Phillies 2018 Minor League Placement/Rosters Speculation

[tom81]

I bet Roman Quinn gets a lot of reps at SS and Valentin plays all over. They got to be ready for being called up as super subs in case of ML injury.

[zambonir]

Maybe Valentin will catch

[Squire]

I think tom81 is dead on correct. They will take this opportunity to get Quinn innings at SS and Valentin reps all over. Sometimes I am limited in my imagination but tom81 is right

[Austinfan]

I don't see De Los Santos starting at Lehigh, but with all the ML injuries, he may get a couple starts before players come off the DL and pitchers get sent back down. I think Thompson goes down in May when Leiter returns, he still has work to do and pitching once a week will retard his development. When Eickhoff returns in June (?), another pitcher goes down.

[zambonir]

That's all assuming no one else is injured in May or June. I think Thompson could get a fair amount of work. Hutchison seems to be slotted for Leiter's long/swingman role for now.

[SerAdonisKingery]

AAA roster is set according to Pigs radio guy:

Matt Provence @PigsRadio
Initial @IronPigs roster. P: Anderson, Beato, Casimiro, Curtis, Davis, De Los Santos, Eflin, Eshelman, Irvin, Leibrandt, Rios, Windle. C: Moore, Rickles. INF: Amarista, Anna, McBride, Meneses (Joey), Valentin, Walding. OF: Cowgill, Cozens, Pullin, Quinn. DL: Middlebrooks, Taveras

[Squire]

So I'll guess the rotation (in no order) is 6 man and includes:
Drew Anderson
Enyel Do Los Santos
Zach Eflin
Tom Eshelman
Cole Irvin
Brandon Liebrandt

Starting Lineup by Position looks to me:
1B Walding
2B Amarista
SS Valentin
3B Meneses (Middlebrooks when he comes off the DL)
LF Pullin
CF Quinn
RF Cozens
C: Moore
DH: McBride or Cowgill

[phillychuck]

McBride may end up playing a lot of 1B with Walding at 3B if they need more offense. I'd also guess that Anna may be the starting SS and Valentin may play more of his natural 2B position, but there may be a lot of position-shuffling given the organizational emphasis on flexibility.

I like the idea of a six-man rotation.

[SerAdonisKingery]

Wonder what the Reading rotation will be.

Wag
Romero
Kilome
Viza
Elniery Garcia
Suarez?

[julio]

Suarez was moved from the Clearwater roster to the Reading roster yesterday, per milb.com transactions. So yeah, he's looking like he's in the AA rotation.

I would like to see Walding predominantly at 3B, not 1B - he's still a long-shot option there if Franco doesn't rebound from 2017 (and Kingery is at 2B because Cesar Hernandez is elsewhere).

[Austinfan]

What happened to Tavares? If he's on the Lehigh roster he's starting, didn't they move him to the 40 man roster?

[julio]

Matt Provence lists him as on the AAA DL. Don't know why. HIPAA, you know.

[Austinfan]

Phillies' Jose Taveras: Placed on minor-league DL

Yep

[Austinfan]

Reading Roster:

2018 Reading Fightin Phils Roster Released

[julio]

Not on the Reading roster (nor the AAA roster):

Tommy Bergjans
Joey DeNato
Elniery Garcia
Gabriel Lino
Danny Ortiz
Alexis Rivero
Mario Sanchez
Cord Sandberg
Jeff Singer
Drew Stankiewicz
Alberto Tirado
Tyler Viza

EDIT: Struck Ortiz, since the article on the Ironpigs roster has been updated to list him as on the AAA roster.

[Squire]

Some of those are pretty surprising to me - looked to me like Cord Sandberg was having a good spring. Stankiewicz was always a good organizational guy. Jan Hernandez is getting a little hype for what its worth. And Coppola has a unique skillset.

Looks like Haseley with Moniak in Clearwater I guess probably with Pujols and Martinelli

[julio]

Some of those are pretty surprising to me - looked to me like Cord Sandberg was having a good spring. Stankiewicz was always a good organizational guy.

It will be interesting to see if some of these guys appear on the High-A roster... or if we'll eventually see releases in the transactions.

[Squire]

Bednar is a no power 3B who was from the SF organization through last year.

[julio]

Bednar is a no power 3B who was from the SF organization through last year.

I might be more harsh and say, "no offense." No power, and his career BB% is under 5%. He doesn't offset the lack of SLG with good OBP.

Frankly, that AA infield... You've got Malquin Canelo (23) and Manny Marrero (25), who might give you a decent middle. At third...Bednar (26) provides no offense, Damek Tomscha (26) provides no defense, Zach Green (24) belongs at first base. But Kyle Martin (25) is at first base. Jan Hernandez (23) is listed as an outfielder.

[phillychuck]

Stankeiwitz is a better option than all of those guys. His RC+ was 120 in CLW and 132 in Reading last year, and he's good defensively. Wonder how they see Bednar as an upgrade?