brantly is the same lineup every time they can. LHV has 3 catchers on the roster with McBride being the 3rd. LKW only has 2 on their roster. If the DH rules are the same in the minor leagues as the majors, if the catcher gets hurt and the DH moves to catcher to replace him, the pitcher has to hit. But I like putting 2 good bats in the lineup, especially in the minors. One of them could be moved up mid-year, if they one or both continue to hit. They are both young and can use an entire year at LKW but if the bats are still hot in July, maybe one gets the call from CLW.

3. Promote one of Robinson/Adams & Grullon/Brantley. Demote Knapp. DFA Altherr.

4. Wow, Moniak and Hasely not exactly tearing it up. Of course it’s early but seriously, something is wrong. I rarely see ‘Mickey Mo’s’ name mentioned any more. I don’t wanna point fingers but wtf is going on? Garcia just a kid so he gets a pass. I just don’t understand how these guys who were 1st round draft picks have performed so poorly. I don’t wanna be overly critical of these kids but something not right.

   1. It’s still April, give it another month before you lose your mind.

   2. mickey m had the only good swings yesterday. Sinking liner to right center that was caught and a ball he hooked between first baseman and bag for a triple. He looks confident at plate. Hasely on the other hand looked over matched. swing and misses at a lot of slow curves out of the zone. The NH pitcher was on the Toronto 40 man and only needed 54 pitches in 5 innings. The amazing stat is that the team leader in a lot of offensive stats is Ali Castillo. WHO???

   3. Actually Moniak had the only 2 good swings off the NH starter who is on the Toronto 40 man and needed only 53 pitches to complete 5 innings. A sinking lie drive that was caught in rt -center and a ball hooked down the right field line for a triple. Mickey looks confident at the plate. Hasely on the other hand appears lost, swung futilely at several slow curve balls. It seems like half the team is at or below the Mendoza line. The leading offensive force except power is a 30yr old pick up Ali Castillo!!!

   4. They missed. Its that simple. Would be alot worse if they missed with those top 10 draft picks and didn’t compensate but they went out and made big trade for Realmuto & signed Harper.

5. If we didn’t know Jhailyn Ortiz’s signing bonus figure he wouldn’t be on anyone’s top 50.

   1. Agreed. Or Morales for that matter. Lots of guys actually…. but the thing is, rankings are equally based on “tools” as it is based on performance.

   2. Reluctantly i would have to agree…..pains me to see the Nats/Braves/Yankees/Jays and even the Mest with Rosario, bring up very young fast-burning Latin players and thrive……while paying a lot less for their signature on a signing bonus.
      And then see that two of the potential better Latin players in the Phillies minor league system now….were signings from scouts from the Sox ( Muzziotti) and Braves ( Guiterrez).
      And Phillies were fortunate enough to get them thru the penalty system.

6. Luke Leftwich is doing really well thus far. I might be wrong but wasn’t he pretty good in spring training when used in major league games?

   1. He’s been very good so far for Reading, has the curve ball working real well right now.

7. I was paging through Steve Potter’s book, “A Fan’s View 3rd Annual Phillies Minor League Digest” and I came across Waylon Richardson. Steve seems to be high on him and says he has “big arm potential”. Has anyone seen him and know what he throws? He’s 22 and I think he was recovering from an injury so he didn’t throw last year. He’s a 40th round draftee so he’s not on most people’s radar screen.

   1. He’s working his way back from surgery, TJ, I think. The Phillies knew of his need for surgery and took a chance at 40.

8. Right now, frankly, I don’t think our system is all that great. I’m thinking we are probably in the 18-25 range. I mean, it’s kind of a sluggish system that low on high end prospects and not that deep on solid performers. It’s not a wasteland, but it’s also not a system that is ranked how a system should be ranked that has 4 consecutive top 10 picks, including 2 top 3 picks. Very, very disappointing.

   1. catch- I like our farm system, but will admit that there are not a lot of prospects who are knocking on the door.

   2. I don’t follow other farms closely enough to know where we’d rank but my gut tells me you’re pretty close on your assessment.

      I would like to hold on to the few high ceiling guys we have – Medina, Howard, Bohm, maybe, Moniak, Garcia and Marchan. There’s some pitching depth that could help us fill in small holes on the ML roster.

      They’ve definitely missed some good opportunities to add impact talent. On the bright side, they get another chance in about a month.

   3. In a perfect world, the Phillies (who do have a bottom half farm) would have a top five system. But … the reality is this is what usually happens in MLB.
      The Phillies have promoted or traded their best prospects to field the club you’re seeing in CBP. The same thing has happened to the Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers, Brewers, and Cubs. They all once had top systems. They’re all (maybe except for the LAD) probably ranked lower than the Phillies today.
      The Astros are the one larger market team (club that doesn’t get competitive balance draft picks) who stand out for being WS contenders/winners and still having a top farm system.

      1. Hinkie comeon. There best Prospect have done nothing. I would gladly trade our farm system to be in the shape of the brewers, dodger, yankees. red sox. all real contenders, We arent, not with this pitching staff and no help in the minors. We are now like the sixers. all the mistakes on top picks is hurting us,

         1. Like I said above … their best prospects are now either playing for the big league club or were traded to acquire a player now playing in CBP. Rhys Hoskins, Scott Kingery, Andrew Knapp, Nick Williams, Roman Quinn, Zach Eflin, Nick Pivetta, Ser Ant’ny, Victor Arano, JP Crawford, Jorge Alfaro, Sixto Sanchez, and Wil Stewart were all top 30 prospects over the past couple of years.
            In addition, the signings of Jake Arrieta, Carlos Santana, and Bryce Harper have/will cost the team high draft picks. This is how a top ten system becomes a (maybe) bottom ten system.

            1. Rhys is the only good starter, Hinkie being a top 30 prospect for a weak farm systems means nothing.

   4. 18-25 might be a touch low. The only reason I say that is the top 3 prospects have strong MLB profiles and have performed well so far this year. Well, that might be a little strong for Medina, but he hasn’t been bad either. If a system has three top 50 prospects, which these guys probably will be at mid-season, then it is at least an average system.

      I think the main source of frustration/negativity stems from some other guys who are not living up to “pedigree”. We are all subject to these feelings and I am no exception. At the very least, it is early and Moniak and Garcia have been challenged with difficult placements to start the season.

      1. I don’t sweat Garcia or Moniak this early in their seasons at their levels. Long time between now and August. Lots can turn out toward their success. Mickey showed me a lot from his rags to riches 2018.

9. Cool. I think the number of very good players in the low minors will push the Phillies system back into the top 10 next year.

10. Hinkie, missing on 3 straight first rd pick OFs, and I am not giving up on them, although I am not a big fan of Randolph, is problematic for any organization. Something in the evaluation process, maybe what they are looking at or for, seems to be less than ideal. Bohm is playing very well at Lakewood, but a college hitter with his pedigree should already be having success at a higher level, IMO, and I will feel much better when he is doing at Clearwater what he is doing at Lakewood.

11. Can anyone tell me why Luis Garcia jumps all over the batting order on a daily basis in Lakewood? One day he’s leading off, then he’s batting 7th, etc. That doesn’t seem to be helpful to a young kid but maybe I’m missing something…

    1. Voice the manager at Lakewood ,just pulls names out of a hat, Romus told me

       1. Do you really think the manager of the Lakewood team makes the lineup every day? More likely is the player development staff lets the manager know the lineup to be used.

          1. Yes, I’ve said this before. Several times. Even as far up as Clearwater. Really boils my blood to read the same darn comments and stupid replies over and over again.

12. Phils need to look at their Latin American operation top to bottom. Carlos Ruiz was signed in 1998 and, although an All Star only once in his MLB career, is considered a shining star in the Phils’ Latin operation. Since then, among position players, they’ve had Freddy Galvis, Carlos Hernandez, Domingo Santana and Maikel Franco. There is nobody I see on the horizon likely to make a dent on the fielding side

    For pitching, they’ve had up and down relievers who can’t be considered anchors on a future roster. In the system they have Medina, de los Santos, Romero and Suarez who aren’t lighting it up..

    If the Phils were acing it in the Rule 4 draft, this could be overlooked. The Phils have drafted Cole Hamels, Aaron Nola and not much else of late in the first round. Hoskins and Kingery prevent their Rule 4 drafting from being considered an abject disaster.

    Because their selections and internal development has been so poor, it is logical that fans look outside the organization for help through free agency. That Philadelphia sports media doesn’t cover this problem of talent identification and development candidly is a black mark on said media.

    1. Agree.
       The Phillies talent acquisition at the 16/17-year old Latin market arena, falls below that of many of the other organizations.
       A change/modification should be considered.
       The new academy in the DR, opened in 2017, is suppose to be an advantage for the Phillies org.
       But almost all teams have their own academies also.
       What is the solution then?

       1. the solution is you keep cutting off the head of the snake until one produces at level that is acceptable. I would pull someone from Houston or Red Sox systems.

          1. Pulling someone from another system, to make a meaningful change, also means they will come under the premise that it is a promotion…..makes things a little sticky with Sal A still as the director.

    2. I don’t want to misunderstand your post Flea but Enyel and JoJo had nothing to do with LA signs. Enyel was traded for (Freddy Galvis) and JoJo was drafted in the 4th round from Yavapai college.

       That said they do have some guys who were LA signs making an impact in the MLB. Not all are here today playing for us.

       If a top to bottom evaluation hasn’t been done since Middleton took the helm I would be surprised but fretting over what was done under the Montgomery regime makes no sense.

       If the common denominator is Sal well then yeah you pay a little more attention. But Sal’s parameters for signing players today cannot be compared to that of pre 2015.

       Otherwise these are simply anecdotal observations and not ones based on empirical evidence. We perceive this as a Phillies problem how do we know its not a league wide problem.

       1. DMAR…..”But Sal’s parameters for signing players today cannot be compared to that of pre 2015.”…the big bucks started in 2011 with Tocci…then there was Grullon, and Pujols in ’12, Encarnacion in ’13, Gamboa and Brito in ’14 and then Ortiz in ’15.
          And also Brayan Gonzalez.
          All large bonus guys….>500K.
          Virtually all top 20 Latin prospects at the signings…Brito may have been near the bottom of that group.
          That is not a good track record of upward mobility.
          IMO….that grades close to a “D”….for the money expended and the rankings that they possessed prior to to the July 2nd signing date.

          1. Is $750K for Tocci a large bonus? Is $1 million? Ok yeah $4 mil for Ortiz is a problem.

             I can’t think of another club who was spending bigger in the LA market than the Rangers can you. What do they have to show for all of their LA dollars spent…maybe its good I don’t know.

             Look at the OPS leaders today 2 in the Top 10 only 4 in the TOP 20 were LA signs. How many have won the MVP or Cy Young in the past 10 years? IDK my point is simply we make a big deal about it here in our little Phillies fish bowl as if every other club out there is blowing us out of the water.

             I contend its simply not the case.

             1. DMAR…….just look in our own division….Acuna, Albies, Robles, Soto, Rosario…all low bonus signings….Soto may be the most at $1.5M.
                And all signed after 2012 or later
                The Phillies on the eight I mentioned above…averaged over $1M per…Ortiz skewed it with his $4.4M….but still they were all considered high bonus $ in 2011 thru 2015.

                IMO, scouting in the DR and Ven….and establishing inter-relationship bonds….were not good.

13. Adonis Medina with another unimpressive pitching line tonight. Now I don’t want to jump to conclusions so can someone shed light on how he’s pitching, what he’s working on? Because every time I check the box score, it seems he’s barely going 4 innings (3.2 tonight). I’m getting the same impression from Francisco Morales as well. Please inform any misperceptions I may have, anyone.

    1. I’ll try. The minor leagues are about development not necessarily pretty stat lines.

       Hope that helped. Realistically, though, Medina is worrisome. He’s toward the top of the organization and you’d like to see him performing better. Morales, on the other hand, is in A-ball. He’s certainly more about development. So, he’s less of a worry.

       I’ve seen both a lot over the early portions of their careers. Medina battled inconsistency within occasional starts. I can’t really speak to his problems this year. Morales has struggled with inconsistency within almost every start. I didn’t rank him as highly as most readers here. I’ve stated that he will only advance as far as his command takes him. But, he can’t develop command until he conquers control.

       1. I would second Jim’s main point. The minor leagues are about developing players. Not winning games or pretty stat lines. So it is very common for. Team to tell a pitcher to throw a lot of a certain pitch because they want him to develop it. They know it isn’t ready yet but they want him to develop it. I don’t know if that was the case with Medina last night. But a possibility. Also a possibility that he simply missed location. All pitchers have tough nights.

          As to your other comment about IP, Medina has thrown 5 ip in all 3 prior games. That is fine for me. Maybe he is on a pitch count restriction. But nothing wrong with that.

          Medina is playing the entire year as a 22 yo in AA. He is still developing. But he has an electric arm. Zero reason for concern in my opinion. He isn’t ready for the majors, but that is fine. Give him time. The tools are there.

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