10/21/25 : This and That
- Steve Potter
- 2 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Youth Rising :
The Phillies minor league system was described by some folks this past summer as being top heavy meaning that there were more “prospects” at the higher levels than lower. Given that the club apparently has plans to introduce more young home grown pieces into the major league puzzle next season - that seems to me to be a good thing 🧐.
It’s expected that outfielder Justin Crawford will be afforded the opportunity to break spring camp with the major league team after a terrific season at Lehigh Valley. He has the tools to succeed - for those “old school” folks out there he very much incorporates bunting into his offensive approach utilizing his off the chart speed to “steal” first base - a little known fact is that his first professional hit was a bunt single on the backfields - I was there to witness it.
Right handed pitchers Alex McFarlane and Andrew Painter are virtual locks to be added to the 40 man roster in November to protect them from the Major League Rule Five Draft. Both young hurlers returned to action this past summer from Tommy John in their first full year of play since their surgeries. Forty man roster spots are premium slots - not many can be afforded to fellas who are expected to spend the entirety of the season in the minors. That being said neither Andy or Alex fit that description.
Painter will be given a chance to compete for a starting rotation position in spring camp, when he’s right there’s both next level stuff and command precision, last summer those lagged behind, in particular the command - not uncommon for first year back TJ pitchers. He is following his normal off-season training routine and I’m confident we see pre-injury Painter next spring - the reason being is that in his last 2025 start at Lehigh Valley his four seam fastball sat in the 94-98 mph range which is where it was in 2022 prior to the elbow injury. The spin rate on his curve in 2022 was in the 2340 to 2615 RPM range - in the last LHV start it was 2470 to 2791. The slider in 2022 was in the 2465 to 2596 RPM range - this year in the last start it was 2442 to 2760. The changeup was also in similar ranges from 2022 as compared to the last start in 2025 - basically the stuff is back and with Andrew’s work ethic I have true confidence the command will follow just like it did for Mick Abel this past summer after a year of “good struggle growth”.
Alex had a slow three month start to his season at Jersey Shore in regards to game results but blossomed in July including being the starting part of a no hitter (he went five innings) - in fact he ran off a ten inning no hit, no run streak in which he struck out 14 batters. As an extension of that string he threw 18 consecutive scoreless innings yielding just three hits. He won the July Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the month award. It was then decided to convert him from a starter to a reliever both to limit innings and perhaps provide a projection as to how he might perform in the role the following season (with being added to the 40 man roster in mind). Alex pitched very well and eventually bumped up to Reading. Akin to Painter the stuff has fully returned - an upper nineties fastball that flashes triple digits, sinker, slider and splitter - the type of stuff that can dominant out of the bullpen. He’s ready to shine in Spring Camp.
Players with options are very important during the long stretch of a big league season - two candidates for opening day spots are now out of them - utility man Weston Wilson and RHP Seth Johnson who is a bullpen possibility. That’s not to say they won’t make the club however it’s a steeper climb than those who have options to shuttle back and forth to the minors with. Don’t sleep on bullpen candidates like RH Daniel Harper, RH Jack Dallas, RH Saul Teran, LH Andrew Walling, RH Jaydenn Estanista, RH Tommy McCollum and LH Tristan Garnett as pitchers who could fill roles.
Outfielders Gabriel Rincones Jr and Felix Reyes are both rule 5 eligible - each coming off productive years. Rincones Jr has left handed pop that could blossom in the show akin to how Nate Lukes filled a gap for the BlueJays this year. All big Felix does is hit the ball freaking hard - he won the Eastern League batting title this past year and for those that have doubts in what I’ve been telling ya about him just think Otto Kemp - we told ya he was coming up before most knew about him as well. Felix can flat out hit.
And then there’s Aidan Miller … to me he needs a bit more time at the AAA level to develop but never say never - the kid can play. Just sayin.
Minor League Free Agency :
After the World Series concludes by my count there will be nineteen minor league roster spots opened as eligible players declare their intentions - two have already done so (Devin Sweet and Donovan Walton).
The Phillies nineteen pending minor league free agents :
Christian Arroyo
Phil Bickford
Josh Breaux
Erick Brito
Eiberson Castellano
Rodolfo Castro
Nick Dunn
Payton Henry
Brewer Hicklen
Marcus Lee Sang
Matt Manning
Gunner Mayer
Adonis Medina
Oscar Mercado
Gabe Mosser
Leandro Pineda
Lucas Sims
Luis Verdugo
Jacob Waguespack
Minor League Rule Five eligible :
Kleyderve Andrade
Juan Amarante
Gabriel Barbosa
Andrew Bechtold
Nick Biddison
Alex Binelas
Luis Caicuto
Jose Colmenarez
Ryan Cusick
Jack Dallas
Jordan Dissin
Jaydenn Estanista
Braeden Fausnaught
Cade Fergus
Tristan Garnett
Daniel Harper
Raylin Heredia
Estibenzon Jimenez
Nate Karaffa
Tommy McCollum
Alex McFarlane
Griff McGarry
Christian McGowan
Paul McIntosh
John McMillon
Robert Moore
Micah Ottenbreit
Andrew Painter
Jose Pena Jr
Danyony Pulido
Alex Rao
Felix Reyes
Caleb Ricketts
Gabriel Rincones Jr
Carson Taylor
Saul Teran
Christhian Tortosa
Giuseppe Velasquez
Andrew Walling
Danny Wilkinson
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
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