Phillies’ Chairman David Montgomery passed away this morning. The 72-year-old Montgomery lost a five-year battle with cancer. He began his career with the Phillies in 1971 and worked his way up into the executive offices. He was instrumental in the construction of Citizens Bank Park and led the organization during the 2007-11 stretch that culminated with their 2008 World Series Championship. (Phillies release here)
Clearwater (13-19) beat Bradenton, 3-2.
Alejandro Requena (2-1, 3.38) pitched six solid innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits. He walked two and struck out four. Requena threw 84 pitches, 54 for strikes (64.3%). Keylan Killgore (2.45) pitched a 1-2-3 seventh, but was lifted after a sac bunt put the tying and go ahead runs in scoring position. Zach Warren (3.86) entered and issued a walk that set up an inning-ending double play. He introduced some drama into the ninth with a one-out single and two, two-out wild pitches before getting a game-ending ground out for his first save.
The Threshers scored first on Alec Bohm’s RBI double in the third inning. After Requena surrendered the lead on a 2-run HR in the fourth, The Threshers tied the game in the fifth on Ben Aklinski’s RBI single. They took the lead later in the inning on an RBI ground out.
Nick Maton led off and had 2 hits. Ben Aklinski also had 2 hits. Matt Vierling stole his eighth base.
- #1 Alec Bohm (.258) went 1-4 with 2 RBI
- #5 Spencer Howard (1-1, 2.25) placed on the 7-day IL
- #11 Jhailyn Ortiz (.189) went 0-3
- #12 Simon Muzziotti (.295)
- #17 Kyle Young (1-3, 4.29) placed on the 7-day IL
- #18 Nick Maton (.244)
- #19 Rodolfo Duran (.154)
- #20 Daniel Brito (.200) went 1-3 with a run scored
Lehigh Valley (19-12) lost to Durham, 7-6.
JoJo Romero had a bummer of a start, needing 37 pitches to get two outs in the first inning. He gave up 6 runs on 8 hits before giving way to Tom Windle (4.15) with 2 runners on base. Windle stranded the runners and pitched 3.1, one-hit innings. He walked none and struck out three. Seth McGarry (0.00) tossed four shutout innings allowing 3 hits, walking one, and striking out five. Tyler Gilbert (0-1, 2.00) gave up a run for the second game in a row and took the loss.
The IronPigs rallied with 5 runs in the second inning on RBI singles by Gift Ngoepe and Rob Brantly, a 2-run single by Lane Adams, and an RBI round out. They finished their come back on Matt McBride’s solo HR (1) in the sixth.
- #6 Enyel De Los Santos (2-0, 2.81) – recalled to Philadelphia
- #7 JoJo Romero (2-1, 9.00) -0.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
- #10 Ranger Suarez (2-1, 5.64)
- #16 Cole Irvin (2-0, 2.25)
- #22 Kyle Dohy (0-1, 17.47)
- #28 Edgar Garcia (1-1, 1.80) promoted to the Phillies on June 6th
Reading (16-12) beat Hartford, 3-1.
The Phils scored 3 runs in the first inning on Austin Listi’s 3-run HR, his first of the season, and held on to win behind solid pitching.
Bailey Falter (3-1, 2.33) shut out the Yard Goats for 6.2 innings allowing 3 hits and a walk while striking out six. He one-hit the goats for six innings. He left with the bases loaded in the seventh. and the reliever walked in a run (Grr!!). Garrett Cleavinger (4.05), said reliever, pitched an inning, walked two, struck out two, and was yanked after a 2-out walk in the eighth. J.D. Hammer (0.51) finished up with just a harmless single in the ninth for his first save.
Mickey Moniak had 2 of the Phils’ 4 hits. Luke Williams had a hit, walk, and stolen base (9).
- #2 Adonis Medina (0-1, 5.40)
- #3 Adam Haseley (.231) went 0-3 with a BB, SB
- #9 Mickey Moniak (.220) went 2-4 with a run scored, double
- #13 Arquimedes Gamboa (.100)
- #15 Mauricio Llovera (1-0, 3.98)
- #21 David Parkinson (2-2, 4.21)
- #22 Kyle Dohy (2-0, 0.82) – promoted to Lehigh Valley
- #25 Cornelius Randolph (.250) went 0-3
- #29 Connor Seabold – on the 7-day IL
Lakewood (11-21) beat Hagerstown, 2-1, in ten innings.
Ben Brown (0.00) had another great outing. He pitched four, shutout innings, holding the Suns to 3 hits. He walked none and struck out five. He threw 42 strikes in 63 pitches (66.7%). In 4 appearances with Lakewood (this was his first start), Big Ben has pitched 13.2 scoreless innings, held the opposition to 11 hits, walked three, struck out twenty, and has thrown 65.4% strikes.
Oscar Marcelino (3.24) walked one in a scoreless fifth inning. Tyler McKay (7.08) pitched two-plus innings and gave up a game-tying home run. He passed the baton to Tyler Carr after a lead off walk in the eighth. Carr (1-1, 0.59) who stranded the runner. He navigated scoring opportunities in both the eighth and tenth innings, and emerged with the win.
Lakewood scored on a double play in the second inning. They took the lead in the tenth on Carlos De La Cruz’ RBI single.
Jonathan Guzman (.250) and Matt Kroon (.290) each had 2 of the BlueClaws 7 hits.
Luis Garcia was the DH. Guzman was the SS and committed a throwing error. Hunter Stovall played second.
- #1 Alec Bohm (.367) – promoted to Clearwater, 4/29/2019
- #4 Luis Garcia (.167) went 0-4
- #8 Francisco Morales (0-2, 6.16)
- #14 Rafael Marchan (.315)
- #23 Dominic Pipkin (1-1, 4.43)
- #24 Kevin Gowdy (1.84)
- #26 Jhordany Mezquita (1-2, 6.52)
- #30 Manuel Silva (0.00)
Unassigned Prospects
- #27 Starlyn Castillo
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 May 7th (and are pointing to current files).
5/8/2019 – RHP Luis Carrasco assigned to Williamsport from Clearwater
5/8/2019 – RHP Andrew Brown assigned to Clearwater from Williamsport
5/8/2019 – RHP Austin Ross assigned to Clearwater from Williamsport
5/8/2019 – RHP Kyle Glogoski assigned to Williamsport from Lakewood
5/8/2019 – LHP Ethan Lindow assigned to Williamsport from Lakewood
5/8/2019 – RHP Benjamin Brown assigned to Lakewood from Williamsport
5/8/2019 – RHP Tyler McKay assigned to Lakewood from Williamsport
5/8/2019 – RHP Alexis Araujo assigned to GCL East from DSL Red
5/8/2019 – LF Jimmy Smith assigned to Lakewood from Williamsport
5/7/2019 – OF Ben Aklinski assigned to Clearwater from Williamsport
5/6/2019 – Phillies recalled RHP Edgar Garcia from Lehigh Valley
5/5/2019 – LHP Ethan Evanko assigned to Clearwater from Lakewood
5/5/2019 – RHP James McArthur assigned to Lakewood from Williamsport
5/4/2019 – Andrew Brown assigned to Williamsport from Clearwater
5/4/2019 – Ismael Cabrera assigned to Clearwater from Williamsport
5/4/2019 – Luis Carrasco assigned to Clearwater from Williamsport
5/4/2019 – Julian Garcia assigned to Clearwater from Williamsport
5/4/2019 – Phillies Designate Aaron Altherr For Assignment
5/4/2019 – Phillies activate Odubel Herrera from the 10-day IL
5/3/2019 – Benjamin Brown assigned to Williamsport from Lakewood
5/3/2019 – Tyler McKay assigned to Williamsport from Lakewood
5/3/2019 – Jhordany Mezquita assigned to Lakewood from Williamsport
5/3/2019 – Dominic Pipkin assigned to Lakewood from Williamsport
5/3/2019 – Bryan Alcala assigned to Voluntarily Retired List by GCL East
5/2/2019 – Lakewood placed C Rafael Marchan on the 7-day IL
5/2/2019 – C Jack Conley assigned to Lakewood from GCL East
5/1/2019 – Lehigh Valley placed LHP Ranger Suarez on the 7-day IL, abdominal strain
5/1/2019 – LHP Jakob Hernandez assigned to Lehigh Valley from Reading
5/1/2019 – LHP Jeff Singer assigned to Reading from Lehigh Valley
5/1/2019 – Reading activated LF Cornelius Randolph from the 7-day IL
5/1/2019 – Reading placed 3B Jose Antequera on the 7-day IL
5/1/2019 – Clearwater placed LHP Kyle Young on the 7-day IL
5/1/2019 – RHP Kyle Glogoski assigned to Lakewood from GCL West.
5/1/2019 – James McArthur assigned to Williamsport from Lakewood
5/1/2019 – Grenny Cumana assigned to Williamsport from Reading
5/1/2019 – Alejandro Requena assigned to Clearwater from Williamsport
Phuture Phillies 
Almost all of yesterday’s comment section belonged in the weekly discussion thanks to V1’s misplaced comment.
The “Threshers Recap” is for the discussion of the previous night’s minor league games.
The “2019 Amateur Draft and J2 Discussion” is for the discussion of this year’s draft and international prospects.
All other comments belong in the “Open Discussion”.
Ok. Sorry. I was responding to Eastman’s start. But will place it in Open Discussion going forward.
Has anyone seen Ben Brown pitch?
TY handzus looks like has good curve
Yeah, curve looked good. I wasn’t sure if a couple of those breaking balls were sliders or curves but one was definitely a big curveball that he gets a swing and miss with.
This article is from August 2018, but it says Brown’s FB has been as high as 94.
https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/phillies-ben-brown-1.20423575
This article is from March 2019. Sal A says he sits 90-92, but it also says in a recent game he was 91-94. Slider and changeup.
https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/phillies-prospects-nick-fanti-ben-brown-logan-o-hoppe-kyle-young-1.28598243?utm_source=tw_sp
This is promising stuff.
Bailey Falter continues to pitch well and get wins. He’s an underrated prospect. Meanwhile I’m starting to think I’ve grossly overrated JoJo who has has a terrible season so far. Ben Brown with 13 shutout innings and 20 Ks is lighting it up. He’s a big 6’6” kid. How hard is he throwing now? He’s certainly looked good to start.
KLaw has been in the past, but not sure now, very high on JoJo.
Certainly was a bad day at the office for JoJo yesterday. From my view in the club/press level, his pitches seemed to float. Manager after the game said his pitches were “flat.” This coming off one of his better starts last week where he credited changing the grip on his FB to get more command and life. He had trouble getting to 90 yesterday. If it’s just a matter of a bad outing and a morning game, then he can get back in the lab and continue to fine tune his offerings. I believe he’s the second youngest player on the team and manager warned us before the season that he might struggle at times. As far as I know he’s healthy, but that’s always my concern with a dip on the radar gun.
Meanwhile, Seth McGarry, who came over from Pittsburgh in the Joaquin Benoit trade, has done very well for us after skipping AA (this year). Attacks the strike zone with 90-92 and a couple nasty breaking options. RHB don’t seem to see the ball out of his hand very well. You could tell he was getting tired at the end of it, but we were out of pitchers after the rain delay shot Viza and JoJos early departure. Got bailed out by a Walding unassisted double play.
@Murray – I liked Bailey Falter since he was drafted. He is definitely flying under the radar because he doesn’t throw with fire. He is a type of a pitcher that I normally like (strong command, pitchability and pitch repertoire) although his stuff currently projects as back end since he doesn’t have true plus pitch – the FB-CB-CU still look average-ish although the command is MLB ready. If Falter can develop an “out” pitch – he can be like the left handed Eickhoff.
Fangraphs’s report on Falter says basically the same thing (below). Hopefully he can find a little more velo. Few have as consistently good results as a pitcher in the minors than Falter.
“Falter doesn’t throw hard–he sits 88-91 with a pretty straight fastball–but he’s big and gets excellent extension down the mound, adding over two ticks of perceived velocity to his heater. He also knows how to operate up in the zone with his fastball, with good enough command to do it on the corners, and pair it with a big-breaking curveball, mixing in some changeups to keep hitters honest. There’s a chance for a unique backend starter, especially if the velocity comes a little more, but it’s more likely Falter becomes a spot starter or long reliever given the limited margin for error with which he operates.”
Eickhoff’s FB has averaged 90.7 in the majors, so he throws a little harder than Falter, though not much. He and Falter are both 6’4″, so the extension argument probably applies to both.
Falter is a lefty, Eickhoff is a righty. It’s a huge difference. Unless you have an out pitch or are a command and breaking ball unicorn like Aaron Nola (and even he sits at around 91-94), righties rarely dominate when they don’t throw at least 94/95+. Lefties can be dominant in the low to mid 90s with the right combination of pitches – see Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee. It’s just a different thing.
That description sounds a bit like a former Phillies lefty … J.A. Happ
Agreed – my point exactly.
What do we know about McGarry? He is pitching great at AAA. Hes never been a spectacular prospect, but there are plenty of guys who make their way through the ranks and become solid ML relievers.
Just posted a comment but it disappeared.
McGarry came over from Pittsburgh in the Joaquin Benoit trade, and made it to AA last season. This year edged out for a spot and left behind in Clearwater. FB 90-92 with life, seen late by RHB. Couple nasty off-speed offerings. Attacks the strike zone aggressively. Was tiring near the end of long outing, but we were running out of pitchers after Viza was burned early by rain the night before, and JoJo leaving early in a AM game. Got bailed out at the end by a Mitch Walding unassisted double play.
Luis Garcia completely overwhelmed in the Sally. Disappointing. But no more disappointing than $4 million dollar Jhailyn Ortiz.
Yes, Ortiz certainly didn’t give us much bang for the bucks we gave him. Very dissapointing. Garcia,of course, still very young but after reading the reviews about his ‘can’t miss’ talent, he is also headed in the direction of the seemingly unending parade of players who aren’t living up to expectations and are causing our minor league system to look barren indeed. I don’t understand why these kids, with so much talent seem to be clueless when introduced to the Phillies way of doing things. I don’t understand why this is happening so frequently. It’s very dissapointing to see their stats.
I don’t know why we don’t scout hitters well – our LA guys seem to be better than our US scouting team – but, on the whole, when the Nationals get Soto and Robles, the Braves get Albies and Acuna, we get Ortiz and Pujols. Not good.
Agreed. I also think it’s a development issue in addition to subpar scouting.
Has anyone seen Dohy pitch? Looks like gumby. I can see why he would be hard to hit/pick up the ball. Unfortunately I can also see why he has issues repeating his mechanics.
@Eric D – I watched Dohy in LWD about 3 times last year. He’s a max effort guy. You’re correct, his mechanics have “repeatability” issues resulting to lack of command. The challenge for Dohy is really to deliver against more experienced hitter in the upper minors – so far he is failing. The stuff is good if he’s on – 2 potential plus pitch with a decent (above average) CU.
Have you ever seen Josh Hader pitch?
Josh Hader is Dohy’s ceiling. Dohy can match Hader’s stuff but not the command of the pitches.
Any word on Spencer?
Or Kyle Young or Jose Taveras?
Jim said a couple days ago that Young might miss the rest of the season. No word on the injury.
Matt Winks just reported that Young needs TJ surgery. Out until late 2020. What a shame.
That’s too bad. Young gets hurt a lot but TJ at this point almost seems unavoidable for young pitchers.
Gowdy, Young, Taveras, Howard….be nice to hear a word on these guys from the Org.
You’ll hear when they are reactivated, their season is over, they are released or start a rehab stint. Other than that, forget it – it’s entirely opaque.
Hope Gowdy didnt have a set back.
Dont want anyone to be hurt but these guys are promising and need to be 100%
Was just reported that young had Tommy John surgery
Moniak just doubled home 2 runs. As the weather warms up, I hope to see these young bats come alive.
He’s got a nice swing and seems to have some power but in the Reading games I saw this year so far he appears to struggle a bit with off-speed stuff. I don’t know if it was just the games I saw as I haven’t had the chance to see a lot of him since I mostly watch games on Milb.tv and Clearwater is rarely shown.
He’s at Reading….
If you look again I said that in the Reading games I saw this year, was implying that I didn’t get to see him last year since Clearwater games are rarely on Milb.tv
What is happening to the young hitters who showed early promise: Moniak, Haseley, Hall, Listi, and Bohm. If this continues into the season, the organization has to take a hard look at the scouting and player development programs. Right now,except for Grullon I don’t see any promising position players in the system.