Minor League Games - Tuesday, September 5, 2017

[kikutaro]

Lehigh Valley IronPigs - Off (playoffs start Wednesday)

Reading Fightin Phils - Season over

Clearwater Threshers - Season over

Lakewood BlueClaws - Season over

Williamsport Crosscutters (35-36) @ West Virginia Black Bears (39-34) 7:05 pm | Gameday
Will Stewart (4-2, 4.13) vs. Scooter Hightower (4-1, 1.95)

Notable

Nick Maton 1-4, 3 R, 2B, 2 BB
Josh Stephen 3-6, R, RBI, 2B
Yahir Gurrola 3-6, 3 RBI, 2B, 3 K
Greg Pickett 1-4, RBI, 2B, 2 BB
Jake Scheiner 2-4, BB, SB
Malvin Matos 2-5, 2 R, 2 2B, BB, K
Brian Mims 1-6, RBI, 3B, 3 K

Will Stewart 3.2 IP, 6H, 3R, 2ER, 3BB, 6K, game score: 41
Randy Alcantara 2.1 IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 5K
Luis Ramirez 2.2 IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 3K

(click on the start time for box scores)

[phillychuck]

Where did the season go? I'm going to miss these threads...

[California_Dreamin]

So with 3 Williamsport games left, the Phillie minor league season is basically over with a record of 363-325, a winning percentage of .528. Not bad, but a fairly significant decrease from its high point somewhere in June.

I would say that LHV and the GCL Phillies seasons were extremely positive, Reading and Lakewood played about as well as could be expected and that Clearwater and Williamsport were a bit disappointing.

In the end, I understand its ultimately not about wins and losses but talent, progress, good health and preparation for advancement but I still believe that when the final examination of the season is completed the net result will be that it was an outstanding year for pitching and a negative year for the progress of many of the hitters.

I have advocated for quite some time now that the Phils need to re-examine their coaching within the hitting ranks and might need to bring in a few different voices. I also think the organization is sadly lacking in fundamentals coaching organization wide and needs to study that aspect also. As for the pitching area, whatever they are doing, its working at the minor league level, keep it going.

Just please don't let McClure ever get his hands on another pitching prospect again after this season. Please don't.

All in all, a good year down on the pharm, organization will be in the Top 10 when its all said and done but not as high as many of us now believe, due to promotions and injuries. A 1.1 pick and a few international signings would do much to elevate this group quickly to Top 5 by the end of next year.

[bkox]

Matt Winkelman (Matt_Winkelman)

Matt Winkelman (Matt_Winkelman)

[California_Dreamin]

What injury??? He came back to play a few games and then disappeared again, probably for the season. Is this the same injury he got when having a home plate collision a few weeks ago?

[allentown]

The Reading team was truly great, before being stripped by injuries/promotions. Both Allentown and Reading started with among the top 5 winning percentages in all of minor league baseball -- really strong rosters to start the year.

[andyb]

I think the latest might be a hamstring injury which would explain the day to day nature of it.

[Austinfan]

Ortiz was 18 in a college dominated league, I think there's a good possibility he's the real thing.
The donut got bigger with the callups and injuries, but the system was top heavy due to trades, and the July trades basically filled out the Clearwater roster.
Next year the system will be more balanced as the LA signings, DSL promotions of the last couple years fill out the A ball rosters.

One thing that jumps out is the incredible pitching depth at all levels, my next season's projected rotations:
Lehigh: Eflin, Thompson, Anderson, Eshelman, Tavares, Leibrandt [if they add a veteran SP, Lively, Velasquez or Pivetta, Leiter sticks in Phlly as the #6 starter/long relief]
Reading: Kilome, El Garcia, Irvin, Viza, Waguespack, M Sanchez, Arauz, Ed Garcia
Clearwater: Romero, Sanchez, Suarez, Dominquez, Mills, Medina, Fanti, Falter, Requena, Paulino
Lakewood: Young, Howard, A Brown, Seabold, Llovera, Stewart, J Garcia, Russo, Carrasco
Williamsport: Morales, Mezquita, Silva, Lindlow [plus drafted college pitchers]

[fish]

My goodness, Louis Ramirez is the real deal. Almost 20 year old righthander was commanding a power curve and mid-90s fastball. It is short season ball but he could have beat big leaguers tonight.

[Philsmania]

Unlike 2016, the Phillies were able to promote a lot of guys from LHV who were ready for The Show. I think that these promotions caused a negative domino effect down the chain all the way to LKW and that was why all of the affiliates from LKW on up to LHV swooned in the second half. A bit of a comedown from last year when we had four affiliates make the playoffs (LHV, REA, LKW & GCL) and a fifth which finished with the best regular season record only to be shut out of the playoffs by the split season (CLW). But, the way I look at it, that was a price to pay for successful upward movement. WPT was a bit of a disappointment but they can still salvage a winning season with two wins to close out the season.

If there are causes for concern, they are 1) our position player first round draft picks (Randolph, Moniak and Haseley) have all had a devil of a time adjusting to the pros instead of rocketing through the system, 2) our top position player prospects have generally been unready for AAA let alone the Majors and have ended up taking dramatic steps backward at LHV and needing more than a full season at that level to get themselves into a realistic position for a permanent promotion to Philadelphia (Williams last season, Crawford in parts of last season and this season amounting to a full season, Alfaro and Cozens this season; Hoskins and Kingery being outliers who didn't miss a beat from REA) and 3) yes, there does seem to be just a little bit of a blind spot in terms of developing position players. Perhaps better coaching that AF suggests may help in that regard.