A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
Matt Winkelman 
Aaron Altherr, of all people. Aaron Altherr. A career .234 hitting with only 25 home runs in four seasons with the Phillies, 26-year-old Aaron Altherr became the first person ever to hit a grand slam off Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw. … The Dodgers had three home runs themselves but it wasn’t enough to counteract Altherr’s one sweet shot. History is … Read more
The fact that minor leaguers make almost no money for their service rendered is not a secret. It also is not a new topic, but today ESPN reignited that argument with this horrible tweet (and an accompanying Darren Rovell article that I will not link to). Is Tim Tebow the greatest value in minor league … Read more
The Phillies are in no position to pass up free talent. Nor are they in a position to be comfortable with the talent already on the roster. In the spirit of those two statements, this month the Phillies have added the following players to their 40 man roster in September: LHP Kevin Siegrist, SS J.P. … Read more
It is that time of year, the minor league season is over and winter/fall leagues are about to start. Each year the Phillies send their players everywhere and I will keep this post updated as assignments are announced. Winter Stats Arizona Fall League (Glendale Desert Dogs) Elniery Garcia Trevor Bettencourt J.D. Hammer Garret Cleavinger Edgar … Read more
The danger of writing up the AAA playoff preview yesterday was that the Phillies might do something drastic with the roster before the series, and the Phillies did something dramatic with the roster today. In: RHP Mark Appel, SS Malquin Canelo, RHP Victor Arano, LHP Elniery Garcia, RHP Franklyn Kilome, RHP Jacob Waguespack, 3B Mitch Walding … Read more
Lost now in the jubilation of J.P. Crawford’s callup to the majors was that the Lehigh Valley IronPigs had overcome a late season slump to win 6 straight games, including 4 against rival Scranton-Wilkes Barre to win the International League Wild Card. The IronPigs opened the year as a bit of a juggernaut, but that … Read more
This piece is a companion to my J.P. Crawford major league preview on Crashburn Alley. In a game that probably should not have been close, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs clinched a wild card berth for the International League playoffs. After the game it was announced that the Pigs would have to go on without their … Read more
This afternoon on Twitter I answered your Phillies questions. For those that missed it, here are the answers. With all the pitching struggles you have to look at the pitching coaches, but their base running might be even more egregious https://t.co/YnIqJQTx45 — Matt Winkelman (@Matt_Winkelman) September 1, 2017 What you ideally want for Cesar is … Read more
It is August 31 and the Phillies are limping towards the end of the season. That means tomorrow the Phillies can call up reinforcements to help get them to the end of the season. Don’t expect much on September 1 though. However, the AA and AAA seasons end on September 4th and that provides another … Read more
Some years we look forward to the release of Arizona Fall League rosters. Given the distribution of talent in the Phillies’ system (not in Clearwater and Reading, and pitching heavy everywhere) it promised to be a light year for major Phillies prospects. With the announcement of rosters today, things turned out a bit better than … Read more