The Phillies Extended Spring Training ( XST ) group played today against their counterparts from the Blue Jays. I mistakenly thought the game began at 1 PM … upon my arrival at Carpenter Complex the game was in progress, it had started at noon 🤦♂️.
I missed the first two innings but was able to pick up the action in the third frame. Later found out that RH Josh Gessner ( 20 yrs old ) pitched the first two innings. LH Samuel Aldegheri was pitching when I settled into my lawn chair beyond the right field fences of Ashburn Field. Samuel is from Italy and is just 19 years of age, he’s yet to appear in an “official” professional game. Today we saw him toss three scoreless frames. He threw strikes and had a couple punch outs and just one walk. We saw him briefly in 2019 instructs and remarked then that he had good command and that the velocity also seemed to be decent … I’d guess in the 90-92 range today.
Lefty Corey Phelan followed Aldegheri … the 18 year old from Huntington, NY was signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent in August of 2020. Today he pitched 1 1/3 innings allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out three batters. Seemed very poised and in command from what I could see, this is the first time I’ve seen him throw. Right hander Chi-Ling Hsu threw the final 2 2/3 innings … he allowed no runs and just one walk while striking out three batters. He’s 21 years old and is from Taiwan.
The Phillies won the nine inning contest by a count of 8-2. Jadiel Sanchez ( 20 yrs old ) hit a two run double in the third inning and Jamari Baylor ( 20 yrs old ) hit an RBI double in the 6th inning, in the same frame Edward Barboza ( 20 yrs old ) stroked a two run single. Three more runs scored in the 8th inning on a single, a hit batter, two walks and two wild pitches.
By my count the Phillies had seven hits … two singles by Jake Elmore ( 34 yr old veteran signed 6/14 ), the doubles previously mentioned by Baylor & Sanchez and singles by Barboza, Felix Reyes ( 19 yrs old ) and Marcus Lee Sang ( 20 yrs old ).
Defensively the Phillies lined up with Felix Reyes at 1B, Jamari Baylor ( 2B ), Jake Elmore ( SS ) and Kervin Pichardo at 3B. The catcher was Edward Barboza and the outfield was Jefferson Encarnacion ( RF), Jadiel Sanchez ( CF ) and Marcus Lee Sang ( LF ). In game substitutions were Alexeis Azuaje ( SS ), Wilson Valdez ( 3B ), Leandro Pineda ( RF ), Uziel Viloria ( 2B ) and Chris Burke ( C ). Arturo De Freitas batted but didn’t play in the field.
Other Notes :
I believe I saw RHP Jean Hernandez who was signed in 2019, the same draft class as Yhoswar Garcia. Hernandez is now 19 years old … when signed it was stated that his FB was in the 93-94 range and that he has a decent curve ball and good pitch ability. With the FCL season slated to start on 6/28 there will be a few more additions to the roster. We’ve already noted that RHP Victor Lopez, LHP Christopher Soriano and 1B Oscar Gonzalez are also playing in XST.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
