The big news out of Florida is a possible injury suffered by Cornelius Randolph.  The Phillies first round pick was helped from the field after a collision at second base in the first game of a double header against the GCL Blue Jays.

With the game tied 3-3, Randolph walked with one out in the seventh.  Luis Encarnacion grounded to short and Randolph reached second safely with a hard slide into the fielder at the bag.  One pitch later he limped from the field with assistance.  He did not dress for the second game although he was seen walking around the Complex. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/23/2015 →

Dylan Cozens returned to the Threshers’ line up on Wednesday.  He was the DH and batted fifth behind Rhys Hoskins.  It looked like Jupiter’s game plan was to feed Cozens a steady diet of off-speed pitches.  He struck out his first two at bats on pitches that broke low and away.  In his third at bat, he jumped on a first pitch fast ball and grounded out sharply to third.  Jupiter finally made a mistake and Cozens made them pay with a tape measure shot to right in the eighth inning.

Ethan Stewart was added to the Clearwater roster from Reading.  The Threshers had been carrying 24 on their roster anticipating Cozens’ return, however a cooresponding move must have been made prior to the game since they currently have 26 players on their roster 13 pitchers and 13 position players. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/22/2015 →

It was Nola Night in Philadelphia.  The Phillies drew 28,703 people to the game to watch Aaron Nola make his long-awaited debut in a Phillies uniform.  They even sponsored a “two-fer” ticket special – two tickets for $27.00.  Nola’s number is 27.  Pretty clever, eh?  I’m surprised they didn’t try to boost receipts by issuing him a higher number.

Nola was impressive in his first major league start.  He held the Rays to five hits and struck out six batters.  He completed six innings and threw 88 pitches, 59 for strikes.  Nola appeared to tire in the sixth when he went deeper in counts and walked his only batter.

Nola’s only blemish was a solo home run by the Rays starting pitcher, Nathan Karns on the first pitch of the third inning.  It was one of the few pitches he got up in the early innings and was in where even a pitcher can drive it.   Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/21/2015 →

Bailey “falters” in GCL outing.  Sorry, this phrase germinated on June 9th when the Phillies made Bailey Falter their fifth round selection in the Amateur Draft.  The seed sprouted today when Falter had a shaky start against the GCL Yankees2.  This was the left-handed pitcher’s second start.  In two previous appearances,  Falter had held the opposition to one unearned run on three hits and a walk while striking out eight.  The lanky pitcher is listed at 6’4 and 175 lbs.  He has long limbs but throws the ball from a tight, compact release that belies his build.  It looks more toward over the top than three-quarters.  He throws all his pitches from the same arm slot.  Today he pitched three batters into the third inning before being relieved.  He got a few of his pitches “up” and the Yankees hitters barreled them.  Still, he struck out four of the six outs he recorded, all swinging. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/20/2015 →

The Clearwater Threshers interrupted their 20-game excursion against teams from the FSL South Division with a three game series against North Division cellar dweller Lakeland.  The Threshers halted their three game losing streak, scoring single runs in three different innings.  All three runs came with two outs.  Ricardo Pinto enjoyed the longest start of his career.  And Jesen Therrien came in to pick up a one inning save.

Clearwater (53-41) beat the Lakeland Flying Tigers 3-1.  Ricardo Pinto threw eight, 3-hit innings, walking one and striking out three.  He pitched seven scoreless innings after the Tigers scored an unearned run in the first inning.  Ironically, an errant pickoff throw by Pinto helped set up the run.  After the first inning, Pinto faced the minimum over the next seven innings.  Only two runners reached base – a single in the second was thrown out when the batter tried to stretch it to a double, and a walk in the eighth was erased on a double play.  Jesen Therrien powered through a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his second save. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/19/2015 →

Brandon Leibrandt pitched on Eighties Night in Clearwater.  First, he threw 83 pitches.  Second, his fastball was in the mid-to-upper 80s.  And, third 85.9% of the 64 pitches that registered on the radar gun were in the 80s.  See what I did there.  Eighties night, 83 pitches, upper 80s FB, 85.9% in the 80s.  Seriously, this game followed a similar pattern for Leibrandt.  He lives in the 80s and pitches out of jams.  The most glaring difference tonight was the 2 walks.  He normally has much better control.  The hit batter wasn’t a big deal, he was trying to establish the inside part of the plate.  It was a shame that it came as the seventh pitch of the at bat on a 1-2 pitch.

Clearwater (52-41) lost to the Palm Beach Cardinals 7-2.  Brandon Leibrandt pitched 6.0 innings.  He gave up 1 run on 5 hits, 2 walks, and a HBP.  His strike/ball was 52/29.  He also caught a runner trying to steal third.  Leibrandt left with a 2-1 lead that was provided by a Mitch Walding 2-run HR (3).  The bullpen took over and imploded over the next 3 innings. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/18/2015 →

Clearwater (52-40) lost to the Palm Beach Cardinals 2-0.  Victor  Arano and the Cardinals’ Luke Weaver were locked in a pitchers’ duel for seven innings.  After the Cardinals posted a first inning run, the two pitchers combined to limit batters to 4 hits through the end of the seventh inning.  Neither pitcher walked a batter.  Their low pitch counts and the need for only one coach’s visit to the mound per team, accounted for the game’s short duration (2:17).  Weaver flirted with a perfect game into the fifth inning. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/17/2015 →

Clearwater (52-39) lost to the Palm Beach Cardinals 3-0.  David Whitehead took the loss.  He allowed 3 runs (2 ER) in 6.1 innings on 8 hits and 2 walks.  He hit a batter and struck out five.  He threw a wild pitch that set up the Cardinals first run.  When Whitehead ran into trouble in the seventh, Miguel Nunez came on to shut the Cardinals down.

The Threshers were shut down by a pitcher who was only just called up from Full A ball earlier this month.  Daniel Poncedeleon was making his second start in the FSL.  He held the Threshers to 6 hits in 8.0 innings.  He was very effective against the aggressive Threshers batters.  He started the eighth inning having only thrown 70 pitches in the first seven innings.

Whitehead threw 88 pitches in his 6.1 IP.  Remarkable because he threw 28 pitches in the Cardinals’ second inning when they scored the game’s first run.  He kept it close until the seventh when he surrendered a lead off HR.  The stadium gun worked intermittantly and I only have readings for half of Whitehead’s pitches.  So, I don’t know how accurate it is to state that he was 89-92, T93.

The Threshers managed only 6 hits, all singles.  They hit several balls hard, but couldn’t string enough together to score.  Carlos Tocci (.275) went 2-4.  Canelo and Mitch Waldng made a couple good defensive plays to keep the game close.

Lehigh Valley (40-52) lost to the Rochester Red Wings 6-0 on Nola Night.  Aaron Nola lasted 3.0 innings, his shortest outing of the season (and shortest of his professional career since going 2.1 innings in his pro debut at Lakeland on June 23, 2014 with Clearwater).  He gave up 6 runs (5 ER) on 7 hits, 2 walks, and 2 HR.  The bullpen held the red Wings to one hit over the final five innings.  (I saw some comments on Twitter that blamed Nola’s sub-par performance on Ruben Amaro for not bringing him up to the majors.  Really.)  The IronPigs managed 5 singles.  Aaron Altherr (.300) went hitless.  Gabriel (.273) went 1-4.

Reading (49-42) beat the New Britain Rock Cats 3-1.  Starter Reinier Roibal had to leave after tweaking something warming up for the third ining.  The bullpen took over.  Ethan Martin gave up a run on 4 hits in 3.0 innings.  Colton Murray earned the win with two, one-hit innings.  Ryan O’Sullivan struck out 2 in one hitless inning.  Stephen Shackleford picked up his 20th save.  Kelly Dugan (.325) went 1-4 with a triple and RBI.  Brock Stassi (.308) went 1-3 with an RBI.  Andrew Knapp (.321) went 1-4 with a triple.

Lakewood (45-44) beat the Kannapolis Intimidators 3-1.  Lakewood held the Intimidators to 3 hits.  Austin allowed 2 hits and 3 walks while limiting Kannapolis to one run in 6.0 innings.  Manny Martinez pitched one no-hit inning.  Joey DeNato allowed one hit in 2.0 innings while recording his fifth save.  Herlis Rodriguez (.307) went 2-4 with a HR (7) and RBI.  Scott Kingery (.240) went 2-4.  Kyle Martin (.372) went 1-4.  Cord Sandberg (.259) went 1-4 with 2 RBI.

Williamsport (18-7) lost to the Batavia Muckdogs 4-2.  Alejandro Arteaga put together a quality start.  He threw 95 pitches (66 strkes) in 6.0 innings.  He gave up one run on 5 hits and a walk.  He struck out eight.  The lone run he allowed came on a solo HR in the fifth inning.  Lewis Alezones and Juan Figueroa  conspired to blow the save and lose the game.  Alezones left the game after one-third of an inning with runners on the corners.  He had given up a single, force out on a sacrifice attempt, stolen base, wild pitch and a walk when he was lifted.  Figueroa allowed one inherited runner to score on a SF.  Next inning, Figueroa gave up a 2-run HR.

The Cutters scored their 2 runs on just 6 hits.  Brendon Hayden (.352) went 2-3 with a walk.  Jose Pujols (.326) went 2-4 witha double and RBI.  Pujols also ended a couple early scoring chances.  He grounded into a double play with runners on first and second to end the first.  And, he was thrown out at home to end the third.

GCL Phillies (17-5) beat the GCL Astros 3-2.  Adonis Medina (1.20 ERA) struck out three and walked one while holding the Astros to 1 run on 4 hits in 5.0 innings.  Kevin Walsh pitched two, one-hit innings.  Nick Fanti made his professional debut.  He allowed one hit but struck out the side in his one inning of work while getting the win.  Sutter McLoughlin notched his third save with a perfect ninth inning.

The Phillies pushed two runs across in the ninth to get the come-from-behind victory.  Jesus Alastre (.298) went 2-3.  Cornelius Randolph (.279) went 0-4.  Luis Encarnacion (.284) went 0-2 with 2 walks.  Lucas Williams went 1-4.  Greg Pickett played 4 innings in RF and went 0-2 with an RBI.  Scott Tomassetti (.385) went 1-4.  Rodolfo Duran went 2-2 with 2 RBI on a go-ahead single in the ninth.

DSL Phillies (24-17) beat the DSL Astros Blue 5-0 on the 15th.  Randy Alcantara (6-0, 2.22) allowed 5 hits in 8.0 innings.  He walked none and struck out three.  In his 8 starts this season, Alcantara has pitched 48.2 innings.  He has only struck out 28 batters, but he has only issued 5 walks.  DH Daniel Brito (.278) went 1-4.

On the 16th, they beat the DSL Royals 6-3.  Joel Cabrera pitched 8.0 innings and got the win.  He threw 7 shutout innings after giving up 3 runs in the first inning.  He allowed 11 hits, but neither walked nor struck out anyone.  Jose Nin earned his first save, striking out two in his one inning.  Nerluis Martinez (.296) went 2-4 with an RBI.  Daniel Romero, Emmanuel Garcia, and Ronaldo Marrero also had 2 hits a piece as the Phillies scored 6 runs on 11 singles and 1 walk.

VSL Phillies (23-29) lost to the VSL Rays 5-0.  The Phillies amassed three hits.  Enger Jimenez (.311) went 2-4.

Here’s the affiliate scoreboard from MiLB.

Extra Innings –

• The deadline for the signing of 2015 draft picks arrives at 5:00PM Friday.
• RHP Randy Alcantara assigned to DSL NL All-Stars.
• C Nerluis Martinez assigned to DSL NL All-Stars.
• Keith Law posted his mid-season top 50.  J.P. Crawford was #2, Aaron Nola was #38.
• BA posted their mid-season team top 10 –

1. J.P. Crawford
2. Aaron Nola
3. Franklyn Kilome
4. Zach Eflin
5. Ben Lively
6. Roman Quinn
7. Carlos Tocci
8. Tom Windle
9. Ricardo Pinto
10. Malquin Canelo

Three Threshers combined to hit four home runs in Wednesday night’s game against the Palm Beach Cardinals.

Clearwater (52-38) scored first, continued to pile on runs, and defeated the Cardinals 9-1.  Aaron Brown (2), Rhys Hoskins, and Carlos Tocci provided the power as their 4 home runs contributed to Threshers’ 13-hit attack. Continue reading Box Score Recap – 7/15/2015: “Power Surge in Clearwater!” →