The Phillies minor league teams either lead or remain in the hunt in their respective leagues for playoff positions.
The Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs are in first place by a half game in the International League Eastern Division second half race. The Reading Fightin Phil’s are two games back in the Northeast Division of the Eastern League second half chase in a very tight race where three of the six teams in the division are within two games of leader Somerset.
In the South Atlantic League second half race Jersey Shore is three games behind North Division leader Brooklyn where five of the six teams in the division remain in the hunt. Clearwater has already secured a playoff spot in the Florida State League by winning the first half. They are two games behind West Division second half leader Lakeland.
In the Florida Complex League the Phillies are two games behind the Yankees for the North Division title with three of the four teams in the division in the mix. The Phillies White team leads the Dominican Summer League South Division by three and one half games, the Phillies Red team has a winning record and is in third place in the nine team Division but trails Phillies White by eleven and one half games, the Phillies White team has the best winning percentage in the league.
Reading hitters lead the Eastern League in hits, doubles and batting average. Clearwater batters lead the Florida State League in runs, hits, RBIs, stolen bases, batting average and OPS. Jersey Shore pitchers lead the South Atlantic League in saves, their bullpen staff since the start of the second half have a 2.53 ERA (50 ER in 177.2 IP with 189 strikeouts and 67 walks). That is the best bullpen ERA in all of High-A in that period (since June 23rd). Thanks to Greg Giombarrese - BlueClaws Director of Communications for that BlueClaws intel. Clearwater pitchers lead the Florida State League in ERA, saves, strikeouts and team batting average against. The FCL Phillies pitchers lead the Florida Complex League in saves, the Phillies White team pitching staff leads the Dominican Summer League in ERA, least walks allowed and lowest batting average against.
Individual league leading performances to date include Jake Cave leading the International League in doubles (30), Carlos De La Cruz leading the Eastern League in hits (111), Johan Rojas in triples (5) with Matt Kroon second in the loop in batting average (.319) and Oliver Dunn second in OBP (.424) and third in OPS (.924). Matt Osterberg is second in the South Atlantic League in WHIP (1.13), Nick Ward is second in runs scored (70) and fifth in OBP (.392), Rixon Wingrove is 3rd in RBIs (58), Marcus Lee Sang is second in walks (56) and fourth in hits (94). Emaarion Boyd is second in the Florida State League in stolen bases (46), Justin Crawford leads the league in batting average (.333) and is third in stolen bases (38). Raylin Heredia leads the Florida Complex League in triples (4) and is second in batting average (.349), 5th in OBP (.433), third in slugging percentage (.574) and OPS (1.007), Dakota Kotowski leads in home runs (12). Luis Gomez leads the FCL in saves (8).
But here’s in my opinion the most important stat 😎 - My wife Barb and I celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary today, four children, four grandchildren, multiple grand dogs, cats and turtles along with thousands of baseball practices and games watched and still going strong! She’s the perfect princess, I am truly blessed to have shared my life with her, hopefully many happy days and happy baseball times ahead 🤓. With gratitude optimism is sustainable.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
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