Lehigh Valley won as Nick Williams continued his recent power surge with his 4th HR in the past week.
Reading lost but Tyler Viza pitched well in a no decision.
Clearwater fell behind in another bullpen game and couldn’t recover.
Lakewood lost the “fog” game but thrashed Delmarva in the night cap behind a superb game by Bailey Falter.
Lehigh Valley was outscored early.
Reading was undone by their defense.
Clearwater swept a double header by identical 8-1 scores.
Lakewood was suspended by fog, but only after the umpires allowed the fog to be a factor on the last play.
Lehigh Valley battled from behind to forge a victory.
Reading was shut out.
Clearwater was rained out.
Lakewood posted a shut out victory.
Lehigh Valley won behind Nick Pivetta’s strong pitching and Dylan Cozens’ home run.
Reading lost in spite of Andrew Pullin’s 2-RBI night.
Clearwater split a pait of games.
Lakewood walked off for the second night in a row.
Lehigh Valley
Mark Appel, 25, Acquired from Houston in 2015; 8 starts, 2-2 with a 6.69ERA; 37.2IP 44H 19BB 26K; 8HR allowed; .291 opp avg; 1.67WHIP; 4.6BB/6.2K per 9; .338 vs LHH, .253 vs RHH, .284 opp avg in May; Among the league leaders in homers allowed and walks tells the story for Appel. It has been an ugly season coming off his 2016 injury. Gave up 7ER in 3.1IP in his last start.
Tom Eshelman, 22, Acquired from Houston in 2015; 8 starts between Reading and Lehigh Valley; 5-0 with a 2.08ERA; 52IP 42H 8BB 34K; .225 opp avg; 0.96 WHIP; 1.4BB/5.9K per 9; Has had quality starts in all 3 LV starts, going 3-0 with a 0.78ERA; .183 opp avg. Eshelman has been outstanding all season, actually throwing better after his call up to AAA.
Ben Lively, 25, Acquired from Cinncinnati in 2014; 8 starts, 5-1 with a 2.79ERA; 48.1IP 41H 5BB 38K; 1HR allowed; .225 opp avg; 0.95WHIP; 0.9BB/7.2K per 9; .321 vs LHH, .154 vs RHH; I simply dont know what Lively has to do to get a major league start. In 27 AAA starts spanning two seasons, he is 16-6 with an ERA of 2.97. Lively to the Phils rotation, Velasquez to the Phils bullpen and Leiter or Garcia to the ‘Pigs is what should happen.
Ricardo Pinto, 23, SIgned as a free agent in 2011; 8 starts with a 5.85ERA; 40IP 51H 16BB 25K; .311 opp avg; 1.68 WHIP; 3.6BB/5.6K per 9; .306 vs LHH, .315 vs RHH, .393 opp avg in May; After a good first three starts, Pinto has been awful since. Very hittable, too many walks and too few strikeouts.
Nick Pivetta, 24, Acquired from Washington in 2015; 3 starts, 3-0 with a 0.95ERA; 19IP 12H 2BB 24K; .174 opp avg; 0.74 WHIP; 0.9BB/11.4K per 9; Pivetta was outstanding in APril and got the call to Philly to replace Aaron Nola in the Phils rotation. For Philadelphia, Pivetta was inconsistent in his 4 starts, going 0-2 with a 5.12ERA. He walked too many hitters and the opposition hit him at a .325 clip in the majors. With Nola’s return, Pivetta rejoins the ‘Pigs for some refinement.
Jake Thompson, 23, Acquired from Texas in 2015; 7 starts, 2-3 with a 4.91ERA; 33IP 32H 14BB 32K; .260 opp avg; 1.39WHIP; 3.8BB/8.7K per 9; .218 vs LHH, .294 vs RHH, .229 in May; Thompson has overcome just an awful start to throw well in his last several starts. Since allowing 15ER in his first two starts, spanning 4.2 innings, he has allowed just 3 ER in his next 4 starts, spanning 28.1IP.
Reading
Drew Anderson, 23, Phils 21st round pick in 2012; 8 starts; 3-1 with a 5.26ERA; 37.2IP 36H 9BB 32K; .250 opp avg; 1.19WHIP; .265 vs LHH, .237 vs RHH, .190 opp avg in May; 2.2BB/7.6K per 9; Anderson’s “stuff” is as good as any Phils starting pitcher at times, however he has been extremely inconsistent this season. Continue reading Around the System–Starting Pitching
Short slate last night.
Reading lost in Trenton, but Scott Kingery hit his 14th home run.
Clearwater was suspended in the top of the fourth leading 4-0.
Lakewood won in the 10th on a walk off. Mickey Moniak hit his first HR in the first inning and his triple became the winning run. How’s that for some power?
I hadn’t been able to make it to the XST games for a while. But, one of our readers, Mark Wylie, sent me a batch of photos from Saturday’s game against the Blue Jays at the Complex. He provided a bit of a write up and said I could use both/either on the site. Since I hadn’t been there, I opted to use everything he sent me. Continue reading XST Update: May 20th and 22nd, 2017
The ‘Pigs keep rolling along, completing a very successful 6-1 road trip with a win yesterday over Syracuse, giving Lehigh Valley 15 wins in their last 16 games. The ‘Pigs , who return home this week for a 7 game home stand, now sit at 29-14 and 4 games ahead of second place Scranton in the Northern Division of the International League.
News and Notes: Lehigh Valley has now won seven consecutive series, tying their franchise record.
–Over the last 16G, the Lehigh Valley bullpen is 8-1 with 11SV to go along with an ERA of 1.15.
–After starting the year strong, P Ricardo Pinto has been really struggling as of late with a 10.78ERA over his last 4 starts. His ERA is approaching 6 on the season.
–P Cesar Ramos continues to throw well in his role as the long man/spot starter, not having allowed an ER in his last 4 games.
–C Jorge Alfaro is in his first extended his funk of the season, hitting just .125 (4-32) over the last week.
–A nice week for SS JP Crawford, who hit .357 with two game winning hits. The Mendoza line is quickly approaching (.191).
–After starting the season 5/28, Nick Williams is hitting .277 over the last 33 games with 5HR and 15RBI. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Report
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, “And another disappointing week”. The Phillies were swept by the Texas Rangers and lost 2 of 3 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. They returned home with a 2-7 record on their road trip. During the past week, the Phillies scored 11 runs in their 5 losses. No surprise that their starting pitchers absorbed the loss in 4 of those 5 games. They return home to face the first place Colorado Rockies and the fading Cincinnati Reds.
Lehigh Valley rallied late (again) and held on to win, again.
Reading rallied late but fell short.
Clearwater blew a spectacular start by Jose Taveras and lost in eleven.
Lakewood pulled away and held on to win.
Phuture Phillies 