That Balls Outta Here
FanSided

Phillies minor-league system: 2017 season in review

By John Town

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 05: J.P. Crawford #2 of the Philadelphia Phillies looks out onto the field before a game against the New York Mets at Citi Field on September 5, 2017 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Crawford is making his major league debut. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 05: J.P. Crawford #2 of the Philadelphia Phillies looks out onto the field before a game against the New York Mets at Citi Field on September 5, 2017 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Crawford is making his major league debut. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 7
Next

Low-A Lakewood BlueClaws

Lakewood started off the season strong, just missing the division title in the first half of the season as their winning percentage was a mere three-thousandths lower than the division winner. They fell off in the second half, posting a 33-36 record after the break. They finished the season with a 73-66 record, 3.5 games back of the best overall team in the division.

Pitching was the strong point of the team as their 3.26 ERA was third-best in the South Atlantic League and they led the league with a 1.15 WHIP. The rotation was littered with top-30 pitching prospects like Sixto Sanchez, Adonis Medina, JoJo Romero, and Ranger Suarez.

More from Phillies Prospects

Sanchez was strong in his full-season debut, posting a 2.41 ERA and a team-leading 2.35 fielding-independent pitching among those with more than 50 innings pitched. Romero had a 2.11 ERA and 3.76 strikeout-to-walk ratio before being promoted to Clearwater. Suarez had a minuscule 1.59 ERA with a 27.8 percent strikeout rate. Medina spent all year in Lakewood but was effective, striking out 10 batters per nine innings with a 3.01 ERA.

Will Hibbs was the team’s best reliever, finishing the year with a 1.77 ERA and 0.75 WHIP in 61 innings.

The hitting was far less effective as they finished the year with a collective .661 OPS. The lone bright spot on the offense was Darick Hall, who broke the team’s home run record with 27 in 114 games. He finished the year with a .272/.340/.533 line and 96 RBI.

Last year’s first round pick, Mickey Moniak, had a disappointing season as he finished the year with a .236/.284/.341 line. Daniel Brito also struggled, managing a .615 OPS. However, both were in their age-19 season, so expecting them to blow the top off of the league was probably too much.

Home/Phillies Prospects