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
You guys came up big with questions and in an effort to get this out to you quicker I have split this mailbag into two parts. Part 2 should come in the next day or two. But enough of that, on to your questions. @Matt_Winkelman mailbag Q: Do you have any concerns with the lack … 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
So not unsurprising the Ruben Amaro era has come to an end. It is an end that should have come earlier and one that we have seen coming for a long time now. It was unrealistic expect that Andy MacPhail would not hire his own guy to oversee the day to day of his vision … 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
The Williamsport Crosscutters lead the Pinckney division from poll to poll with a team that may have lacked in some prospect fire power, but made up for it with a very solid 2015 draft. Much like the Threshers the Crosscutters will play a three game series, however the following series will be a three game series … Read more
Today starts the first of three playoff series for the Phillies’ affiliates. The Threshers open up a three game series with the Daytona Tortugas, if they win they will play a five game series with the winner of the South Division best of three series. Pitching Matchups: Game 1 (@Daytona): Ricardo Pinto vs Amir Garrett … Read more
Baseball Betsy posted the first roster and final schedule for instructional leagues up on her site. I want to talk about the roster so you are going to have to actually click the link if you want to when and where they are playing games. So without further delay here is the roster (the roster … Read more
The Phillies have done an incredible job rebuilding their minor league system in the past 12 months. They have built up incredible depth and acquired some real cornerstone pieces to put around their existing pieces like J.P. Crawford, Aaron Nola, and Maikel Franco. The hitting side of the system has some real impact talent, but … Read more
Going into the draft this spring, there was a cry for the Phillies to draft a catcher because the team didn’t have an heir for Carlos Ruiz. Throwing aside that catchers develop too slow to help that quickly, there was public concern over the state of the Phillies’ catching depth. Right now after some crazy … Read more