This Week’s Schedule
- Lehigh Valley (19-8) @ Rochester (6-20)
- Reading (5-14) vs Harrisburg (9-12)
- Jersey Shore (7-13) @ Hudson Valley (15-6)
- Clearwater (11-10) @ Dunedin (12-9)
- FCL Phillies (0-0) – season starts Saturday 5/3
Hitter Spotlight
SS/3B Carson DeMartini
5 G 9-21 1 2B 1 RBI 2 BB 3 K 1 SB .429/.500/.476
As a junior at Virginia Tech, DeMartini looked like a power forward third baseman with big swing and miss. Last year he struck out just 13.5% of the time, and while he currently has a 25.9% K% on the season, he has 5 walks and 7 strikeouts in 47 PAs (14.9% K%) over the last two series. It is the power that is now the question. With Clearwater, DeMartini had a .163 ISO and 2 home runs in 24 games, which while not bad is less power than expected. This year, Demartini has 5 XBH and one home run in 18 games with Jersey Shore. It isn’t like he is a ground ball merchant either, he hits a numbers of line drives (which has led to very high BABIPs), but he now has a 6.1% and 6.3% HR/FB ratio the past two seasons. What he hasn’t done is pull the ball in the air as much, and he hasn’t really shown above average or plus raw power, and the combination has left him more of a high OBP and high average hitter. If he can get back to the power stroke, there is definitely something to work with, especially since he has been better defensively than expected. It is very early in the season, but DeMartini looked like he could be a breakout prospect and so far he just looks like a different prospect.
Pitcher Spotlight
RHP Alex McFarlane
1 GS 4 IP 1 H 2 R 0 ER 1 BB 4 K
One of the biggest breakouts of the Spring Breakout game was the one inning of relief from Alex McFarlane. The 2022 4th round pick was 97-99 with a wicked slider in his return from Tommy John surgery, and looked like a quick moving reliever. The Phillies did not put him in the bullpen, they instead put him the Jersey Shore rotation. Over his first 3 appearances, McFarlane went 8.1 IP 14 H 12 ER 7 BB 8 K while sitting more in the low to mid 90s. This week, McFarlane was mostly 93-96 and his slider was sharper, and he looked to even throw a couple of changeups. It wasn’t a start that justified why McFarlane should be starting, but it showed that there might be enough there for them to continue their experiment. McFarlane will be Rule 5 eligible this offseason and at this point, barring an injury, his inning this spring probably puts him on the shortlist for protection, so the Phillies are not on unlimited time to make some decisions about his future.
Notes and Thoughts
- Yet another good start for Mick Abel (7 IP 4 H 1 ER 2 BB 4 K). He didn’t miss many bats, but he also threw only 82 pitches and generated a large amount of weak contact. He was still 94-96 late in the game (he was routinely up to 97 and touched 99 early), and worked in his curveball and changeup more as the game went on. You want to see more whiffs, but Abel living in the zone and not getting hit hard is another good step.
- I have not done a deep dive into what has gone on, but Chuck King looks to be transitioning into a starting pitching role after doing some bulk work early. This week, King when 5 scoreless innings, allowing just 2 base runners (a hit and hit by pitch). He has not walked a batter in his last 3 appearances.
- Last week I commented that Aroon Escobar had not drawn walks and gotten on base like he had in the past. He only went 3-13 this week with a home run, but he walked 7 times with two hit by pitches to go with only 4 strikeouts. One the season he is now up to 11 walks and 17 strikeouts, and a .481 in base percentage. All of this has come with him only having 10 of his 79 PAs vs LHPs.
- Opposing pitchers are definitely taking advantage of Eduardo Tait’s aggression as he had 0 walks and 6 strikeouts this week. He is not struggling especially vs LHPs, but RHPs have gotten to him as well. He is only catching 3 times a week (usually two DH starts and 5 starts overall), and even with that reduced workload it is still tough on young catchers to maintain offensive and defensive growth. He also hit a 113.8 mph home run this week.
- Andrew Painter looks to mostly just be getting his work in. He is throwing a lot of fastballs in the middle of the zone and there was only a few at bats where he really seemed to expand his arsenal and work to get opposing batters out. He also was 95-98, touching 99 and he is throwing 3 different glove-side moving offspeed pitches that are going to give him some devastating weapons to work with in the future.
- Marcus Morgan only went two innings following Painter, but it was easily his best pro appearance with just 1 walk and no hits to go with two strikeouts. He threw 26 fastballs and 5 breaking balls in a more simplified arsenal. He was up to 95 but faded to mostly 92-93 in his second inning. The movement profile suggests he has a 4-seam and a sinker, but there is not a big distinction between then and a lot muddled in the middle.
- It has still been a terrible year vs RHPs for Devin Saltiban, but a 5-19 week with a 1 walk, 3 hit by pitches, and a slightly less bad 6 strikeouts.
- A week after being on fire, Dylan Campbell came crashing back down to earth going 0-15 in 4 games with a RBI on a sac fly and 7 strikeouts. He was hitting .273/.373/.591 after his 4 hit game on 4/18 and now is down to .179/.253/.388 on the year.
- It has been a rough start to the year for Mavis Graves. His command has been well below average with him struggling to throw them for strikes and not getting as many chases as he did in Clearwater. This week he started ticking his fastball up to 93, but his fastballs continue to get crushed, which is why he needs to have his offspeed pitches doing work.
- Enrique Segura is having a better year this season, showing more consistent velocity and command. The Phillies describe his delivery as Nola-like, but he gets an even lower release point with elite levels of extension (over 7 feet). His pitches are still a muddled mess with his sinker and changeup not always having velocity and movement separation, and his slider and curveball blending. He has been absolutely devastating to right handed hitters, but struggled against lefties. He is back on a positive path, but he is starting to look very reliever-y.
- Titan Hayes continues to have a 0.00 ERA out oft he Threshers bullpen (he had allowed 2 unearned runs). His fastballs have good velocity, but not great shape, and that is working for low-A hitters. His breaking ball (listed as a cutter) has a 53% whiff rate thanks to its velocity (88 mph) and large horizontal separation from his fastballs.
- Marty Gair continues to be the other fascinating reliever for the Threshers. He had one good and one poor appearance this week and continues to have poor control. He is throwing his fastball over 90% of the time and it has huge amounts of cut (1.5″ arm side) and ride (19.4″ vertical) from a tall release point while averaging 97.0 mph. It is a fairly rare delivery and shape, that appears most similar to Pete Fairbanks.
- It was a busy week for Otto Kemp who had 5 doubles and a home runs, this week but also was hit by a pitch 4 times in one game. Kemp has a 1.072 OPS in AAA, and that is thanks to a solid .850 OPS vs RHPs (albeit with a 25% K%) and and absolutely ridiculous .441/.548/.941 vs LHPs in 42 PAs.
- Casey Steward had one of those games this week where the opposing team does the work for you. His velocity wasn’t particularly good, but he mixed his pitches and face 20 batters in 6 scoreless innings on 68 pitches with one strikeout.
- A week after a good start, Jean Cabrera struggled with control at times, and did not miss bats. It was mostly an inning that spiraled, so Cabrera reached 6 innings on 89 pitches, but 5 hits, 4 runs, 4 walks, and 4 strikeouts overall.
- Seth Johnson had his first week as a reliever and went 4 IP 1 H 0 R 4 BB 6 K. All of his pitch velocities were up about 1.5 mph, and he pitched Friday and Sunday (1 day rest) without any real loss of velocity. He also seems to be find feel for a new kick changeup which got whiffs on all 3 swings against it and has much more drop and run this week than last.
- Cade Fergus has been the up and down depth outfielder once again, and this week he was up in LHV for 3 starts and 4 games. He hit 3 home runs (one off a position player) this week and is now up to 5 home runs on the year. However, Fergus is once again showing why he is an org player and not a major prospect as he had 4 strikeouts in 10 PAs this week and has 19 strikeouts in 41 PAs on the season. He is a fun minor league players.
- Micah Ottenbreit came back from injury this week to throw three solid innings. Velocity was 89-92 and he showed solid control. His new cutter (83-87) continues to give him a really good weapon against left handed batters.
- Due to a rain postponement, Estibenzon Jimenez followed Ottenbreit this week. Over 4 innings his stuff was less dynamic, with his fastball sitting 92-95. His slider was solid, and he worked in his changeup, but it wasn’t particularly great or consistent.
- Raylin Heredia has been a part time player for the BlueClaws, but is now up to .324/.390/.541 in 13 games with 4 walks and 6 strikeouts. He only got two starts this week going 2-7 with a home run.
- One of the outfielders getting more time is Eduardo Lopez, a switch hitting RF/1B the Phillies selected in the minor league Rule 5 draft. His numbers indicate that he has struggled, but he passes the eye test with a good looking swing (especially from the left side) that squares the ball up well. He is in his 3rd year in high A, so the numbers need to come around, but he looks good.
Injuries and Transactions
- Griffin Burkholder (CLW), Joel Dragoo (CLW), Raymon Rosario (FCL), Yhoan Escalona (CLW), Andrew Baker (REA), Cade Fergus (LHV), and Colton Bender (REA) all assigned to new level
- Ryan Degges, Enrique Segura, and Yhoan Escalona all added to the Development List
- Micah Ottenbreit, Joel Dragoo, and Kevin Warunek all activated from the IL
- Erubiel Armenta sent on rehab assignment to Clearwater
- Griff McGarry added to 7-day IL
Links and Things
Minor Thoughts
Phillies Move Seth Johnson to the Bullpen
The Myth of the Phillies 2024 Second Half Collapse and Inventing Negativity to Make Yourself Miserable
Videos and Posts