Before the 2020 season began I wrote a series of articles on select minor league players of interest. Now that 2021 Spring Training is seemingly upon us I thought I’d revisit highlighting a few of the fellas.
Here’s part two of the series ... LHP Bailey Falter. If you missed part one on LHP Jeff Singer here’s a link ... https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/1-19-2021-jeff-singer-lhp
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Drafted 5th Round - 2015 Draft - Chino Hills, California... now 23 years old
Bailey earned a 40 man roster spot this past November and will attend his first major league spring training camp this year. He’s coming off an impressive showing in 2020 Fall Instructs where he consistently sat mid 90’s with his fastball while also maintaining his command and control. Bailey has always been a strike thrower averaging a minuscule 17 walks per season in 385 IP over four years of full season play as a starter from 2017 to 2019 with Lakewood, Clearwater and Reading. He features a big breaking curve, slider and changeup as his secondary offerings.
In July of 2019 he was placed on the injured list and finished that year at the Complex in Clearwater working with the rehab group - elbow strain. He was an early arrival to 2020 Spring Training and has worked diligently to get back into action ... capped off with his strong showing in Fall Instructs.
Now at 6’3” 200 we’ve watched him grow from a young fella out of high school into a young man on the verge of the big leagues. I’ve seen him throw multiple times, he goes right after hitters with no fear of pitching inside. His family ( including his grandparents ) comes to watch every spring training in Clearwater, very nice folks. Bailey used to kid around and say “I’m not a prospect” and I would correct him that he certainly is... nice to see the hard work pay off for him.
It’s my belief he’s gonna make folks take notice this coming spring camp ... “not a prospect” is far from the truth ... he’s gonna be a big leaguer that might just claim a starting spot in the rotation by the end of camp ... just sayin 🤔😎.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️