Minor League Camp : First full day
About 200 or so fans on hand to watch minor league practice at the complex with some big league campers sprinkled in - Bryson Stott, Trea Turner, Darick Hall and Brandon Marsh were on the fields for early morning BP with Marsh also participating in live BP sessions in the afternoon.
Fielding drills, batting practice and side bullpen sessions for sixteen pitchers were the minor league morning on-field activities followed by ten live BP sessions beginning at 1 PM.
In the morning drills I focused on the fielding practices on Carlton field. Shortstop Starlyn Caba is extremely smooth with his defensive actions - gets terrific first steps on balls - intuitive reads akin to how Johan Rojas gets after fly balls - Starlyn is gonna be fun to watch when games start. Third baseman Aroon Escobar also impressed in drills with his hands and arm strength. Aidan Miller has a very strong throwing arm - ball zips across the diamond from either shortstop or third base.
Live BP :
Jake Eddington, Wesley Moore, George Klassen, Jonathan Petit, Micah Ottenbreit, Jean Cabrera, Casey Steward, Mason Ronan, Ethan Chenault and Cam Wynne each threw on either Ashburn or Roberts field.
I watched Eddington, Klassen, Cabrera, Ronan and Chenault. Jake Eddington (22 years old - drafted in seventh round of the 2023 draft from Missouri State University) delivers from a three quarter slot, showed what I’d estimate to be in three 92-94 mph range on his fastball, good life - also had a hard slider. George Klassen has very firm velo and cut on his heater, it’s upper nineties quick and comes out with seemingly little effort. He also showed a big breaking hook that coupled with the heat I think makes him really difficult to hit. Jean Cabrera did an up-down two inning session - continues to throw well. Mason Ronan always had good movement on his fastball and splitter, it now comes with increased velo as well - good stuff. Ethan Chenault faced Brandon Marsh and gave him a battle - a couple swings and misses on breaking pitches before Brandon hit a 3-2 count ground single to right field in the hole between first and second (a hit assuming no shift by the second baseman). I heard from a very reliable source that Micah Ottenbreit also threw the ball very well in his session.
Marsh hit on both fields against multiple hurlers - looks to be chomping at the bit to get into a game 🤓.
Grapefruit League Game Ten :
Braves 3 Phillies 2
North Port, Florida
Jake Cave doubled to lead off the fourth inning and went to third base on a single to right field by David Dahl. He scored on a fielders choice and error by Braves first baseman Austin Riley. Dahl later scored on a single by Alec Bohm.
Atlanta scored a run in the bottom of the fourth on a double and RBI single. They added two more runs in the 6th inning on a two run home run by Orlando Arcia.
At the Plate : 2 R, 8 H, 4 BB, 15 K’s
Alec Bohm went 3 for 3 (singles) with an RBI. Jake Cave was 2 for 3 with a single and double.
Pitching Notes : no statcast data available for velo reads or pitch types
RH Connor Brogdon - 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 K’s - two groundouts
RH Yunior Marte - 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K
LH Taylor Lehman - 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 HB, 0 BB, 0 K’s
RH Noah Skirrow - 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K
RH Brett Schulze - 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 HB, 0 BB, 0 K’s
RH Paxton Thompson - 1 IP, 2 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K’s
RH Andrew Schultz - 1 perfect IP - 1 K
RH Carlos Francisco - 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 K’s
Minor League Camp Call-Ups for the game :
Pitchers : Carlos Francisco, Zach Haake, Cristian Hernandez, Max Lazar, Taylor Lehman, Andrew Schultz, Brett Schulze, Noah Skirrow, Paxton Thompson
Catcher : Arturo DeFreitas
Infielders : Bryce Ball, Erick Brito, Jacob Gonzalez, Esteban Quiroz, Trevor Schwecke
Outfielders : Cade Fergus, Baron Radcliff, Troy Schreffler
Six of the minor league pitchers called up for the game pitched, Ball (1B), Schwecke (2B), Brito (SS), Quiroz (3B), Radcliff (LF) and Fergus (RF) all saw game action.
Grapefruit League record is now 4-3-3
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
Scenes from today's minor league camp
Note : I've partnered with Fanatics on Phillies Merchandise - if you would like to help support my website and articles here's a link to order merchandise - I get a small commission on any sales - thanks for the support.