2018 Lakewood BlueClaws Season Preview

The minor league season is almost underway. The rosters are revealed, most of the players have been assigned a place to play. As we head into opening day my previews of the Phillies’ affiliates starts with the lowest level in the Lakewood BlueClaws. This year’s BlueClaws team is less exciting then the previous version, but … Read more

Phillies Trade Ricardo Pinto For International Bonus Money

The Phillies designated Ricardo Pinto for assignment over the weekend when they signed Scott Kingery to a major league deal and brought him to the majors. On Wednesday they traded Pinto to the White Sox for international bonus pool money. Unlike the trade that send Eliezer Alvarez to Texas for cash, the Phillies actually received … Read more

2018 Phillies Prediction Survey

The past few years I have done a prediction survey with people who write and talk about the Phillies and baseball in general. This year I got 34 responses to the survey, which included writers from The Good Phight, Crashburn Alley, Baseball Prospectus, Fangraphs, Phuture Phillies, and others (including radio broadcasters). All submissions from experts are recorded … Read more

Adventures in Clearwater: The Big Leaguers Take Over

Saturday was a very eventful St. Patrick’s on the backfields at the Carpenter Complex. While the big club took care of business at Spectrum Field (beat Atlanta 10-6), there was plenty of big league pitching going on in the backfield. On the Ashburn field, the big money arm, Jake Arrieta, made his “debut”. And there … Read more

Adventures in Clearwater: Thoughts on Day 1 and 2 in Minor League Camp

It’s the first week of spring training games for the minor leagues and I needed a vacation. So naturally, I am here in Clearwater not only to enjoy myself for a long weekend but to give you the people a little update on all the top prospects in the Phillies system (and eventually a bonus … Read more

2017 Evaluation: The Curious Case of Mickey Moniak

While we are now less than a month away from the start of the baseball season, something has been quietly bothering me for a while now, and that is what do I feel about Mickey Moniak? His 2017 started out well, but ultimately ended poorly where to the point that many people from scouts, analysts, … Read more