Recently, there was a discussion regarding fastball velocity in the Comments Section. I have long avoided posturing on one side or the other. I have often been concerned for the young men I meet at the Complex who either don’t have or don’t develop fastball velocity above 90 mph. I’ve listened to both sides. How low velocity is a tough thing to overcome. And how pitchers like Maddox, Glavine, Moyer, and a few others past and present were/are able to get by with low-velo fastballs.
Well, tonight I saw an example of why velocity is very important. Our pitcher threw strikes. A lot of strikes. And he got pounded. He’s reputed to have decent command, but a sub 90s fastball.
Clearwater (19-21) lost to Charlotte, 12-4.
Julian Garcia (2-3, 3.75) took one for the team and pitched into the sixth inning. He gave up 9 runs (5 ER) on 8 hits. He walked the last batter he faced and struck out four. Austin Ross (4.43) gave up one run in 2.1 innings on 2 hits and a walk. He struck out two. Keylan Killgore (3.97) pitched the ninth and gave up 2 runs on 4 hits.
Trailing by eight runs, the Threshers scored 2 runs in the third on an RBI single by Simon Muzziotti and an RBI double by Alec Bohm. They teased us with 2 more runs in the fifth on Bohm’s 2-run double. But, that was as close as they got.
Muzziotti, Bohm, and Jake Scheiner (.273) had 2 hits each.
Julian Garcia is the pitcher I alluded to in the opening paragraphs. He breezed through the first inning in 10 pitches, 9 strikes. That would be his pattern all night, pounding the strike zone. Unfortunately, the Charlotte hitters pounded back.
The first thing that jumped out at me was that Charlotte took 20 called strikes. A closer look indicated that they weren’t being fooled but that they planned to take a strike before swinging. Seventeen times they took a strike on the first pitch or the second pitch after a first pitch ball. The other three times, they took a second pitch strike (after a called strike) or a third pitch strike (after a ball and a called strike).
Garcia’s fastball range was 86-90 mph, sat 88-89 mph, and touched 92 once and 91 three times. They hit him hard. They were jumping on fastballs and jerking them into the stands, both fair and foul. They timed up his off speed pitches. They just hit most offerings hard. Muzziotti made more than one catch with his back to the infield.
Now, that’s not to say that Garcia didn’t have some success. He went 5.2 innings and threw 95 pitches, 74 strikes (77.9%). Heck, before a 4-pitch walk ended his night, he had a strike percentage of 81.3% (74/91). He threw 21 of 28 first pitch strikes. He had 4 swinging strike outs (88, 87, 90, 82). He had some bad defense behind him, 2 errors and a third that wasn’t ruled on a dropped pop up because the infielder’s back was to the infield, I guess.
It just seemed like there was little movement on his pitches and batters were able to tee off. Tampa has a deep system and 5 of their top 20 prospects were in the line up tonight – #6 Vidal Brujan, #7 Ronaldo Hernandez, #13 Moises Gomez, #18 Tanner Dodson, and #19 Taylor Walls.
Alec Bohm hit both of his doubles hard. one was a deep fly ball into the RF corner that came close to going yard. The other was a line drive through the shift that rolled almost to the warning track before being cut off.
- #1 Alec Bohm (.324) went 2-4 with 2 doubles, 3 RBI
- #5 Spencer Howard (1-1, 2.25) placed on the 7-day IL, shoulder soreness
- #11 Jhailyn Ortiz (.163) went 0-4
- #12 Simon Muzziotti (.294) went 2-4 with 2 runs scored, RBI
- #17 Kyle Young (1-3, 4.29) placed on the 7-day IL, TJ surgery
- #18 Nick Maton (.305) went 0-4
- #19 Rodolfo Duran (.190) went 1-4 with a run scored
- #20 Daniel Brito (.242)went 1-4
Lehigh Valley (20-18) lost to Charlotte, 10-3.
Alexis Rivero (5.14) started and gave up 3 runs in four innings on 5 hits, 3 HR. Seth McGarry (2.45) gave up 4 runs (3 ER) in three innings on 5 hits and a walk. Recently activated Abdallah Aris gave up three runs in one inning on 4 hits and a walk.
The IronPigs had 12 hits but only 3 runs. They took a brief lead in the third inning on Lane Adams’ 2-run HR (8). They tied the game briefly in the fifth on Malquin Canelo’s RBI double.
Shane Robinson (.333) went 3 for 5. Malquin Canelo (.246) went 2-4 with an RBI and walk. Lane Adams (.306) went 3-5 with 2 RBI. And, Mitch Walding (.186) went 2 for 4.
- #6 Enyel De Los Santos (2-0, 2.37) recalled by Phillies on May 17th
- #7 JoJo Romero (2-2, 9.64)
- #10 Ranger Suarez (2-1, 5.64)
- #16 Cole Irvin (2-0, 2.25) promoted to Phillies on May 12th
- #22 Kyle Dohy (0-1, 11.88)
- #28 Edgar Garcia (1-1, 1.80) promoted to the Phillies on June 6th
Reading (20-16) beat Portland, 3-1.
Tom Eshelman (6.28) had a good night. He went 6.2 innings and gave up one run on 7 hits and 2 walks. He struck out two. The run came off a HR. He threw 66.7% strikes (60/90). Jake Hernandez (2-0, 2.66) stranded 2 runners and pitched 1.1 innings of perfect ball, striking out one. J.D Hammer (0.46) struck out the side for his second save.
The Phils tied the game in the fourth inning on Henri Lartigue’s RBI single. They took the lead in the eighth on Adam Haseley’s 2-run HR (4).
Mickey Moniak had a 3-hit game including a double and a single just before Haseley’s HR.
Baseball HQ’s Brent Hershey was at the game.
Moniak sharp single on 1-1 CH down in AB2; nice short swing; direct to ball. Looks much more confident than when I last saw him in 2017 #Phillies
Kingery in 3 AB so far: F8 on 2-0 pitch Single into CF on low/away CH L5; sharp liner
Haseley saved his best swing of the night for the 8th inning of 1-1 game. Took a 93 FB over RCF wall after Moniak single. #Phillies
RHP JD Hammer impressive in the 9th. FB 94-95; swing/miss pitch with life. Enough of an 81-83 CB to change it up. Struck out the side on 14 pitches; 6 SwK
- #2 Adonis Medina (0-2, 5.46)
- #3 Adam Haseley (.235) went 1-3 with a run scored, HR (4), 2 RBI
- #9 Mickey Moniak (.243) went 3-4 with a run scored, double, SB (5)
- #13 Arquimedes Gamboa (.118) went 0-4
- #15 Mauricio Llovera (2-0, 4.06)
- #21 David Parkinson (3-2, 3.69)
- #22 Kyle Dohy (2-0, 0.82) – promoted to Lehigh Valley
- #25 Cornelius Randolph (.233)
- #29 Connor Seabold – on the 7-day IL
Lakewood (14-25) lost to Greensboro, 8-3.
Victor Santos (2-3, 4.05) gave up 5 runs on 9 hits in 4.1 innings. He walked none and struck out four. He allowed 2 HR. Blake Bennett (40.50) pitched 0.2 innings and gave up 3 runs on 3 hits including 2 HR. He struck out the 2 outs he recorded. Francisco Morales (5.54) pitched three, scoreless, one-hit innings. He struck out six.
The BlueClaws scored 2 runs in the first inning on Luis Garcia’s 2-run HR (2). Lakewood tied the game in the fourth on Ben Pelletier’s solo HR (4).
Carlos De La Cruz (.223) had a 2 hit game.
Baseball America’s Josh Norris was at the game.
(But, he still needs to work on his control. He threw just 58.9% strikes (26/41) tonight.)
- #1 Alec Bohm (.367) – promoted to Clearwater, 4/29/2019
- #4 Luis Garcia (.192) went 1-3 with a run scored, HR (2), 2 RBI, BB
- #8 Francisco Morales (0-3, 5.54) – 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 6 K
- #14 Rafael Marchan (.315)
- #23 Dominic Pipkin (1-1, 4.13)
- #24 Kevin Gowdy (0-1, 3.60)
- #26 Jhordany Mezquita (2-3, 4.88)
- #30 Manuel Silva (2.61)
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 14th (and are pointing to current files).
5/17/2019 – Phillies recalled RHP Enyel De Los Santos from Lehigh Valley
5/17/2019 – RHP Kyle Arjona assigned to Lehigh Valley from GCL East.
5/17/2019 – LHP Abdallah Aris assigned to Lehigh Valley from Williamsport
5/13/2019 – Phillies sent 2B Scott Kingery on a rehab assignment to Lakewood
5/13/2019 – Phillies recalled Austin Davis from Lehigh Valley
5/12/2019 – Phillies selected the contract of LHP Cole Irvin from Lehigh Valley
5/11/2019 – San Francisco claimed CF Aaron Altherr off waivers from Phillies
5/11/2019 – Phillies recalled LHP Austin Davis from Lehigh Valley
5/11/2019 – Luis Cedeno assigned to Williamsport from Clearwater
5/11/2019 – Luis Ramirez assigned to Clearwater from Williamsport
5/11/2019 – Tom Windle assigned to Lehigh Valley from Williamsport
Phuture Phillies 
I hope JD Hammer gets his chance to pitch out of the pen for the Phillies later this season.
Jim: On The Good Phight last night, I was lamenting the lack of fireballers (with command) on the big league roster. This has been a problem for several years. This issue pertains both to the starters and relievers. With Seranthony crashing down to earth, there is no one who can show up in the latter innings who can overpower hitters.
As for the starting staff, there is little margin for error among Eickoff, Pivetta (now at LV), Eflin, and Irivin, all of whom have been developed through draft/trade in the Phillies’ system. Even Nola, when his command is off, is at risk of imploding, as we have seen all too often in the early going.
Bohm (2 2Bs, 3 rbi), Moniak (3 hit, up to .237), Haseley (HR) and Garcia (HR!) all top prospects with productive evenings. Write the date down. Keep it up, boys!
I think the frustrating part is other than Bohm, the others can’t seem to string together 3-4 good games or even 2 in a row
Moniak. .243
Reading game was another one with a sub-90s guy, eh? But Eshelman brought the good stuff last night, which I hadn’t really seen since 2017. He was hitting his spots and the breaking pitches were going for strikes. It’s such a fine line, though, for that type of pitcher, and part of the reason Tom is in AA right now.
Hammer was impressive. After going all heat to the first batter, he lead off both of the next batters with off-speed first. Fools them and they never really recover. Will be interesting to see him pitch to more experienced hitters—and with the MLB ball—in AAA. Hopefully soon.
Hammer has long been one of my favorites. He fires mid-90s fastball after mid-90s fastball with a smooth delivery and has a manner as smooth and confident. I hope he makes it as early as this year, but surely by next season.
He’s a legit prospect
Not that it is that important or detracts from the excellent writeup, but I am confused about the listing of the prospect rankings of AB #1, Medina #2 and Haseley #3. My memory of the 2019 prospect rankings had them differently.