A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
As part of writing the Top 50 I pull a bunch of data and start to dig in to get a deeper look at the players. I can’t put all of the data into the writeups, so it is largely the overview that gets put into the list. When it came to Justin Crawford more … Read more
I said I needed something to write about, but wanted to write and @norseofbroad.bsky.social asked the question that is on many fans’ minds. The answer is very firmly a maybe, which is entirely a coward’s answer and not worthy of writing, but also I have been just short of actually writing about Crawford for a … Read more
No matter how you slice it, Mick Abel has had a terrible season. There are 60 pitches with at least 80 innings pitched in AAA this season. He has the 47th best ERA (5.89), 51st best FIP (5.89), the 58th best walk rate (15.6%), the 43rd best HR/9 (1.43), and compliments that with only the … Read more
Cornelius Randolph, OF 5’11, 205 lb Born 6/2/97 (Age 21) in Brunswick, GA Bats/Throws: L/R Drafted in the 1st Round (10th overall) of the 2015 MLB draft out of Griffin HS (GA) Team Played For: Reading (Eastern League/AA) Eyewitness Stats (7 G, 5 GS): 4/21 , 2 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 … Read more
Rodolfo Duran, C 5’9″, 181 lb Born 2/19/98 (Age 20) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Bats/Throws: R/R Signed $75,000 bonus as an international amateur in 2014 Team Played For: Lakewood (South Atlantic League/Low A) Games Seen: 5/24, 6/14, 6/29, 8/2, 8/20, 9/1; (Postseason) 9/7, 9/13, 9/14 Eyewitness Stats (9 games): 11/38 (.289), 3 2B, HR, … Read more
After months of ugly, muggy weather it is finally beginning to feel like fall. And when it’s fall, that can only mean one thing: playoff baseball. The minor league playoffs are underway, and Lakewood would host the White Sox affiliate Kannapolis in Game 2 of the South Atlantic League’s North Division championship. Lakewood won Game … Read more
Every draft pick matters. It is a concept that makes sense on paper, but when you start to see picks come off the board on Day 3 of the draft, it is much easier to see the low minors roster depth than actual talent. While teams can give any player picked after the 10th round … Read more
When I sat down to write the pre-season Top 50 there were two glaring positional weaknesses in the system catcher and third base. Only one third baseman (Jake Holmes) made the list, and that position has seen some natural improvement with bounce backs by Zach Green and Luke Williams and the drafting of Alec Bohm. … Read more
Last night’s mission took me to Reading as the Phillies took on Baltimore’s affiliate from Bowie. The misson: Adam Haseley’s debut in AA. While Haseley was the headliner, a couple of other recent promotions were of interest as well in first basemen Austin Listi and Darick Hall. The position players were the one’s I was … Read more
On Friday night, I made my fourth trip to Lakewood this year to watch Spencer Howard for a second time. This would also be coincidentally the third time I’ve gotten to see the Nationals low A affiliate Hagerstown. The mission for the evening was to see two things: to see if Howard could have a … Read more