Phillies Start of Spring Training Games with a Win Over the University of Tampa

It was a great day for baseball and the Phillies young guns made it even better with a win.

Dylan Cozens smacks a homer to drive in J.P. Crawford
Dylan Cozens smacks a homer to drive in J.P. Crawford

Baseball Ross and I were impressed with the play of Dylan Cozens, Roman Quinn and Jorge Alfaro. We put together a video of pictures and clips along with our thoughts on the game. You can watch the video HERE.

Preview of the Phillies First Spring Training Game VS University of Tampa

Yesterday, Spring Training was shortened by an afternoon golf outing that the Phillies were holding. Today, it has been raining off and on all day. So what to do? A preview of tomorrow’s game against the University of Tampa!

Baseball Ross and I put together a video of photos and commentary on the line up for tomorrow’s game.  You can see the video HERE.

Andrew Knapp throws to J.P. Crawford to catch Nick Williams.
Andrew Knapp throws to J.P. Crawford to catch Nick Williams.

Phillies Spring Training Day 5

It was a cold day, that brought rain to shorten the day’s activities. Today was more drills and live batting practice.

You can watch video of the day’s activities on our YouTube Channel by clicking HERE.

Andrew Knapp throws to J.P. Crawford to catch Nick Williams.
Andrew Knapp throws to J.P. Crawford to catch Nick Williams.

Day 2 of Phillies Spring Training 2017

The clouds started rolling in this morning but we were able to get a full day of spring training in before the rain came.

It was an eventful day. We saw the pitchers warming up then went to the stadium to watch batting practice. Then we returned to the Carpenter Complex in time to catch the catchers take BP then do pop-up drills.

Baseball Ross and I put together a rather extensive video of today’s activities, you can watch it HERE.

The best picture of the day is when Logan Moore ran into the fence right in front of me during pop-up practice. You can see it in the video above and of course, I keep shooting when he did. This is what I got:

Logan Moore
Logan Moore

Below you will find some more stills from the day:

Dylan Cozens
Dylan Cozens
img_4402
Andrew Pullin
img_4408
Brock Stassi
img_4405
Roman Quinn
img_4407
Odubel Hererra
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Tommy Joseph
Cameron Perkins
Cameron Perkins
Rhys Hoskins and Scott Kingery
Rhys Hoskins and Scott Kingery
Ryan Hanigan almost runs into the pitching machine.
Ryan Hanigan almost runs into the pitching machine.
Andrew Knapp
Andrew Knapp
Cameron Rupp
Cameron Rupp
Jorge Alfaro
Jorge Alfaro
Chace Numata
Chace Numata

The 2017 Philadelphia Phillies Major League Spring Training Roster

The 2017 Philadelphia Phillies Major League Spring Training roster was released today. I am including a copy for you.

The 2017 Phillies MLB Spring Training Roster
The 2017 Phillies MLB Spring Training Roster

Rank the Phillies Prospects-A Survey by Mike Drago of the Reading Eagle

Again this year, I was privileged to be asked by Reading Eagle Sports Writer Mike Drago to be part of the “Rank the Phillies Prospects” survey. He asked us to “rank the top players in the Phillies organization from No. 1 to No. 25, based on their present value to the organization and their major league ceiling/potential. (A weighted ballot will be used, with first-place votes earning 25 points, second place 24 points, etc.)”

This is one of my favorite things to take part in as it’s so cool to be included with so many other reporters and bloggers whose work I enjoy reading.

So I talked through my list with Baseball Ross and we realized that we have seen so many of the prospects as they have progressed, save for a few that were acquired via trades or the draft.  So here’s “our” list:

Jake Thompson
Jake Thompson

1. Jake Thompson

Dylan Cozens
Dylan Cozens

2. Dylan Cozens

Rhys Hoskins
Rhys Hoskins

3. Rhys Hoskins

Jorge Alfaro
Jorge Alfaro

4. Jorge Alfaro

JP Crawford
JP Crawford

5. J P Crawford

Roman Quinn
Roman Quinn

6. Roman Quinn

Mickey Moniak
Mickey Moniak

7. Mickey Moniak

Franklin Kilome
Franklin Kilome

8. Franklyn Kilome

Elniery Garcia
Elniery Garcia

9. Elniery Garcia

Nick Williams
Nick Williams

10. Nick Williams

Jose Taveras
Jose Taveras

11. Jose Taveras

Scott Kingery
Scott Kingery

12. Scott Kingery

Ben Lively
Ben Lively

13. Ben Lively

Tyler Viza
Tyler Viza

14. Tyler Viza

Jose Pujols
Jose Pujols

15. Jose Pujols

Cornelius Randolph
Cornelius Randolph

16. Cornelius Randolph

Jhailyn Ortiz
Jhailyn Ortiz

17. Jhailyn Ortiz

Andrew Pullin
Andrew Pullin

18. Andrew Pullin

Andrew Knapp
Andrew Knapp

19. Andrew Knapp

Jiandido Tromp
Jiandido Tromp

20. Jiandido Tromp

Alberto Tirado
Alberto Tirado

21. Alberto Tirado

Jimmy Cordero
Jimmy Cordero

22. Jimmy Cordero

23. Sixto Sanchez
24. Nick Fanti

Adonis Medina
Adonis Medina

25. Adonis Medina

As you can see, I have been able to take pictures of all but two, and I have seen all 25 but sadly the two I missed were on days where I didn’t have my camera with me or the battery was dead by the end of the day during spring training. So Ross and I really put a lot of thought into our list.

The list from Drago as complied by all my fellow reporters and bloggers:

Reading Eagle Phillies minor league prospect ranks
(with position, current club)
1. J.P. Crawford, SS, Lehigh Valley
2. Jorge Alfaro, C, Reading
3. Nick Williams, OF, Lehigh Valley
4. Jake Thompson, P, Philadelphia
5. Mickey Moniak, OF, Gulf Coast
6. Dylan Cozens, OF, Reading
7. Roman Quinn, OF, Reading
8. Cornelius Randolph, OF, Lakewood
9. Franklyn Kilome, P, Lakewood
10. Rhys Hoskins, 1B, Reading

11. Scott Kingery, 2B, Reading
12. Andrew Knapp, C, Lehigh Valley
13. Adonis Medina, P, Williamsport
14. Nick Pivetta, P, Lehigh Valley
15. Jhailyn Ortiz, OF, Gulf Coast
16. Ricardo Pinto, P, Reading
17. Elniery Garcia, P, Clearwater
18. Ben Lively, P, Lehigh Valley
19. Kevin Gowdy, P, Gulf Coast
20. Carlos Tocci, OF, Clearwater

Others receiving multiple votes( in order of vote total):
Mark Appel, P, Lehigh Valley
Sixto Sanchez, P, Gulf Coast
Jimmy Cordeo, P, Reading
Cole Stobbe, SS, Gulf Coast
Jose Pujols, OF, Lakewood
Alberto Tirado, P, Lakewood
Alec Asher, P, Lehigh Valley
Thomas Eshelman, P, Reading
Drew Anderson, P, Clearwater
Andrew Pullin, OF, Reading
Cole Irvin, P, Williamsport
Arquimedes Gamboa, Williamsport
JoJo Romero, P, Williamsport
Malquin Canelo, SS, Clearwater
Tyler Viza, P, Reading

It’s enlightening to see where all they players fall per the weighted vote. Of the list, Ross and I could see almost any of them on the list though may be in a different position (as was evidenced by our differences on our list). I will find it interesting to see how this pans out in the future.

Introducing The 2016 Clearwater Threshers

It was a beautiful evening here in Clearwater for the annual “Meet the Threshers” picnic for season ticket holders. It’s a fun time where we had a chance to have a nice meal and hob-knob with the players.

After everyone had a chance to eat, the voice of the Threshers, Kirsten Karbach introduced the team.

2016 Clearwater Threshers
2016 Clearwater Threshers

You can see video of the introductions HERE.

The season kicks off tomorrow night in Dunedin against the Blue Jays.