2017 AFL Rosters Announced, Highlighted by Randolph

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

Kilome Softly With His Curve (8/16/17)

Franklyn Kilome has been on my radar for a few years now and has been the one prospect that has eluded my scouting eye I’ve wanted to see in the system. Kilome was promoted last week from Clearwater to Reading and had a bit of a shaky AA debut last Thursday. Wednesday night, he would … Read more

The GCL Phillies Have Dominant Starting Pitching Again

The 2016 GCL Phillies had one of the most statistically dominant rotations I have seen at the minor league level. The rotation started with Sixto Sanchez who posted a 0.50 ERA in 11 starts, but then followed with Mauricio Llovera (1.87), Nick Fanti (1.57), Luis Carrasco (2.18), Kyle Young (2.67), and Will Stewart (4.06). It … Read more

#SixtoDay (Part 4) (7/30/17)

Back on July 12th, I went to my third Sixto Sanchez start. There was nothing going on in the sports industry that night other than the ESPYs. There were dozens of scouts and writers on hand to watch Sixto roll through six innings allowing just one run. That night I also provided video, and the … Read more

A Whirlwind Late Night of Trades

Last night I made my third trip to Lehigh Valley this year to watch the Phillies top bats take on the Rays’ top prospect Brent Honeywell of Durham, who is considered one of the best pitching prospects in the baseball right now. Honeywell had his way last night after scuffling through the 1st five batters … Read more

Minor Thoughts from Reading (7/25/17)

If you guys follow me on Twitter (@JPhils90), you would know last night I went to Reading for the second time in four days. And unlike Saturday where Drew Anderson got knocked around and got ejected seven batters into the 1st inning and the game was called after five innings due to rain. This one … Read more

The New JP Swag and Other Minor Thoughts from Lehigh (7/24/17)

JP Crawford since the day he was drafted 16th overall in 2013, has been labeled as the start of the next generation of Phillies baseball. He was considered the top overall shortstop in his draft class despite the lack of power due to his tremendous plate discipline, barrel control and his overall feel at shortstop. … Read more

The Clearwater Rotation Replacements

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

#SixtoDay

Really digging Sixto Sanchez and not just because of his game. 91-95 with life, throwing strikes. 8 K's and 1 BB through 5 IP #Phillies — 𝘾hris King (@StatsKing) June 30, 2016 The above tweet by Chris King was the first I had heard about Sixto Sanchez. While I watched the GCL box scores roll … Read more