This Week’s Schedule
- Lehigh Valley (23-28) @ Buffalo (25-26)
- Reading (21-24) vs Harrisburg (24-21)
- Jersey Shore (18-26) vs Frederick (28-14)
- Clearwater (26-19) vs Dunedin (19-26)
- FCL Phillies (5-12)
Hitter Spotlight
5 G 9-22 3 2B 5 RBI 2 BB 1 K .409/.480/.545
The FCL Phillies have been brutal, and Espinosa was a decent part of that with some real struggles to open the season. After striking out 8 times in the first 4 games of the season, he has 6 in his last 12. The contact quality hasn’t always been good, and you would like to see more flashes of power given the ball has been flying (though his 3 doubles this week was a good start). His defense being shaky at shortstop was to be expected, and given his size he is going to need to be clean at the position to make it work. He also doesn’t turn 18 until the first week of June and has gone from looking overwhelmed to being totally fine at the level over this little stretch.
Pitcher Spotlight
RHP Alex McFarlane
2 G 2.1 IP 2 H 0 R 0 BB 3K
It has been a bit of a quiet dominance for McFarlance in AA. He has only 2 walks in 8 games in May, and while he isn’t striking out batters at an astonishing rate, he also has not been facing many either. He has done a good job suppressing contact quality as well. The only season critique is his walk and strikeout numbers against lefties aren’t great, but he also isn’t getting killed. He has yet to pitch on back to back days and while they pushed him over an inning this week, he hasn’t thrown more than 20 pitches in a game since April 15. With Zach Pop and Max Lazar coming back to a full bullpen (plus a quietly AAA dominant Seth Johnson) there is no need for the Phillies to push McFarlane into a non-existent opening. It would be nice if they did push him to AAA soon as well as work in an occasional back to back appearance in case the depth depletes quickly again.
Notes and Thoughts
- It wasn’t a clean inning, but Cade Obermueller made his return from mono and his pro debut. His fastball touched 95.5 mph, so there is something to work with as he starts to work back to normal.
- It looked like Micah Ottenbreit would have another lost year, but he also started a rehab this week. It looks like he is working in a bullpen role for now, and with two games on the road it remains to be seen what his stuff looks like.
- It looked like a bad start for Gage Wood who gave up a lead off home run to Red Sox top prospect Franklin Arias. Instead he mostly setting in over 3 innings with 1 walk and 6 strikeouts. The Phillies are still keeping his workload light.
- There was some decent evidence that Felix Reyes might not be a major league hitter, but you do like when a guy goes back to AAA and hits 3 home runs in a 9-24 week.
- Dante Nori went 3 for 22 this week and is hitting .195 in May. Some of the struggles is variance, but it is a good reminder that he was promoted aggressively and it might take some time.
- It was yet another good start by Braydon Tucker this week (6 IP 6 H 1 R 0 ER 1 BB 4 K). He has missed less bats in May than April, but a sub 1.50 ERA over 7 starts in AA is impressive. He isn’t a big time prospect, but there is something interesting about him.
- Ramon Marquez got 5 innings of “relief” this week. He gave up two solo home runs, but walked none, struck out 7, and got 9 whiffs on 10 swings on his changeup.
- He hit 2 batters, which takes away some of the shine, but Matthew Fisher with his cleanest outing of the year (3 IP 1 H 0 R 0 BB 3 K – 2 HBP). The stuff is unlikely to make the major jump during the season, but getting outs at a low level with what he has to work with is a good start.
- After an ok return to AA, Jean Cabrera had a disastrous start. He needs to put things together at the lower level to have a chance as MLB starting depth.
- In 14 games in May, Griffin Burkholder has a hit in 13 of them. He is hitting .364/.438/.655 on the month. He is still striking out a bit much, but his power is showing up more, not just in home runs, but a consistent stream of hard hit balls and doubles. He needs to do better against breaking balls, but now with a stretch of sustained health, he is finally showing his talent.
- Luke Russo has not been as good as Braydon Tucker, but has a more conventional arsenal. He is getting absolutely crushed by lefties, which points more to a bullpen role.
- Christian McGowan didn’t come back from injury and a move to the bullpen with overwhelming stuff, but he has gotten outs and this week struck out 5 of the 7 batters his faced.
- Dylan Campbell is hitting .284/.368/.522 in May with reasonable walk and strike out rates. What is bizarre is that on the season he is both hitting dreadfully at home and has 3 home runs and really not much else against left handed pitches. It wasn’t a particularly hot week, more a hot month, but if he can heat up he is a much needed type of hitter for the Phillies bench.
- Bryan Rincon hurt his hamstring again, which is an enormous bummer and dampener on a breakout season.
Injuries and Transactions
- Victor Cardoza (CLW), Manolfi Jimenez (JS), Tyler Pettorini (JS), and Erick Brito (REA) assigned to new levels
- TJayy Walton, Gabriel Rincones Jr., Erick Brito, Mitch Nuenborn, and Cade Obermueller activated from the IL
- Jesus Montiel, Eligio Arias, Jose Colmenares, Raider Tello, Richie Cortese, Bryan Rincon, and John Spikerman added to 7-day IL
- Cesar Mujica (FCL), Pedro Leon (FCL), Andrew Bechtold (JS), Keaton Anthony (JS), and Micah Ottenbreit (FCL) were assigned on rehab
- Brady Day moved to 60-day IL
- Sean Youngerman added to Development List
- Cole Gilley and Brad Pacheco activated from Development List
- Sergio Alcantara released
- Drake Fellows signed and assigned to Lehigh Valley
Links and Things
Videos and Posts