A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
The Fightin Phils dispatched the Binghamton Mets with ease in the first round of the Eastern League playoffs, setting them up for a 5 game series with the Bowie Baysox (Orioles) for the championship. Starting Pitching: Game 1 (@Reading): Zach Eflin Game 2 (@Reading): Ethan Martin Game 3 (@Bowie): Jake Thompson Game 4 (@Bowie): Ben Lively … Read more
Outside those that follow the minor leagues closely, Ken Giles was a relative unknown before he showed up to camp in 2014. It was with good reason, because while Giles was a known quantity out of JuCo in the 2011 draft (he touched 100 with an average to above average slider), he missed most of … Read more
The best team in the Phillies’ system both on the field and for prospects all season has been the Reading Fightin Phils. The rotation has gone from vaunted to fringy, to vaunted again. The team received a big boost this July as it was bolstered with trade acquisitions and the explosion of Andrew Knapp. Based … Read more
First the bad news, Nick Williams suffered a concussion during a collision at first base where the first baseman received the ball while standing on top of the base. I assume the Phillies will be slow with Nick’s recovery, and he may be ready by the Fightin’s postseason run, but that is small significance compared … Read more
Last night, Joely Rodriguez but up yet another solid line for a Reading pitching staff that seems near unbeatable as he went 7 innings, while allowing 4 hits (1 a solo HR), the 1 run, 1 walk, and 5 strikeouts. It was the 5th straight solid start for the 23 year old left hander after … Read more
I debated whether this qualified enough to warrant a post since there really is not much to this. But on Twitter yesterday fellow (now former) writer Chris LaBarge mentioned that Zach Eflin was throwing a curveball almost exclusively as opposed to his slider. @Matt_Winkelman not seeing many 2 seam or slider. Working on 4 seam, … Read more
I am going to start by saying that this subject deserves more space than I about to give it, because it is meaningful, but this better than saying anything at all. Andrew Knapp is the middle of just destroying the Eastern League (he probably got another hit somewhere while you read this sentence). After … Read more
Really? Has it really been six weeks since I sat down to write about what I’m seeing at Coca-Cola Park and First Energy Stadium? It certainly hasn’t been a lack of games we’ve attended. I can count at least eight off of the top of my head. I guess at this point in the season, … Read more
The transactions keep flying in. Andrew Knapp was the Phillies 2nd round pick in the 2013 draft. He injured his elbow that summer and had to have Tommy John surgery in the offseason. This caused him to miss the start of 2014 and not catch full time until mid-summer. This year he is hitting .262/.356/.369 … Read more
What a Father’s Day. All week long, my family and I looked forward to this game and all week long it looked like it was going to be a wash out. But much to our surprise, the skies cleared up and the sun came out and baseball was played. Attending this game would mean that … Read more