Phillies Minor League Update: Clearwater has a very good team

Let’s run through the minor leagues and check in on the Phils’ top prospects.

LEHIGH VALLEY: Only four games this week for the Pigs, who were rained out Friday and have a doubleheader today. They went 3-1 and are now 11-9.

The hitters:

Jorge Alfaro: .354/.373/.569, 6 XBH, 17 K, 1 BB, 65 AB
Jesmuel Valentin: .271/.328/.373, 4 XBH, 10 K, 4 BB, 59 AB
Rhys Hoskins: .348/.434/.697, 11 XBH, 14 K, 9 BB, 66 AB
Roman Quinn: .247/.300/.301, 4 XBH, 25 K, 6 BB, 73 AB
Cameron Perkins: .283/.368/.500, 8 XBH, 9 K, 7 BB, 60 AB
Nick Williams: .281/.309/.406, 6 XBH, 22 K, 2 BB, 64 AB
Dylan Cozens: .118/.211/.250, 3 XBH, 33 K, 8 BB, 68 AB
J.P. Crawford: .109/.230/.141, 1 XBH, 19 K, 10 BB, 64 AB

Alfaro is good, but it’s likely he won’t see the majors until September, as Matt Gelb pointed out. See, this is Alfaro’s last option year, so the Phils are probably wanting to give him as much time to train and learn in triple-A as possible before that option year ends.

Hoskins? Sheesh. He’s starting to knock politely on the door.

The pitchers:

Jake Thompson: 16.2 IP, 8.64 ERA, 18 K, 9 BB
Ben Lively: 17 IP, 3.18 ERA, 14 K, 3 BB
Ricardo Pinto: 23.2 IP, 2.28 ERA, 17 K, 5 BB
Nick Pivetta: 19 IP, 0.95 ERA, 24 K, 2 BB
Mark Appel: 17.2 IP, 6.11 ERA, 12 K, 9 BB

Thompson pitched well last time out (7 K, 0 ER, 3 H in 7 IP). Pivetta was skipped this week and is with the Phillies in Los Angeles; he’s the likely starter for Sunday’s game against the Dodgers.

READING: The Fightins’ also had a four-game week thanks to bad weather. And they went 4-0 with decisive wins over just about everyone. They’re now 10-7.

The hitters:

Andrew Pullin: .352/.403/.690, 14 XBH, 16 K, 5 BB, 71 AB
Malquin Canelo: .256/.407/.349, 3 XBH, 14 K, 11 BB, 43 AB
Scott Kingery: .277/.385/.631, 10 XBH, 18 K, 10 BB, 65 AB
Carlos Tocci: .333/.377/.397, 8 K, 1 BB, 63 AB

Kingery went for power this week, and it paid off, as he now has six homers and a .631 slugging percentage. Pullin is showing he’s ready for the callup to triple-A with another solid week at the dish.

The pitchers:

Thomas Eshelman: 22 IP, 3.68 ERA, 18 K, 4 BB
Drew Anderson: 14.2 IP, 8.59 ERA, 9 K, 6 BB

Eshelman is starting to get comfortable on the mound in double-A. He’s already comfortable at the plate, clubbing a three-run home run Wednesday in Harrisburg, fueling a 4-2 win.

CLEARWATER: Just a five-game stretch in which the Threshers outscored opponents 35-10. At 16-6, they’re a full four games better than the next best team in the Florida State League.

Hitters:

Herlis Rodriguez: .344/.400/.656, 10 XBH, 13 K, 6 BB, 64 AB
Damek Tomscha: .333/.386/.519, 7 XBH, 12 K, 6 BB, 81 AB
Cornelius Randolph: .231/.342/.400, 5 XBH, 20 K, 10 BB, 65 AB
Jose Pujols: .184/.235/.211, 2 XBH, 38 K, 4 BB, 76 AB

Another good week for Rodriguez, the 22-year-old corner outfielder.

Pitchers:

Cole Irvin: 26 IP, 1.04 ERA, 20 K, 3 BB
Franklyn Kilome: 23.2 IP, 2.28 ERA, 22 K, 5 BB
Jose Taveras: 22.2 IP, 1.59 ERA, 22 K, 7 BB
Seranthony Dominguez: 19 IP, 0.95 ERA, 25 K, 6 BB
Alberto Tirado: 18 IP, 1.00 ERA, 14 K, 9 BB

It was a very static week for the Threshers’ insane pitching staff. So they’re still really, really good. Tirado goes tonight.

LAKEWOOD: If the Lakewood bats go silent, the Claws are in trouble. And this week showed: they went 2-5 over the week with two 2-1 losses, a 4-1 loss, a 10-1 loss and a 12-1 loss. They scored a total of 12 runs in seven games. Cripes. They’re now 11-12.

Hitters:

Cord Sandberg: .298/.348/.417, 8 XBH, 25 K, 5 BB, 84 AB
Daniel Brito: .333/.388/.456, 5 XBH, 26 K, 7 BB, 90 AB
Mickey Moniak: .284/.353/.378, 6 XBH, 22 K, 7 BB, 74 AB
Arquimedes Gamboa: .280/.321/.400, 1 XBH, 5 K, 2 BB, 25 AB (7-day disabled list)

A poor week for the big hitters in the Lakewood offense. Moniak is steady as she goes. Gamboa is still out.

Pitchers:

Sixto Sanchez: 14.1 IP, 3.77 ERA, 17 K, 2 BB
JoJo Romero: 19.2 IP, 2.75 ERA, 23 K, 8 BB
Ranger Suarez: 22.1 IP, 0.81 ERA, 30 K, 7 BB
Adonis Medina: 21 IP, 1.71 ERA, 24 K, 6 BB

Ranger Suarez. Bow down.

Sixto was skipped this week, which is fine. But everyone is talking about him (it’s worthy talk).

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.