A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
Lost now in the jubilation of J.P. Crawford’s callup to the majors was that the Lehigh Valley IronPigs had overcome a late season slump to win 6 straight games, including 4 against rival Scranton-Wilkes Barre to win the International League Wild Card. The IronPigs opened the year as a bit of a juggernaut, but that … Read more
It’s been a wild and crazy last five days covering the end of minor league regular season for the Phillies affiliates. I went from Reading to Lehigh Valley to Williamsport and finally Lakewood for the last two days. I was originally going to end on Sunday, but weather had other plans and pushed scheduled starter … Read more
This piece is a companion to my J.P. Crawford major league preview on Crashburn Alley. In a game that probably should not have been close, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs clinched a wild card berth for the International League playoffs. After the game it was announced that the Pigs would have to go on without their … Read more
Sunday was going to be my last minor league game of the season with Adonis Medina scheduled to pitch. Unfortunately the weather got in the way on Saturday while I was driving back from Williamsport and instead of scheduling a doubleheader for Sunday, they ended up canceling the game altogether. That meant that Lakewood would … Read more
I hadn’t made the trip to Williamsport since my weekend escapades in July when Adam Haseley hit his 1st professional home runs, Kyle Young struck out 11, Spencer Howard made his professional debut and Jhailyn Ortiz made my eyes pop out of my head with his power. And being this a Phillies minor league weekend, … Read more
The “Phillies minor league Labor Day Weekend Blitz” made it’s second stop last night in Allentown. This would be the third time this season I have made the trek to the place that Billy Joel wrote a song about. Last night’s trip was about accomplishing three things: check on the rehabbing Odubel Herrera and Aaron … Read more
This afternoon on Twitter I answered your Phillies questions. For those that missed it, here are the answers. With all the pitching struggles you have to look at the pitching coaches, but their base running might be even more egregious https://t.co/YnIqJQTx45 — Matt Winkelman (@Matt_Winkelman) September 1, 2017 What you ideally want for Cesar is … Read more
Last night was Reading’s home finale, which meant that the stadium would be packed to see some fireworks after the game. Well they got a lot of fireworks for watching the game. Hours prior to the start of game time, it was announced the Phillies would be sending Odubel Herrera and Aaron Altherr to Baseballtown … Read more
It is August 31 and the Phillies are limping towards the end of the season. That means tomorrow the Phillies can call up reinforcements to help get them to the end of the season. Don’t expect much on September 1 though. However, the AA and AAA seasons end on September 4th and that provides another … Read more
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