Phillies Release 2017 Triple-A and Double-A Rosters
By John Town
Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs
Lehigh Valley is where nearly every top Phillies prospect will be this season. Several will be returning from last year while others will make their way up from Double-A.
The entire starting outfield will be made up of top-ten prospects in left fielder Nick Williams, center fielder Roman Quinn, and right fielder Dylan Cozens. Cozens and Quinn will be playing their first seasons in Lehigh Valley while this will be Williams’ second season. Cameron Perkins will be the team’s fourth outfielder.
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The infield will feature the team’s No. 1 prospect, shortstop J.P. Crawford. First baseman Rhys Hoskins and second baseman Jesmuel Valentin will also be in Triple-A after spending much of spring training with the major-league team. Taylor Featherston is expected to be the team’s starting third baseman with Pedro Florimon and Hector Gomez coming off the bench.
Behind the plate top catching prospect Jorge Alfaro is expected to be the starter with Logan Moore slated to back him up.
The starting rotation will also be loaded with talented young pitchers. Jake Thompson will make his way back to Lehigh Valley after making his major-league debuts in 2016. Ben Lively will also return to Triple-A after being named the team’s pitching prospect of the year last season. Mark Appel, Nick Pivetta, and Ricardo Pinto will round out the rotation. Pinto is the lone new pitcher in Triple-A’s rotation this season.
Zach Eflin will stay in Clearwater on the disabled list before heading up north to join the IronPigs later this month. The team is making sure Eflin is 100% recovered from last offseason’s surgeries. When Eflin does return from surgery, Pinto may be the one that gets moved out of the rotation in his place.
The bullpen will feature a healthy mix of new and returning players to the IronPigs. The newcomers to Lehigh Valley are Pedro Beato, Mark Leiter Jr., Wander Perez, Cesar Ramos, and Pat Venditte. Returning from 2016 are Luis Garcia, Michael Mariot, and Hoby Milner.