Happy Valentines Day!
It was physicals day at the Complex for newly arrived players coming to minor league mini camp which starts tomorrow with on-field practices. Stretching, throwing and conditioning work today for players in the rehab group.
Major leaguers continue to filter in as well - official big league camp begins Thursday for pitchers and catchers. Bryce Harper is now in Clearwater, Trea Turner will be arriving tomorrow I believe. There were six pitchers who threw bullpen sessions on the side mounds by the Bowa half field in front of the stadium this morning - RH Aaron Nola, RH Connor Brogdon, RH Andrew Bellatti, RH McKinley Moore, LH Andrew Vasquez & RH Andrew Painter.
Catchers Vito Friscia, Rafael Marchan & John Hicks practiced framing drills - there’s a new practice area adjacent to the Bowa half field specifically set up for the drill with a plate painted into the turf and a pitching machine used to feed the baseballs to the receivers.
Infielders Alec Bohm, Edmundo Sosa, Bryson Stott & Rhys Hoskins took grounders on the Bowa half field from infield coach Bobby Dickerson and the legend himself Larry Bowa. The look the ball into the glove trademark of Dickerson instructed infielders was on display with the “Kill it” phrase heard for the first time this year from the Coach on grounders out in front of the body - he’s fun to watch instruct - techniques are different than the norm but I think that’s a key part of his success as a teacher.
On Ashburn Field the following big league campers took batting practice : Kyle Schwarber, Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, JT Realmuto, Kody Clemens, Jhailyn Ortiz, Dalton Guthrie, Rafael Marchan, Edmundo Sosa & John Hicks.
My Observations :
I spent the brunt of my time watching the pitchers in their bullpen sessions, can’t get close enough to see spin on the half field as my viewing point is from above the field by the fence railing on the platform to the stadium entrance however could see that Vasquez broke off a couple good benders which is what he’s known for. Nola continues to look on track as did the others who threw - first time we’ve seen Andrew Painter this year - he consistently popped JT Realmuto’s mitt with a smooth and repeatable delivery - the young man has an easy motion - nothing is forced and the ball comes out of the hand from the same slot and release on all of his pitches - Andrew has been working the past few months at Cressy Sports Performance Center and already has had a couple live bullpens - he’s hitting the ground running for spring camp.
In BP I didn’t see him but was told Jhailyn Ortiz had a good round - the big fella can hit em long with the best of them. In the rounds I did see Alec Bohm and Rafael Marchan continue to impress with Rhys Hoskins, Kyle Schwarber & JT Realmuto doing their thing as well - a lot of baseballs fly over the fences in their hitting group.
Got to greet quite a few of the minor leaguers who were checking in for tomorrow’s mini camp including some of the new guys I’ve only corresponded with to this point - spring is always an upbeat time as everyone starts fresh with high hopes - good stuff.
Fan Notes :
Got to meet Bill Dennehy at the complex - he’s a legendary high school coach from Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire who coached Phillies GM Sam Fuld there. Mr. Dennehy visited with Mr. Fuld for a long while today and on his way out of the complex I got the pleasure of chatting with him as well. He told me about how Sam was a great high school athlete - I think it’s really cool that coaching mentors are remembered fondly and vice versa - it takes a village of support for a pro athlete to reach the show - was honored to meet Mr. Dennehy who was a key early mentor in the future success of our team’s GM. 👍
Former Phillie Tracking :
For those interested here’s an updated list of former Phillie major and minor leaguers ( as I have it ) who’ve signed minor league contracts with other organizations this off-season with notations as well on those whom have also received a NRI ( non-roster invitation ) to big league spring training.
C Rodolfo Duran - re-signed by Yankees - NRI
RHP James Norwood - Yankees - NRI
RHP Zach McAllister - Diamondbacks - NRI
RHP Nick Duron - Giants - NRI
RHP Ofreidy Gomez - Orioles - NRI
RHP Tommy Hunter - Mets - NRI
RHP Chris Devenski - Angels - NRI
LHP Anthony Gose - Guardians
LHP Austin Davis - Astros - NRI
RHP Adonis Medina - Kia Tigers - KBO ( South Korea )
RHP Jose Ulloa - Nationals
UTL Willians Astudillo - Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks ( Japan )
OF Bradley Zimmer - Dodgers - NRI
RHP Aneurys Zabala - Tigers
INF Jose Gomez - re-signed by Angels
C Andrew Knapp - Tigers - NRI
OF Roman Quinn - Guardians - NRI
RHP Michael Kelly - Guardians - NRI
INF Drew Maggi - Pirates - NRI
C Tyler Heineman - Pirates - NRI
RHP Drew Hutchinson - Blue Jays - NRI
C Rob Brantley - Blue Jays - NRI
RHP Taylor Scott - Dodgers - NRI
OF Chris Sharpe - Braves
RHP Vinny Nittoli - Cubs - NRI
RHP Trevor Kelley - Rays - NRI
RHP Tyler Cyr - Dodgers - NRI
INF Johan Camargo - Royals
RHP Heath Hembree - Rays - NRI
LHP Ryan Sherriff - Red Sox - NRI
RHP Kevin Gowdy - Dodgers
LHP Jesse Biddle - Diamondbacks
INF Cesar Hernandez - Tigers - NRI
RHP Robert Stock - Brewers - NRI
OF Travis Jankowski - Rangers - NRI
RHP Jeurys Familia - Diamondbacks - NRI
RHP Ian Kennedy - Rangers - NRI
INF Ryan Goins - Royals
INF Luke Williams - Dodgers - NRI
RHP Aidan Anderson - Rangers
INF Yairo Munoz - Diamondbacks - NRI
OF Nick Martini - Reds
INF Kevin Vicuña - Diamondbacks
RHP Johan Quezada - Marlins
RHP Mark Leiter Jr - Cubs - NRI
RHP Yacksel Rios - Braves - NRI
LHP Fernando Abad - Rockies - NRI
1B Jon Singleton - Brewers - NRI
INF Daniel Robertson - Rays - NRI
Other Notes :
Yesterday’s post was quite popular - almost 100,000 impressions on Twitter - a new personal record for me 😎 - thanks to all for the interest - generally I write about the minor leaguers but during the spring I will also mix in notes on big league camp as well as I observe it.
Back at em tomorrow - Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
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Images from today
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