Phillies Minor League Report: July brings lots of movement

I took a week off from the Minor League Report (vacation), but now we have plenty of updates. Plus, Williamsport, the Gulf Coast Phillies and the Dominican teams have all begun play.

In an effort to keep this shorter, I’m changing up the format just a little. I’ll present some highlights in stat form, then give you a quick narrative about other prospects for each club.

LEHIGH VALLEY

Highlights:

• Rhys Hoskins: .300/.395/.597, 52 XBH, 48 K, 44 BB, 283 AB
• Scott Kingery: .292/.269/.667, 3 XBH, 7 K, 0 BB, 24 AB
• Brock Stassi: .324/.378/.412, 1 XBH, 4 K, 3 BB, 34 AB
• Mark Appel: 81.1 IP, 4.87 ERA, 60 K, 48 BB
• Tom Eshelman: 71 IP, 2.15 ERA, 48 K, 8 BB
• Jesen Therrien: 15.2 IP, 2.30 ERA, 14 K, 2 BB

It’s a different team in Lehigh Valley than the one that reeled off about 60 straight wins back in May and June. Nick Williams and Cam Perkins are in Philadelphia, while Scott Kingery and Andrew Pullin are now full-timers. The former got off to a sizzling start but has cooled down a bit, while the latter hasn’t quite found his footing yet. J.P. Crawford is now over .200, while Jorge Alfaro lingers at .256. Hoskins is, of course, Joey Votto incarnate. A hot last few starts for Mark Appel brings optimism that he may see Philadelphia in September.

READING

Highlights:

• Carlos Tocci: .299/.359/.383, 16 XBH, 43 K, 19 BB, 274 AB
• Zachary Coppola: .301/.380/.344, 4 XBH, 14 K, 13 BB, 93 AB
• Drew Anderson: 78.1 IP, 3.68 ERA, 68 K, 25 BB
• Brandon Leibrandt: 72.2 IP, 3.34 ERA, 52 K, 23 BB (promoted to Lehigh Valley)
• Yacksel Rios: 36 IP, 2.00 ERA, 44 K, 8 BB

Reading is now just 2.5 games back of Trenton, and guess where Reading plays this week? Yup, invade Trenton, Phils fans. Coppola and Tocci are the main reasons to watch Reading at the plate, with the former showing solid patience and the latter really improving his game year by year. Liebrandt was just sent to Lehigh Valley, but now in Reading is 2016 fifth-round pick Cole Irvin (6 IP, 3.00 ERA, 5 K, 2 BB).

CLEARWATER

Highlights:

• Herlis Rodriguez: .259/.342/.443, 16 XBH, 37 K, 19 BB, 174 AB
• Damek Tomscha: .303/.397/.458, 17 XBH, 38 K, 27 BB, 201 AB
• Cord Sandberg: .293/.359/.517, 9 XBH, 14 K, 6 BB, 58 AB
• Franklyn Kilome: 69 IP, 2.61 ERA, 62 K, 26 BB
• Jose Taveras: 81 IP, 2.33 ERA, 71 K, 20 BB
• Alberto Tirado: 62.1 IP, 3.75 ERA, 57 K, 37 BB

The Threshers lost the first half by a game to Tampa (seriously, it’s going to be the Phils and Yankees in the World Series by 2021), and are now fighting for the second-half crown. Luis Encarnacion, who was in Williamsport last season and extended spring training this year, is now in Clearwater. Irvin is in Reading, so all eyes are focused on the Kilome-Taveras-Tirado trio.

LAKEWOOD

Highlights:

• Daniel Brito: .248/.313/.336, 14 XBH, 61 K, 23 BB, 274 AB
• Mickey Moniak: .270/.320/.392, 26 XBH, 60 K, 19 BB, 278 AB
• Darick Hall: .283/.349/.549, 33 XBH, 65 K, 18 BB, 233 AB
• Sixto Sanchez: 45.1 IP, 2.98 ERA, 46 K, 4 BB
• JoJo Romero: 76.2 IP, 2.11 ERA, 79 K, 21 BB
• Ranger Suarez: 78 IP, 1.73 ERA, 85 K, 23 BB
• Adonis Medina: 69.1 IP, 3.76 ERA, 81 K, 28 BB
• Nick Fanti: 69 IP, 2.74 ERA, 69 K, 16 BB

The Claws had a slightly worse winning percentage than Kannapolis and lost the first-half crown in their division. The second half hasn’t started very strong. That said, good pitching continues with Sanchez impressing plenty of people. Hall, a 2016 draft pick and first baseman, is having a pretty decent power year in Lakewood.

WILLIAMSPORT

Highlights:

• Adam Haseley: .500/.600/.625, 1 XBH, 1 K, 1 BB, 8 AB
• Brian Mims: .429/.500/.571, 1 XBH, 2 K, 1 BB, 7 AB
• Greg Pickett: .359/.390/.513, 4 XBH, 16 K, 2 BB, 39 AB
• Rodolfo Duran: .258/.351/.323, 2 XBH, 11 K, 2 BB
• Kyle Young: 13.1 IP, 2.03 ERA, 15 K, 5 BB
• Julian Garcia: 11 IP, 0.82 ERA, 16 K, 2 BB

This is a fun team, with 2016 draftees (Pickett, Cole Stobbe, Garcia, Young) joining big-ticket international signings (Duran, Jhailyn Ortiz) and advanced 2017 draftees (Mims, Haseley). Haseley is the one to watch, and he could scoot right up to Clearwater if he starts strong in Williamsport.

ROOKIE LEAGUES

Highlights:

• Ben Pelletier: .278/.278/.389, 2 XBH, 3 K, 0 BB, 18 AB
• Christian Valerio: .258/.364/.379, 7 XBH, 13 K, 9 BB, 66 AB
• Maximo De La Rosa: .365/.411/.577, 9 XBH, 10 K, 4 BB
• Julio Francisco: .375/.415/.489, 7 XBH, 3 K, 6 BB, 88 AB
• Juan Mendez: .373/.415/.587, 8 XBH, 10 K, 5 BB, 75 AB
• Nicolas Torres: .349/.396/.410, 5 XBH, 9 K, 4 BB, 83 AB
• Alexito Feliz: .318/.356/.412, 4 XBH, 9 K, 3 BB, 85 AB
• Victor Santos: 23 IP, 3.91 ERA, 15 K, 4 BB
• Ramon Rosso: 24.2 IP, 0.36 ERA, 33 K, 8 BB
• Bryan Alcala: 24.2 IP, 1.46 ERA, 21 K, 6 BB
• Jonas De La Cruz: 22 IP, 2.05 ERA, 20 K, 10 BB

Pelletier is the only name to write about at this short-sample-size moment in the GCL, but that’ll change. In the Dominican, the Phils’ White team (Francisco, Mendez, Torres, Feliz, Rosso, Alcala, De La Cruz) is out of the gates with a 16-8 mark, best in the San Pedro division. The Phils’ Red team is 9-14.