Phillies Farm System Report: Top Prospect Figuring it out
Lehigh Valley Ironpigs
Week Record (7-1)
Year Record to Date (28-14)
Recap and Standouts
Once again, Lehigh Valley is our team of the week for the system. There were moments of solid pitching and moments of continued success at the plate as well. That entire piece aside though, there is one situation about which the Phillies have to be thrilled. We will eventually get to that.
On the mound, the biggest story of the week was Thomas Eshelman. I mentioned him last week as the most underrated prize in the Ken Giles return. He continues to show why that may be the case. In two starts last week, the right-hander combined for 15 innings of work. He allowed 11 hits, four runs (one earned), struck out six and walked only two. The 22-year-old is making a strong impression so far.
There were strong starts put together by Mark Appel, Jake Thompson, and Ben Lively throughout the week as well. Even with those starts, however, Eshelman remains Lehigh Valley’s must-see.
On the offensive side of things, Dylan Cozens and Rhys Hoskins continued to dismantle baseballs. They both reached double-digits in home runs by the week’s end.
Nick Williams joined in on the power-surge as well, homering four times last week. Even his power was not the story of the week though. Neither was the week by Roman Quinn that saw him pile up a four-hit day at one point.
All we have to do is look at that struggling shortstop to find the real story. J.P. Crawford may be starting to find it, folks. And in a tough month for the big league club, we needed this. He began the week hitting an awful .156, and while the most recent number is not strong, is shows an impeccable improvement. He jumped to .196 by the end of the week.
He homered on Monday, had two hits on Tuesday, piled on three more hits Wednesday, and walked a few times throughout the week as well. The numbers are not going to look perfect as the season progresses as a result of his struggles the first month and a half, but if Crawford finds a way to build on last week’s success, there will be deep sighs of relief in Philadelphia.
Reading Fightins’
Week Record (5-1)
Year Record to Date (23-14)
Recap and Standouts
It was another interesting week in Reading. I find this team to be a quizzical group. The collection of prospects is nowhere near as strong as they are in Lehigh Valley. The pitching prospects are not guys who are stealing headlines. However, all they do is continue to win.
More from Phillies Prospects
- Phillies manager suggests Andrew Painter could make Opening Day roster
- Phillies No. 1-ranked prospect Andrew Painter receives national accolade
- Phillies top prospect Andrew Painter continues to dominate
- Philadelphia Phillies prospects thriving is a positive sign for the future
- Phillies top prospect Andrew Painter dominates in Double-A debut
This week’s strongest start came from Drew Anderson last Sunday. He was able to throw seven strong innings, allowing only one hit, one unearned run, while walking no one and striking out seven. Some have mentioned Anderson could be the best arm in the system, but Tommy John held him out of 2016. As he continues to get healthy, we will have to keep a close eye on his starts to see if this becomes the norm the 23-year-old.
In the pen, Austin Davis is the prospect name to keep an eye on at Reading. The recently promoted Davis was dominating high-A in Clearwater through his 21 innings. As a result, the organization gave him a bump. He is a hard-throwing right-hander that could fast-track the same way Edubray Ramos did. So far, he has only thrown 4.1 innings for the Fightins’ but has not allowed a run.
Offensively, the rise of Scott Kingery continues. His power numbers are constantly growing in the leadoff spot. At the end of last week, the second baseman reached 11 homers. That puts him in the power stat category with Hoskins and Cozens right now. Add that to his speed on the bases and he is a dangerous weapon in future Philadelphia lineups.
Behind him, the bats are not quiet whatsoever. Malquin Canelo, Reading’s shortstop, has been hot recently. They moved him to the two-hole, where he has raised his average to .316. Carlos Tocci continues to hit, hovering around the .315 mark as well. Meanwhile, unheralded outfield hitting prospect, Andrew Pullin is raking. He is up to a robust .342 after a consistent week, posting three different multi-hit games this week.
Clearwater Threshers
Week Record (2-4)
Year Record to Date (24-19)
Recap and Standouts
The Threshers are another team that has baffled me thus far. There are not many well-known prospects on this team. The handful they do have seem to be underperforming. And the one who has been executing his job at a high level may be hurt at this point.
We will start there. Seranthony Dominguez, who had arguably been pitching better than anyone in the system was randomly pulled from his last start. According to Matt Winkleman, Dominguez suffered an apparent neck injury, during a start. The righty had a 2.02 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 45 strikeouts, and 13 walks in 35.2 innings. Time will tell us what is next for Dominguez, but we hope that he does not miss too much time in his development.
More from That Balls Outta Here
- Phillies rumors: Club targets Seth Lugo for possible bullpen role
- Pirates’ bizarre Vince Velasquez hype video will make Phillies fans laugh
- Acquiring Brandon Marsh gave the Phillies flexibility
- Former Phillies starter Zach Eflin shares heartwarming goodbye message
- Is Rhys Hoskins the future at first base for the Phillies beyond 2023?
As far as the players on the field, it was not a banner week by any stretch. Franklyn Kilome had another difficult start for the Threshers. He could not make it through three innings, due to reaching his pitch count. He surrendered five hits and two walks in that time that led to two earned runs, and an eventual loss for his team.
On the other hand, Cole Irvin had a fairly strong start in a loss. The lefty tossed five innings, allowing only five hits, three walks, and three earned runs. The outing raised his ERA to 2.14 through the first month and a half.
Offensively, I am becoming increasingly concerned about the former first-round pick, Cornelius Randolph. The left-handed outfielder has not been able to gain any sort of traction at the plate. When a 1-5 day raises a player’s average, it screams that there may be problems.
And, sadly, this is not a Crawford situation. He is not putting together back-to-back eye-opening games. He is nursing one-hit games. It is an even more severe problem for a player that does not have a position. Randolph’s bat is what the Phillies are hoping carries him to the big leagues.
At this point, it seems to be what is holding him back
Lakewood Blueclaws
Week Record (2-6)
Year Record to Date (23-19)
Recap and Standouts
Again in Lakewood, the BlueClaws are looking strong on the pitching end of things. They had a few tough starts, but some more promising starts from a loaded staff. On the offensive end, there are some guys who are sputtering, but there could be reasons that many are not yet considering.
Daniel Brito and Mickey Moniak are the two position players to really keep an eye on at Lakewood. Yes, Luke Williams, Cord Sandberg, and Arquimedes Gamboa are all players that could have futures but are not on the same level as Brito and Moniak.
Those two seem to be in their first slumps of their early careers. Just a week ago, both of them were up around .300 and hitting their ways into the journals of scouts and minor league writers. They have both dipped. Brito is down around .260 and Moniak is floating around .270, and I believe there are valid reasons.
Let’s focus on Moniak. At this time last season, he was wrapping up his high school season and preparing for the draft. He has already eclipsed his at-bat total and game total. Part of his development is simply adjusting to the wear and tear the everyday at-bats take on a player’s body and mental state.
I believe both of them will be mentally strong enough to break through their early offensive struggles.
On the pitching side of things, the BlueClaws suffered losses with both Ranger Suarez and Adonis Medina on the mound. It is certainly unusual, but will absolutely happen. Medina allowing four earned is unusual though and something I do not expect to become a habit.
The pitcher who is standing out to me at the moment is Bailey Falter. I wrote about him a bit last week in my article and he is going to be a positive once again. He had two starts last week, in which he logged 13 innings, allowing only four earned runs on ten hits. He only walked two and struck out eleven hitters.
Next: Phillies starting pitching power rankings
He continues to control the strike zone, and when a pitcher is able to be effective within the zone, they will find success. Falter has seen exactly how that works.