Here’s another article submitted by one our readers.  I received it Tuesday, but didn’t get around to reading it until this morning.  So, some of the data will be a couple days out of date, but nowhere near enough to invalidate the premise stated.

As always, neither the statistical opinions stated in a submitted article nor the interpretations of same are those of the staff here at Phuture Phillies.

Mickey Moniak and the 70 Hit Tool

by V1again

Everyone needs to dramatically lower expectations on Mickey Moniak. He is not a future star. IMO, his peak value is a poor man’s Odubel. Here is my argument.

First, I was a big fan of the Mickey Moniak pick. So this is a mea culpa. And I know he is only 19..but that is not as much of an excuse for his poor performance as you may think..at least for elite prospects.

His value as a 1:1 pick (and thus a possible star) was entirely due to a 70 hit tool projection. He has good, but not elite speed and will likely slow down as he adds weight. He will never have more than 40/45 power. His defense is good, but I don’t hear reports of a future gold glover. So it all comes back to the 70 hit tool. Does he have a 70 hit tool or not?

Since I am not a scout, I looked online into what a 70 hit tool really is. I found this article:  http://www.fangraphs.com/ blogs/scouting-explained-the- 20-80-scouting-scale/

It is a good article. In order to have a 70 hit tool, you have to hit.300+ in the majors. Not one season. Across a career. It probably should focus on OB% rather than BA, but it is good enough for now.

I then looked at the minor league numbers of those who have a 70 hit tool in the majors. By the way, many of them were 19 in low A (killing the “he’s so young argument”). Here is what I found:

• All of them killed low A
• All of them had low k rates and very high walk rates in the minors. Particularly in the low minors. Some of them actually had a higher walk rate than k rate in low A.
• Many of them had very low ISOs, so it wasn’t like they had a lot of power and pitchers feared them. They just had an elite eye.

That was basically across the board. I also found, with rare exception (Mookie Betts):

• All of them had about a 4-6% higher k rate in the majors than in AAA.
• K rate basically always goes up from low A.
• Walk rate is basically the same as minor league production.

My theory on hitting is that all a hitter can do is make hard contact in pitches in the zone.

As of this writing, Moniak has two red flags:

1. A 21.5% k rate, and
2. A 6.3% walk rate.

Those are not elite by any stretch. Neither is really good to be honest. His BABIP is higher than his OB%, which is not good. It means he is likely lucky to have the OB% that he has, which at .312 is not good.

As a comp, Mookie Betts was 19 years old in Low A. His walk rate was 11% and his K rate was 10% and his ISO was .04. The next year in high A his walk rate was 17%, his k rate was 12% and his ISO was .181. That is what an elite hit tool looks like.

Another comp, Christian Yelich.  As a 19yo in low A, Yelich had a 10.6% walk rate, a 19.6% k rate with a 171 ISO and 32 stolen bases. He hit 312/388/484. Again, that is what an elite hit tool looks like in low A.

As a player moves up, the pitching gets better. So if you can’t hit Low A, you are in trouble.

I would also say Mickey’s 3rd red flag is that he isn’t improving as the year is going on. On the contrary, his July numbers are his worst. They are just awful. Look at the top hitting prospects, all of them improved at each level as the year went on.

Now, I am not saying Mickey is a bust. And I know he is only 19. What I am saying is that his performance indicates that he does not have an elite hitting tool.

So what is he? Well, the chart says that a 60 hit tool is a .280 career hitter. That sounds like his peak value to me. So let’s go with the profile of 60 hit, 40/45 power, 55 speed, 60 defense in center (60 arm). That is a good player. A productive player. A player who one year might make an All-star team at 28/29 years old. But not an elite player by any stretch.

You know who that sounds like?

Last year Odubel hit 286/361/420 with 15 homers and 25 stolen bases. That is a 60 hit / 45 power profile according to Fangraphs’ chart. Odubel also played really good CF defense (let’s call it a 60, but again, I am not a scout). The 25 stolen bases separates him from Mickey. I don’t see Mickey doing that in the majors but maybe. Hopefully. And hopefully Moniak can get to 15 homers in the majors.

One last comp, as a 19 year old in low A, Odubel had a 15.4% k rate, 4.8% bb rate and hit 306/349/394 with 34 stolen bases. He did that with only an .088 ISO. Those numbers blow away Mikey’s performance this year to be honest.

Power always fills in with age, but contact ability doesn’t. It is what it is. Mickey does not have a 70 hit tool. I hope he has a 60 hit tool. I believe that he will be a productive major league player, but has no chance of being a star.

I wrote this article because I like Mikey. I am NOT a “hater.” And I sincerely hope that I come to regret putting this in writing. I wrote this article because I want you to enjoy him for what he is. Don’t hold his 1:1 draft pick against him.

Buffalo took two of three from Lehigh Valley over the weekend, dropping the ‘Pigs record to 65-43 on the season.  The ‘Pigs remain in second place of the Northern Division of the International League, 3.5 games behind division leading Scranton with a month remaining in the season.  Lehigh Valley is 2.5 games ahead of Rochester for the wild card spot.  This week, the ‘Pigs play three in Rochester followed by three if Buffalo.

News and Notes: Scott Kingery had a four hit night on Saturday, tying his career high. Kingery now has a 16 game hitting streak, during which he is hitting .314.  The hitting streak is the longest for any Lehigh Valley player this season. Kingery has also reached base in 23 consecutive games, tied for the Lehigh Valley season high.

On Saturday, Ricardo Pinto extended his scoreless streak to 17IP since moving to the bullpen (major league activity not included).  Pinto has been perfect in stranding inherited runners as well (13) Continue reading Lehigh Valley Report →

The Phillies announced the long- awaited trades of two of the trade chips they signed during the off season.  Friday evening, they traded Howie Kendrick plus cash considerations to the Washington Nationals for McKenzie Mills and international amateur signing bonus pool space.  (story here.)

And later, they announced the trade of Jeremy hellickson and cash considerations to Baltimore for OF Hyun Soo Kim, AA LHP Garrett Cleavinger, and international amateur signing bonus pool space.  (story here.) Continue reading Phillies Announce Deals for Kendrick, Hellickson →

Here’s another article from John Yarusinsky.  John sent it to me soon after he watched Sixto Sanchez pitch against the Rome Braves on July 12th.  I was hesitant to publish it.  I didn’t want to fan the flames of “Sixto-mania”.  But, it’s and introspective look at a remarkable young pitcher who turns nineteen next week (July 29th).  Enjoy. Continue reading Under the Microscope: Sixto Sanchez, by John Yarusinsky →

Two straight late inning, come from behind wins for Lehigh Valley, who have now won three straight games to start their seven game road trip through the South.  The ‘Pigs conclude their series with Gwinnett tonight, before heading to Durham for a four game series against the Bulls over the weekend.  Currently sitting at 59-37, the ‘Pigs are 1.5 games behind division leading Scranton and hold a 4.5 game lead over Rochester in the wildcard standings.

News and Notes: Tom Eshelman has made 12 AAA starts and 10 of them have been “quality starts”.  Since April 18th, Eshelman is a combined 10-2 with a 2.27ERA in 15 starts between Reading and Lehigh Valley with a walk rate of just 1.1 per 9 IP.

—JP Crawford has now homered in 6 of his last 14 games (48AB) and has more homers than he did in all of 2016.  Crawford has reached base on 15 of his 16 games in July, hitting .286 over that time period.

–After walking just 4 times in his first 50 games, C Jorge Alfaro has walked 12 times in the last 25 games.  That said, his average is down under .250.  Over the last 18 games, Alfaro is hitting just .165.

—Dylan Cozens is hitting .295 at Coca Cola Park and .180 on the road.

—Rhys Hoskins has hit his first extended rough patch of the season, hitting just .160 (8-50) thus far in July.

—2B Scott Kingery is hitting a combined .320 in his last 30 games (AA/AAA).  Kingery is the only player in all of baseball with 20HR and 20SB already this season.

–Over his last 10 starts (AA/AAA), P Brandon Leibrandt is a combined 6-1 with a 1.82ERA.  He has won all of his AAA starts and 6 striaght starts combining AA and AAA.

–With his save on Tuesday night, Pedro Beato has taken over the record for saves in a single season for LV, with his 27th, passing Scott Mathieson.  Beato is unscored upon in his last 9 games, which have included 5SV.

–RP Colton Murray is really struggling having been scored upon in 4 of his last 5 outings (12.70ERA) without recording a strikeout.

–Since May 25th, RP Yacksel Rios is a combined 0-0 with a 1.17ERA and a SV in 9G between Reading and Lehigh Valley

–After an outstanding start to the season, RP Pat Venditte has an ERA over 6 in his last 21 appearances.

Probables: Wed: Eflin, Thur: Thompson, Fri: Leibrandt; Sat: Eshelman

‘Pigs leaders: Hitting, Dylan Cozens is 5th in AB(340),10th in SLG(.479), is 4th in RBI(59), leads the league homers (22), strikeouts (125) and is 7th in runs(55)Rhys Hoskins leads the league in runs (63),RBI(68), SLG(.550), is 5th in BB(48),  7th in OBP(.376)is 3rd in HR(20),  7th in hits (92); JP Crawford is 7th in triples (4) and is 2nd in BB(52); Nick Williams is 7th in HR (15) and 5th in SLG (.511); ; Jorge Alfaro is 9th in strikeouts(96); Pitching: Pat Venditte is 7th in wins(8), 7th in games (35); Jake Thompson leads the league in losses (11); Tom Eshelman is 3rd in ERA (2.14) and leads the league in WHIP (0.95); Pedro Beato leads the league in games(41), saves(27); Mark Appel is 2nd in walks (53)

Transactions: Comings: Harold Martinez (from Reading); P Mark Leiter (from Philadelphia), OF Herlis Rodriguez (from Reading), P Zach Eflin (activated from the DL), P Ben Lively (from Philadelphia), P Yacksel Rios (from Reading); Goings: P Mark Peterson (Released), P Mark Appel (Placed on DL), INF Jorge Flores (to Reading), OF Nick Williams (promoted to Philadelphia)

What a way to cap off the 3 day minor-league odyssey- a little piece of history as Nick Fanti (who you probably recall threw 8 2/3 innings of no-hit ball in May) completed a full 9 inning no-hitter.  Only one batter reached base which was a walk in the 2nd inning.  He threw 118 pitches, 79 of which were strikes.  He hit 93 once (based on the stadium gun), and had a bunch of pitches in the 88-91 range.  He had one off-speed pitch of 79 and a bunch in the 80-81 range.  Obviously he worked ahead all day though he did go 3-0 twice.  Charleston fouled off a bunch of pitches as they had trouble squaring anything up, but Nick still managed to get 12 K’s (7 Looking, 5 Swinging).  Like any no-hitter, there were a few near misses.  In the second inning Esteven Florial hit a liner right down the LF line that went into the corner.  It was so close that he ran all the way to second thinking it might be fair, but the 3rd base ump ruled it was foul.  For the last out of the 5th inning, Mandy Alvarez smoked a grounder between SS and 3B but Luke Williams made a great diving stop, jumped up and threw the runner out (wasn’t even that close which gives you an idea of how hard it was hit).  In the 7th inning, Yankees 2016 #1 pick- Blake Rutherford roped a liner the other way (down the RF line) but it was foul.   There were 1 or 2 hard liners right at outfielders, but that was about it-  everything else was pretty routine.   The last two innings went:

8:  91 mph looking K /91 mph looking K /Fly Out to RF

9:  84 mph Popout to SS (behind third base)/79 mph swinging K/ Routine flyout to Moniak in RC–  GAME OVER.

The Blue Claws only had two hits- both by Henri Lartigue: Solo HR (games only run), and a single in the 8th that was down the RF line.  He tried to stretch it into a 2B but was thrown out. So in the entire game there were 3 base runners (Lartigue twice – HR and was thrown out stretching), so in reality only 1 player actually stood on base while a pitch was thrown all day.

Mickey Moniak had a rough day:  1) 1st pitch weak 6-3 grounder (hit to the right side of second base but the SS was shifted over), 2) Swinging K (Change Up) 3) Swinging K which was one of the worst calls I’ve seen.  Mickey literally barely even moved the bat at all and somehow the ump, said he swung.  Mickey was in shock and let the umpire know it (which is very rare for him).  He asked for an appeal to the 1st base ump but the home plate ump refused to grant it.  Moniak was still staring at the plate ump as he ran out onto the field.

Pics from today:

PITCHING:

Brandon Liebrandt started the game and retired the first 8 (5 in the infield, 3 line drives to the OF, one that Cozens reached up and caught over his head in RF).  In the 4^th inning he did a great job of working out of a jam.  After a walk and a botched FC on an error by Kingery, he K’d three straight.  In the 5^th, he gave up 2 walks and really seemed to tire.  Rochester got a run on an RBI single and the inning ended on a very hard lineout to deep LF.

Yacksel Rios came on for innings 6-7 and dominated except for a solo HR by John Ryan Murphy.  The other 6 batters he faced were:  4 K’s a 6-3 groundout, and a foul out to first.    Rios topped out at 97 and was consistently 94-96.  His off speed stuff was 86-87.

Edubray Ramos had a rough inning (only gave up an unearned run)  though he was bailed out by a DP with the bases loaded and one out.  He was consistently behind the hitters.  His pitch speed varied between 81 and 95.

Closer Pedro Beato finished though it wasn’t an easy inning:  Hard lineout to Kingery, Walk, Smoked line drive to Aguila in CF, and a groundout to Kingery.

HITTING:

Kingery:  1) Pop out to pitcher, 2) Line Double- hit off the top of the third baseman’s glove and down the LF line, 3) swinging K, 4)  swinging K on a pitch in the dirt

Crawford:  VERY impressive AB’s today.  In 4 AB’s he saw about at least 24 pitches.  1) Flew out to RF after fouling off MANY 2 strike pitches, 2) RBI triple on a full count- pulled right over the first based bag.  He slide was way to the right of the third base bag but luckily the throw was off line.  3) Flyout to RF (first pitch) 4) On a full count, lined a double the other way into the LC gap.

Hoskins: 1) HBP, he actually stole 2^nd and advanced to third when the throw sailed into CF (one would assume the catcher was too stunned to see Hoskins attempting to steal), 2) Line single to LF after fouling off 4-5 two strike pitches, 3) Lined a 1-2 pitch for a single to the SS’s right, 4) K’d looking on a 96 mph fastball

Cozens:  1) Battled from 0-2 to 3-2 but K’d swinging, 2) Popped up to the catcher, 3) Homered over the wall in RC (#22), 4) Looking K

Pullin:  Weak grounder to first base, reached on an error when the pitcher didn’t catch the flip, 2) Nice line single to CF, 3) and 4) Looking K (pitcher in the 7^th K’d all 3 of them looking- Hoskins/Cozens/Pullin)

Alfaro had the day off.

On to Lakewood tomorrow…

PITCHING: 

Spencer Howard started the game.  He labored through a long first inning with numerous foul balls.  The lead-off batter (a righty) had a lucky double with an excuse me swing that snuck by Pickett over the first base bag.  He followed that with a walk on a full count (after falling behind 3-0), but then he K’d the next 2 batters (on off-speed pitches I would guess were curveballs).  A wild pitch moved the runners over to 2^nd and 3^rd though Rodolfo Duran almost nailed the runner going to 3^rd.  A soft liner to CF dropped for a single which plated 2 runs.  The third out was recorded on an excellent diving catch by Jhailyn Ortiz in RF.

Howard’s 2^nd inning went smoothly: soft lineout to RF followed by 2 swinging K’s.

His 3rd inning started with 2 routine groundouts, then he was removed after walking the next batter on a 3-2 pitch.

He threw 62 pitches overall (42 for strikes), and threw first pitch strikes to 10 of the 12 batters he faced.  There was no stadium gun, so I have no idea how hard (or soft) he was throwing.

Connor Seabold pitched the 4^th and 5^th and was very impressive.  In the 4^th, he started with a swinging K.  After giving up a hard line single to LF, he got the last two outs on a lazy fly to LF and a 6-4 fielder’s choice.

In the 5^th inning, Seabold struck out the side in order (swinging/looking/swinging).  The first batter may have actually seen 4 strikes since he took the 1-2 pitch that appeared to be in the strike zone.

He threw 27 pitches (21 for strikes) and threw a first pitch strike to 6 of the 7 hitters he faced.

I did not track the rest of the pitchers, but after Gustavo Armas gave up a run in the 6^th, he settled down and gave up no runs for the rest of his outing which went through the 9^th.

Randy Alcantara pitched out of jams in the 10^th and 11^th before pitching a clean 12^th and getting the win.

HITTING:

It was the Jake Scheiner show as the 2017 4^th round pick hit doubles in his 2^nd and 3^rd AB (one on a liner right over the third base bag, and one that one-hopped off the RF fence), then Homered to LF in his 4^th AB.  Jake scored all 3 Cutter runs up to that point.  He was intentionally walked after a sac bunt in the 9^th, and flew out to medium CF in the 11^th.

Brian Mims went 1-5.  After 2 swinging K’s,  he was HBP in his third AB.    Next, he scalded a liner to center but it was caught in front of the track.  In the bottom of the 9^th, he had the winning run on 2^nd after Scheiner was intentionally walked, but he grounded into a 4-6-3 DP.  He smoked the ball up the middle but the 2B made a nice play.  He led off the 12^th with a hard ground single in the hole between the the first baseman and 2^nd baseman.  Malvin Matos pinch ran for him and scored the winning run.

Adam Hasely’s AB’s:  1) Reached on an error by 1B (not hit overly hard, the ball hopped up and hit the 1B in the chest).  2) Rolled over on a ball in the hole between 1B and 2B.  The second baseman made a nice diving play and came up firing and threw him out (at least according to the ump- he looked safe to me).  3)  Roped a double deep into the RC gap, CF dove but couldn’t make the catch.  4) Pop up to 2B. 5) Very hard linout to LF.  6) Weak 4-3 groundout

Greg Pickett went 1-6 out of the clean-up spot.  He had 3 infield outs, a hard flyout to CF, a swinging K (fastball right by him), and a hard line RBI single to right center.

Jhailyn Ortiz’s AB’s:  1) Broken Bat 5-3 ground out- he ran hard and almost beat it out.  2) Got jammed and hit a foul popout out to the SS behind the third base bag.  3) HBP (it may have hit one of the buttons on his uniform).  4) Weak 5-3 groundout.  5) Long flyout to RC- looked like it might get out for a walk-off HR in the 10^th but was caught right in front of the wall.  6) Worked a walk in the 12^th (good AB)

Josh Stephen stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 12^th having not hit a ball out of the infield all night (3 groundouts to short, a K , and a comebacker to the pitcher).  So of course, he lines a clean single into shallow CF to walk-off the Cutters, and get me back to the hotel room by 11:15.

Luis Encarnacion had a rough day at the plate going 0-4 with a HBP.  He did not make solid contact on any of his BA’s.

Rodolfo Duran went 3-5 with 3 singles.  The first one was a dribbler up the third base line, and the other two were hit hard.

On to Allentown tomorrow afternoon…

A look around the lower levels with plenty to talk about in Clearwater and Lakewood; Too early for any commentary on Williamsport or GCL performances.

Clearwater

Edgar Garcia, 20, Signed as a free agent in 2014; 19G (8 starts); 2-3 with a 4.03ERA; 51.1IP 55H 17BB 56K; .271 opp avg; 1.40WHIP; 3.0BB/9.8K per 9; .310 vs LHH, .244 vs RHH, .298 opp avg last 30 days; Garcia moved into the Clearwater rotation relatively recently and the results have been ok, his stuff is a bit better than ok.

Franklyn Kilome, 22, Signed as a free agent in 2014; 14 starts; 4-3 with a 2.61ERA; 69IP 65H 26BB 62K; .257 opp avg; 1.32WHIP; 3.4BB/8.1K per 9; .255 vs LHH, .259 vs RHH, .253 opp avg last 30 days; Very Good results for Kilome but not overwhelming; Has been consistent all season; Needs to improve his walk rate a bit.

JoJo Romero, 20, Phils 4th round pick in 2016; 14 starts between CLearwater and Lakewood; 5-2 with a 1.95ERA; 83IP 64H 23BB 89K; 2.5BB/9.7K per 9; .161 vs LHH, .254 vs RHH; .179 opp avg with RISP; Romero has been extremely impressive this year throwing consistently well for Lakewood before his promotion last week to Clearwater.  He projects as a #3 or 4 major league starter at this rate.

Ranger Suarez, 21, Signed as a free agent in 2011; 14 starts, all for Lakewood; 6-2 with a 1.59ERA; 85IP 52H 24BB 90K; .177 opp avg; 0.89WHIP; 2.5BB/9.5K per 9; .080 vs LHH, .218 vs RHH; .109 with RISP; 1.05 ERA since June 1; Suarez received his well deserved promotion this week and has yet to make a start for Clearwater; The numbers simply cant get much better.

Jose Taveras, 23, Signed as a free agent in 2014; 14 starts, 5-4 with a 2.45ERA; 88IP 74H 22BB 77K; .227 opp avg; 1.09WHIP; 2.3BB/7.9K per 9; .193 vs LHH, .251 vs RHH, .244 opp avg last 30 days; Taveras has been excellent all season; I would love to see him get a half dozen starts for Reading before the year is out.

Jacob Waguespack, 23, Signed as a free agent in 2015; 21 games, 7 starts; 5-3 with a 2.53ERA; 53.1IP 47H 19BB 57K; 3.2BB/9.6K per 9; .258 vs LHH, .223 vs RHH; .239 opp avg last 30 days; As a starter: 4-1 with a 1.97ERA; .231 opp avg; 1.06WHIP; Waguespack’s transition into the rotation has been largely successful.  Still needs to be stretched out a bit.

Lakewood

Bailey Falter, 20, Phils 5th round pick in 2015; 14 starts, 4-5 with a 3.24ERA; 75IP 80H 13BB 63K; .276 opp avg; 1.24WHIP; 1.6BB/7.6K per 9; .315 vs LH, .245 vs RHH, .300 opp avg last 30 days; Falter has thrown well this year with an occasional expected bump along the way. Continue reading Around the System–Starting Pitching, Lower Levels →

Lehigh Valley

Mark Appel, 25, Acquired from Astros in 2015; 16 starts; 5-4 with a 4.87ERA; 81.1IP 88H 48BB 60K; 9HR allowed; .278 opp avg; 1.67WHIP; 5.3BB/6.6K per 9; .321 vs LHH, .246 vs RHH, .288 opp avg last 30 days; 2.50 ERA in 6 June starts; Appel seems to be showing signs of improvement however, put simply, needs to throw strikes.  Even in June, his walk rate was 5.2 per 9, which indicates he pitched out of many a jam, which ultimately will backfire.

Tom Eshelman, 23 Acquired from Astros in 2015; 16 starts between Reading and Lehigh Valley; 10-2 with a 2.27ERA; 107IP 91H 14BB 74K; 11HR allowed; 1.2BB/6.2K per 9; .234 opp avg; 0.98WHIP; For Lehigh Valley: 11 starts, 7-2 with a 1.96ERA; .225 opp avg; 0.94WHIP; 1.0BB/6.0K per 9; Eshelman has been outstanding all year, earning a AAA all star berth, in which he will be the starting pitcher.  Far from overpowering, Eshelman has pinpoint command and is a pleasure to work behind as he works very quickly.

Brandon Leibrandt, 24, Phils 6th round pick in 2014; 15 starts between Reading and Lehigh Valley; 7-2 with a 3.23ERA; 83.2IP 85H 28BB 62K; .273 opp avg; 1.35WHIP; 5HR allowed;3.0BB/6.6K per 9;  5-1 with a 2.44ERA in last 10 starts; 2 starts for Lehigh Valley: 1-0 with 2.45ERA.  Leibrandt has had a very good year, throwing well consistently. Spent a good portion of 2016 hurt, so the Phils will be watching his innings moving forward I suspect.

Jake Thompson, 23, Acquired from Texas in 2015; 15 starts, 3-9 with a 5.97ERA; 75.1IP 97H 29BB 62K; 6HR allowed; 3.5BB/7.4K per 9; .321 opp avg; 1.67WHIP; .305 vs LHH; .333 vs RHH; .345 opp avg last 30 days; 2017 has been an unmitigated disaster for Thompson.  While watching several of his AAA rotation partners getting called to Philly and having a modicum of success (or at least not all out failure), Thompson has basically been throwing batting practice all season.  After an outstanding 2016, I’m curious as to whether this is a health issue or the tinkering of his mechanics

Cesar Ramos, 33, Signed as a free agent in 2017; 21 games (9 starts); 4-3 with a 3.86ERA; 58.1IP 55H 18BB 41K; 2.8BB/6.3K per 9; .231 vs LHH, .260 vs RHH, .327 opp avg last 30 days; In his 9 starts, Ramos is 0-3 with a 5.75ERA; As a reliever, Ramos is 4-0 with an 0.81ERA; Ramos has been the sacrificial lamb when the ‘Pigs need a starter which has been fairly often due to injuries and callups.  The numbers speak for themselves…he is most effective in the ‘pen, as a long reliever.

DL: Zach Eflin.

Reading

Drew Anderson, 23, Phils 21st round pick in 2012; 16 starts; 5-3 with a 3.56ERA; 83.1IP 67H 27BB 71K; 10HR allowed;.216 opp avg; 1.13 WHIP; 2.9BB/7.7K per 9; .212 vs LHH; .221 vs RHH, .178 opp avg last 30 days; Anderson is one of those pitchers you watch who you think could be a major league pitcher; He has a mound presence and knows how to pitch with it showing in his results; Previous injury issues will have the Phils closely monitoring innings in the second half of the season.

Tommy Bergjans, 24, Acquired from Dodgers in 2016; 4 starts, 1-1 with a 6.75ERA; 17.1IP 16H 6BB 14K; 3.1BB/7.3K per 9; .246 opp avg; 1.27WHIP; .200 vs LHH, .300 vs RHH; Bergjans moved into the Reading rotation in June after spending the first two months of the season in Extended Spring Training.  He has pitched better than his ERA indicates but after watching him a couple of times, he probably maxes out as a AA arm.

Cole Irvin, 23, Phils 5th round pick in 2016; 14 starts between CLearwater and Reading; 6-6 with a 2.70ERA; 80IP 85H 17BB 60K; 1.9BB/6.8K per 9; .273 opp avg; 1.28 WHIP; 4HR allowed; Irvin has thrown very well this year, transitioning to Reading recently with two effective starts.  After holding the opposition to a .197 average last year, Irvin has been more hittable this season but shown a good deal of savvy on the mound.

John Richy, 24, Acquired from Dodgers in 2015; 11 games (6 starts) between Reading and Lehigh Valley; 1-2 with a 6.29ERA; 34.1IP 52H 7BB 22K; .354 opp avg; 1.72 WHIP; 1.8BB/5.8K per 9; Richy was injured to start the season and has been consistently poor since being activated from the DL.

Tyler Viza, 22, Phils 32nd round pick in 2013;14 starts, 6-4 with a 5.45ERA; 71IP 78H 23BB 50K; .275 opp avg; 1.42WHIP; 2.9BB/6.3K per 9; .295 vs LHH, .255 vs RHH, .247 opp avg last 30 days; Viza has had an ERA over 5 each month of the season thus far after a good 2016.  His last start was an excellent start in beginning to turn things around.

DL: Miguel Nunez, Mario Sanchez; Suspended: Eineiry Garcia