Phillies Farm System Report: Lakewood Puts Together Flawless Week

Phillies minor league clubs had mixed performances this week, but a Lakewood starter made history with one of his roommates on the mound

Between the weather and on the field play, it was not the prettiest of weeks for the IronPigs. They were on the wrong end of two blowout shutouts (13-0 and 8-0) and had three different games postponed due to inclement weather.

Lehigh Valley IronPigs

Week Record (2-3)

Year Record to Date (14-13)

However, there were some positives to pull out of the mud. The most exciting piece of news is that J.P. Crawford looks like he may be starting to come out of his early season struggles. He reached base in every game this week, hitting in four out of five of them. He was able to boost (yes boost) his average to .159 by yesterday’s game.

Other than Crawford, the offensive highlights go to the usual suspects. In an 11 run offensive outburst this week, Jorge Alfaro and Rhys Hoskins combined to go 4-8, scoring five runs and driving in four. Hoskins homered for his team-leading seventh time.

A day later, four different Pigs knocked in runs on their way to a second consecutive win against the Scranton Yankees. Dylan Cozens, Hoskins, Nick Williams, and Lance Moore (homer) all provided the runs necessary to pull off the win.

On the pitching end, Lehigh Valley has been shorted because of call-ups to Philadelphia. Ben Lively, Nick Pivetta, and Jake Thompson have all been pulled up to the major league roster to help out in an emergency.

However, one name continues to stick out as someone the Phils may be forced to use at some point this season. Pat Venditte, the switch-pitcher, is yet to give up a run in 13 innings at AAA. Notice, it does not say an earned run. He has not allowed any runner, whether his own or an inherited one to cross the plate. With the middle-relief struggles on the 25-man roster, he may be worth a look at some point soon.