Clearwater took two from St. Lucie with some good pitching and some late long balls. Lehigh Valley was rained out. Reading lost to Erie, but Daniel Brito has cracked .300. Might be time to find him a spot in Triple-A. Jersey Shore was rained out. And, the FCL Phillies trounced the Tigers East squad.
Minor League baseball will have playoffs this season. Playoffs had not been scheduled due to the pandemic. MLB has decided that a modified playoff structure is now viable.
Double-A, High-A, and Low-A will hold a best of 5 series between the best two teams in each league regardless of division. The playoffs will start on Tuesday, September 21st. After playing 2 games at the home of the #2 seed, the teams will have an off-day on Thursday and continue with as many games as are needed at the home of the #1 seed on Friday, September 24th.
The Triple-A format is unclear to me. Here’s what an MiLB writer put in an article. Sounds like 4 teams from each league contend for a league championship, but no series between the East and West.
“The Triple-A East was originally scheduled to end on Sunday, Sept. 19, but clubs on that circuit will begin two five-game series beginning on Wednesday, Sept. 22, with a pair of off days before the next one starts on Wednesday, Sept. 29. In the Triple-A West, which was set to end on Tuesday, Sept. 21, the two five-game series will begin on Thursday, Sept. 23, and Sept. 29. The team with the best record on each circuit following the completion of games on Oct. 3 will be declared the league champion.”
No playoffs for the Complex leagues.
Clearwater (27-24) swept a doubleheader from St. Lucie, 5-3 and 4-2. The Threshers went ahead in the sixth inning of both games on 2-run HRs.
Game One: Jordie Martinez went 4.2 innings and threw 78 pitches, 57 strikes (73.1%). He allowed 3 runs (2 ER) on 4 hits and a walk. He struck out four. Gabriel Yanez (3-0, 0.89) got the win with 2.1, two-hit innings. He walked none and struck out three. He also picked a runner off first base.
The Threshers scored first with 2 runs in the second inning on Baron Radcliff’s 2-run single. They restored their 2-run lead with a run in the third on Kendall Simmons‘ solo HR (2). They broke a tie in the sixth inning on Juan Aparicio’s 2-run HR (4).
Aparicio went 2-3 with 2 runs scored and a HR (4), Baron Radcliff went 2-3 with 2 RBI. Yhoswar Garcia left the game after fouling a ball off his foot/ankle. Prior to that he had bunted for a base hit and stole his 11th base.
Game Two: Cristian Hernandez went five innings. He gave up 2 runs on 5 hits. He walked none and struck out nine. Erubiel Armenta got the win with two, one-hit innings and 5 strikeouts.
The Threshers tied the score with a run in the second inning on Rixon Wingrove’s solo HR (7). The ball was hit on a line and had a hang time of 3.6 seconds. They started the sixth trailing by a run and put 3 runs on the board on Kendall Simmons‘ go-ahead, 2-run HR (3), and Jose Tottolero’s RBI double.
Wingrove went 2-3 with a run scored, a HR (7), and an RBI. Simmons had 2HRs on the night. Yhoswar Garcia sat out the second game.
Hernandez was unhittable most of the night. But, when the Mets made contact it was usually hard contact. They hit a mammoth HR over the bullpens, 3 doubles (2 off the walls, one dowb\n the line into the corner, and a sharply hit line drive out to CF. They spent the rest of their at bats against Hernandez flailing at high fastballs or soft contact outs in the air, 2 popups, and 3 lazy fly balls to Rojas in CF.
Armenta was just as hard to hit. Of his first 5 batters, 4 struck out and one flew out to Johan Rojas. The sixth batter hit a ground ball to first that could have been the final out, but it hit the bag and bounded over Wingrove. The next batter hit a hard ground ball to Luis Garcia that should have been the final out, but he couldn’t come up with it. After a mound visit, Armenta ended the game with a strikeout.
Lehigh Valley (21-29) postponed due to inclement weather. Makeup game as part of a doubleheader on July 2nd.
Reading (19-32) lost to Erie, 5-3. Julian Garcia went three innings and gave up 4runs (3 ER) on 7 hits. He walked none and struck out four. Nick Lackney pitched three innings and gave up one run on 3 hits and a walk. Austin Ross pitched two innings, allowed a hit, walked a batter, and struck out three.
The Phils gave up 4 runs early and got two back in the third inning on Josh Stephen’s 2-run double. They crept closer with a run in the fourth on Daniel Brito’s RBI single. But, that was as close as they would get.
Brito (.301) went 3-5 with a run scored, double, triple, and RBI. Stephen went 3-4 with a double and 2 RBI. He also had an outfield at second base. Brito and Stephen had 6 of the Phils’ 8 hits.
Jersey Shore (20-29) postponed due to inclement weather. Makeup game as part of a doubleheader on July 2nd.
FCL Phillies (3-1) beat the FCL Tigers East, 13-3 in a lightning-shortened, 8-inning game.
The Phillies had the better pitching of the two squads. They held the Tigers to 5 hits and one earned run.
Josh Gessner pitched 1.2 innings and gave up 3 runs (1 ER) on one hit and 3 walks. He unleashed 8 wild pitches. Wilson Gerhbaz secured the win with 2.1 innings of one-hit ball. Gabriel Cotto pitched three innings and allowed 3 hits and 2 walks. Jaylen Smith walked one batter in one inning.
The Phillies scored 13 times on just 9 hits. They scored in all but one inning. They scored twice in the first inning on Marcus Lee Sang’s 2-run single. They added two runs in the second on Leandro Pineda’s 2-run HR (1). After the Tigers scored their three runs in the second, it was all Phillies. They added 4 runs in the third on Lee Sang’s RBI single and bases-loaded walks by Jose Cedeno, Kervin Pichardo, and Guarner Dipre. They tacked on 2 runs in the fourth on Pichardo’s hit by pitch and Uziel Viloria’s walk with the bases loaded. After going down in order in the fifth, they tacked on single runs the next three innings on Pichardo’s RBI double in the sixth, Lee Sangs’ RBI groundout in the seventh, and Jamari Baylor’s bases-loaded walk in the eighth.
Lee Sang went 2-5 with a run scored and 4 RBI. He was the only Phillies who did not draw a walk. Baylor went 2-4 with 2 runs scored, 2 doubles, a walk, and an RBI. Mitchell Edwards went 2-3 with 2 runs scored, a double, and a walk.
DSL Phillies Red and DSL Phillies White seasons run 7/12 thru 10/2.
The Affiliate Scoreboard and the FCL Phillies Scoreboard
Recent Transactions –
7/01/2021 – Phillies activated RHP Brandon Kintzler
7/01/2021 – Lehigh Valley placed RF Scott Kingery on the 7-day IL, right shoulder inflammation
Phuture Phillies 
Jim, can’t thank you enough for all you do for this site. i especially appreciate your observations from Clearwater!
Any radar (or estimation) for either of yesterday’s Lefties? (Hernandez and Armenta.)
And love having the notes of the FCL games now too!
Last night
Hernandez (65 pitches)
4-Seam Fastball (9), 91-94, t95, avg 92.8
Changeup (5) 84-85, one at 80, avg 84.4
Curveball (11) 77-79, avg 78.1
Sinker (40) sat 91-93, t95, avg 92.2
Armenta (35 pitches)
4-Seam Fastball (5), 92-95, avg 93.1
Changeup (13) 76-79, avg 77.2
Sinker (16) 91-94, t95, avg 92.9
Slider (1) 73
Looked up Armenta, in 3 games thus year and 4.2 innings he has struck out 12 batters out of the 14 outs. Interesting left handed reliever only 21.
Thanks for the detailed info. Noticed that Gabriel Yanez, Fernando Lozano & Rafael Marcano have put up some nice numbers so far. Do you have any info on them? Any thoughts on any of them moving to JS in the near future? Seems like JS could use the help. Thanks.
Trying with less links. There is a backdoor to statcast for Clearwater and Rob has been pulling the data and has it in a spreadsheet. https://twitter.com/therealestmuto/status/1411010822701256706?s=20
Jim, you know, we don’t (and certainly, I don’t) thank you enough for everything you do including putting together these nice summaries of games almost every day.
Thank you again for everything and have a great holiday!
Brito, another unexpected surprise this season.
Him and Gamboa signed together in 2014,
……and I always had Gamboa a notch better, athletically, than Daniel.
Apparently Brito has matured on the field and off- the field to make himself into a prospect.
My dog had to go out at 3:00 am last night so when I was waiting for completion of “duty” I checked my email. There was your update and no matter what the outcomes were I enjoyed the distraction from interrupted sleep. Keep up the good work and I will read you any time of the day. Much appreciated and watch out for lightning in the Florida skies. Thank you!
Yikes just when I was started to get excited about Yhoswar he gets hurt…
Wingrove yes, Simmons yes, Baylor yes there is some potential there with those 3 or at least we can say/hope they take off at some point.
It’s hard to know how their careers will ultimately go but we have lots of potential at CWater. Hitters and pitchers there have upside. It’s too early to know about the FCL guys. All we know for sure is that they weren’t good enough to make the CWater roster initially. There will continue to be guys cut, especially right after the draft when new bodies will be worked into the mix. For some guys, their time is running out. Always sad. For others, their star may start to shine. It’s a performance business. Vierling, Williams, and Maton would certainly agree.