I said I would try to do this and I am going to try and stick to that.
System Summary:
The minor leagues have been extremely poor this year. It isn’t just a Phillies problem, though they have certainly been greatly impacted. Baseball America wrote about the weirdness that is low-A Southeast where an automated strike zone is compounding the issues present from a year away from baseball. Today, they wrote about the quality being down across the game. None of this is surprising. Even for players at the alternate site in 2020 they scrimmaged against their own teammates a few times a week, it wasn’t the same as playing actual games against other players. So as much as you may want to panic about how things are going, remember it has been 12 games it is going to take a lot more than that to know off all of this rust.
Hitting Spotlight – Matt Vierling, OF, Reading
Vierling hit .381/.500/.762 in the first week and a much calmer .273/.357/.500 and is currently one of the only hitters in the system doing much of anything. The last we saw of the 2018 5th round pick was him getting ground to a pulp by the back half of a long 2019 season, so it is easy to say expectations were not high (he did not make my preseason ranking). However, 12 games into the season he has 3 home runs and more importantly 8 walks to 8 strikeouts. He is a right handed bat who can play all 3 outfield positions, which is something the Phillies need at the major league level. Given his second half slump in 2019 it is way too early to buy in on Vierling, but even if he is a bench outfielder, that is interesting to the Phillies going forward.
Pitching Spotlight – Jordi Martinez
After not getting out of the first inning in his first start, Martinez went a full 3 innings in his second start. He is behind teammates Abel, Segovia, Castillo, and Mayer (now injured) on prospect lists, but the 6’2″ lefty is not that far behind. He was 93-95 with his fastball that was up to 96.6 in his most recent start. The reports on his changeup have not been bad, but it is a hard pitch that was up to 90, and his slider is another good high 80s weapon for him. Martinez is a low money ($10,000) signing in the vein of Sixto Sanchez and Adonis Medina (and fellow Thresher, Eduar Segovia and his $50,000 bonus) than high profile signees Starlyn Castillo or Francisco Morales. He still has a ton of growth ahead, but definitely a pitcher you need to know.
News and Notes:
- Mick Abel hit 99 in his second appearance of the week. He is going to be really good, but they are bringing him along slowly.
- Bailey Falter had a good start and Adonis Medina had a good start go bad. Those two might be neck and neck enough that it may only matter who is on turn in the rotation for the next SP call up after Spencer Howard.
- Reading pitching has a 8.42 ERA so far. Their “ace” Francisco Morales has flashed the good and the bad. He is only 21 and skipped over high-A so it is reasonable he would struggle in AA. That said, the fastball control not being there is certainly a reason to worry.
- Clearwater is the team to watch. Their pitching has been highlighted here, but they added Carlos De La Cruz and Baron Radcliff to their boom-bust lineup this week.
- Catching continues to be a strength for the org with Abrahan Gutierrez having a bounceback season, and Logan O’Hoppe being passable in high-A.
- Bryson Stott has 48 PAs and 29 of them have not featured the ball being put in play (14 BB and 15 K). It is good to see him work some walks and be patient, but he is starting to pile up the whiffs.
- I don’t have updated reports on Ben Brown, Kevin Gowdy, or Noah Skirrow, but the trio has been at least interesting for the BlueClaws.
- Casey Martin is swinging and missing at a lot of pitches in the zone, but he is 6 for 6 on stolen bases and has hit the ball hard at times. He is going to be a work in progress and everyone was aware of that.
- Luke Williams might get a call up soon. Be wary of his batting average, there is a lot of luck and his approach numbers aren’t great. However, he is right handed and can play everywhere. Maybe you get a bit of the Maton lightning in a bottle.
- McCarthy Tatum is hitting .162/.256/.459 for Reading with 5 XBHs (2 doubles and 3 home runs) in 6 hits, but a 4 walks to 19 strikeouts rate says he is still the clubhouse leader for Reading made my stats go boom.