9/5/25 : This and That

Playoff Bound :

Minor League Baseball awards playoff positions in split season formats - the standings are tracked by first and second halves with playoff positions gained by each half season’s winners. With last night’s 7-3 victory over Tampa the Clearwater Threshers earned the second half playoff spot for the Florida State League’s West Division. Lakeland (Tigers affiliate) won the first half title and will likely win the second half best record in the division as well however when a team wins both halves the club with the second best record gets the second half playoff berth. Clearwater is currently 32-29 with Bradenton (Pirates affiliate) at 29-32 - the Threshers hold the tie breaker over Bradenton with three regular season games left for each team thus last night’s win secured them the playoff spot. They will host Lakeland in game one of the best of three Division playoff series next Tuesday with games two and three (if needed) to be played in Lakeland. Congrats to Manager Marty Malloy and his team for yet another playoff appearance - in each of the last three seasons the Threshers have advanced to the playoff tournament and went to the Championship Series in 2023.

Pro Debut :

2025 first round draft pick Gage Wood is slated to make his pro debut for the Clearwater Threshers this evening. The 21 year old right hander has been building up since signing back in July with multiple bullpens and live BP sessions at the complex.  I watched him throw one of his bullpen sessions a couple weeks ago and wrote this in my 8/19/25 report “has a bit of a cross fire delivery - ball jumps out of his hand with lots of movement - compact, easy motion, nothing forced - breaking ball had late vertical break - last pitch was a crackling four seamer - made catcher Angel Mara’s glove pop!” Bullpen sessions are one thing as they show mechanics, mix and stuff however the best “gage” is facing actual hitters in a game - tonight begins young Mr. Wood’s journey in player development game action. We wish him success both this evening and ongoing.

By the way multiple 2025 draft picks and un-drafted free agent signings have already debuted with the Threshers including pitchers Gabe Craig, Cole Gilley, Keegan Batka and Peyton Havard along with position players Will Vierling, Matt Ferrara, Robert Phelps, Tyler Pettorini, Jack Barker, Nate Humpheys and Jonathan Hogart.

Stolen Bases and Batting Titles (Update) :

I know I’m likely more fascinated by the stolen base accomplishments of this year’s Phillies minor league players than most but for those who are interested the group has set some new organizational records this summer. With five players with 40 or more stolen bases this season they’ve eclipsed the previous high mark of four set in 1980, 1982 and 1983. When John Spikerman stole his 30th base this week he became the 8th player this summer with 30 or more - that ties the high mark set in 1981 with  Dylan Campbell closing in as the ninth (he’s got 28). Dante Nori stole his 50th bag last night joining Aidan Miller in the 50 plus club - the high mark for players with 50 or more in a season was set in 1980 at three and matched in 1981, 1982 and 1983. The art of the steal is definitely back with this group of fellas!

2025 Phillies Minor League Stolen Base Leaders :

Aidan Miller - REA - 51

Dante Nori - JS/CW - 50

Justin Crawford - LHV - 46

Carson DeMartini - REA/JS - 45

Bryan Rincon - JS - 40

Oscar Mercado - LHV - 38

Avery Owusu-Asiedu - JS/CW - 32

John Spikerman - JS/CW - 30

Dylan Campbell - REA/JS - 28

Aroon Escobar - JS/CW - 22

Another cool player development season feat perhaps on the horizon is the very real chance of two minor league batting title winners - Justin Crawford (506 PA’s) currently leads the AAA level International League in batting average amongst qualified hitters with a .336 mark, Nick Solak (Indianapolis - Pirates affiliate) is second at .324. In the AA level Eastern League Felix Reyes leads with a .336 mark, Max Anderson (Erie - Tigers affiliate) is second at .306. To qualify for the titles a player needs 2.7 plate appearances per team games played, so if Reading plays out its remaining games, Felix needs to finish the season with 368 plate appearances - he is currently at 362 with 9 games left in the season.

Btw it might have been three minor league batting titles this summer as Manolfi Jimenez finished second in the Florida Complex League with a .306 mark in 171 PA’s behind Alberth Palma of the Rays who hit .318 in 171 PA’s.

Of course Trea Turner is in the hunt for the National League title currently leading with a .301 batting average (Milwaukee’s Sal Frelick is next at .297).

Some may discount the importance of stats like batting average but my response to that will always be “have ya ever been in a batters box at an advanced level of play and tried to get a hit or for that matter even hit the ball” - it’s definitely something that’s an accomplishment in any year of play - past,current and future - just sayin.

No hit and one hit stuff :

On Wednesday night three Tampa Tarpon pitchers combined for a seven inning no-hitter against the Threshers, it was the second no-hitter this season at Baycare Ballpark following the combined three pitcher no hitter spun by the Threshers on 8/15 (Angel Liranzo, A.J. Wilson and Erik Ritchie). Earlier this summer on 7/2 three Jersey Shore pitchers (Alex McFarlane, Ethan Chenault and Josh Hejka) combined on the eighth no-hitter in BlueClaws history.

Last night RHP Sam Highfill spun six no hit-no run innings for Jersey Shore against Brooklyn followed by RH Casey Steward with a perfect seventh inning. RH Titan Kennedy-Hayes yielded the only hit of the game in the eighth inning (a home run) and A.J. Wilson finished the one hit combined effort with a scoreless ninth. A combined one hitter is still a pretty remarkable feat so I felt like it deserved a shout out - good job fellas!

The Big Club :

As they should be most fan’s attention is on the big club - they impressed this week yet again with a series win in Milwaukee. I truly believe they are on a path to the 2025 World Series title. Since moving back to PA in early July I’ve become re-acquainted with the “passion” of Phillies fans - have never nor ever will be a proponent of the negative but am certainly on board with the positive reinforcement that comes with Red October approaching.

As reported yesterday by Enrique Rojas of ESPN “MLB is heading to surpass 70 million (exactly 71,106,660) fans for the third consecutive year. The current average per game is 29,262, a slight decrease compared to the 29,373 of 2024, when the total was 71,348,405. - THE RECORD? 79,484,718 in 2007.”  The profession continues to thrive - in the history of MLB there have been twenty seasons where overall attendance exceeded 70 million with the past three being part of that. Long story short is that interest in the game is strong and in places like Philly it’s even more inspired by the real possibility of a championship run. Just hope that MLB ownerships and the players truly realize this and avoid any potential future work stoppages which could dishearten such interest. They should also realize the continuing importance of Player Development and the minor leagues as the baseline of structure. Altering minor league structure from its current standing would have far reaching effects on baseball throughout - not just the pro side of things. The old saying “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” certainly applies especially with interest in the game at a high level - just sayin 🤔.

Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️

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