Minor League Games - July 3rd, 2022

Short outing by Painter. Was that the plan coming off extended rest?

Almost certainly planned. There had been talk of him skipping this week too but I imagine a couple of innings ramping was seen as a better plan since he is not exactly shutting down in his side sessions.

Painter is healthy, right? The Phils said the brief "interlude" in June was just a part of their overall plan to limit his innings, IIRC.

Interesting that Ben Brown threw the next 7 frames, mostly effectively.

They wouldn’t have rolled out Ben Brown if they didn’t already plan on him following an abbreviated outing from Painter.

Very, very dirty play that caused Lehigh Valley’s Rafael Marchan to exit the game

pic.twitter.com/u9qHtMxsEk55

— Sam Stafford (Wilson) ( @SamStafff ) July 4, 2022

Sands is riipping it up at Lehigh, has to be on the short list given the lack of hitting, but he's really a DH/C, not exactly the optimal position.

Garcia should be back at Jersey Shore soon, at Clearwater today on his rehab journey. Hopefully he can imitate Rojas and move up quickly.

The Athletic;'s Matt Gelb reported that Logan O'Hoppe has been out with a non-Covid illness. For more than a week. That's pretty worrisome.

Yes. Totally uncalled for. A serious commissioner's office would deal with something like this with a stiff suspension - something like one year, or two years. Put the guy's career in jeopardy.

I'm serious about that. Deliberately dangerous play, in violation of the rules, should put the offender at the same risk as his target - e.g., loss of career.

Yeah, I've never seen that type of slide at home plate. Marchan had stepped out of the basepath too. It is very different than at 2B where the infielder is in complete view of the slide (and sometimes that slide is now illegal).

Keith Law saw most of the Wilmington series (he lives there these days I believe). Generally positive takes on all 4 starting pitching prospects (Painter, Abel, McGarry, Brown). Even some of the negatives on breaking balls are more about trying to find a slider vs a curve.

Hitting notes not so positive (though Rojas was promoted before this series). Likes Martin's defense at SS but of course not his hit tool. And Ethan Wilson really needs to show more power.

That is a ridiculous slide, clear intent to injure. I think I would start the next game by throwing at their manager.

Not the manager, IMHO. My view is that when a player does something with intent to injure (or is indifferent to causing injury, because “winning”), you discipline that player with suspension that is severe enough to threaten that player’s career. If you deliberately (or with disregard) endanger another player’s career, you risk your career. Fair’s fair.

The key point about that slide was made above by andyB, but I want to emphasize it--the catcher has no way to protect himself; that slide is from behind. Even if Marchan had been standing on the plate it would have been dirty, but he had stepped toward the mound and the runner went after him. Julio is correct; that should be a hefty suspension.