Phillies Farm System Report: Williams is Red Hot

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Mar 11, 2017; Dunedin, FL, USA; Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Nick Williams (65) at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Lehigh Valley Ironpigs (5-1)

While the big league club has really struggled over the course of May, the Lehigh Valley AAA team has been the exact opposite. They are starting to become the powerhouse team we all expected them to be when Spring Training ended and the season began. Some of them have been so exciting over the last month that people are starting to beckon for their call-ups, namely Nick Williams.

While people have reason to be excited about the emergence of Dylan Cozens and Rhys Hoskins, Williams’ month of May has gotten progressively better. The last week has been ridiculous. The 23-year-old had a power eruption that led him to a sudden total of eight homers at the week’s end.

Feb 24, 2017; Tampa, FL, USA; Philadelphia Phillies shortstop J.P. Crawford (67) catches a line drive for an out in the third inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Butch Dill-USA TODAY Sports /

The IronPigs had offensive contributions from many different players this past week. A team would need a variety of players to produce in order to score 42 runs in six games. Besides Williams, J.P. Crawford has continued his slow ascent back to his level of expectation. He had two multi-hit games, another homer, and brought his average up to .191 after being below .100 at one point this season.

The Phillies will be looking for another arm to take the place of Zach Eflin after his struggles in the majors. They have two possible arms in Nick Pivetta and Ben Lively. Pivetta had an excellent start on Tuesday to improve to 4-0 with a 1.04 ERA at AAA. He went seven innings, allowing seven hits, one earned run, and striking out nine.

However, after he had issues with the Phils, my guess is Ben Lively will get the nod. He had two starts last week. The first was a six inning, five hit, no walk, nine K, and zero run effort. The second one was arguably better. Lively threw eight innings, five hits, an unearned run, walking two, and striking out seven.

At this point, it would benefit the Phillies to allow any and all arms to audition in what appears to be the beginning of a disastrous season.

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