Minor League Games - May 23rd, 2023

[Squire]

AAA: Buffalo at Lehigh Valley (LHP Cristopher Sanchez) - 11:00AM
AA: Harrisburg at Reading (RHP Victor Vargas) - 11:00AM
High A: Jersey Shore (LHP Rafael Marcano) at Aberdeen - 7:05PM
Low A: Clearwater at St. Lucie (TBD) - 6:05PM

Rolling Scores Here - https://www.milb.com/scores/2023-05-23/all/all/phillies

Rolling Boxes Here - https://www.mlb.com/prospects/stats/affiliates?teamId=143&date=05/23/2023

[andyb]

Important start for Sanchez as he would be on rotation for the 2nd bullpen game on Sunday (with Covey likely taking tonight's game).

[zambonir]

Well if Covey is decent he probably isn't going anywhere (since he'd have to be DFA'ed). They could give Sanchez Marte's spot but then he would have to go back (or Covey would still have to be DFA'ed for Alvarado), assuming Vasquez and Hoffman remain keepers.

[andyb]

There is no reason to think Covey is decent. He was just an available body. The Dodgers are down pitchers too with injury which is why he was there. And DFA'd because he really is not that valuable.

He was decent in Taiwan the past 2 years but that is a league probably below AA in quality. And it is not like he dominated there either. Covey is there simply because he is less valuable than anyone they might have to expose to a DFA later. It is actually pretty hard to have a 6-29 career record in the majors.

[zambonir]

Understood, but if he shows up tonight and only allows two runs in four innings (literally a quality start and the current league average ERA) you certainly let him do it again. Sanchez allowed three runs in 4.1 innings. Seems like right now - having been injured and with a 6.08 ERA in AAA - Sanchez is just a body too (even if he's still got a higher ceiling. And an option).

[andyb]

Sanchez is more low 90s than mid 90s this year. Injuries seem to have hurt him. Guessing he'll be a DFA candidate if he does not increase that velocity. Maybe not for Skirrow, but if any of our big 3 prospects are ready they'll probably move on. Falter will get more chances because of his track record, but he really needs that couple extra mph too. He is definitely a once or twice around the league guy with his unique motion and will need a little better stuff to survive.

[andyb]

Tiny bit of info on Lee here:

MLB prospect intel: Scouts on Jonatan Clase, Jairo Iriarte and more minors info

"Hao-Yu Lee collided with a teammate on a shallow flyball and bruised his knee and is expected to miss a few weeks."

[andyb]

Looks like Sanchez was a bit better today but still not great:

Fastball up to 94 for Cristopher Sanchez, results are ok, but not great. 5 IP 6 H 3 ER 3 BB 2 K.

— Matt Winkelman ( @Matt_Winkelman ) May 23, 2023

Cave and De La Cruz with home runs. Part of me is thinking that Cave is just so hot that they should recall him immediately (like drive him back to Philly for tonight's game). 2-3 with a HR and BB today. 437/500/803 slash now. There is just nowhere to play him if Bryce is not at 1B.

[Squire]

At some point I lose intrigue with how hard Andrew Baker throws since he can't seem to get anyone out or prevent the other team from scoring runs.

[andyb]

Clearly Kerkering has passed him on the "guy that throws 100 and can move quickly" list. Control with that velocity paired with a high spin rate is just hard to command. Remember when Alvarado was fun, but really hard to watch? Now I see him like Josh Hader when Hader was at his peak.

[fish]

At some point I lose intrigue with how hard Andrew Baker throws since he can't seem to get anyone out or prevent the other team from scoring runs.

For me he’s a guy to put on the shelf out of focus and come back to later. If you asked me how long a really raw 19 year old kid who had pitched all of 6 innings in college needed to develop as a reliever, the low end of that guess would be 120 pro innings, and he’s only at 79 now.