9/17/25 : This and That

Rafael Marchan hit a clutch three run home run last night against the Dodgers that ended up being the game winner. I remember watching Rafael back in 2017 and 2018 Fall Instructs - he always stood out defensively over the development years but there was offensive prowess as well. The backup catcher role on a club where the primary receiver plays just about every day is often under-appreciated and misunderstood by many who only see statistics. Rafael has handled the role well in his first full season doing so - he’s still just 26 years old and in my humble opinion has the skillset to be a primary catcher. Time will tell whether that comes to fruition. In the meantime he continues to work hard, catching multiple side bullpens, warmups and having input into game planning meetings. It’s a “team role” that’s important, one in which the ego gets put aside - kudos to Rafael for how he’s handled the role and happy for him that he had a shining moment in last night’s game.

Developing catchers isn’t an easy task - when a young “star prospect” stands out at the key position like Eduardo Tait interest peaks. I have little doubt that Eduardo will become a major leaguer as did the Twins when they traded for him this July. That being said there’s perhaps no “star prospect” on the horizon in the Phillies system at present but there are fellas who have solid skill sets that continue to work hard and have potential to play in the majors. Paul McIntosh was acquired from the Marlins in the Jesus Luzardo trade, he’s a good overall defender with some pop in his bat who is finishing the season with AAA level Lehigh Valley. At times this summer he was the hottest bat at Reading and likely will be in big league spring camp again next year. Paul has hit double digit home runs in each of his last four years in the minors. The same outlook goes for Caleb Ricketts who has battled the injury bug off and on the past couple of seasons, Caleb is a left handed batter who when he’s on the field has shown both offensive and defensive skills that one can project towards major league service. The organization’s “receiver on the rise” is Kehden Hettiger (21 yrs old) who began the summer with Clearwater and finished with Reading. He’s learning on the job as he didn’t catch full time as a high schooler when drafted and in fact has played first base quite a lot as a pro as well.  Kehden shows promise as a left handed hitter and has made great strides as a receiver from when we first saw him till now, he seemed much more comfortable behind the dish this season - one to watch.  Although I think he’s slated to be a free agent I have been impressed with Payton Henry’s work this year at Lehigh Valley - I think that he’s more than capable of filling in at the major league level, he often caught both Mick Abel and Andrew Painter this summer - has a presence about him and can swing the bat a bit too - a fella I would definitely re-sign if able to - just sayin 🤓.

I can’t say enough about how big Felix Reyes has shined this year. He won the Eastern League batting crown and also led the loop in doubles, total bases, slugging percentage, OPS and BABIP. Last night in his AAA level debut Felix had three more hits including a two run home run - teammate Aidan Miller (who homered himself) was grinning from ear to ear in joy for Felix as he rounded the bases. The very popular young man is now hitting .340 combined on the season - a true breakout campaign that should put him on the radar for at the least a big league spring camp invitation next year. He will play winter ball this off-season in the Dominican. As I’ve said from the first day we saw him in BP - the kid can flat out rake.

Along with Felix three other players from Reading join LHV this week - RHP Griff McGarry (slated to start on Thursday), infielder Erick Brito and LHP Tristan Garnett.  Andrew Painter will make his final start of the season tonight.

The Paul Owens Award winners will likely be announced during next week’s home stand. Other Awards such as the Dallas Green, John Vukovich and David Montgomery/Richie Ashburn Awards will also likely be announced then. Lots of deserving folks about to be recognized for their work.

Dominican Fall Instructs are on-going at the Dominican Academy till mid October. Things are relatively quiet for now at the Clearwater Player Development Center (rehab work continues & the bridge on Old Coachman Road has re-opened!) - Fall High Performance Camp is slated for 10/20/25 this year and will run five weeks thereafter up till the MLB mandated black out period in November when no team activities other than rehab work is permitted thru year end.

Oh by the way - The Phillies are going to be the 2025 World Series Champions.

Had a pleasant experience at the DMV yesterday getting our PA real ID licenses - only took five hours to do so 🤪.

Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️

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