Minor League Mash-Up: Medina shining in Reading

Believe it or not, were almost half way through the minor league season. There’s plenty to talk about from the past week, so let’s get to it.

Records

• Lehigh Valley IronPigs: 30-30
• Reading Fightin’ Phils: 34-25
• Clearwater Threshers: 34-28
• Lakewood BlueClaws: 24-39

Notable Performances

• Tyler Viza had a strong outing for Lehigh Valley to start the week. He went seven innings, while allowing one run on three hits and one walk. He struck out seven.
• Tom Eshelman had another strong outing for Triple-A Lehigh Valley this week. He went eight innings, allowing three earned runs on 10 hits and a walk. He had five strikeouts.
•  Mickey Moniak went 2-5 with two doubles and an RBI for Reading on Thursday. Moniak added another two hit game on Saturday.
• Reading’s Ramon Rosso started that Thursday game and went six quality innings, allowing only one run on five hits and two walks.
• Austin Listi collected three hits, including a solo home run for Reading on Friday.
• Adonis Medina went six scoreless innings for Reading on Friday. He allowed only two hits and three walks. He added five strikeouts and only threw 82 pitches.
• Cornelius Randolph went 2-4 with a double and a home run for Reading on Sunday. He drove in two runs.
• Simon Muzziotti returned from the injured list this week and went 2-4 with a double on Monday for Clearwater.
• Nick Maton went 2-4 with a triple, an RBI and two runs scored for Clearwater on Tuesday.
• Alec Bohm went 2-5 with an RBI for Clearwater on Saturday.
• Jhailyn Ortiz went 2-4 with a double, three runs scored and an RBI in that one as well.
• Rodolfo Duran was the story of that Saturday game, though, as he went 4-4 with a home run and five RBIs. He totaled eight bases in the game.
• Kevin Gowdy had a nice outing on Monday for Lakewood. He went five innings, allowing only one run. The biggest thing, though, was that he only walked one batter, although he had two wild pitches. Gowdy then appeared out of the bullpen on Saturday, allowing a run in 3.2 innings of work. In that relief appearance, he did not allow a walk and had two strikeouts.
• Manuel Silva had a great appearance out of the bullpen for Lakewood on Tuesday. He went 3.1 innings, allowing no runs on four hits and zero walks with four strikeouts. Silva then started on Sunday, going four innings while allowing one run.
• Francisco Morales went five innings, allowing only one unearned run in his start this week. He allowed only three hits and had seven strikeouts with no walks.

Season Stats

• It’s been hard for Enyel De Los Santos to get any consistency this year because he’s been going back and forth between Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia. He’s also had different roles at each stop. In six starts with Lehigh Valley in 2019, he has a 3.65 ERA and has 32 strikeouts in 24.2 innings.
• Top Prospect Alec Bohm did not have a great week and his average in High-A dropped to .306 from .325 last Saturday. For the season, he’s slashing .326/.385/.505, while his power has disappeared for a little with no home runs in his last 10 games. Bohm isn’t striking out, though, with only 33 in 56 games, which means he’s continually putting the ball in play. The most important thing about Bohm’s week was that he was named the Phillies Minor League fielder of the month of May, which is huge considering his biggest red flag was his defense.
• Adonis Medina is starting to get into a groove in Reading. His ERA is down to 3.44 and in his last four starts, he’s only given up two runs over 21.2 innings pitched.
• Luis Garcia continues to struggle, with his average down to .187. The 18-year-old is only slugging .251 on the year and has 58 strikeouts in 57 games.
• JoJo Romero is just a mess this year. After struggling for Triple-A Lehigh Valley, he was sent down to Reading, where he’s also been struggling. Between the two teams, he has a 8.88 ERA with a WHIP of 1.95 and an opponent’s batting average of .337.
• Francisco Morlaes may not be having a great year ERA wise (he has a 4.70 ERA), but his 62 strikeouts in 38.1 innings sure are impressive. Morales is young enough to stay on the starter track for the time being, but he has the chance to become a dominant reliever as well.
• Mickey Moniak’s average sits at .259, right around where it’s been for the past couple of weeks now. Moniak continues to display gap-power with 15 doubles, six triples and only three home runs. He did have two nice outfield assists this week as well.
• Simon Muzziotti is healthy and continues to hit for Clearwater. His average is at .294 and he’s doing a lot at the top of the lineup with 27 runs scored, nine stolen bases and 14 walks in 44 games.
• Rafael Marchan’s average has dropped to .264, but he continues to impress with his plate discipline, as he has 13 walks and just 14 strikeouts.
• Nick Maton is hitting .287 this season, with 19 runs scored, seven stolen bases and 20 walks. The Phillies would like to see a little more out of him extra-base wise, with only 12 on the season and a slugging percentage of .399.
• David Parkinson continues to do well in Reading, with a 3.54 ERA and a 1.18 WHP. He’s only walked 22 batters in 56 innings and only allowed three home runs in that time.
• Despite the fact that he’s walked more batters than he’s struck out (26-23), Kevin Gowdy’s ERA is starting to fall and it’s down to 3.90 now. His control was better this week, so we’ll see if his recent success continues.
• It wasn’t the greatest week for Deivy Grullon, whose average dropped to .311 after going 3-27 in his last seven games. He also hasn’t homered in his last 10 games either. The pitching in the International League may have adjusted, it’s now time to see if Grullon can too.

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