This Week’s Schedule
- Lehigh Valley (27-30) v Rochester (34-22)
- Reading (23-28) @ Binghamton (18-33)
- Jersey Shore (21-29) v Brooklyn (17-33)
- Clearwater (31-20) @ St. Lucie (24-27
- FCL Phillies (7-14)
- DSL Phillies (1-0)
Hitter Spotlight
6 G 11-27 2 2B 2 HR 7 RBI 3 SB 2 CS 3 BB 0 K .407/.467/.704
After putting up a very quiet .646 OPS in April, the Phillies 19th round pick from last year’s draft had a monster May hitting .333/.424/.551 on the months with more walks than strikeouts. There are some definite warning signs, his 90th percentile EV is just 100.6 mph and his max is 105.5 mph, that is below average power, and despite the gaudy topline numbers he only had 8 extra base hits in 20 games this month, and much of the power at a hitter friendly home ballpark. His approach is fairly passive, some of that driven by a low chase rate, but also he isn’t hunting the ball in the zone either. When he does swing, he has good contact rates, and while they are above average he has some susceptibility to both high velocity and breaking balls. He has played second and third this year and is part of this intriguing group of infielders alongside Nolan Beltran and Juan Villavicencio who look surprisingly competent and interesting. If he can keep this up he probably profiles more as a contact oriented bench infielder.
Pitcher Spotlight
RHP Yilmar Samudio
1 GS 3 IP 0 H 0 R 0 BB 6 K
What I wrote just last week was that Samudio “has good size, and will sit 91-95 with his fastball.” That information became outdated in the first inning of the DSL season. The 6’3″ Panamanian right hander came out of the gate sitting 94-96, and touched 97 and 98 once each. He eventually faded to more 92-95, but had some 96s in the third when he needed it. He threw a couple good curveballs that had two plane movement, but others sort of were loopy and hung there. Samudio was already the pitcher to watch closest on the DSL team, but given his youth and size ramping up another 2-3 mph when the season began put him very much on the list of guys to watch this season. This spring he flipped in a few changeups, and he did not do that today. Throwing strikes and maintaining velocity will be the two biggest things to watch, but it was a very exciting start.
Notes and Thoughts
- My schedule, the pitching schedule, and the schedule of home games means that it can sometimes be a bit between looks at a player. In this case, Yordanis Guerra had been up slightly in velocity this spring, sitting 90-93 up from 87-91 last year. In his two appearances this week he was more sitting in the high end of 92-95. Guerra gets good verticality on his fastball by coming from a high three quarters, but it doesn’t look to have the best plane. His breaking ball will have some inconsistency at times, but at it’s best it is a 80 mph sweeper with 20 inches of break. He has sparingly thrown a changeup as well. What is interesting this week is that Monday he got the start and went 3.1 innings, which might be a harbinger that they are giving him a look as a starting pitcher.
- Francisco Renteria didn’t get to entirely play hero in the first game of the DSL season, that was Sebastian Saenz who drove him in twice, but he hustled a bloop triple and a stolen base after a hard hit ground ball to make it happen.
- With the Phillies bullpen being pretty successful, Seth Johnson has just sort of toiled away in AAA. He didn’t allow a hit this week, but walked 2 in a 6 out save on Sunday, making it 4 scoreless inning and 5 straight scoreless appearances. For the month of May he allowed just the one hit.
- It has been a really poor May for Matthew Ferrara from a top line number side, but he has 10.6% BB% and 21.1% K% which is better than the 5.6% and 31.5% last month. That was helped this week when he went 7 for 20 with 3 walks to 1 strikeout with his now patented one of each type of extra base hit.
- It isn’t that Nolan Beltran has been bad, he just has not hit the ball for power. This week he hit for 3 home runs, bringing his season line to 4. He hasn’t been as good overall in May, but he is overall succeeding in the strong side of a platoon around the diamond. Overall he is very similar to Phelps.
- It spanned two weeks, but IF/OF Jonathan Alcantara homered in three straight games for the FCL Phillies. He only has one other extra base hit, and isn’t walking much, so there are some not great signs. However, strong side platoon 18 year olds who are playing second and center are worth keeping an eye on.
- It was just an Alirio Ferrebus week for Alirio Ferrebus. He went 8 for 22 with 3 doubles. He did play first base for the first time this season on Sunday as the Threshers try to keep all of their bats in the lineup and juggle catcher playing time.
- The three home runs Felix Reyes hit this week are all well and good, as is the 9 for 29 overall, but 1 walk to 6 strikeouts continues to point at his overall approach problems which continue to be the problem.
- Gage Wood touched 99 this week, but he mostly had the same type of week he normally has going 4 innings and allowing a single run while striking out 4 with no walks. It is good to see him continue to succeed with a fastball forward approach, and it might not be until AAA at this point that opposing hitters really make him use the full arsenal to get outs.
- Over 9 games it has been 3 stretches of highs and lows for Sam Highfill, and he has to be hoping this one continues for more than 3 games as he struck out 10 over 5 scoreless innings.
- This week it was defense that led to 2 of the 3 runs against Ramon Marquez (4.2 IP 3 H 3 R 1 ER 2 BB 7 K), but he continues to dominate with his cutter and changeup against the Florida State League.
- The Phillies stretched Cade Obermueller out to two innings in his second appearance and it went well with just a hit and a passed ball marring a 4 strikeout performance. He once again topped out at 95, but show a wide range of velocity. this week he even flipped in a changeup to go with the fastballs and sweepers. Much like Bowker, it is more of a sinker shape on the fastball, but with the low flat angle associated with riding 4-seamers.
- Given the injuries he has dealt with, Bryan Rincon having to go on the IL due to his hamstring was a big concern. The fact that he returned in 7 days was encouraging. He only went 2-9 in his return, but he did hit his 8th home run of the year.
Injuries and Transactions
- Gabriel Flores (REA), Chan-Min Park (DSL), Brian Keller (LHV), Nikau Pouaka-Grego (JS), and Wilmer Blanco (CLW) assigned to new levels.
- Grant Holman, Jackson Rutledge, Filippo Sabatini, and Leonardo Larez added to the 7-day IL
- Jhoener Tovar added to 60-day IL
- Bryan Rincon and Andrew Bechtold activated from the IL
- Pedro Leon (CLW) and Micah Ottenbreak (CLW) had rehab assignments transferred
Links and Things
Minor Thoughts
Around the Web
- What we’re hearing about the Phillies farm system: Bryan Rincon, Gage Wood, Dante Nori – The Athletic – Charlotte Varnes
Videos and Posts