Today’s scrimmage started at 11:30 AM and was the finale for the week long competition between the two internally designated teams with the winners gaining bragging rights till next season. Each half inning brought cheers and celebrations from the squads when their side gained advantages.
At the Plate :
Nick Matera hit a grand slam home run in the top of the second inning … it was a long one over the right center field fence. Each half inning started with runners on base with one out assumed (the sole exception being the first inning ) … Matera hit his blast with two outs.
Randy Vasquez hit a two run home run to left center field in the bottom of the third inning and Gavin Tonkel went yard far over the left field fence in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Jordan Viars hit a two run triple in the bottom of the second inning that went down the right field foul line, his swing is reminiscent of the way Bryce Harper attacks the ball.
Jared Carr had a two run single and Nicolas Torres singled.
On the Hill :
I’ll refer to the IP as frames as every inning except the first started with runners on base and an assumed one out.
RH Andrew Schultz - 1 scoreless frame - 0 H, 1 HBP, 3 K’s - used his secondary pitch ( looked like a slider ) as the put away offering but was also firing the heat to get there. Had a very good camp in his return to action after TJ surgery.
RH Tommy McCollum - 2 frames - 1 H, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 2 K’s - two costly errors behind him - HR by Matera
LH Rafael Marcano - 2 frames - 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K
RH Ben Brown - 2 frames - 1 H, 2 BB, 4 K’s - looked strong - swing & miss stuff displayed. High heat as well.
RH Cristian Hernandez - 1 frame - two outs recorded before game winner scored.
RH Andrew Painter - 2 frames - 1 H, 2 BB, 4 K’s - struck out the side in first inning 🔥- triple by Viars
LH Christopher Soriano - 1 frame - 2 H, 1 K - HR by Vasquez
RH Micah Ottenbreit - 2 frames - first one was one pitch - a line drive to SS Jamari Baylor that he leaped to catch and then throw to second to nail a placed runner - inning was assumed to begin with one out so Micah got three outs on one pitch 😳 … only in fall instructs !
RH Victor Vargas - 1 frame - HR by Tonkel
Other Notes :
The contest concluded when Erick Brito ( Daniel’s younger cousin ) reached first on an infield grounder to shortstop where a low throw skipped past the first baseman … Erick’s teammates mobbed him and doused him with water in celebration since when he reached base with two outs the competition’s winning run crossed the plate.
Fittingly the ‘21 Phillies minor league season concluded “Brito Strong” 👍
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The conclusion of today’s scrimmage marked the end of the “formal” stateside Phillies on field activities for the ‘21 season. Fall Instructs are fun observances for me and the past four weeks are now filed into the memory bank for future reference.
Thanks for allowing me to correspond and share my baseball thoughts with you this season, in particular the minor leagues. I can honestly state that I watched all 162 Phillies major league games this year plus was in attendance for every inning of every home spring training game and two more in Dunedin. While I don’t write often about the major league club it’s always the primary focus of my fan-dome.
In addition, as you may have figured out, a daily and nightly dedication to “our” minor league development is my passion. I do not miss many opportunities to watch each of the affiliates in action, often having multiple game feeds in view on different iPads 🤓. Whenever possible attending minor league spring training, extended spring and Florida Complex League games remain in my daily scope … we got to most of the Complex home game events. Writing about what I see in the minors has become second nature to me, hopefully you’ve found my numerous postings 🙄🥴 interesting and enjoyable if not beneficial and intriguing … that’s my goal in sharing them anyways 😎.
I truly missed being able to watch the back field practices and participant interactions this past season, hopefully the complex gates will open again in 2022 to allow for that. As a Phillies baseball “rat” it’s really interesting ( at least to me ) to continually learn about the game and the people within it, it’s an evolving interaction that I find intriguing … no better stage than practices where true character and system definition are on display.
There are a couple area scouting jobs ( Rays & Astros ) that I’ve applied for but that would be joining the “enemy” … we shall see 🤔. So we wait for a bit … till players start trickling in again sometime in January we put down our “pen” in regards to writing about Phillies minor league action. There may be an occasional posting as the off-season progresses … e.g. might chat a bit about the Rule 5 eligible players and the draft 🧐 but for the most part it’s time to rest the writing arm in preparation for another coming season.
Wishing you a happy off-season and looking forward to baseball action coming again to the backfields of my second home … Carpenter Complex.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
Photo by Mark Wylie