Phillies Farm System Report: New Names Take Center Stage

Clearwater Threshers

Week Record (2-4)

Year Record to Date (34-28)

Recap and Standouts

The Threshers are a confusing team for me. I have not been able to figure them out all season. There is not a ton of top tier prospect talent, but somehow they find ways to win. They just moved arguably their best hitter, Zach Coppola to AA and seem to be trying to find ways to fill the void he left.

As last week’s article pointed out, Cornelius Randolph is starting to find a groove. While he did have a pair of two-hit games this week that included his sixth homer of the season, he had two games with two strikeouts. The Phillies are still hoping he cuts down on the Ks, but seeing his power emerge a bit is definitely a positive.

Deivi Grullon continues to keep eyes wide open as he put together a strong game on Tuesday night, going 3-4 with his fifth homer of the season. In that same game, Alberto Tirado continued his rollercoaster season. He threw seven strong frames, walking only one, allowing five hits, an earned run and striking out six. The Phils are hoping for more starts on that end of the spectrum than the other.

The same could be said for Franklyn Kilome, who put together a decent start just the day before. It was a typical Kilome start. He allowed one hit over five innings but walked five hitters. He struck out four and lowered his ERA to a strong 2.70 on the year.

In the second game of the doubleheader, Cole Irvin went six innings and gave up two unearned runs. He walked one and struck out seven. Irvin is someone to keep an eye on as the Phillies intend on taking more of his ilk in this year’s draft. They like what they have gotten out of Irvin and JoJo Romero, both college arms they have drafted in the last year.