Minor League Games - March 29, 2024

[julio]

As requested!

AAA: Worcester (TBD) at Lehigh Valley (RHP Tyler Phillips) - 6:05PM

AA: Season opens April 5th.
High A: Season opens April 5th.
Low A: Season opens April 5th.
FCL: Season opens May 4th.
DSL: Season opens June 3rd?

Scores Here: https://www.milb.com/scores/all/all/phillies

Boxes Here: https://www.mlb.com/prospects/stats/affiliates?teamId=143

[fish]

Pigs win 8-4 behind a good start by Phillips. If you wanted a loaded AAA roster full of AAAA guys who wouldn’t embarrass themselves in the big leagues in a small sample, the Pigs roster is what that looks like.

[phillychuck]

Most weird, hilarious opening day ever for the pigs. Despite a good pitching outing by Phillips, Pigs entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 4-0.

Podkul walk.
Kingery single.
Clemens single to load the bases.
Wilson single for 1 run.
Hall singles to make it 4-3 with no one out and runners on first and second.
Garcia walks to load the bases for the third time.
Matt Kroon walks to tie the game and re-load the bases.
Castro hits a walk-off grand slam which turns out to be a 3-run HR as Kroon passed Garcia near the second base bag while celebrating. He apparently cut across the infield to join the celebration at home plate!

Final LV 7 , WOR 4.

[zambonir]

Sounds like we could have used those guys (and WOR had our bullpen).

If the major league team doesn't come calling too often probably gonna see some playoff baseball in Allentown this year I'd think.

[Austinfan]

Told you not to sleep on Phillips, showed a velocity jump in ST second year from TJ surgery.
Has the 4 pitch starter arsenal, just needs to get innings and sharpen his command.
If Walker has serious shoulder issue, we may need him come June, not sold on Turnbull.

[andyb]

He was pretty bad last year though. He is a year further away from surgery but still looks like a AAAA depth guy to me. One start does not make a prospect.

[zambonir]

AAAA depth guy is perfectly fine! But no, he's not likely to push past Abel or keep the Phillies from making a trade if there really does end up being a hole in the rotation.

And in the meantime Allard, Mercado, and eventually, Covey, will remain in the "#7" starter mix too.

Does Allard have an opt-out?

[Austinfan]

When you're looking for sleepers, guys in their 2nd season after TJ are always good bets.
Varies from pitcher to pitcher, while some are never 100%, others get a velocity jump from tighter elbow.

[andyb]

Meanwhile, Rodolfo Castro walks it off - left-handed. Remember hitting lefty was his weakness. There really isn't a spot for him on the bench now, but he is still only 24.

A grand finale!

Rodolfo Castro launched a walk-off grand slam in the @IronPigs season opener pic.twitter.com/x19Zs7nC20

— Phillies Player Development ( @PhilsPlayerDev ) March 30, 2024

[Austinfan]

Another sign they've improved their minor league coaching would be the ability to turn around the careers of "failures" in other organizations, scouts recognizing fixable flaws and coaches fixing those flaws. Won't happen on a regular basis, but finding and fixing a couple players a year could save a bunch of money for a cap strapped team.

Werth and Victorino were key players a couple decades ago.

Not saying Castro will be one of those guys, but if you could develop him into a switch hitting utility IF with some pop, that would be a great addition to the bench going forward.

[fish]

Not saying Castro will be one of those guys, but if you could develop him into a switch hitting utility IF with some pop, that would be a great addition to the bench going forward.

I love his swing, his power, his defense…but he clearly really struggles to identify breaking balls. I’m not sure that’s fixable. Worth trying, but seems like a low probability of success.

[zambonir]

I mean, does he have to become that well-rounded a hitter to to be a major league-ready utility IF? Or is it the defense/SS ability that's lacking? Seems like he is depth this year but then you can just give him Sosa's job next season for $3 million less, unless you finally find someone with a true LHB. He's pretty much useless now, even with the RH power they hyped upon his acquistion, given the entire left side of the IF and the entire bench is also RH. If Merrifield or Bohm got hurt you'd probably bring up Clemens (or Wilson) but if Sosa got hurt you'd bring up Castro.

[andyb]

Clearly the Phillies see him as in the mix for Sosa's spot at some point though I don't think the SS defense is as good. We went to significant lengths last year to carry Castro in a way that would preserve his option for this season (where he is basically the injury replacement for Sosa and probably nothing more though he might have to play better than Kingery and Wilson to get that recall).

The Phillies saw some things in Castro that made them think there is some upside if he gets 500 more plate appearances. I will say that if Castro can raise his left-handed hitting game, a switch hitter on a 4-man bench can be pretty useful.