A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
Baseball development does not care for roster construction. In the minor leagues there is one finite constant in development, playing time. When it comes to pitchers, this means starts. Teams have tried to get creative with pitching rotations, with some opting for shorter rotations with piggy back starts, or other like the Phillies have opted … Read more
The minor league season is now a week in. Almost every player has found their roster. The one exception is the Phillies affiliate most loaded with talent. While still a talented group, the Clearwater Threshers are missing their crowning jewel, right handed pitcher Sixto Sanchez. Once Sanchez arrives in the next week, the Threshers should … Read more
Sixto Sanchez 6’0″, 185 lb Bats/Throws: R/R Signed as an International Amateur free agent in 2014 Teams Played for: Lakewood (Low A/South Atlantic League)/Clearwater (High A/Florida State League) Dates Seen: 4/13, 4/30, 7/12, 7/30 Eyewitness Stats: 4 G (all starts), 22 IP, 12 H, 2 R (2 ER), BB, 18 K (22.8%), HBP, 79 BF … Read more
The minor league season may have wrapped up two months ago, but it is never too late to take a look around at the events of the 2017 season in the Phillies’ system. The 2016 Lakewood BlueClaws went on a late season run fueled by elite pitching to reach the South Atlantic League championship series. … Read more
Franklyn Kilome, RHP 6’6″, 175 lb Bats/Throws: R/R Played for: Clearwater (A+/FSL) and Reading (AA/Eastern) Signed as an international amateur in June 2013 Dates Seen: 8/16, 8/31 Eyewitness Stats: Two starts, 10.2 IP, 13 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 6 BB, 5 K, 2 HR allowed What the Numbers Say Clearwater (A+): 19 G (all starts), … Read more
Last year the Lakewood BlueClaws rode a rotation of Dominican RHPs to the South Atlantic League championship game. This year that core group (Franklyn Kilome, Jose Taveras, Alberto Tirado, and Seranthony Dominguez) was supposed to be the center of the Clearwater rotation. They were joined by 2016 5th round pick, Cole Irvin, a polished 22 … Read more
The Phillies entered the season loaded with starting pitching at every level of the minor leagues. Unfortunately injuries to Vince Velasquez, Clay Buchholz, Zach Eflin, Sixto Sanchez, and Seranthony Dominguez, and Elniery Garcia’s suspension left the Phillies rotations thin at every level. The Phillies prospect depth meant that most levels of the system were also … Read more
Last night the Mets lineup in the 6th began Bruce/Walker/Duda, so LH/switch/LH. So Joely Rodriguez, as the only LHP on the active roster, was obviously the choice. But in his brief career he hasn’t been reliable at getting LH hitting. Entering last night, LH hitters: 11/30 (2 XBH), 3/6 K/BB; RH hitters: 8/33 (5 XBH), … Read more
The ranking season continues with the Eastern League and Florida State League Top 20s. Florida State League: #14 – Scott Kingery Eastern League: #6 J.P. Crawford #12 Jorge Alfaro #13 Dylan Cozens Thoughts: Before jumping into my normal bullet points of thoughts, I wanted to talk about Cozens at #13 on this list. It is … Read more
There was a time when some worried that the Phillies had too much left handed starting pitching. Their rotation was headlined by Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels, and their top prospects were Jesse Biddle and Adam Morgan. This year the only left handed starting pitcher the Phillies used was Adam Morgan. The top pitching prospects … Read more