The Phillies made their first roster cut this morning when they released outfielder Xavier Paul, as reported by Steve Adams at MLB Trade Rumors. Paul hit the Phillies first home run this spring, and had one of the eight they hit so far in March.
Open Discussion: Week of March 16th
The Phillies have an 8-5 Grapefruit League record. They have a .615 winning percentage. If we could project this into late July, they would be 64-40 with a 6-7 game lead in the division. That would make them buyers rather than sellers as they approached the trading deadline. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of March 16th
2015 MiLB Spring Training: March 15th
Finally. We’ve reached the intrasquad games. No more batting practice off coaches. No more pitching machines. No more wondering what the pitchers are doing on the hidden mounds. Well, they’ll still do that stuff in the morning. But today, live pitching to live hitters during a live game with real umpires.
I was almost lured over to the game on Robin Roberts Field where a young Phillies team played the 18 and under team from Puerto Rico. Saturday, aa young Phillies team shut out the Canadian team in St. Pete. Today, a more age appropriate team faced the amateur team. Most of the guys who beat the team from Canada were over on Ashburn Field. There would be 40 players and about 25 pitchers making up the 4 teams playing on Schmidt and Ashburn Fields. My plan was to focus on the pitchers on those 2 fields. Continue reading 2015 MiLB Spring Training: March 15th
2015 MiLB Spring Training: March 10th
I got to the Carpenter Compex just before 10:00AM. Once again, they had started early and were just completing their long toss on Carlton Field, the coaches were beginning to run PFPs, on Roberts and Schmidt, the major league team was running drills in Ashburn’s left field, and Chad Billingsley was throwing pitches off the mound on Ashburn Field. Continue reading 2015 MiLB Spring Training: March 10th
2015 MiLB Spring Training: March 9th
Today was photo day. The photographer arrived at 6:00AM. He must have run ahead of schedule because when I arrived just before 10:00AM, the kids had been on the field for about an hour. They were just finishing up their long toss.
Not only were they active on all 4 fields at the Carpenter Complex, but they had a large contingent working out across the street on Joe DiMaggio Field. Continue reading 2015 MiLB Spring Training: March 9th
Open Discussion: Week of March 9th
I’m still tired of the Cole Hamels discussion. However, if that is what you want to discuss, go ahead. But first …
Whether you are a long time follower of Phuture Phillies or a new visitor, please take a look at “Are there rules for commenting on an article?” under FAQ on the menu above or the link provided. Or just read it here, Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of March 9th
2015 MiLB Training Groups
Here’s the early list of work groups for the Phillies’ minor leaguers at the Carpenter Complex. Later on there will be 5 groups as non roster invitees leave the major league camp and force the downward movement of players to lower groups.
Things of note – Continue reading 2015 MiLB Training Groups
Sunday notes – March 8th
Hello, its me. Now that we have spring training games happening, there are more things to talk about. The college baseball season is under way, there will be draft things to discuss, and so I hope to begin writing this notes column on a weekly basis, and then I might also throw in a few other random writings depending on my free time available. I’ll share some thoughts on our prospects and the draft, and some other random stuff. So, lets get started.
My Top Prospect List
My top prospect list will be a little different from most others for the following reasons –
- First, when possible, I prefer ranking players I have seen over those I haven’t. So, I won’t be including any recent additions to the organization, like – Zach Eflin, Tom Windle, Ben Lively, Joely Rodriguez, Elvis Araujo, Victor Arano.
- I won’t have a player like Miguel Gonzalez on my list since he exceeded his rookie limits with 122 days of MLB service during 2014 per Baseball Reference.
- I won’t include the Rule 5 Draft selections Odubel Herrera and Andy Oliver – unless there is another intervening transaction, the 2 most likely outcomes are that they make the Phillies’ 25-man roster or are returned to their former teams.
- I’m also not prepared to include 16-year old kids like the 4 Latin American signees who I saw in Instructs – Arquimedes Gamboa, Jonathan Arauz, Daniel Brito, and Lenin Rodriguez.
- Or any of the Latin Ammerican Academy players who I didn’t see until Instructs.
So, after eliminating all those players from consideration, here’s what I have – Continue reading My Top Prospect List
Spring Training, March 1st Thru March 6th
March 1st, the Phillies became the talk of the sports world when they lost 6-2 to Division II, Tampa University. Aaron Altherr had a nice game as did Elvis Araujo. I attended the game and covered it in an earlier story.
Mike Nesseth and Seth Rosin were added to Spring training as non-roster invitees (NRI). Nesseth was also added to the 40-man roster, brining the total number of players on the roster to 41, where it still stands as of Friday.
