Mar 11, 2017; Dunedin, FL, USA; Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Nick Williams (65) runs home to score a run against the Toronto Blue Jays at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 11, 2017; Dunedin, FL, USA; Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Nick Williams (65) runs home to score a run against the Toronto Blue Jays at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
Lehigh Valley Ironpigs
Week Record (4-3)
Year Record to Date (41-21)
Recap and Standouts
The excitement at AAA Lehigh Valley continued into this week. Going into Sunday’s game, the Pigs were 20 games over .500 with many bright spots on the offensive side. Pitching had its holes, but it still allowed for some of the highlights in the week that was.
Starting with a guy who seems to have it completely figured out at the plate. It was after the month of April last season that I was reminding people just how young Nick Williams was and that with some players, it just takes time to figure it out. Well, it seems as though the outfielder has figured it out.
He had a hit in five of the seven games Lehigh Valley played last week. One of those hits was his 12th homer of the season. He is beginning to show consistent power with the hit tool emerges at the same time.
Meanwhile, Dylan Cozens and Rhys Hoskins continued to show their power as they both homered for the 14th time on Wednesday. Actually, Hoskins had at least one hit in six of the games played, but still somehow is as close to the .300 mark as he has been all season. Additionally, Cozens found his average up to .248 and climbing.
The most impressive offensive day was the 17 hit outpouring they laid out on Monday evening’s Thomas Eshelman start. They scored 12 runs while Eshelman tossed seven innings of five hit, one run ball. He walked no one and struck out four. Later in the week, the righty added another strong outing (6.1 innings, seven hits, three runs/two earned, a walk, and six strikeouts).
Out of the pen, we are keeping an eye on Jesen Therrien who went five innings last week, two hits, a walk, a run, and three strikeouts.
On the other end of the spectrum, Jake Thompson continued to slide. He was tattooed all over the field on Friday night. He did not make it out of the first inning. He surrendered seven hits, a walk, and seven runs.
Week Record (5-1)
Year Record to Date (33-25)
Recap and Standouts
In Reading, things continued to go well with a 5-1 week. Scott Kingery did cool off a bit, but Drew Anderson continued to make strides coming out of his season off as a result of Tommy John surgery.
It may be unfair of me to become critical the moment Kingery has a few struggles. I realize that, but I am going to be anyway. He struggled through multiple hitless games this week for the first time in as far back as I can remember. He even had a game in which he struck out twice, which seemed nearly impossible even a week ago. No worries though. His average only dropped to .300 for the season.
The big pitching performances were there though. First of all, Brandon Leibrandt had a strong outing on Friday. His seven innings, allowing only four hits, walking two came with no runs and lowered his ERA to 3.56 this season.
However, the real positive to take from Reading last week came from the right arm of Drew Anderson. He has been really strong since over the course of the last month. He has allowed one run on five hits in his last two starts (13 innings). In that same span, he has walked only one and struck out eight. The outings like these are showing why the Phillies were very high on him at the start of Spring.
Out in the pen, Austin Davis continues to be effective. In two innings last week, he allowed two hits, two walks, and a run. The hope for him is that shutdown innings become more of the norm and baserunners are a shock.
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.
Lakewood Blueclaws
Week Record (2-4)
Year Record to Date (33-30)
Recap and Standouts
In Lakewood, one player seemed to catch my eye on the offensive side and it was not Mickey Moniak or Daniel Brito. Anyone who has read these weekly updates knows that these are the two players I tend to keep my focus toward most consistently. However, I thought it would benefit us to know how Luke Williams is doing.
And this week, Williams got himself into a bit of a groove offensively. He hit his first home run of the season and raised his average over the Mendoza line for the first time this season. He has hit safely in his last ten games, which is a very good sign. The Phillies took Williams in the third round of the 2015 draft and are hoping he continues to improve as this season moves along.
Moniak and Brito did not have banner weeks for themselves. Both saw their averages dip. Moniak did play the entire sixteen-inning game last week and went a tough 1-7. No one really hit in that game. It ended 2-1 after 16 frames of baseball.
The pitching continues to be the highlight of Lakewood. JoJo Romero shined last Sunday through seven innings. He allowed no runs, walked no one, and struck out seven on the way to an 8-0 win. He would also come back on Saturday to go 6.1 innings and allowing three earned. It boosted his ERA to an unacceptable 2.26 for the season.
Ranger Suarez would not be outdone though. He would go seven innings as well. However, despite his one walk, he would punch out nine batters. His ERA to this point? 1.72.
