We took the morning off and didn’t arrive at the complex till a little past noon but still saw a flurry of activity. As we arrived lefty Jonathan Hennigan was finishing up a bullpen session on the mounds between Carlton and Roberts Fields. Right handers Austin Ross and Carlo Reyes followed. Ross had good velocity and his changeup dove like a knuckleball. Lefties Jared Wetherbee and Matt Osterberg were next, we were impressed how smooth Osterberg’s delivery is, free and easy. Right handers Victor Lopez and Andrew Baker were the last two we saw throw bullpens - Baker has high velo capabilities.
Batting practice was being held concurrently and afterwards on Ashburn and Roberts fields. Bunting practice followed on Roberts Field, Johan Rojas and Yhoswar Garcia were key participants in the bunting drills, if they can master bunting with their outstanding speed and already impressive bat to ball skills their offensive prowess expands even further - that’s exciting !
Live bullpens were held at around 2 PM on Ashburn and Roberts fields. Cam Bedrosian threw first on Ashburn and displayed perhaps the quickest velo of the day ( we don’t have a speed gun ). The veteran hurler has been in the 94 to 96 mph range in times past. Ben Brown followed on Ashburn - he began his outing with a behind the mound fist in the glove pound ala the mad Hungarian Al Hrabosky of times past 🤓, it’s doubtful though that young Ben or many of his teammates might know who Al was - boy I’m old 🤦♂️. Ben battled command a bit but otherwise threw the ball well - velo was decent from our view. Cristian Hernandez finished up on Ashburn Field and also threw well, the 21 year old young right hander can dominate hitters, he had an good first live BP outing.
On Roberts Field Andrew Schultz was the first hurler. His command was off a bit, not to be unexpected this early. Christian McGowan followed, big arm capabilities. The last hurler on Roberts Field was Billy Sullivan, he impressed - good velocity and movement - in our view the strongest outing of the day amongst the live BP hurlers.
On the hitting side in live BP both Darick Hall and Ethan Wilson made solid contact on Roberts field. Darick went yard again and Ethan hit a couple solid liners for hits and launched an impressive opposite field home run. Matt Kroon had some solid contact on Ashburn Field.
Link to videos of some of today’s bullpen and live bullpen sessions - https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/3-6-22-videos-from-3-6-22-minor-league-camp
Camp Notes :
There are 192 players on the Minor League Camp roster which also includes players on rehab assignment : 117 Pitchers, 19 Catchers, 37 Infielders, 19 outfielders. The roster is relatively young - 34 percent is in the age range of 18 to 21 years old with 45 percent in the age range of 18 to 22 years old. There are 16 teenagers and 25 twenty year olds. The potential upside in the younger players is the best I’ve seen since following the Phillies minor leagues. It bodes well that a core from this group can emerge together and reach the major leagues.
That’s a wrap for today - Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
Collage of bullpen sessions seen - some photos by Danie Berlingis
Collage of live bullpen sessions and fielding practice - two center photos by Danie Berlingis
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