5/12/24 : Did Ya Know 🧐🥸

1 - Did Ya Know 👀 :  Yesterday’s Phillies FCL combined no-hitter by Enrique Segura, Adilson Peralta and Josbel Garcia was the third no-hitter of the minor league season this year ( three Eugene Emeralds pitchers combined for a Northwest League no-no on 4/17/24 and three Norfolk Tides pitchers threw an International League no-no on 5/3/24) but Enrique Segura’s six innings of work is second only to Norfolk starter Chayce McDermott who went 6.2 innings in their combined effort.  In all three contests the catcher caught the entire game - can’t say enough how impressed I was with the three pitchers efforts but also with 20 year old catcher Jorge Mendez yesterday in how he handled the three pitchers and called the contest.  Jorge also hit a home run which was retrieved and given to him after the game -  Really good stuff!

2 - Did Ya Know 😎 : Major League pitch count data for starting pitchers is only available from 1988 forward but it was relatively consistent in the 90’s pitch range regarding average pitches per start from 1988 to 2017 (ranging from a low of  92 to a high of 97 pitches). The thirty year average from 1988 to 2017 was 94 pitches per start.

That’s trended down afterwards as the average from 2018 to 2023 fell to 84 pitches (ranging from a low of 80 in 2020 to a high of 88 in 2018).  It’s noted that 2020 was the short season so it was expected counts would be lower that year - even still the five year average of the full seasons from 2018, 2019 and 2021-2023 was 85 pitches per start.   This season’s MLB average is 86 pitches per start with the Phillies staff at the high mark average of 93 pitches per start and the Red Sox at the low mark average of 80 pitches per start.  For a more complete look at the data including innings pitched, walks, strikeouts and complete games please refer to my 4/11/24 article - https://www.philliesbaseballfan.com/post/4-11-24-just-sayin-starting-pitching-by-the-decades-1950-to-2024

Some Phillies minor league starters have also stretched out beyond the norm in regard to pitches per start.  At the AAA level David Buchanan is averaging 95 pitches over his six starts thus far with a high mark of 112.  Tyler Phillips has thrown over 100 pitches in two of his seven starts (102 and 112) and is averaging 97 pitches per outing.  Three other pitchers (AAA - Mick Abel, High A - Sam Aldegheri and Braeden Fausnaught) have reached the 100 pitch mark in one of their starts (Abel - 100, Aldegheri - 100, Fausnaught - 102) but their ramp up has been slower as each averages in the 83 to 86 pitch range per start thus far.

3 - Did Ya Know 😳 : Nineteen year old Clearwater Threshers shortstop Aidan Miller leads the Florida State League (amongst qualified players -  2.7 plate appearances per team game played) in slugging percentage (.578), is second in OPS (.989) and third in batting average (.337)  - a highly respected observer of the league recently told me that Aidan is the best player he’s seen in the entire loop to date - high praise but well deserved.   Twenty-one year old Jersey Shore BlueClaws outfielder Leandro Pineda is 3rd in the South Atlantic League in batting average (.313) amongst those that qualify,  6th in slugging (.490) and 5th in OPS (.879).  He’s slashed .455/.500/.606 with an OPS of 1.106 in 9 May games ( 33 AB’s).  Leandro had a strong second half of the 2023 season at Jersey Shore and is now putting up even better numbers - just sayin - one to watch - have always liked his game 🤓🔥.

Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️

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