Each Monday this year for the Phillies minor league full season affiliates is a scheduled off day. They get to re-charge from a six day stretch of games before starting on another stretch the next day.
Here’s a review of the past week with a spot light on players from each team who had good numbers and performances.
Lehigh Valley ( Overall Record 7-5, 2-4 during the past week) - next series in Syracuse, NY ... the Syracuse Mets are 2-10 and are on a 4 game losing streak.
RHP Spencer Howard - 2 starts ( 5/11 & 5/16 ) - 7 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 11 K’s - velo is now upper nineties consistently - movement is back & the big hook has been well located - strong week indeed
LHP Bailey Falter - five shutout innings on 5/12, 3 H, 1 BB, 7 K’s - second start of the season. Pitched and didn’t throw - that’s the Bailey Falter we’ve seen in lower levels - something to build on.
UTL Luke Williams - 6 for 21 during the week with 4 walks and 4 RBIs. He’s hitting .370/.442/.470 in 46 AB’s with 6 walks for the season. He’s played all three outfield spots and 2B,SS and 3B thus far.
OF Cornelius Randolph - 5 for 15 during the week with a double, home run and two RBIs. Strong defensive week, particularly in right field. Raised his season average 100 points during the week after a slow start statistically.
Reading ( Overall Record 2-10 - 0-6 during the past week) - next series in Akron, OH ... the Akron Rubber Ducks ( Indians Affiliate ) are 7-4 and went 2-4 vs Erie this past week
OF Matt Vierling - 6 for 22 with 4 walks during the week with 2 doubles, a home run and 4 RBIs. He’s hitting .326/.426/.628 on the year with 4 doubles, 3 home runs and 8 RBIs. His OPS is 1.054. He’s played both center and right field defensively. His 27 total bases leads the minor league organization.
RHP James McArthur - 4 solid innings on 5/11 - 1 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 5 K’s. 8 K’s in 7 IP ( 2 games ) for the season with 2 BB. Has shown increased velocity ( sitting mid nineties ) and coupled that with excellent command against Bowie in the 5/11 game.
Jersey Shore ( Overall Record 4-8, 1-5 during the week) - next series @ home vs Winston-Salem Dash ( White Sox Affiliate ) who are 7-5 overall - they went 5-1 last week vs Hickory and have won four in a row.
RHP Noah Skirrow - 2 games ( 5/11 & 5/16 ) - 6 2/3 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 3 BB, 7 K’s. In three games this season he’s thrown 9 1/3 innings with 12 K’s and 3 BB, posting a 0.96 ERA as well as a 0.96 WHIP.
LHP Josh Hendrickson - 3 perfect innings on 5/12 with 6 K’s. In two games this season he’s thrown 7 scoreless innings with 10 K’s, no walks and has allowed just 2 hits.
RHP Adam Leverett - 3 scoreless and hitless innings on 5/13 - 1 BB, 6 K’s ... on the season in 2 games - 0 R, 1 H, 2 BB, 10 K’s.
OF Hunter Markwardt - 10 for 21 for the week including going 8 for 17 for Jersey Shore after being promoted from Clearwater on 5/13. He had two three hit games ( 5/14 & 5/15 ) and 6 RBIs during those games including a bases clearing triple. Hunter plays hard - broke his nose his first season at Williamsport colliding with the wall ala Aaron Rowand 😳, he’s got plus speed and generally puts the ball in play ... reminiscent of former Phillie Greg Gross but with quicker wheels. Had the strongest week of any player in the system. Now hitting .394/.474/.485 on the season in 33 AB’s with 4 walks and 3 stolen bases.
SS/2B Bryson Stott - 5 for 18 for the week with 6 walks. He hit his 3rd home run of the season on 5/16. On the season he’s drawn 14 walks and has an OBP of .458 in 11 games.
C Logan O’Hoppe - 6 for 21 for the week with a double, home run and six RBIs ... all the RBIs and five of his hits came in the last three games when he went 5 for 11. He’s hit 2 home runs and posted 9 RBIs for the season thus far.
Clearwater ( Overall Record 6-6, 3-3 during the week) - next series @ home vs Dunedin Blue Jays who are 3-9 overall - they went 2-4 during the past week vs Bradenton - the games were played at BayCare Ballpark as their home field was occupied by the big league Blue Jays
1B/3B DJ Stewart - 8 for 22 for the week 2 doubles, a home run and 9 RBIs. He’s hitting .357/.413/.571 in 42 AB’s with 2 home runs and 15 RBIs in the early going. His 15 RBIs are tops in the minor league organization and his 24 total bases are second only to Reading’s Matt Vierling.
2b/SS Casey Martin - 7 for 24 for the week with 3 doubles and 5 stolen bases. He was moved to the leadoff position in the order this past week and scored 5 runs. He leads the minor league organization in stolen bases with six.
RHP Cristian Hernandez - threw 4 scoreless innings allowing just one hit and no walks in his start on 5/15 with 6 strikeouts. The power arm young hurler has struck out 16 batters in 9 IP thus far this season. He’s only issued one walk and has shown the ability to dominate hitters albeit in a small sample size. He leads the minor league organization in punch outs thru the first couple weeks of play.
C Abrahan Gutierrez - 7 for 15 for the week in four games with nine total bases. He also walked three times. For the season he’s slashing .414/.541/.586 in 29 AB’s with 7 BB. Abrahan has struck out only 4 times on the season, a rarity in today’s game to have so few punch outs. He’s performed very well defensively as well.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
