Schedule
- Tuesday September 10 – Game 1: Clearwater Threshers @ Lakeland Flying Tigers
- Thursday September 12 – Game 2: Lakeland Flying Tigers @ Clearwater Threshers
- Friday September 13 – Game 3 (if needed): Lakeland Flying Tigers @ Clearwater Threshers
How We Got Here
For the second year in a row the Phillies loaded up their Florida State League team with members of their newest draft class. The Threshers went 43-23 in the first half to just edge the Flying Tigers. Hitting wise, Aidan Miller, Jordan Viars, Keaton Anthony, and Trent Farquhar were particularly good and are all now at higher levels. They also had solid contributors and top prospects in Raylin Heredia, Pierce Bennett, TJayy Walton, and Diego Gonzalez who they have now lost to injury and promotion. On the pitching side, George Klassen, Braydon Tucker, and Casey Steward were all standouts in the rotation and are now promoted or traded. They also got an elite performance from Mavis Graves who appears to have now been shut down for the season, and similar with Micah Ottenbreit who had his highs and lows.
Without those first half contributors, and others, the Threshers stumbles to a league worst 21-40 in the second half. The late draft and short FCL season cut into them building a viable pitching staff, and the hitting has not lacked in prospect names, but has lacked in age, experience, and production.
Pitching Preview
The pitching staff for the Threshers is limping into the end of the season, and they are without most of the pitchers that got them there. Starting the first two games look to be a Sam Highfill/Reese Dutton combo and Danyony Pulido. Highfill and Dutton have had success (particularly Dutton) but both are soft tossing righties. Pulido has bigger velocity, and he will throw a ton of fastballs. However, his control is poor and his secondary pitches have not been great. If the game does go to a third game it could be Orlando Gonzalez or a bullpen game.
The bullpen has not been much better after promotions, and navigating the middle innings will be tough. Jose Pena has been around all year and can miss bats, but ends the year with a 5.37 ERA. Drew Garrett has a 3.54 ERA, but he has walked 47 in 40.2 innings. Josh Bortka falls into much the same area as Pena. A.J. Wilson, Kleyderve Andrade, and Eli Trop have had mixed results since joining Clearwater. Saul Teran was their closer last year, but missed a bunch of time to injury. Jonh Henriquez has been around for a while and gives ok results. Pedro Reyes has started and relieved with a good ERA, but more mediocre peripherals.
If they can carry a late inning lead, they are going to be handing it off to Luis Avila and Titan Hayes. Avila has a 0.68 ERA as a late inning option for the Threshers. His velocity has been inconsistent, but he can really bring the heat at times. He will walk some batters, but has also really battled through some clutch late multi inning appearances. Hayes had a poor appearance his last time out, but he brings big stuff and closing experience.
Hitting Preview
While the pitching staff is a hope and a prayer, the hitting and fielding has a chance to steal the series. The Threshers have been mixing and matching for the last month, but it sounds like they will be putting the big names out in the postseason. They will likely lead off the lineup with Starlyn Caba and Dante Nori. Caba has one extra base hit his entire time in Clearwater, but he has 16 walks to 15 strikeouts and a .304 OBP despite a .179 batting average and is a threat on the bases. Nori is more of the same, he is not going to hit the ball hard, but he is going to cause some traffic. That traffic will fall to the rest of the infield to pick up. It will be some combination of second baseman Devin Saltiban, catcher Eduardo Tait, and third baseman Carson DeMartini in those roles. It has been a mixed year for Saltiban, but over the last two months he is hitting .263/.381/.504 with 9 home runs. Meanwhile, Eduardo Tait has been prone to swing and miss, especially with the Threshers, but has 11 home runs on the season and with 73 RBI a real knack for getting guys home. He has the raw power to just change the series. DeMartini has been more contact than power since coming to the Phillies, but the 4th round pick is hitting .315/.385/.478 on the year with great contact rates.
The rest of the lineup is going to be more unknown. Kehden Hettiger has caught, played first, and DH’d. He had a solid August, but has not gotten to power consistently, but does provide some on base ability. Carter Mathison can play all three outfield positions, and has good raw power, but mostly has hit singles and drawn walks in pro-ball. Corner outfielder Joel Dragoo hasn’t gotten to more than doubles power so far, but is hitting .319/.508/.447 in his 15 pro games.
The rest of the team gives them various specific skills. Avery Owusu-Asiedu has struggled all year, but is a great defensive outfielder who also has speed and power. He did hit two home runs last series. Kodey Shojinaga is really a DH right now, and has gotten on base a ton (15 walks to 4 strikeouts) but not much else (6 for 42), but could be a pinch hit bat. Raider Tello hasn’t done much as a pro, but also gives them a RH bat off the bench with some good contact ability. Brady Day gives them another infield bat, and while he hasn’t hit in the pros was a great hitter at Kansas State this year. John Spikerman has disappointed as the Phillies 3rd round pick, but can play the outfield and probably more importantly is a pinch running weapon.
Prediction
The Threshers will go into this series as real underdogs. Lakeland went 80-50 on the season, the second best record in the league. They finished 15 games better than the Threshers in the second half. The Threshers pitching is a real mess as well, and it is going to be a challenge for them to keep the team in it. On offense, they are a combination of young and new pro-ball. If they win it will probably comes from the top of the order getting on for a big home run from Saltiban, Tait, or DeMartini, or from them grinding runs across with a bunch of traffic from walks. I think they can steal one game, but I don’t know if they can steal two.