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 run 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, even great numbers and performances.
Lehigh Valley ( Overall Record 11-7, 4-2 during the past week) - next series at home vs Worcester, MA ... the Worcester Red Sox are 11-7 overall
Cornelius Randolph -no one had a better offensive week than the 23 year old outfielder. He went 13 for 22 ( .591 ) during the week in Syracuse including a 5 for 5 game on 5/19 where he amassed 11 total bases with a single, three doubles and a home run 😳. “C” hit three home runs and four doubles during the week and scored nine runs while also driving in nine runs. He’s riding a eight game hitting streak ( 16 for 29 - .552 ) and is 18 for 37 ( .486 ) in his last ten games. His season slash line is now .377/.421/.698 and his OPS is 1.119 in 15 games played.
We noted during minor league spring training camp how he was driving the ball to the opposite field with authority akin to his early days as a professional and that we believed good things would happen this season. His motto of “One Day at a Time” has true meaning ... it’s a long way to the top of the ladder and each season is a grind of ups and downs ... this was by far the best week of his young career. His game reminds me of former Phillie outfielder Milt Thompson ... did ya know that Milt spent six seasons in the minors before making his major league debut ? “C” is in his his sixth minor league season and while some may have discounted him awhile ago we haven’t given up the faith ... “One Day at a Time” indeed ... great week young Mr Randolph !
Adonis Medina - pitched five perfect innings on 5/21 with four strikeouts. He was dominant and needed just 45 pitches ( 33 strikes ) to do so. For the season Adonis is 3-0 with a WHIP of 1.06 in 18 IP with 14 K’s and only 4 walks. The ability has always been evident for the 24 year old right hander, in times past he’s seemingly battled himself as much as the opponent ... this season he’s pitching with confidence and is attacking the hitters with a focus on commanding the zone and making the batter hit his pitch. It’s been a successful tact ... he’s went five innings in each of his last three starts. Keep the faith Adonis ... good things will continue to happen 👍.
Luke Williams - continues to rake ... He went 8 for 25 ( .320 ) during week with 5 walks, a double and a triple. Luke has been hot all season and has a slash line of .352/.439/.465 with an OPS of .904 thru three weeks of play. He’s played in all 18 games and has seen defensive action at 2B, SS, 3B and all three outfield spots. The 24 year old continues to make a strong case for his first promotion to the show ...
Bailey Falter - he made two starts during the week and posted his first AAA level win. Bailey threw 9 2/3 total innings against Syracuse allowing just one run on seven hits and two walks while striking out 14 batters. In four starts he posted a 2.41 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP in 18 2/3 IP with 26 K’s and 5 BB.
Austin Listi - he went 10 for 26 (.385 ) for the week with two doubles and four RBIs. Included in the mix was a four hit game on 5/19 and a three hit game on 5/23.
Reading ( Overall Record 3-15, 1 -5 during the past week) - next series at home vs Richmond, VA ... the Richmond Squirrels ( SF Giants ) are 10-8 overall
A rough week for the Fightins as they were outscored 39 to 13 ... let’s hope the home cooking turns things around this coming week.
Jersey Shore ( Overall Record 8-10, 4-2 during the week) - next series on the road in Hudson Valley, NY vs the Renegades ( Yankees Affiliate ) who are 9-9 overall
Bryson Stott - the 23 year old middle infielder has been an on base machine during the initial three weeks of the season posting a .464 OBP and a 1.010 OPS. During the week he went 7 for 20 ( .350 ) with a double, home run and four RBIs and also drew six walks giving him a system leading 20 for the season. Defensively he’s been stellar handling 62 chances with just one error committed.
Outstanding pitching was the rule during the week for the Blue Claws as they limited Winston Salem ( including 1 run on 3 hits the first two games ) ... LH Josh Hendrickson tossed four one hit shutout innings on Tuesday striking out seven batters. RH Jonathan Hughes was his piggyback partner, he threw three perfect innings with 3 K’s.
On Wednesday RH Adam Leverett continued his scoreless streak with 3 one hit innings striking out four batters, he’s thrown 9 2/3 innings with 14 punch outs. LH Jhordany Mezquita threw three shutout frames in the same game.
RH Dominic Pipkin ( 3 IP ) and RH Andrew Brown ( 2 IP ) continued the scoreless pitching dominance on Thursday with RH Noah Skirrow ( 4 IP ) and RH Victor Santos ( 2 IP ) producing scoreless efforts on Saturday.
And we gotta mention that RH Tyler McKay, RH Kevin Gowdy, RH Jack Perkins, Mike Adams and RH Blake Brown each shined during the week as well 🤓👍⚾️
Clearwater ( Overall Record 9-9, 3-3 during the week) - next series on the road in Jupiter, FL vs the Hammerheads ( Marlins Affiliate ) who are 8-10 overall
Abrahan Gutierrez - the 21 year old catcher went 4 for 14 during the week and has a hit in all 11 games he’s played this season posting a .372/.500/.512 slash line with an OPS of 1.012. Defensively he’s been really strong throwing out 5 of 18 runners attempting to steal, that’s even with the new experimental rule in place that limits the number of times a pitcher can throw to first base holding a runner.
Rixon Wingrove - the 21 year old celebrated his birthday on Sunday with two hits ( double and triple ) and two RBIs. For the week he was 6 for 20 ( .300 ) with 3 doubles, a triple and 4 RBIs. We knew it was just a matter of time before the big fella starting accumulating the hits.
DJ Stewart - the 22 year old also went 6 for 20 ( .300 ) during the week and had 4 RBIs. On the season he’s slashing .339/.388/.484 with an OPS of .872 in 15 games played.
Strong pitching outings were turned in by LH Jordi Martinez ( 3 scoreless innings ), RH Starlyn Castillo ( 3 IP, 1 R, 6 K’s ), RH Cristian Hernandez ( 4 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 6 K’s ), RH Fernando Lozano ( 3 IP, 0 earned R, 2 H, 4 K’s ) and RH Mick Abel ( 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 4 K’s ).
Hernandez has produced 22 K’s in just 13 IP over his 4 appearances and has walked only two batters, the hard throwing 20 year old has posted a WHIP of 0.85 ... outstanding start to his season 💪.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
