Hitter Spotlight
IF Aidan Miller
4 G 4-14 1 2B 3 RBI 6 BB 5 K 2 SB
Due to the postseason schedule, Miller never played back to back days in his return, but he was a 9 inning player all through the postseason at third base. He looked rusty at both the plate and in the field, with a short armed throw to first nearly costing Reading Game 2 when it was still in the balance. He hit the ball hard at times, but also he looked like a player at the plate that missed seeing live pitching for a year. None of this answered any questions about his long term health or planted any flags that he is back to being a top prospect in baseball again. However, he looked a lot like Aidan Miller of old and presumably he will now be added to the AFL roster and we will get a slightly longer sample of play from him.
Pitcher Spotlight
RHP Gage Wood
1 GS 4 IP 2 H 3 ER 3 BB 4 K
It was not a good Gage Wood start in Game 1 of the division series. His velocity was down, his stuff and command wasn’t crisp, and he really looked like a pitcher at the end of a long season. After Reading’s big outburst, his velocity was down to the low 90s prompting a mount visit. He then emphatically struck out the next two batters with slightly better stuff. Unsurprisingly (and slightly disappointingly to some) the Phillies shut him down for the season and he did not pitch in the second round. It is definitely worth taking a step back and looking at his season overall. His ERA was a less than shiny 4.45, but much of that was driven by some high home run rates. The rest of it was highly successful. He reached 99 innings (100 if we throw the Futures Game in as well) after throwing 39 last year, and pitched the whole minor league season. He had 33 walks and 143 strikeouts, and in the regular season was 6th in K% and 5th in K-BB% among all minor league starting pitchers with at least 90 innings pitched. He still has a good amount of work that still needs to be done, but it was a highly successful year.
Notes and Thoughts
- Reading won the Eastern League Championship over Erie, you can read more in my playoff recap.
- The minor league season is now over and I am working on my season recap and awards. I have a form for your votes and collecting mailbag questions.
- Wen-Hui Pan was the story of the bullpen, especially against Erie. The velocity isn’t really back, there were a lot of 94s even if he did reach back for 98, and the splitter command was shaky at best. However, hitters didn’t see him particularly well and he really battled through at bats and threw his best pitches when he needed them. His two innings performance in Game 2 of the Championship series really slammed the door.
- Caleb Ricketts had the big RBI in both of the championship series games with a sac fly in game 1 and grand slam in game 2. He made some improvements behind the plate this year, but even with great end, he probably doesn’t have the combination of bat and defense to be a major leaguer.
- It wasn’t that Bryan Rincon was absent in the postseason, hit hit .294/.400/.529 with a big home run in game 2 against Hartford, it was just an ok week amongst some standout performances, and it says quite a bit about his season that him putting a .929 OPS feels normal, but his season OPS was .927.
- In the week leading up the postseason Carson DeMartini made a couple of defensive miscues which may or may not have contributed to him being at DH in deference to Aidan Miller. He had the icing on the cake grand slam in the championship, and spent of the postseason on the bases.
- Aroon Escobar came into the postseason on fire and that carried over into the big route in game 1. His overall stat line is very good, but there was some big at bats that he came out of his shoes on that ultimately didn’t matter. He is still only 21 and some of the immaturity at the plate is to be expected, but he will still need to find some more patience and discernment in big moments.
- Reading turned to Mavis Graves early in both series as a stopper against the heart of the order. Miller’s error allowed the go ahead, at the time, run against him in Game 2. He probably saved Game 1 when he came during the 6th inning of a 0-0 game with men on first and second and no outs and got out of it cleanly with two strikeouts vs Hope and Liranzo, before then mowing through the 7th inning.
- If Syracuse had not been playing for a postseason spot, Lehigh Valley might have done some wacky things in the last few games, but they played the games straight. The only exception is that under a pile of injuries RHP Mitch Neunborn played 4 innings of second base and got to be involved in some defensive plays.
Links and Things
Minor Thoughts
Around the Web
- Aidan Miller’s comeback and more Phillies prospect storylines that mattered in 2026 – Charlotte Varnes – The Athletic
Videos and Posts