Phillies - A Fan’s View

With various reports raising the inference that since minor league home run totals were up this season the baseball has been altered I thought I’d dig a little deeper into the data. What I discovered is that indeed home run tallies are higher this season but the prior two seasons were remarkably low - I pulled data for six consecutive years - 2026 aligns closer to years 2021 to 2023. Perhaps if there was a baseball alteration in occurred in 2024 and 2025 and this season was

Written by Steve Potter The goal of every Major League Baseball organization is to win the ultimate prize - the World Series championship. Along the way, however, it doesn’t hurt to get a taste of what that feels like by winning some minor league titles. The majority of the 2026 Reading Eastern League championship team likely won’t personally attain winning a World Series ring however all of them can now claim the experience of winning a professional baseball league champions

Written by Steve Potter Eastern League (AA) - Reading 13 (2-0) Erie 4 (0-2) Erie, PA - UPMC Park - Championship Series Game Two Reading wins Eastern League Championship in two game series sweep ! How they scored : After a leadoff walk to Peyton Graham to start the game Zyhir Hope hit a two run home run for Erie. Dante Nori singled to lead off the bottom of the fourth and scored on a double down the left field line by Aidan Miller. Raylin Heredia singled sending Miller to thir

Only includes players that remain in the organization and excludes playoffs. Plate Appearances : Raylin Heredia - REA - 579 Aroon Escobar - REA - 569 Bryan Rincon - REA - 534 Alex Binelas - LHV/REA - 488 Matthew Ferrara - CW - 486 Robert Phelps - JS/CW - 479 Devin Saltiban - JS - 456 Otto Kemp - LHV - 455 Juan Villavicencio - JS/CW - 449 Pedro Leon - REA/LHV/JS/CW/FCL - 430 Hits : Raylin Heredia - REA - 151 Bryan Rincon - REA - 113 Aroon Escobar - REA - 112 Alex Binelas - LHV

Only includes pitchers that remain in the organization and excludes playoffs. Appearances : Jack Dallas - REA - 46 Christian McGowan - REA - 45 Evan Gates - REA/LHV - 43 Daniel Harper - REA/LHV - 42 Michael Mercado - LHV/JS/CW - 41 Camron Hill - JS/CW - 40 Jake Eddington - JS - 39 Gabe Craig - JS/CW - 38 Tristan Garnett - LHV/REA - 38 Wen-Hui Pan - REA/JS/CW - 38 Titan Kennedy-Hayes - JS - 38 Starts : Adam Seminaris - REA - 26 Chuck King - LHV/REA - 26 Gage Wood - REA/CW - 2

Phillies Press Release CARLOS SALAS SELECTED AS 2026 DALLAS GREEN AWARD WINNER Phillies Coordinator, Latin America Carlos Salas has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the Dallas Green Award, the club announced today. Salas joined the Phillies in 2007 as an area scout in Venezuela, overseeing the Occidente region. Promoted to his current position in 2017, he has also served as supervisor, Venezuela and supervisor, Dominican Republic during his time with the organizatio

Phillies Press Release GREG BRODZINSKI SELECTED AS 2026 JOHN VUKOVICH AWARD WINNER Complex Coordinator Greg Brodzinski has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the John Vukovich Award, the club announced today. The 35-year-old Brodzinski is in his first year in his current role and has spent his entire professional career in the Phillies organization as a player and a coach. From 2023-25, he was manager of the high-A Jersey Shore BlueClaw

Phillies Press Release McFARLANE AND RINCON NAMED 2026 PAUL OWENS AWARD WINNERS Right-handed pitcher Alex McFarlane and infielder Bryan Rincon were selected as the recipients of the 2026 Paul Owens Award, presented annually to the Phillies’ top minor league pitcher and player. The 25-year-old McFarlane, who was added to the Phillies 40-man roster on Nov. 18, 2025, went 1-1 with 12 saves, a 1.83 ERA (8 ER, 39.1 IP), 55 strikeouts and 20 walks across 3

Perseverance, self belief and team spirit are key elements in any profession but are vital to success in baseball player development. Baseball seasons are long roller coaster rides with ups and downs intertwined. Outside critiques are seemingly frequently expressed regardless of the knowledge of those stating them. Ignoring the negativity is not only an impossibility but rather an important part of individual progress to overcome, especially for those who play for northeaster

Compiled by Steve Potter International League (AAA) - Lehigh Valley 5 (33-41, 68-81) Syracuse 4 (43-30, 81-68)- Syracuse, NY - NBT Bank Stadium - 11 innings Last game of the season At Bat : 5 R, 8 H, 2 BB, 11 K’s Colby Thomas and Raider Tello homered. Paul McIntosh doubled. Wuilfredo Antunez tripled and scored two runs. Otto Kemp singled, walked, stole a base, scored a run and posted two RBIs. On The Hill : 4 R, 7 H, 5 BB, 11 K’s RH Brian Keller - 3 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 K’s

Compiled by Steve Potter International League (AAA) - Syracuse 5 (43-29, 81-67) Lehigh Valley 4 (32-41, 67-81)- Syracuse, NY - NBT Bank Stadium At Bat : 4 R, 10 H, 3 BB, 11 K’s Gabriel Rincones Jr and Luis Caicuto each had two hits (singles). Wuilfredo Antunez had three hits (two singles & HR) and scored three runs. Keaton Anthony walked twice and had two RBIs (sac flies). Raider Tello singled and walked. On The Hill : 4 R, 8 H, 3 BB, 8 K’s RH Casey Lawrence - 4 IP, 3 R - 2 e

Eleven organizations had three or more affiliates qualify for their respective league playoffs this season - the Phillies are one of those with three (AA, Low A, DSL) of their six clubs making the playoffs and a heavily “home grown” lineup at Reading now entering the Eastern League championship series. From my perspective it’s an inadequate gage to evaluate a system as a whole without acknowledging point in time progression. Here’s a position by position abbreviated look from

Compiled by Steve Potter International League (AAA) - Syracuse 6 (42-29, 80-67) Lehigh Valley 2 (32-40, 67-80)- Syracuse, NY - NBT Bank Stadium At Bat : 2 R, 4 H, 0 BB, 5 K’s Raider Tello had two hits in his Lehigh Valley debut (single & HR) with two RBIs. On The Hill : 6 R, 9 H, 6 BB, 7 K’s RH Drake Fellows - 5 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 1 HB, 2 BB, 5 K’s - 79 pitches - 53 strikes RH Andrew Hoffman - faced three batters - 3 R, 1 H, 2 BB - 12 pitches - 4 strikes RH Max Lazar - 1 IP, 0 R,

Compiled by Steve Potter International League (AAA) - Syracuse 9 (41-29, 79-67) Lehigh Valley 8 (32-39, 67-79)- Syracuse, NY - NBT Bank Stadium At Bat : 8 R, 12 H, 9 BB, 9 K’s Kameron Misner had two hits (single & HR - 22nd) with four RBIs. Keaton Anthony had two hits (singles) as did Jordan Dissin (singles). Otto Kemp had two hits (single & double) and walked. Gabriel Rincones Jr homered (6th). Dissin & Kemp each scored twice. Nick Biddison singled, walked twice, scored

Compiled by Steve Potter International League (AAA) - Syracuse 5 (40-29, 78-67) Lehigh Valley 4 (32-38, 67-78)- Syracuse, NY - NBT Bank Stadium At Bat : 4 R, 5 H, 3 BB, 10 K’s Robert Moore hit a two run home run (15th). Keaton Anthony had two hits (single & double) with two RBIs. On The Hill : 5 R, 8 H, 3 BB, 14 K’s RH Alan Rangel - 5 IP, 4 R, 6 H, 2 BB, 10 K’s - 91 pitches - 57 strikes RH Michael Mercado - 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 K’s - 23 pitches - 17 strikes RH Grant Holma

Compiled by Steve Potter International League (AAA) - Syracuse 9 (39-29, 77-67) Lehigh Valley 1 (32-37, 67-77)- Syracuse, NY - NBT Bank Stadium At Bat : 1 R, 4 H, 6 BB, 8 K’s Keaton Anthony walked twice. Otto Kemp homered (17th). On The Hill : 9 R, 11 H, 6 BB, 7 K’s RH Brian Keller - 5 IP, 4 R, 4 H, 1 HB, 5 BB, 2 K’s - 92 pitches - 53 strikes LH Nestor Cortes - 1.2 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 3 K’s - 32 pitches - 23 strikes RH Mitch Neunborn - 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K - 3 pitches

The Arizona Fall League will commence play on October 3rd. The Phillies are sending nine players, eight will be part of the Surprise Saguaros (joined by the Mets, Guardians, Rangers and Royals) while one will participate as a member of the Scottsdale Scorpions. Phillies Position Players : Dante Nori - 21 years old - drafted in 1st round of the 2024 draft from Northville HS, Northville, MI - spent a large part of the year on the IL and working with the rehab team in Clearwater

Tonight the Reading Fightin Phils make their first Eastern League playoff appearance since 2019 when they host the Hartford Yard Goats (Rockies) in game one of the best of three Northeast Division series with games two and three (if needed) in Hartford. The Erie SeaWolves (Tigers affiliate) meet the Richmond Flying Squirrels (Giants affiliate) in the Southwest Division series with the two winners meeting in the best of three league championship series. Reading has not won the

Plate Appearances : Raylin Heredia - REA - 579 Aroon Escobar - REA - 569 Bryan Rincon - REA - 534 Christian Cairo - LHV - 516 - designated for assignment 9/13/26 Alex Binelas - LHV/REA - 488 Matthew Ferrara - CW - 486 Robert Phelps - JS/CW - 479 Devin Saltiban - JS - 456 Juan Villavicencio - JS/CW - 449 Pedro Leon - REA/LHV - 430 Hits : Raylin Heredia - REA - 151 Bryan Rincon - REA - 113 Aroon Escobar - REA - 112 Alex Binelas - LHV/REA - 109 Pedro Leon - REA/LHV - 108 Juan Vi

The Top 100 : This past week shortstop Bryan Rincon was added to MLB’s top 100 prospect list giving the Phillies four players on the “daunted” list. I guess that makes Bryan a better player than he was before now that he’s “ranked”. I’ve long had a cynical view of these lists and of those who treat them as validation. Also this week Baseball America published an article highlighting pitchers Cody Bowker and Brad Pacheco as “really good sleeper prospects” who could excel in 2