Phillies: Checking in on Offseason-League Prospects
By John Town
Even though the regular season is over, baseball is by no means done for a multitude of Phillies prospects. Let’s check in on the prospects playing in various offseason leagues.
The baseball season may be the most grueling among all professional sports. From April to September, players from Low-A to the majors play a game nearly every day. Despite that grueling season, several continue on to play in various offseason leagues. So far, the Arizona, Dominican, and Venezuelan Leagues have all commenced with more on the way. Let’s take a look at how Phillies prospects are faring so far.
In the Arizona League, second baseman and TBOH No. 10 prospect Scott Kingery has not fared well so far. In six games, he has just four hits in 22 at-bats. Just one hit went for a double and Kingery has a .445 OPS. Outfielder Aaron Brown, who split 2016 between High-A Clearwater and Double-A Reading, does have one home run, one double, and four RBI. However, he has just one other hit in 18 at-bats and a .167 average.
Meanwhile, third baseman Mitch Walding is off to a hot start. He already has six hits in six games, including a double and a triple. His .855 OPS is fourth on the Scottsdale Scorpions.
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On the mound, rigthty Victor Arano hasn’t continued his success from the regular season. In three appearances, he’s walked four batters and has a 5.40 ERA. Miguel Nunez hasn’t been much better, posting a 2.00 WHIP in four innings but only allowing one earned run.
Jeff Singer, who was recently signed to a minor-league contract, has performed rather well in the Arizona Fall League.
In four appearances and 5.2 innings, the Cinnaminson, N.J. native has not allowed a run and just three hits.
Thirteen different Phillies minor-leaguers are participating in the Venezuelan League. Multiple hitters have jumped out to an early hot streak. Carlos Tocci, the TBOH No. 15 prospect, has a .319 average through 13 games with the Tigres De Aragua. He is still struggling to hit for power, hitting just two doubles out of 15 hits.
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Brock Stassi, who manned first base for Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2016, already has three home runs and eight RBI in just 12 games. In addition, Stassi already has 16 walks, propelling him to a .545 on-base percentage. Low-A Lakewood first baseman Wilson Garcia is also having a nice start to the season. In 31 at-bats, Garcia has 10 hits, including one home run and two doubles.
Ricardo Pinto is the lone major pitching prospect to have appeared so far in the winter leagues.
He made one appearance out of the bullpen so far, allowing two hits but striking out two batters in one inning of work. Gregory Infante, who pitched 39 games this year between Double-A and Triple-A, has five innings of work under his belt so far in the Venezuelan League. He has two saves so far with just one unearned run allowed.
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Finally, the Dominican Winter League went underway Friday night, with both Paul Owens Award recipients taking part. Rhys Hoskins opened the season with a 1-for-3 game while Dylan Cozens went 0-for-4 in the opening outing. Alec Asher, who had a 2.28 ERA in five starts with the Phillies this year, had a strong start in his team’s opening game. Asher hurled five shutout innings, allowing two hits and no walks with two strikeouts.