8/17/26 : Did Ya Know 🧐

Hitting it hard in Clearwater :

On 8/14/26 Clearwater outfielder Caden Bogenpohl hit a screaming home run in Fort Myers measured at a 117 mph exit velocity and later hit two singles in the game at 107 mph and 116 mph.

By comparison current Lehigh Valley masher Felix Reyes has posted a maximum exit velocity of 115 mph in his career while former Phillies minor league slugger Dylan Cozens reached 113 mph in the minors and posted 111.3 mph on 6/6/18 in the majors against the Cubs.

Bogenpohl reportedly reached a 119.4 mph exit velocity in the MLB Draft Combine and had five hits there over 114 mph - one last comparison - Kyle Schwarber’s top exit velocity is 116.7 mph on a home run back on 4/8/25.

Big Caden is listed at 6’6” 245 and is a left handed hitter, Cozens was also listed at 6’6” 245 as a lefty hitter when he played. Reyes hits right handed and is listed at 6’3” 195 and Schwarber at 5’11” 229 as a lefty hitter. Big fellas who hit the ball hard.

Starting Pitching Update in Reading :

According to MILB Central RHP Cody Bowker is being promoted to Reading this week from Jersey Shore - young Chase Ford is never wrong on his postings. Bowker was the 2025 3rd round draft pick from Vanderbilt - he’s pitched well at Jersey Shore since his promotion on 6/16/26 from Clearwater posting a 3.28 ERA in 8 BlueClaws starts (35.2 IP) with a 1.01 WHIP - 43 K’s, 7 BB, 6.1 K/BB and 10.8 K/9. With RHP Braydon Tucker recently being placed on the IL Reading is in need of another starter. Bowker joins RHP Gage Wood on the Reading roster as players from the 2025 draft class to reach the AA level in their first full professional season.

Building Defensive Versatility :

Victor Cardoza started his first game at third base yesterday for Clearwater - the 20 year old from Venezuela has posted solid numbers this season playing for the FCL Phillies and Threshers - up till his time at the hot corner with CW he had played exclusively in the outfield. Jonathan Hogart has also moved on the dirt for the Threshers playing first base now in 10 games (9 starts) - he’s clubbed 12 doubles and 16 home runs in his first pro season and had played exclusively in the outfield before his action at first base. Versatility on defense is a good thing to have!

Dominican Summer League (DSL) Playoffs :

The DSL playoffs begin on Thursday this week after the regular season concludes on Tuesday. The Phillies team clinched their playoff berth last week. Sixteen teams will compete for the DSL Cup consisting of eight division winners and eight wildcards. They will be broken into four brackets of pool play seeded according to regular season winning percentage, the Phillies are currently in the 4th slot - the four bracket winners advance to the semifinals and meet in two best of three series with the two semifinals winners advancing to the Championship Series for a best of three match. Here’s how the seeding works for Pool Play on Thursday.

Pool Play :

Pools seeded by regular season records :

Pool A : 1,8,9, 16

Pool B : 2,7,10, 15

Pool C : 3,6,11,14

Pool D : 4, 5, 12, 13

Playoff Competitors :

The Clearwater Threshers (Florida State League) and DSL Phillies have clinched playoff berths while the Reading Fightin’s are in the Eastern League playoff hunt. The last time a Reading team made the playoffs was in 2019 when they won the Eastern Division - that team had Alec Bohm, Mickey Moniak, Luke Williams and Darick Hall on it.

The last time the system had three playoff teams was in 2023 when the DSL Phillies White, Clearwater and Jersey Shore clubs made their respective league playoff tournaments.

The Art of the Steal :

Last season Phillies minor leaguers set an organization record with six players swiping 40 or more bases - this year there’s 15 players with 20 or more stolen bases with three weeks left in the season at the lower levels - will someone reach 40 🧐.

2026 :

Tyler Pettorini - JS/CW - 29

Devin Saltiban - JS - 27

Aroon Escobar - REA - 25

Carter Mathison - JS - 25

Robert Phelps - JS/CW - 25

Bryan Rincon - REA - 25

Juan Villavicencio - JS/CW - 25

Christian Cairo - LHV - 24

Francisco Renteria - DSL - 24

Matthew Ferrara - CW - 23

Nathan Humphreys - JS/CW - 22

Nick Biddison - REA/JS - 21

Raylin Heredia - REA - 21

Pedro Leon - REA/LHV - 21

Griffin Burkholder - JS/CW - 20

2025 :

Aidan Miller - LHV/REA - 59 - (52 with REA led the Eastern League)

Dante Nori - REA/JS/CW - 52

Justin Crawford - LHV - 46

Carson DeMartini - REA/JS - 45

Bryan Rincon - JS - 40

Oscar Mercado - LHV - 40

Dylan Campbell - REA/JS - 33

Avery Owusu-Asiedu - JS/CW - 33

John Spikerman - JS/CW - 30

Aroon Escobar - REA/JS/CW - 24

The .300 Mark :

Last season the Phillies had two minor league batting champions and four players hit above .300 who had more than 300 PA’s - this season there’s only Alirio Ferrebus - JS/CW - .310 in 328 PA’s although Pedro Leon - REA/LHV - .290 in 335 PA’s is close.

2025 :

Justin Crawford - LHV - .334 - 506 PA’s - won the International League Batting Title

Felix Reyes - LHV/REA - .331 - 421 PA’s - (.335 with REA in 395 PA’s won the Eastern League Batting Title)

Keaton Anthony - LHV/REA - .323 - 348 PA’s

Otto Kemp - LHV - .310 - 343 PA’s

2026 current Phillies Minor League Leaders - Offense

Plate Appearances :

Raylin Heredia - REA - 480

Aroon Escobar - REA - 476

Christian Cairo - LHV - 441

Alex Binelas - REA - 438

Bryan Rincon - REA - 429

Hits :

Raylin Heredia - REA - 128

Alex Binelas - REA - 103

Felix Reyes - LHV - 102

Aroon Escobar - REA - 92

Devin Saltiban - JS - 92

Juan Villavicencio - JS/CW - 92

Runs :

Raylin Heredia - REA - 72

Bryan Rincon - REA - 71

Alex Binelas - REA - 70

Aroon Escobar - REA - 65

Juan Villavicencio - JS/CW - 65

Francisco Renteria - DSL - 65

Doubles :

Raylin Heredia - REA - 32

Alirio Ferrebus - JS/CW - 21

Matthew Ferrara - CW - 20

Liover Peguero - LHV - 20 - released

Bryan De La Cruz - LHV - 19

Caleb Ricketts - REA/LHV - 19

Bryan Rincon - REA - 19

Triples :

Francisco Renteria - DSL - 9

Devin Saltiban - JS - 6

Matthew Ferrara - CW - 6

Juan Villavicencio - JS/CW - 6

Jaeden Calderon - FCL/CW - 5

Home Runs :

Alex Binelas - REA - 25

Felix Reyes - LHV - 21

Raylin Heredia - REA - 20

Bryan Rincon - REA - 18

Jonathan Hogart - CW - 16

RBIs :

Alex Binelas - REA - 72

Felix Reyes - LHV - 70

Raylin Heredia - REA - 62

Alirio Ferrebus - JS/CW - 58

Aroon Escobar - REA - 57

Jonathan Hogart - CW - 57

Walks :

Christian Cairo - LHV - 81

Bryan Rincon - REA - 75

Alex Binelas - REA - 68

Robert Phelps - JS/CW - 60

Aroon Escobar - REA - 55

Total Bases :

Raylin Heredia - REA - 222

Alex Binelas - REA - 196

Felix Reyes - LHV - 182

Bryan Rincon - REA - 164

Juan Villavicencio - JS/CW - 163

Batting Average : (at least 320 PA’s)

Alirio Ferrebus - JS/CW - .310 (328 PA’s)

Pedro Leon - REA/LHV - .290 (335 PA’s)

Felix Reyes - LHV - .287 (380 PA’s)

Raylin Heredia - REA - .284 (480 PA’s)

Alex Binelas - REA - .283 (438 PA’s)

On Base Pct : (at least 320 PA’s)

Alex Binelas - REA - .400 (438 PA’s)

Bryan Rincon - REA - .396 (429 PA’s)

Christian Cairo - LHV - .396 (441 PA’s)

Robert Phelps - JS/CW - .392 (418 PA’s)

Nick Biddison REA/JS - CW - .377 (370 PA’s)

Slugging Pct : (at least 320 PA’s)

Alex Binelas - REA - .539 (438 PA’s)

Felix Reyes - LHV - .511 (380 PA’s)

Juan Villavicencio - JS/CW - .497 (378 PA’s)

Pedro Leon - REA/LHV - .497 (335 PA’s)

Alirio Ferrebus - JS/CW - .493 (328 PA’s)

Raylin Heredia - REA - .492 (480 PA’s)

OPS : (at least 320 PA’s ) equals Slugging Pct + OBP

Alex Binelas - REA - .938 (438 PA’s)

Bryan Rincon - REA - .874 (429 PA’s)

Juan Villavicencio - JS/CW - .868 (378 PA’s)

Alirio Ferrebus - JS/CW - .856 (328 PA’s)

Pedro Leon - REA/LHV - .855 (335 PA’s)

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