Sep 20, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; From left to right Philadelphia Phillies general manager Matt Klentak and top prospects pitcher Ben Lively and outfielder Dylan Cozens and first baseman Rhys Hoskins prior to a game against the Chicago White Sox at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 20, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; From left to right Philadelphia Phillies general manager Matt Klentak and top prospects pitcher Ben Lively and outfielder Dylan Cozens and first baseman Rhys Hoskins prior to a game against the Chicago White Sox at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
As we begin another version of our farm report, it is important to note that the Williamsport Crosscutters start their season this week. We will be adding them to the article starting next week since they will have a very exciting roster.
Lehigh Valley Ironpigs
Week Record (3-3)
Year Record to Date (44-24)
Recap and Standouts
Lehigh Valley’s .500 record for the week was what some would consider a disappointment. For a team 20 games over .500, I can understand why. The expectation of the AAA team is much higher than normal because of the disappointing performance of the big league club.
With the struggles and injuries in Philadelphia, the Phillies fans are looking for some sort of promotion from within to bolster the roster. Some are calling for one of Nick Williams or Dylan Cozens. Before Sunday’s game, Williams is hitting .273/.308/.513 with 14 homers. Meanwhile Cozens is slashing .249/.313/.494 to the same point.
While either one would be exciting because it simply screams change, I believe the Phillies want to see an improvement in the middle piece of the slash. Williams and Cozens have to improve the on-base skills and AAA is the best place for them to do that.
Rhys Hoskins is another popular name among Phillies faithful. However, he has seen a slight decline in production recently. His numbers have dipped to .292/.385/.584, but those numbers still scream “ready” to me. The problem is that Tommy Joseph, a 25 year old who is putting up fairly impressive numbers in Philly, is blocking him.
Sidenote: J.P. Crawford has been sidelined with a nagging groin injury.
On the pitching end of things, Jake Thompson continued his inconsistencies. Mark Appel keeps being Appel-like. He allowed four earned runs over 5.2 innings on eight hits and two walks.
One the other hand, Thomas Eshelman stayed on a roll. He improved to 5-1 with the Pigs after seven strong innings, allowing two earned on six hits and walk, while striking out three. His ERA stayed at about 1.68 as he continues toward Philadelphia.
Feb 25, 2017; Clearwater, FL, USA; Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Andrew Pullin (85) singles during the sixth inning against the New York Yankees at Spectrum Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
Reading Fightin’ Phils
Week Record (5-1)
Year Record to Date (38-26)
Recap and Standouts
It was another strong week in AA for the Phillies. They are continuing to ride the tails of Scott Kingery and Andrew Pullin offensively. The pitching continues to show improvement, both in the rotation and the bullpen.
The second baseman that everyone and their mother is currently screaming for in Philadelphia had three games with three hits last week. He improved his line to .308/.380/.617 in that time. He added his 18th homer and had multiple games with two doubles.
Pullin is a lesser-known prospect, but finds ways to continue to be successful with his bat. The 23-year-old also had three multi-hit games. He hit his 13th homer and has improved to .314/.375/.561 for the season. The lefty has been the most consistent bat in the middle of the Fightin’ Phils order.
The bullpen has been an intriguing piece to this puzzle. Victor Arano has been fantastic since his arrival back in Reading. Last week, he threw five innings, allowed four hits, one earned run, walked one, and struck out one. He landed on a 1.93 ERA.
Austin Davis has also been tremendous. His 4.1 innings were purely dominant. He did allow eight hits, but no runs and struck out nine hitters. He lowered his ERA to a ridiculous 0.93 since being promoted.
On the starting end of things, Drew Anderson had another solid start.While he did load the bases twice on Friday night, he was able to escape both times. Anderson allowed one unearned run on five hits and three walks. He struck out seven and saw his ERA continue to plummet to 3.48 in what seems like a resurgence for him.
Clearwater Threshers
Week Record (2-3)
Year Record to Date (36-31)
Recap and Standouts
Before I start in with the Threshers, I came across an interesting piece of information while researching their week. They faced Anthony Gose as a pitcher this week. Gose was a former Phillies prospect who was traded in the Roy Oswalt deal back in 2010. He received the loss for Lakeland on Thursday.
It was a short week for Clearwater since it was their All-Star weekend. Before we get to the All-Stars, it is important to know how they did before the break.
A newer name surfaced this week. Jacob Waguespack, a righty who was thrown into the rotation on May 25th went five innings, allowing only two hits on Wednesday’s second game of a double-header. He has allowed only two runs in 19 innings since his turn in the rotation started.
Harold Arauz, the final piece in the Ken Giles deal, has also performed at a high level this season. Last week, he threw four innings, giving only one hit and striking out three. At 22 years old, he has thrown 20.2 innings, striking out 22 in Clearwater. The righty has allowed a .187 batting average to go along with his 0.82 WHIP and 1.74 ERA.
Besides him, Franklyn Kilome continued to improve. He performed really well last Sunday in a 5.1 inning performance in which he surrendered one earned run on two hits and three walks. He struck out four and threw 88 pitches of which 54 were strikes.
Offensively, the Threshers are not dynamic by any means, but it seems like someone steps up every week. For example, this week, Grenny Cumana pulled a 4-4, one walk, and two run performance on the way to a 6-2 win. He is a 5’5” shortstop who is slashing .304/.346/.372, so the numbers are not insane, but he was one who stepped it up this week.
Cornelius Randolph had a two-hit game this week, but in that game, he also struck out three times. At the All-Star break, Randolph is hitting .230/.308/.364 with six homers. The Phillies are hoping that he improves in different areas during the second half of the season.
The Threshers had six All-Stars at the game this weekend. Their invites were Deivi Grullon, Jose Taveras, Cole Irvin, Herlis Rodriguez, Drew Stankiewicz, and Jeff Singer. Zack Coppola was invited as well, but he is playing in Reading, so was unable to play in the FSL All-Star game.
Lakewood Blueclaws
Week Record (6-1)
Year Record to Date (39-31)
Recap and Standouts
This has easily been my favorite team to follow over the early part of the season. Yes, Lehigh Valley has a ton of close-to-ready talent, but the pitching at this level has been elite all season. Some of the bats are still improving, but the pitching has been tremendous.
Starting with the offensive side of things, Mickey Moniak continues to put up consistent numbers at this point. He entered the new week at .272/.328/.396 after a week that featured a four hit and two hit game.
A newer name that has started to surface is Darick Hall. The 21-year-old first baseman had 41 RBI in his first 41 games this season. The lefty slugger has 10 homers and is slashing .257/.319/.476 through the middle of June. He will be a player to keep an eye on over the next few years.
Now for the really fun part: The pitching.
Sixto Sanchez made two appearances last week. He combined for 10 innings pitched, six hits, one run, no walks, and four strikeouts. He improved to a 2.88 ERA since coming back from injury.
Not to be outdone though, Ranger Suarez went seven innings for the fifth time in his eleven starts. While he did surrender three earned runs on four hits and three walks, he did strike out five. The strikeouts and innings pitched this season are both equally impressive.
Oh, then there was Adonis Medina’s start. He only threw seven innings without allowing a run. Medina also added a career high 12 strikeouts to the line.
In the midst of a 21 hit output by the offense last Wednesday, Bailey Falter put on a show of his own. He went five innings, gave up no runs, while scattering six hits, walking none, and striking out six. The 20-year-old lowered his ERA to a solid 3.20 on a staff where he appears to be the weak link, but is nowhere near it.
Nick Fanti and JoJo Romero wanted in on the fun though too. Falter threw 5.2 innings, giving up five hits and a walk, which led to two runs (only one earned). He struck out five along the way and found his ERA settle at 2.25 to this point.
The next day, Romero would push it a step further. The lefty scattered four hits and no walks over eight innings. He added ten strikeouts in what appeared to be one of his most dominant performances of the season.
