6/8/26 : Minor League Roundup
- Steve Potter
- 2 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Compiled and written by Steve Potter
Florida Complex League - Phillies 10 (9-18) Yankees 9 (14-13) - 11 innings
Clearwater, FL - Carpenter Complex
How they scored :
The Yankees scored four runs in the top of the second inning on three singles, two walks, a hit batter and wild pitch.
Guillermo Rosario and Jalvin Arias walked in the bottom of the second, Jose Familia singled. Jonathan Alcantara singled to score a run. Romeli Espinosa tripled to score three runs. Espinosa scored on a balk.
Jack Barker walked in the fourth, stole second, went to third on a fielding error and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Logan Dawson.
The Yankees scored in the fifth on a single and double.
Gabriel Azocar singled in the sixth, Jack Barker walked. Esterling Rodriguez advanced them with a sacrifice bunt. Azocar scored on a wild pitch.
The Yankees scored four runs in the 8th inning on a grand slam home run by Dexters Peralta.
In the ninth Jalvin Arias and Jose Familia walked. Jonathan Alcantara put down a sacrifice bunt and reached when the pitcher made a fielding error. Romeli Espinosa was hit by a pitch to force in a run. Gabriel Azocar was hit by a pitch to tie the game.
The game went into extra innings.
Jonathan Alcantara was the placed runner in the bottom of the 11th. Romeli Espinosa was hit by a pitch. Gabriel Azocar singled. Jack Barker hit a sacrifice fly to score the game winning run!
At Bat : 10 R, 10 H, 12 BB, 7 K’s
Jose Familia had two hits (singles) and a walk. Jack Barker doubled and walked twice. Romeli Espinosa tripled and posted four RBIs - he was hit by a pitch twice. Jalvin Arias singled and walked three times. Logan Dawson and Jonathan Alcantara each singled and walked twice. Gabriel Azocar had two hits (singles) and an RBI.
Six Phillies were hit by pitches -things got a bit testy at the end 🤬. The team had six sacrifices in the game - who says they don’t teach that anymore 😂.
On The Hill : 9 R, 11 H, 8 BB, 12 K’s
LH Yordanis Guerra - 1.2 IP, 4 R, 3 H, 1 HB, 3 BB, 5 K’s
LH Raymon Rosario - 3.1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 K
RH Gerardo Lopez - 2.1 IP, 4 R - 3 earned, 4 H, 0 BB, 2 K’s
RH Anderson Navas - 2.2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K’s
RH Alexander De Los Santos - 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K
Dominican Summer League - Arizona Red 4 (4-2) Phillies 2 (4-2) - seven innings
Arizona D-backs DR Complex
How they scored :
Arizona scored a first inning run on a single, walk, wild pitch and sacrifice fly. They added two in the second on a single, walk, single, wild pitch sequence.
Dayber Cruceta doubled in the fourth inning, Nelson Prieto singled to score him. Elian Adames doubled to send Prieto to third base, he then scored on a wild pitch.
Arizona scored a run in the sixth on a single and double.
At Bat : 2 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 9 K’s
Dayber Cruceta and Elian Adames doubled. Javen Maduro walked twice.
On The Hill : 4 R, 7 H, 4 BB, 6 K’s
RH Yilmar Samudio - 2 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 K’s
LH Yoel Zambrano - 3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K’s
RH Ronaldson Estevez - 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 K’s
Boxscore Link : https://www.milb.com/gameday/dsl-phillies-vs-dsl-arizona-red/2026/06/08/849265/final/box
System Transactions :
FCL : RHP Wilmer Blanco transferred from Single-A Clearwater
A Major League Did Ya Know 🤔
This is the seventh consecutive season (2020 to 2026) where the Major League Baseball season’s batting average is in the .242 to .245 range with OBP ranging between a high of .322 in 2020 to a low of .312 in 2022 and 2024. The OPS range goes from a low of .711 in 2024 to a high of .740 in 2020.
There was a similar range of numbers from 1963 to 1969 where th Major League Baseball batting average remained yearly in the .242 to .249 range with OBP ranging between a high of .320 in 1969 to a low of .299 in 1968. The OPS range those years went from a low of .639 in 1968 to a high of .690 in 1964.
The pitching mound was lowered prior to the 1969 season from 15 inches to 10 inches - the seasonal BA went to .254 in 1970 and then remained above the .250 mark for all but two seasons (1971 & 1972) till 2018 when it came down to .248, after a one year bump to .252 in 2019 we entered the current seven year streak of below .250. OBP jumped to .320 in 1969 and remained at or above that till 2012 which began a four year run with a range of .314 to .319 - from 2016 on it’s only been at or above .320 five of the eleven seasons - last time was in 2023 at .320. OPS jumped to .711 in 1970 from .689 the year before and has been .700 or better in 50 of the 57 seasons since that year.
From 1963 thru 1992 the average slugging percentage topped .400 only twice (1977, 1987). From 1988 thru 1992 it reverted back to below .400 but then from 1993 thru 2026 there’s only been five seasons below .400 (including this season thus far at .394). That suggests hitters launching drives has actually had a 34 year run 😳. By the way strikeout averages per game per team were under 6.00 from 1871 thru 1994 when it rose to 6.18, from that point on it’s never been below 6.00 and rose to 7.06 in 2010, it’s been above 8.03 since the 2016 season with the high water mark set in 2019 at 8.81.
So what about home runs? From 1871 to 1987 home run averages per team per game were less than 1.00 - in 1987 that went to 1.06 but fell back below 1.00 till 1994 - since then the average has been 1.00 or higher every year but four (2010, 2011 2013 and 2014) with the high mark being 1.39 in 2019. This year’s mark of 1.09 is within the general mid point range established since then 1994 season.
So what’s it all mean 🧐 - to me the data reflects a dominance in pitching that’s steadily grown - it was addressed in 1969 by lowering the mound. In today’s game with velocity and spin being greater than ever maybe the most current seven year stretch of offensive struggle being similar to the 1963-1969 period is telling us that it’s time to lower it again - I know that it’s more difficult to spin a ball on flat ground - doesn’t have to be exactly flat but going a couple inches below ten might do the trick - just sayin. Else could just blame it on analytics 🥸.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
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