Mother Nature brought a lot of rain to Clearwater and Lakeland on Monday and Tuesday forcing cancellations of scheduled camp matchups with the Tigers. The fellas were given the day off Monday with practices taking place indoors on Tuesday.
Wednesday 4/21/21 recap :
Game action resumed on Wednesday with matchups against the Blue Jays. We observed the AA contest at BayCare Ballpark. LHP Ethan Lindow ( 22 yrs old ) started on the hill and was solid going a full three innings. RHP Julian Garcia ( 25 yrs old )
followed and looked strong, good velocity and sharp off speed deliveries in his three frames of work.
Left Fielder Hunter Hearn ( 24 yrs old ) went 3 for 4 ( all sharply hit singles ) out of the leadoff spot. Shortstop Arquimedes Gamboa ( 23 yrs old ) also had three hits including a home run. Catcher Jack Conley ( 24 yrs old ) doubled in his only AB and Matt Kroon ( 24 yrs old ) homered.
Kroon played center field, we’ve never seen him play there before. He got great reads on balls and tracked quite a few down, looked really good out there.
Thursday was a camp day ... there was an Intra squad scrimmage but we didn’t attend ...
Friday 4/23/21 recap :
The Tigers were the opponent. The High A squads played in BayCare Ballpark while rookie levels matched up on Roberts Field. AA and low A traveled to Lakeland.
Jim Peyton of Phuture Phillies watched the rookie level game ... details can be found on his website on the contest. Here are some highlights ...
Nineteen year old RHP and 2020 first round draft pick Mick Abel saw his first game action and was dominant needing only eight pitches to complete an inning of work. He was bringing the heat. Eighteen year old LHP Corey Phelan also impressed going two frames and retiring all six batters he faced, three by strikeout.
Nineteen year old outfielder Jadiel Sanchez homered in the game and twenty year old infielder Jamari Baylor doubled off the left field wall. Nineteen year old outfielder Yhoswar Garcia impressed with his speed and had a hard line drive single to left field as did twenty year old catcher Micah Yonamine.
Mark Wylie attended the High A game at BayCare Ballpark and notated the following ...
Twenty three year old LHP Josh Hendrickson was the starter and overpowered the Tigers batters striking out six in 2 2/3 scoreless IP ... a lot of swings and misses on his fastball. Twenty three year old LHP Jhordany Mezquita went 2 2/3 innings yielding one run. LHP Tyler Adams ( 23 yrs old ) struck out the side in the seventh inning. He pitched 1 1/3 scoreless frames in relief.
Twenty four year old corner infielder McCarthy Tatum homered in the bottom of the first inning, it’s the second time we’ve witnessed him going yard, has had a strong camp. Twenty four year old first baseman Rudy Rott had a couple of knocks. Twenty three year old catcher Herbert Iser had a double and twenty one year old Infielder Kendall Simmons hit the ball consistently loud serving in the DH roll out of the leadoff spot. He was thrown at second trying to stretch a liner down the left field line into a double in the third inning. I got to the game late and saw one of his later AB’s ... the young man generates tremendous bat speed 😳.
Word came from Lakeland that twenty four year old RHP James MacArthur was dominant in the AA contest there showing a heater that was consistent in the 95-97 range 🔥.
Saturday 4/24/21 recap :
I was back in full game attendance and watched the AA contest at BayCare Ballpark. We saw what we believe were a couple camp game debuts as the Phillies faced off against the Blue Jays.
Twenty two year old RHP Kyle Glogoski continues to impress. The New Zealander can flat out pitch and he’s got what appeared to be ( no speed gun handy ) at least mid 90’s heat on the FB. He started and went shutout three frames allowing just two hits and a walk and punched out four batters.
LHP Nick Fanti ( 24 yrs old ) pitched for the first time we’ve seen him in game action since Fall Instructs. After walking the first hitter he faced Nick reverted back to the precision control artist we’ve witnessed in years past before his shoulder injury and subsequent surgery cost him both the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Facing just four batters he tossed a scoreless frame with one punch out. Good to see him back out there ... for those that may not remember he’s the author of two minor league no hitters in 2017 when pitching for Lakewood.
RHP Mark Appel was next in the debut spot light ( we think - until we’re told differently 🤓) ... the 29 year old RHP also tossed a scoreless frame after walking the first two batters he faced. Mark showed good pop on the heater ... it looked plenty quick and he struck out two of the last three batters he faced ... pitched against five hitters in total in the frame. Really cool to see him back on the mound 👍.
We saw RHP Mike Adams for the second time in game action. He struck out one batter in a perfect inning. The 26 year doesn’t mess around on the hill, gets the ball and gets after it ... plenty of giddy-up in his deliveries or as they now say ... very firm pitches 🤓 ... he’s impressed.
RHP Austin Ross retired all four batters he faced in the contest, good bounce back effort for the 26 year old after struggling a bit in Wednesday’s contest.
Gotta mention a Blue Jays hurler ... 21 year old Elvis Luciano was really good for them, he retired the last twelve batters he faced in five scoreless innings of work allowing just three hits. He had 8 K’s in the game, the Phillies struck out 13 times in total. A name to keep on the radar 👀.
The Phillies had just six hits in the contest ... two by left fielder Cole Stobbe including a double off the left field wall. From our observations the 23 year old utility player has had a very strong offensive camp. Twenty three year old Bryson Stott hit the ball hard in his last two AB’s ... one a hard ground ball single that got on the second baseman playing in short right field in a hurry and another a ball smoked thru the legs of the first baseman that I scored an error but to be honest the fielder was acting in self defense ... ball was wickedly hit ... crushed. 💪.
That’s a wrap ...
Tomorrow is a camp day ... we are taking the day off. Game action resumes on Monday and Tuesday with matches scheduled against the Blue Jays. Camp is slated to break on Friday 4/30.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
Steve Potter is the co-author with Larry Shenk of “Life In The Minors, 5th annual Phillies Minor League Digest” now available on amazon.com. He can be followed on www.PhilliesBaseballFan.com).
