Phillies’ Reading Affiliate Releases 2016 Season Highlight Video
By John Town
After an impressive 89-52 season, the Phillies Double-A affiliate, the Reading Fightin’ Phils, released a music video capturing highlights from the year.
Highlight videos are usually exclusive to diehard fans with a video editor that upload them on the internet. However, the Reading Fightin’ Phils, the Phillies Double-A affiliate, produced their own highlight video to summarize the season. You can click here to watch it on MiLB.com. The video features top prospects J.P. Crawford, Jorge Alfaro, Roman Quinn, Dylan Cozens, and Rhys Hoskins.
The video features the song “Take Back The Power” by The Interrupters, as well as audio clips from Reading’s radio announcer Mike Ventola. The song fits well with the video’s simple title: “Reading had a powerful year”.
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Reading finished their season with a 89-52 record, the best in the Eastern League, their most wins since 1983 and the second-highest total in their history. Despite them finishing first in the league, the Trenton Thunder – the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate – unseated them in the first round of the playoffs.
The long ball was the Fightin Phils’ calling card this year.
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Cozens set the new franchise record for home runs in a single season with 40, and Hoskins was just behind him with 38. In addition, minor-league journeyman Jake Fox also hit 23 home runs this year. In total, Reading led the Eastern League with 185 home runs in 2016.
Several other hitters also had notable impacts on the team. When he wasn’t injured, Quinn was a devil on the bases, stealing 31 bases in 71 games. In 46 games, Andrew Pullin hit for a .346 average with 10 home runs as he worked around injuries as well.
The Fightin’ Phils were no slouches on the mound either. As a team, their 1.32 WHIP ranked fourth in Eastern League and their 3.85 ERA was sixth.
Reading’s best starter was Ben Lively in his time there. In nine starts, Lively went 7-0 with a 1.87 ERA and 0.94 WHIP. After a strong performance in Triple-A as well, Lively was named the pitching prospect of the year by the team.
Next: Phillies Post-2016 Top 30 Prospect Rankings: 1-5
Out of the bullpen, 25-year old Holby Milner was effective in his 49 Double-A innings. He struck out 54 batters while walking just 12 in that span. Miguel Nunez served as the team’s closer, leading the team with 17 saves. His control was nightmarish, walking 28 batters in 46 innings.