Phillies Minor League Recap (Week 1 3/28-3/30)

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This Week’s Schedule

*3 Game Series beginning 4/4

Hitter Spotlight

1B Carson Taylor

4-6 2 2B HR BB 2 K

It is a 3 game sample size, and if you go 3 for 3 with 2 doubles and a home run in a game that is going to weigh pretty heavily. Taylor got a hit on all 4 balls he put in play, and while he didn’t hit the hardest hits of the team, they were well struck and at good angles. Taylor is now fully a first baseman after a fun years behind the plate in the Dodgers organization. He doesn’t have quite the offensive impact you want from the position, but he has hit 16 home runs each of the last two years and last year drew walks at a high rate. He was useless against left handed pitchers in his very small sample against them last year, and it looks like he is going to be in a purely platoon role for the IronPigs this year. He isn’t really a prospect in a real sense, but he could be a quality contributor this season.

Pitcher Spotlight

RHP Seth Johnson

5.1 IP 5 H 0 R 1 BB 5 K

It wasn’t a huge breakout game for Johnson, nor did he do anything radically different. He threw all 4 of his pitches, but 81% of them were his fastball and slider. It was some of the best velocity we have seen from Johnson as he averaged 95.8 and hit 97.8 twice on the night. He had less rise on the pitch compared to last season, but underlying data indicated he was getting 3-4″ more extension and coming in flatter. His slider was thrown a little softer this year, but came with more drop. While batters made contact with the slider in the zone, he was able to throw it in the zone which allowed him to throw his fastball for chases. Given the shape of the pitch, it is always going to play up better above the zone, and so having a pitch to tunnel off of it that he can compete in the zone with, could be a big step forward. I still think this portends a better fit in the bullpen, but I wrote in the preview that he would need to find some pitch shape and usage improvements, and through one game he has.

Notes and Thoughts

  • If the goal was to hit the ball in the air more, it was not a great weekend for Justin Crawford. He went 3-12 with a walk, 2 stolen bases (1 caught stealing), and no strikeouts. That is 12 balls in play and only one of them was not a ground ball. He hit four of them over 100 mph, topping out at 107.3 mph.. He swung often (32 swings on 46 pitches), but only missed once. The contact skills are good, but you need him to be more discerning and damaging.
  • Otto Kemp only went 2-11 with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts. He did hit a home run in Friday’s opening day win.
  • Gabriel Rincones Jr. started two of the three games along with a pinch hit double before things got out of hand on Sunday and went 4-10 overall. Unsurprisingly he hit a ball at 107.1, 109.0, and 111.6 in the opening series. We are going to get some eye popping EVs from him this year.
  • You could argue that Max Lazar should be the spotlight, but it was just the one impressive inning. It was an impressive inning as he struck out two to get the opening day save while sitting 96 with his fastball.
  • It wasn’t a disaster game for Mick Abel (5 IP 9 H 4 ER 2 BB 4 K), but it also wasn’t a good one. Like Johnson, he threw his full arsenal, but was mostly fastball-slider. Overall his arsenal looked like the composite of his 2024 pitches, and he had a 90% zone contact rate and 31% chase rate, showing many of the same problems as last year too. It was his first start of the year so it is way too early to make any real statements, but it wasn’t a statement start either.
  • Eiberson Castellano didn’t make the Twins and then made it through waivers and back to the Phillies. He would have been at the back of the Top 20 of the offseason prospect list. He will go to Reading to start, and while he is probably a future reliever, he continues to be a very interesting prospect.
  • The 9 run ninth innings by Vespi, Cuas, and Schulfer took what had been a competitive series and tacked on a real blowout at the end.
  • Michael Mercado’s poor spring continued. He appeared in two games, going a combined 1.2 innings with 2 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, and 2 strikeouts. His fastball is averaging 95, and he was unable to put it or any of his pitches in the zone. When he did, hitters where always making contact with them.
  • Koyo Aoyagi looked funky this spring and was starting to maybe look like he was getting his feet under him. His AAA debut went HBP, BB, BB, K, HBP, IF FB. He threw 26 pitches, only 11 for strikes. He is definitely a weird pitcher, but he is going to have to at least threaten to throw a strike.
  • Payton Henry isn’t really a prospect, but two opening night home runs deserves a shoutout.

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