Phillies Minor League Recap (Week 14 6/24-6/30)

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This Week’s Schedule

Hitter Spotlight

OF/2B Dylan Campbell

5-16 1 2B 1 RBI 4 BB 0 K 2 SB .313/.450/.375

Campbell had a couple of nice games early in the season, but overall hit .173 and .184 in the first two months of the season, and overall through May 23 was hitting .160/.240/.328. He then ended May on a 6 game hitting streak and overall through this week was hitting .316/.405/.469 over 27 games since May 25, with hits in 24 of those games. He was promoted to Reading this week where he made all of his starts in centerfield, which is likely to be his primary position given the makeup of that roster. On the season he hit worse at home, and like Carson DeMartini he should benefit in the long run from both the change in home ballpark friendliness and to what is now a bit of a stacked Reading lineup with Jose Rodriguez also joining the Fightin Phils this week, giving them a lineup that is fairly deep with those three, Miller, Reyes, Mendez, lower prominent guys like Leandro Pineda, Robert Moore, and Caleb Ricketts, and solid supporting players like Cade Fergus, Paul McIntosh, and Alex Binelas. Reading went 4-2 this week with the start of the second half and is trending up just like Campbell.

Pitcher Spotlight

RHP Giussepe Velasquez

5 IP 4 H 1 R 0 ER 1 BB 2 K

Giussepe Velasquez injured his arm on August 23, 2023 and had at least 1 if not 2 Tommy John surgeries before starting a rehab assignment on May 20 of this year. Velasquez did not make a start in his first game back, but 5 innings was start like. He is throwing a 4-seam fastball and sinker alongside a changeup and what might be one or two different breaking balls. He only struck out 2 batters, but had 13 swings and misses. Overall his rehab and return has been impressive with 21.2 innings with just 3 walks and 22 strikeouts. Velasquez does not have a particularly dynamic fastball, it sits 90-93, but he gets great spin on his breaking ball and with his changeup he will likely be secondary pitch forward. He is neither young (just turned 22) or projectable so it is likely he ends up an org guy through the end of his team control. However, it is good to see him come back from the injury and have success.

Notes and Thoughts

  • It has been mostly down for Alex McFarlane over the last month, but this week he had his best start of the season with 5 hitless innings with 2 walks and 9 strikeouts.
  • Zuher Yousuf made his stateside debut with 5 innings of 1 run relief for the FCL team on Saturday.
  • There is a larger discussion around Justin Crawford’s June that will need to happen, but he went 7-22 this week with 3 doubles, and a home run. His 4 strikeouts nearly doubled his month’s total, but that is probably a mark of pride and not a mark against.
  • It has been a rocky time for Seth Johnson since he made his one appearance in the majors. This week he made 3 one inning appearances, including a back to back. He gave up 2 hits, but no runs or walks to go with 5 strikeouts. Even more encouraging is his velocity ticked up this week as well.
  • Danyony Pulido was up to 97.9 mph with his fastball as it kept rising over the course of his first appearance this week (his second appearance was one pitch). He has been quietly been quite good with a 0.59 ERA across the two Florida teams with 3 walks and 20 strikeouts in 15.1 innings.
  • Aidan Miller fully returned his week and went 3 for 18, but 5 walks to 5 strikeouts and a pair of doubles. He has walked much more in June with a decreased strikeout rate, but the .196 batting average is less than encouraging.
  • It has been a while since Griffin Burkholder put the ball in play a bunch in a week and he went 5-16 this week with 2 doubles, a home run, and a very encouraging 2 walks and 3 strikeouts. It has not been a good season for the 2024 second round pick, but it was a good week.
  • Jean Cabrera got the two start week for Reading, and got 2 wins in 11 innings with low strikeout totals in both. Cabrera will end June with a season ERA of 3.78 with a decrease each month going 4.05, 3.98, and 3.33. His walk rate has decreased month over month and that is likely driving his improvements.
  • Felix Reyes hit an absolute bomb this week and continues to hit very well, ending June with a .980 OPS and just 3 walks and 9 strikeouts in 75 plate appearances. He is playing more first base with the new look Reading roster.
  • After keeping the strikeouts down all month Eduardo Tait struck out 8 times this week. He hit a home run this week, but both him and Aroon Escobar have struggled all month.
  • If you have questions for the June Retrospective Mailbag leave them in the comments.

Injuries and Transactions

Links and Things

Around the Web

Videos and Posts

Hendry Mendez threw out a pair of runners at the plate this afternoon for Reading, his third and fourth outfield assists of the season

— Mitch_Rupert (@mitchrupert.bsky.social) 2025-06-26T01:11:29.244Z

3 thoughts on “Phillies Minor League Recap (Week 14 6/24-6/30)”

  1. Assuming the Phillies could satisfy their primary needs — RH power bat that plays the outfield and top-level BP arm that can close — which prospects are you most okay/not okay losing? Let’s assume the OF bat and bullpen arm are RENTALS ONLY, so not the long-term gain you might hope for when giving up good prospects.

    • Phillies lineup & bullpen look too inconsistent to be real contenders from my vantage point. But teams do get hot at right time and anything can happen. I think it would be gigantic mistake to pull much more from their minor league system (that is struggling mightily). That said, Dombrowski will be forced into making trades due to Wheeler & starting pitchers having career years.

  2. Is Dante Nori starting to show some promise? How does he compare to Crawford at same level in terms of potential upside?

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