Steve Potter
Today was opening day for both the Florida Complex League ( FCL ) formerly known as the Gulf Coast League and the Dominican Summer League. We were in attendance at Carpenter Complex for the noon start of the Phillies & Jays match. A big “crowd” by FCL standards today as there were about ten to 15 of us fans including player’s parents and scouts on hand to watch. There are still barrier restrictions at the Complex so the stands aren’t accessible but hey there’s no shade in those seats anyways - a necessity for noon game observing in FLA 🥵.
RH Oswald Medina started on the mound for the Phillies - the 20 year old Venezuelan was transferred to the FCL from the Low A level Clearwater Threshers ( where he pitched in nine games ) on June 2nd.
Manuel Beltre hit a loud two run home run for the Jays in the first inning to put them on top, the Jays bench was very joyous in their celebration of the blast.
Third baseman Albert Jerez smoked a ball over the left field fence in the bottom of the first for the Phillies, it hit the wall of BayCare BallPark beyond the fence. Albert has one of the strongest infield throwing arms in the system, if he can hit with consistent power as well the young man has defensive skills that could make him intriguing.
The Jays used a walk and two singles to score a run in the third inning, they added another in the fourth as Luis Garcia tripled and subsequently scored on a sac fly.
Oscar Gonzalez scalded a double to left center to lead off the bottom of the fourth and scored when Felix Reyes hit an equally hot off the bat grounder down the third base line for a double. Adony Mejia singled up the middle to score Reyes.
The skies grew increasingly dark and we spotted lightning in the horizon so players were removed from the field, shortly thereafter a Florida summer time style rain fell - intense for about ten to fifteen minutes followed by sunny skies 🤪. The backfields don’t have tarps or ground crews large enough to put them on though so the damage was done and the game was suspended in the bottom of the 4th - to be concluded tomorrow when the Phillies go over to the Jays complex for an already scheduled game. We aren’t allowed in to the Jays complex to watch so won’t be able to report anything more than the box scores tomorrow.
Below is the opening day FCL roster and today’s suspended game box score.
Dominican Summer League :
Phillies White 5 ( 1-0 ) Giants Black 2 ( 0-1 )
Phillies Red 2 ( 1-0 ) Brewers1 0 ( 0-1 )
Seventeen year old RHP Jeffrey German threw five scoreless innings allowing just one hit and three walks.
This photo was posted earlier today by coach Zach Jones on his Twitter account from the Dominican Academy.
Lastly here are the opening day rosters for the two Phillies Dominican teams
Check out the Phillies Player Development Twitter and Instagram site for updates on the minor league organization. It’s run by the Phillies social media group in Philadelphia. I offered to help but was turned away - they only will use official affiliate site information. Guess an old ball fan who watches most every minor league game isn’t baseball savvy enough - is what it is.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
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