A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
Imagine being 18 years old, getting ready to be drafted by a Major League team, having already played on national television before. That’s the life of Nick Pratto. Six years ago at the age of 12, he stepped up to the plate against the always daunting Japan Little League team in the championship game of … Read more
This past weekend, Bryce Harper once again destroyed Phillies’ pitching. Pitch selection continued to be a problem on Saturday night, as it has been throughout the nine games Harper’s faced the Phillies this season. They should not be throwing him fastballs. But Harper’s dominance stems from a much deeper issue that I mentioned in my first ever … Read more
Philadelphia is in a draft frenzy mode right now. Last weekend, the city was center stage as the hosts of NFL Draft, which was a monster success and wild party. The Eagles fared pretty well in the draft as well getting some real quality players. As the NFL draft concluded, the Flyers lucked into a … Read more
On April 13th, I went to my 1st minor league game of the year. It was the home opener for the Lakewood and Sixto Sanchez’, arguably the Phillies top pitching prospect, depending on who you talk to, was on the bump. While he got zilch in run support that night in a loss, it was a … 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
Tommy Joseph has not been the most impactful surprise for the Phillies in 2016, but he almost certainly has been the best story. At this point everyone is aware of Joseph’s injury struggles and how his career was almost over. With Darin Ruf’s struggles Joseph got a chance at the big leagues and he has … Read more
In an organization that has seen a high amount of changeover in the past two years Roman Quinn is the absentee uncle who is super cool but never around. Taken in the second round of a 2011 draft that has gone from horrendous to just plain old weird (the current 4 major leaguers from it … Read more
It has been a good year for low minors pitching and it also has been a bounceback year for the Phillies much maligned 2012 draft class. The player that sits at the intersection of both is RHP Drew Anderson. Anderson currently has a 2.80 ERA across two levels and 13 starts to go with a … Read more
I put on Sunday’s Reading game with the goal of continuing to get looks at Andrew Pullin, who I still don’t have a grasp on. Instead it was Nick Pivetta on the mound who consumed my interest. Pivetta is not an unknown prospect, he ended up sandwiched between his Reading teammates Rhys Hoskins and Dylan … Read more
The season could not have started worse for Franklyn Kilome who got lit up for three consecutive starts to begin the year. The Phillies then skipped his turn in an effort to get him back on track. If you were not accounting for that terrible start, his season line of 2-7 with a 4.75 ERA … Read more