Phillies Minor League Recap (Week 15 7/1-7/8)

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Last Week’s Schedule

*Part of a double header

This Week’s Schedule

  • Lehigh Valley (42-43) vs Buffalo (40-46)
  • Reading (35-45) vs Akron (46-35)
  • Jersey Shore (44-37) vs Hudson Valley (41-38)
  • Clearwater (48-33) @ Palm Beach (46-34)
  • FCL Phillies (26-20)
  • DSL Phillies Red (7-18)
  • DSL Phillies White (9-16)

Hitter Spotlight

OF Justin Crawford

11-26 1 2B 2 HR 1 BB 4 K 2 SB .423/.444/.692

I wanted to talk about Crawford because of this swing.

I am certainly hard on Crawford, but that is a beautiful swing. Most of his pulled home runs are him hitting something off his shoe tops that he should not swing at and only gets power because he must fully engage his body to make contact. This is just a really good swing and where he needs to be able to get to, not so he is suddenly pulling every ball out of the park (though that would be a way to tap into his raw power more), but so he can be balanced, connected, and under control. Later in the week he hit this home run.

This is a little more vintage Crawford, it isn’t clean or smooth but you can see there is strength to tap into (I will note this was the same game Emaarion Boyd hit a bomb and the ball just was flying). The reason he shouldn’t be a hit the ball on the ground guy is that he has 15+ home run power, but at minimum this is a guy who should be hitting solid line drives and running them into doubles and triples. I will dream about that swing on the first home run.

Pitcher Spotlight

RHP Wen Hui Pan

3 IP 1 H 0 R 1 BB 5 K 1 HBP

Pan has now made three rehab starts at increasing innings each time. The Phillies had been previously non-committal about whether he was relieving or starting and that it might be more hybrid, but with missing the first 3 months of the season, starting might be the only way to get him a full workload. He was once again up near 99, topping out at 98.7 and averaging 96.6 mph. The velocity is something to watch because he struggled to hold velocity into starts last year, and he has only really had the premium velocity deep into games. He is missing bats in the zone with his fastball and slider, and he has gotten chases out of the zone on a very low spin splitter. There is clearly a good pitcher in here, whether he is a starter or a reliever is still to be determined.

Notes and Thoughts

  • Jean Cabrera went 6 innings, faced 21 batters, one reached on an error, he hit one, he walked one, and then he struck out 10 of them. He did it on 88 pitches. He was rewarded with a promotion to Reading where he will be tested, but he is making a real run at being a top 10 prospect in the system as his sweeper and changeup have carved through opposing hitters multiple times this season.
  • Also not much more you can keep saying about Eduardo Tait that hasn’t already been said. He went 9 for 14 this week with two doubles. He had a walk and didn’t strike out all week. For the productive out heads out there, he chipped in 3 sac flies as he is at 41 RBI in 41 games.
  • He hasn’t been overpowering, but Casey Steward has had two good starts since his promotion to the BlueClaws and has flashed enough to move into the intriguing category if he can be more consistent.
  • I wrote in the June recap about how expectations were really at rock bottom for Hendry Mendez. One week does not make a full turnaround, but going 12 for 22 with 4 walks, 2 strikeouts, 2 doubles, and his first home run of the year is certainly a good start.
  • Speaking of turnarounds, Emaarion Boyd quietly wasn’t terrible in June and has started July by going 7 for 15 with an absolutely monster home run.
  • With the holiday I have not gotten to tracking down the velocity numbers, but Alexis De La Cruz has been building back up slowly and has now gone three straight scoreless outings where he has allowed one total base runner in 6.1 innings. This week was 3.1 perfect innings.
  • Nolan Beltran has sort of flown under the radar, but he is batting .288 with 11 BB and 10 K since the start of June. He only went 3-14 this week, but added a double and home run. He was pushed into the outfield early, but has been exclusively playing 3B where he looks good to very good defensively. He was a former big money signing who hit well in the DSL last year and has some length projectability left.
  • It wasn’t a perfect return to AA for Andrew Baker, but he pitched two innings in his second appearance and he didn’t walk anyone. Good to see that carry over.
  • George Klassen failed to make it out of the 5th inning and while the bullpen allowed the runners to score, he threw 91 pitches to get 13 outs. Efficiency has been a problem.
  • A weird week for Devin Saltiban who had 8 walks and 7 strikeouts in just 5 games. He did go 5-17 with a double and a home run in that time.
  • Once again a tiny step forward from Mick Abel, he missed 14 bats, he was up to 97.6 mph and still up past 95 into the 90s of his pitch count. They seem to have shelved the sinker and changeup for the most part and the results are improving, but at a snail’s pace.

Injuries and Transactions

Links and Things

Minor Thoughts

Around the Web

Videos and Tweets

2 thoughts on “Phillies Minor League Recap (Week 15 7/1-7/8)”

  1. Went to Lakewood (Jersey Shore cause like the beach is just right there…) for 2 games last week.
    Haven’t been in about 2 years and brought the fam. And wow it was an experience.

    -Klassen looked off.
    -Crawford looked like the best player at times but had some frustrating ABs
    -Mendez, I actually thought he didn’t look horrible and made a note to look him up when I got home.
    -Boyd has a nice hit and the HR in the other game. He’s lanky and thinner than a pencil.
    -Willmington’s Bullpen was filthy in the Friday night game.
    -Fireworks weren’t bad 3-3.5 *Stars* based on the criteria the Phillies do a 5 *Star* performance.

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