Minor League Games - Sunday, July 23, 2017

[kikutaro]

Lehigh Valley IronPigs (62-39) @ Durham Bulls (61-39) 5:05 pm | Gameday
Ben Lively (7-1, 2.27) vs. Brent Honeywell (9-7, 4.27)

Notable

Pedro Florimon 0-4, BB, 2 K
J.P. Crawford 0-4, 2 K
Rhys Hoskins 0-2, 2 BB, K
Dylan Cozens 0-4, 4 K
Jorge Alfaro 1-4, R, 2B, 2 K
Brock Stassi 1-4, 2 R, RBI, HR, 3 K
Andrew Pullin 2-3, RBI, 2B, BB
Harold Martinez 1-4, 2 K
Herlis Rodriguez 0-4, 2 K

Ben Lively 8.0 IP, 7H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 6K, game score: 61
Yacksel Rios (L, 0-1), 0.2 IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 1K

Erie SeaWolves (51-47) @ Reading Fightin Phils (54-44) 5:05 pm | Gameday
Tyler Alexander (5-6, 4.85) vs. Tommy Bergjans (1-3, 5.08)

Notable

Zachary Coppola 2-3, 3 R, 2 BB, SB
Angelo Mora 2-4, 2 R, 2B, BB, K
Carlos Tocci 3-5, R, 5 RBI, 2B, SB
Mitch Walding 1-5, RBI, 2 K
Jiandido Tromp 2-5, R, 2 K, SB
Damek Tomscha 1-3, RBI, BB
Malquin Canelo 0-4, 2 K
Drew Stankiewicz 1-4, R, RBI, HR

Tommy Bergjans 4.0 IP, 7H, 6R, 6ER, 1BB, 2K, game score: 26
Shane Watson (L, 3-5), 1.0 IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 0K
Ranfi Casimiro 3.0 IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 2K

Clearwater Threshers (52-46) @ Bradenton Marauders (55-41) 1:00 pm | Gameday
JoJo Romero (2-1, 1.04) vs. Bret Helton (5-1, 3.50)

Notable

Mark Laird 3-4, SB
Wilson Garcia 1-4, R, RBI, HR, K

JoJo Romero (L, 2-2), 4.0 IP, 12H, 7R, 5ER, 1BB, 1K, game score: 12
Blake Quinn 4.0 IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 6K

Lakewood BlueClaws (53-47) @ Charleston RiverDogs (54-45) 5:05 pm | Gameday
Nick Fanti (7-2, 2.52) vs. Alexander Vargas (0-1, 1.50)

Notable

Arquimedes Gamboa 2-4, R, 3B
Darick Hall 2-4, R, RBI, HR
Henri Lartigue 0-4, 2 K
Raul Rivas 2-3, CS

Nick Fanti 4.0 IP, 8H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 0K, game score: 38
Jonathan Hennigan 2.0 IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 3K
Jake Kelzer (L, 0-1), 2.0 IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 1K

Auburn Doubledays (12-21) @ Williamsport Crosscutters (18-13) 5:05 pm | Gameday
Nick Raquet (0-0, 2.89) vs. Julian Garcia (2-2, 3.13)

Notable

Jake Scheiner 1-4, BB, K, 2 CS
Adam Haseley 2-4, R, 2 2B, BB, K
Austin Listi 3-5, R, 3 RBI, HR
Jhailyn Ortiz 1-5, R, 2B, K
Josh Stephen 2-5, RBI, 2B
Brian Mims 1-4, 2B, K

Julian Garcia 4.0 IP, 2H, 4R, 4ER, 4BB, 4K, game score: 38
David Parkinson 3.0 IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 4K
Randy Alcantara (L, 1-1), 3.0 IP, 3H, 3R, 2ER, 1BB, 0K

GCL Phillies - Off

DSL Phillies White - Off

DSL Phillies Red - Off

(click on the start time for box scores)

[bigegypt0417]

I wonder if Crawford is mad at his ranking and declined to comment for that reason..

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/turnaround-finally-begins-for-j-p-crawford/?amphtml=1

[andyb]

BA on Medina:

Adonis Medina Survives Scare, Builds On Strong Season | BaseballAmerica.com

Also notes Moniak had some problem with the heat and is fine. Also that Crawford article alluded to him being the Phillies 6th best prospect. I guess that was in the top 100 ranking though it is also a little preview of a new top 10 list that should be released this week from BA. I think they have done all but the East divisions already.

[julio]

I wonder if Crawford is mad at his ranking and declined to comment for that reason..

Yeah, or maybe he was on the way out the door to dinner, and didn't want to be bothered; maybe he was in the middle of a video game, and didn't want to put the controller down. Maybe...

Probably not a good idea to speculate about something like this - particularly a speculation that reflects negatively on somebody. One person's little speculation is the basis of the next person's jealous gossip, which then morphs into "common knowledge."

[California_Dreamin]

I was thinking that had the Phils finished their amazing rally yesterday with a win we might have had the best day of the entire Phillie season to look back on. Down on the pharm, every team [including the DSL duo] won yesterday except Reading and in all, it was a 7-2 day.

Not only that, but Medina and Kilome won their games, Leibrandt continued to pitch like a replica of his dad, the Bash Brothers both homered, JPC went 4-5, Pullin got 3 hits, Brognan got his first professional win, Herrera went 4-4 and Altherr got good news on his hamstring injury. Had the Phils finished off the rally with a win, it would have put the icing on a cake that really did taste quite delicious yesterday after far too many days when the cake tasted dry and stale.

[DougLindsay]

I'm sure. They went out of their way to throw water on his prospect status then turn around and want to write an article on his surge.

[andyb]

I am wondering if BA is re-writing their Phillies top midseason top 10 article before posting it in a couple of days. I have Sanchez first now. After that is there anyone who is arguably better than Crawford (who is a year younger than Kingery and almost 2 years younger than Alfaro). Moniak has not stepped up yet and Haseley probably has not done enough. Today I would rank Crawford 2nd.

[EDmuch]

Randolph?

[EDmuch]

Boy there really are some excellent young pitching prospects in the lower parts of our farm system.

[andyb]

Randolph is clearly top 10. His problem has less been his offensive value. I actually was not too worried when he struggled early this season. It might have been catching up on the 200 AB he missed last year. Randolph's problem in defense. One article last week on him even suggested he may be better suited to first base. If that is the case he really needs to go to an AL team where there is more flexibility to have a defensively challenged player. For us we need to hope that he becomes acceptable in LF.

That is why he ranks lower. Even if he projects as an 800+ OPS outfielder with a high OBP (which is very valuable), if all that is paired with sub-par defense it hurts his value (prospect and otherwise).

[bigegypt0417]

I am wondering if BA is re-writing their Phillies top midseason top 10 article before posting it in a couple of days. I have Sanchez first now. After that is there anyone who is arguably better than Crawford (who is a year younger than Kingery and almost 2 years younger than Alfaro). Moniak has not stepped up yet and Haseley probably has not done enough. Today I would rank Crawford 2nd.

there is a case for medina at #2...

[zambonir]

Yeah, or maybe he was on the way out the door to dinner, and didn't want to be bothered; maybe he was in the middle of a video game, and didn't want to put the controller down. Maybe...

Probably not a good idea to speculate about something like this - particularly a speculation that reflects negatively on somebody. One person's little speculation is the basis of the next person's jealous gossip, which then morphs into "common knowledge."

No, I think it's pretty clear BA would have formally requested an interview with him and was turned down, you don't just show up in the clubhouse to get a quick quote for something like that, especially at a road game.

But I wouldn't necessarily say it was a negative. At best, he shouldn't be worried about prospect rankings and not doing an interview with a publication that mostly only does that is probably a good call. At worst, he's totally allowed to blackball them. Not forever, and not on a daily basis, but while I think players should always face and talk to the media every day regardless of how they played or what was said about them, cooperating for an article that is specifically about you and requires a one-on-one interview is not mandatory.

[California_Dreamin]

I don't believe its been discussed here [maybe I didn't see it] but about a week ago the Phils made a decision with Jan Hernandez that seems in the early returns to have been a good one. Hernandez, an erstwhile 3rd baseman, was moved to right field and he has been hitting well ever since.

Its worth recalling that we were almost unanimously excited when the Phils drafted Hernandez in the 3rd round a few years ago and his lack of offensive and defensive improvement have been disappointing, almost to the point where he has become ab afterthought when discussing Phillie minor league prospects.

Hernandez has always had two strengths, a power bat and a very strong arm. Perhaps the move to RF will allow him to relax a bit and help his offensive game. Early returns seem to indicate it might.

Of course, with every potential good there is a bad and this probably is bad news for Jose Pujols, who was playing RF in Clearwater and has now disappeared completely from the lineup. My guess is that he is hurt but someone on another site suggested they may be moving him to pitcher, much like they did with Aaron Brown.

I will say that Pujols and Encarnacion have been huge disappointments in the Latin department and given the conservative nature of the Phillies anyhow, would enhance the belief that one of the reasons they don't go hogwild is spending sprees internationally is because they see the money spent with almost no return on their investment in Pujols and Encarnacion.

I don't agree with this but it certainly would make sense.

[California_Dreamin]

By the way, Sanchez was supposed to pitch this weekend...and isn't pitching.

[rkeden]

CD- I think I saw a few days ago that he was scheduled to pitch on Monday.

[California_Dreamin]

Well, guess we can hold off on that JoJo Romero is King of the World talk for a bit. Baseball is such a difficult game, just when you think you have figured it out, you realize you haven't. The guy was literally dominating the competition till today.

One hopes its simply a badly needed lesson learned and not an injury.

[allentown]

I have Kingery ahead of Crawford.

Sanchez, Kingery, Crawford, Hoskins, Kilome, Moniak, Medina, Randolph, Alfaro, Ortiz, Haseley, Cozens.

[nycphils]

Tocci with a day...3/3 with a double, 4 RBI and a SB

He may be at the back end of the Top 10 over Cozens.

[bkox]

What happened to Tocci's base stealing? I know that SBs arent as important now a days but only having 2 SBs in late July seems very low for him? Are they telling him not to steal to help him keep his stamina up over a full season? I would think they would want him developing this tool if hes going to be a top of the order hitter

[allentown]

Really, thus far, Tocci with a season. This has to put him over .315 BA and he's around .800 OPS. As many Tocci boosters have repeatedly said: very young, good contact skills, just needs to gain strength. He will continue to gain strength, not a lot of HR strength, but enough strength to bat .300 and increase his doubles. He still needs to walk more. Today should boost him up to a .375 OBP, which is plenty good. He likely falls off a tad in Allentown next year, but since power isn't his game, I'm hoping the falloff is minor. Tocci has typically tired and fallen apart as the season progressed. He's chugging along as he closes in on 350 AB. It's been a hot summer, although Reading isn't Clearwater.

And to Bkox, Tocci really has never been that much of a base stealer. HIs season high is 17 and that came with 11 CS. Last year he had 13 SB with 6 CS, so never a ton of tries and never a good enough rate to make his base stealing a net plus. Perhaps the team doesn't want him to waste his energy stealing or risk a Quinn-type injury, but since Lopes left, we haven't been an organization which steals a lot of bases or does so at high efficiency.

Tocci has to be forcing his way onto the 40-man.