Minor League Games - August 23rd, 2022

[Squire]

AAA: Gwinnett at Lehigh Valley (TBD) - 7:05 PM
AA: Binghamton at Reading (RHP Noah Skirrow) - 7:00 PM
High A: Brooklyn at Jersey Shore (TBD) - 7:05PM
Low A: Tampa at Clearwater (TBD) - 6:30 PM
FCL: FCL Phillies (TBD) at FCL Blue Jays - 10:00 AM
DSL: DSL Phillies Red (TBD) at DSL Dodgers Mega - 10:30 AM
DSL: DSL Rangers Red at DSL Phillies White (TBD) - 11:00 AM

Rolling Scores Here - https://www.milb.com/scores/philadelphia-phillies/2022-08-23

Rolling Boxes Here - https://www.mlb.com/prospects/stats/affiliates?teamId=143&date=08/23/2022

[phillychuck]

Bryce and Derick both in Allentown today. Interesting to see if they both have good ABs.

[andyb]

Last game in the FCL season. They really should play a couple of weeks later, especially with the new draftees starting later. Because of odd-numbered divisions the season has even shrunk from 60 to 56 games in the last couple of years. Would it really hurt to play until mid-September and get the season up to 70 games?

[phillychuck]

I guess it depends on what these kids do after the season. I'm not sure if they just go to the complex and get intensive coaching, or if that is paused until the FIL. Maybe the teams want to focus on development rather than playing games...

[Austinfan]

Plus the college kids had a college season, then some minor league games, then the FIL.
They probably need a break.

[phillychuck]

Breaks? We don't need no stinkin' breaks!!!

[andyb]

The majority of the team was previously in the organization, mostly up from DSL. Playing an extra dozen games for the new draftees still means they top out at 30. No need for a break.

[andyb]

Crawford (2-2, BB, 2 SB, 2 RBI) and Boyd (1-2, SB) finish on a high note.

[phillychuck]

Crawford was in a bit of a lull prior to today. Good to see the strong finish. Boyd has been really good in Clearwater. Does Boyd's performance jump him ahead of Crawford in prospect lists? I'd guess not; it's a small sample...

[fish]

I don't think I'm ever going to get used to seeing new draftees getting 40 ABs in their draft year instead of what used to be closer to 200.
It hadn't occurred to me that the end of the minor league season for most teams is 2 week away- the end of summer is a sad time of year. Seems like so many Phillies minor leaguers had half seasons- except for the big 3 still around, the system looks pretty bad..

[fish]

Does Boyd's performance jump him ahead of Crawford in prospect lists? I'd guess not; it's a small sample...

Boyd had one less hit and 7 less ABs- not much of a difference, especially considering both only produced 1 extra base hit.

[phillychuck]

Fish, I'm actually pretty optimistic about the new players added this summer to the system, and the development of 4 or 5 pitchers not in the "top 3". We still are failing to develop hitters; I assume some of our low-A, high-A, AA, and AAA hitters have actual talent; we just can't seem to find it...

[andyb]

It hadn't occurred to me that the end of the minor league season for most teams is 2 week away

Looks like we have 3 weeks of A ball (High and Low), 4 weeks of AA, and a giant 5 weeks of AAA going until 9/25. Not sure if this is permanent, but I think they wanted AAA to go almost as long as the majors so players would be ready if needed.

The staggered finish is also a way to give older players some more innings and maybe some bonus next level previews for top prospects. Painter and Abel are probably done with their innings limits in AA, but I would not be shocked if McGarry gets a bump to AAA for the last week along with some position players (Rojas, Ortiz?).

[andyb]

There is no chance that Crawford gets supplanted on prospect lists by Boyd, though I do think Boyd's strike zone discipline has been a nice surprise and might nudge him closer to our top 10 on prospect lists. Crawford was 3 on MLB.com and should be 3 or 4 on most lists. Boyd was 20th and there is a case to see him ahead of somebody like Jordan Viars (13th).

More interesting question might be if either gets a few games at Clearwater with Crawford as the number one pick being the more likely.

Edit - Looks like DSL is done too but DSL White (and Bergolla) did qualify for the playoffs.

8/23/22 : End of regular season for FCL & DSL complex teams

[phillychuck]

I always thought DSL playoff teams should raid the second team from the same organization in the DSL for their playoff rosters, although there';s probably a league rule against it. Our super-DSL team this season would be pretty awesome. Hope most of them come to the complex next year...

[Austinfan]

I think for the younger players, the FIL is more important than the FCL.
That is, having a taste of games is nice, but hands on intensive instruction for a month, then guidance for their offseason workouts is more valuable.

For the older players the winter leagues loom, Australia seem to garnering a larger and larger contingent of A ball types, and the other leagues get the AA plus types.

[BaseballCat]

Harper just made the LV fans happy with a homer. I’m happy too​

[zambonir]

call him up in the next 20 minutes!

[BaseballCat]

Harper hits a second homer. Game had to be electric

[bkeich]

Yep. Harper doesn't need AAA time. We could use his power.