Threshers’ and Affiliates’ Recap – 5/25/2021

Box Score Recap

Tuesday brings the start of a new, 6-game series for each affiliate.  Our guys went 1-3 with Lehigh Valley’s victory preventing a winless day.  Clearwater lost to Jupiter.  Lehigh Valley walked off in OT against Worcester.  Reading lost to Richmond.  And, Jersey Shore lost to Hudson Valley.

Clearwater (9-10) lost to Jupiter, 5-2. 

Rafael Marcano (1.64) was lifted after throwing 27 pitches in the second inning.  The Phillies apply a 25-pitch limit in an inning to their young pitchers.  Marcano had given up a base hit and struck out the side in the first inning on 15 pitches, 13 strikes.  He left after pitching 1.2 innings and allowing an unearned run on 2 hits and one walk.  Of the 27 pitches he threw in the second inning, 18 were strikes.

Carlo Reyes (0.00) came in and stranded both runners he inherited and pitched 1.1 innings with no base runners and one strikeout.

The Threshers tied the game in the fourth inning and Starlyn Castillo (0-2, 2.77) surrendered 3 runs in the fifth.  He went 4.0 innings and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits.  He walked none and struck out four.

Brendon Bell pitched the eighth inning and gave up one run on 3 hits and a walk.

DJ Stewart drove in both Threshers’ runs.  He singled home a run in the fourth inning and blasted his third home run of the season in the eighth.

The Threshers struck out 12 times.  Baron Radcliff had a rough night going 0-4 with 4 Ks. Carlos De La Cruz went 0-2 with 2 Ks, but also walked once and was hit by a pitch.

Stewart also stole his first base (third base).  Luis Garcia had the only other extra base hit, a double.

Sidebar on these pitch limits:  ALL players who were not at the Alternate Site in Allentown or stranded in Clearwater when the pandemic forced the closure of airports, were on their own in 2020 when it came to working out.  The Phillies development staff reached out and suggested workout routines and kept in touch monitoring the players’ progress.  But, however much the development staff and players interfaced, it was nowhere near what can be accomplished in the Complex environment.

Pitchers follow a certain routine year after year.  It was disrupted last year.  For younger players, it represented a lost year.  A young pitcher like Rafael Marcano, pitched less than 40 innings over the 2018 (DSL, age 18) and 2019 (GCL, age 19) seasons.  A pitch limit is one way to monitor and control the amount of work to which a pitcher is exposed.  The limit for each pitcher will undergo alteration during the season.  Ideally, after monthly increases, starting pitchers could be up to 6 innings and 90 pitches by the end of the year.  Although, at Low-A, 5 innings and 75-80 pitches might be more realistic.

Lehigh Valley (12-7) beat Worcester, walking off in ten innings, 6-5.

Looks like the word is out on Cornelius Randolph (.382) who was the league’s Player of the Week last week.  He went 1-2 with 3 walks.  The Morning Call’s Tom Housenick wrote this interesting story on Randolph’s resurgence.  Note, I spoke with Randolph before the 2020 season was canceled.  I told him I loved the natural swing that he exhibited in the GCL.  He said he intended to return to it.  That swing produced a lot of line drives from the LF line to right-center field.  Sounds like he has returned to a similar approach.

After falling behind the IronPigs scored a run in the fourth inning on Ryan Cordell’s fourth HR.  They took the lead in the fifth on Mickey Moniak’s 2-run triple.  They extended their lead on Ruben Tejada’s (.304) RBI single in the seventh.  The Red Sox tied the game in the ninth and pushed the ghost runner across in overtime.  The IronPigs tied the game on Edgar Cabral’s RBI single and walked off on a passed ball.  Travis Jankowski (.302) went 2-5 with 2 runs scored.  Randolph stole his third base.

David Parkinson pitched five solid innings.  He gave up 2 runs on 5 hits.  He walked none and struck out seven.  Enyel De Los Santos pitched two innings.  He hit a batter and struck out four. He also picked a runner off base.  Damon Jones pitched 1.2 innings and gave up 2 runs on one hit and a walk.  Neftali Feliz allowed the inherited runner that tied the game to score in the ninth and the ghost runner to score in the tenth.  Jones and Feliz each struck out two.

Reading (3-16) lost to Richmond, 6-3.  New losing streak at five games.

Reading pulled close at 2-1 and 4-3 before the game slipped away.  Reading scored a run in the second inning on Luke Miller’s solo HR (5).  They scored 2 runs in the fifth on Colby Fitch’s 2-run HR.

Miller (.254) went 2-4 with 2 runs scored, 1 RBI, a double, HR.  Miller and Fitch had 3 of the Phils’ 5 hits.

Colton Eastman pitched three innings and gave up 4 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks.  Kyle Glogoski pitched 2.1 innings and gave up one run on 2 hits, 2 walks, and a hit batter while striking out five.  Billy Sullivan stranded both runners he inherited and pitched 1.2 innings of one-hit ball, striking out two.  Zach Warren pitched the final two innings and gave up a run on a hit and walk and struck out five.

Jersey Shore (8-11) lost to Hudson Valley,3-2.

Jersey Shore scored first in the second inning on a passed ball.  They entered the ninth trailing by two runs and fell short scoring once on a wild pitch.  Jhailyn Ortiz went 2-3 with 2 runs scored and a double.  The rest of the BlueClaws had 3 hits.

Jhordany Mezquita (1.93) went 4.1 innings and was lifted after 52 pitches.  He allowed one run on two hits, one a solo HR in the fourth inning, walked none, and struck out five.  Andrew Brown (1-1, 3.38) relieved and pitched 0.2 innings.  He gave up a run on 2 hits, one a solo HR in the fifth inning.  Adam Leverett (0.71) pitched the final three innings.  He gave up one run on 2 hits and a walk, the only walk issued by the BlueClaws.

GCL Phillies East and GCL Phillies West (runs 6/28 thru 9/12)

DSL Phillies Red and DSL Phillies White (starts 7/12 thru 10/2)

Here’s the affiliate scoreboard from MiLB.

The rosters and lists are up to date as of May 25th … there are 305 players in the org

Today’s Transactions in bold text.

5/25/2021 – Phillies placed RF Bryce Harper on the 10-day IL, left forearm contusion
5/25/2021 – Phillies signed FA RF Jorge Bonifacio to an MiLB contract
5/25/2021 – Phillies activated CF Roman Quinn
5/25/2021 – Lehigh Valley transferred LHP Kyle Dohy to the Development List
5/25/2021 – OF Jorge Bonifacio assigned to Reading
5/25/2021 – LHP Nick Lackney assigned to Jersey Shore from Reading
5/25/2021 – RHP Aidan Anderson assigned to Jersey Shore from Clearwater
5/25/2021 – C Freddy Francisco assigned to Clearwater from GCL West
5/23/2021 – Phillies claimed RHP Brady Lail off waivers from Seattle
5/23/2021 – Phillies designated RHP Ramon Rosso for assignment
5/23/2021 – Phillies optioned RHP Brady Lail to Lehigh Valley
5/23/2021 – OF Corbin Williams assigned to XST from Reading
5/23/2021 – Jersey Shore transferred RHP Ben Brown to the Development List
5/23/2021 – SS Jose Tortolero assigned to Jersey Shore from GCL East

Another player was added to the Development List, Kyle Dohy.  I included an explanation in Sunday’s Recap.  If you missed it, skipped it, or don’t remember it, I pasted it below.

I couldn’t find what exactly the Development List is, but I found out how it affects the player and his team.

According to MLR 2(c)(12) Development List – page 32

(A) Placement on the Development List. A Minor League
player may be placed on the Development List for any
non-disciplinary reason, except that a player is not eligible to be
placed on the Development List if the player is injured and
otherwise qualifies for placement on the Minor League Injured
List. Players on optional assignment to the Minor Leagues may
not be placed on the Development List without their written
consent. Upon request for placement on the Development List, the
Club must include the reason for such placement. The minimum
period of placement on the Development List shall be seven
consecutive days, except that if a player on the Development List
suffers an injury, that player is required to be transferred to the
Regular Injured List and the inactive days on the Development
List will count towards the minimum period of inactivity on the
Regular Injured List.
(B) Player Limits. A player on the Development List shall
count against the player’s Minor League Club’s Reserve List and
the Domestic Reserve List limit but not against the Club’s Active
List limit.

So, it appears to me that, regardless of what happens while a player is on the Development List, he still counts against the 180-player limit for the organization but not against the Active Player List for the individual team.

18 thoughts on “Threshers’ and Affiliates’ Recap – 5/25/2021”

  1. Billy Sullivan 1st game as a Phillies’ prospect: 2 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 3 BB, 2 K
    Billy Sullivan after his 1st game: 7.2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 8 K

    Fast mover!

    1. The “0 BB’s” is the most impressive stat. In college, he had big K #s, but also big BB #s.

      1. It’s a results business, he’s doing great. You never know….
        Dohy meanwhile can’t throw strikes with his great arm. If he can’t change, his career will end quickly.

    2. I think Hingis likes this Billy Sullivan. I think Hinkie just might have a point!!!!

  3. The Phils minor leagues have 4 players with an OPS over 1, so far this year. ‘C’ Randolph, Matt Vierling, Abrahan Gutierrez and Bryson Stott. Two are former #1 picks. ‘C’ is the biggest surprise and Matt seems to love AA ball. Abrahan will push Rafael Marchan all the way to the top. Of course, it will be hard to break through the Realmuto ceiling.

    Three negative surprises have to be Darick Hall, Josh Stephen and Jonathan Guzman. Guzman is only 21 in A+ so he can slow things down to get things going. Stephen is 23 and in AA. After a great 22 yo season, he’s found he has to work harder every year just to match what he did last year. Hall is the biggest surprise for me. He was looking like he was ready for the big leagues during ST. Suddenly he can’t hit a 5th grader’s weight.
    Lots of time left in the season. In a month, the fortunes could reverse.

    1. Gutierrez is 21 at low A. JT is here for another 4 more years. If Gutierrez is a legitimate C prospect, there’s no need to rush him.

  4. I’ll be heading out to catch the Reading game on Sunday. Unfortunately, I’m not entirely sure what/who I’ll be paying close attention to since they aren’t all that good. I have a 20 ticket bank so I should get to see Stott a few times.

    -jeff

  5. I hope C can keep this up through the whole season. You watch minor league ball long enough you always see snippets of a player and come away with a why or why not that player might be in the MLB one day.

    A few seasons ago I had the pleasure of seeing 4 1st round picks on the same team for a full series at Trenton. It was Bohm, Haseley, Moniak and Randolph.

    I remember saying at the time C had some of the loudest contact next to Gary Sanchez I had ever heard at that park. But when you looked up at the numbers they weren’t good.

    Here’s to you Cornelius and best wishes for you to realize your dream one day.

    1. Very interesting article on Randolph and meshes with what I’ve seen of him on games I’ve watched on MILB TV.

      The “old” Randolph was pudgy (not fat, but thick and undefined) and sluggish on the base paths. The “new” Randolph is thin and, actually, quite small. He resembles a mid-career Joe Morgan. He is also much faster – and appears to be an asset on base. Also helpful and consistent with the article is the fact that he appears to be working on his plate discipline and is not trying to do too much.

  6. Good article on Randolph, it kind of makes me think, Jim noticed a change in his swing and told him about it.

    Would it be crazy to assume the disappearing hit tool is due to changes in his swing? I remember when he was drafted, they said he had the best hit tool in the draft.

    1. Not crazy. After his GCL season, the Phillies tried to transform him into a HR and pull hitter. In the GCL he looked like a bigger Joe Morgan but swung the bat like Tony Gwynn. When he came through Clearwater, I didn’t recognize him. His front toes were turned in with his heel in the air. Everything he hit with less than two strikes went between the second baseman and the RF foul line.

      He didn’t change because of what I said to him. He had already decided to go back to what worked for him. I think he was probably pissed that he was doing what he was asked to do, it wasn’t working, and as a result players were passing him by. A decision that if he was going to go out he was going to go out doing it his way.

  7. Agree, a nice article on Randolph. That would be a major bonus if he can keep it up and possibly play left field for us next year.

    Makes you wonder…our player development guys for the past few years, couldn’t they help him then?

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